Dragonheart (stylized as DragonHeart) is a 1996 fantasy action-adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. It stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwait…
Dragonheart (stylized as DragonHeart) is a 1996 fantasy action-adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. It stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, and Sean Connery as the voice of Draco.
Sir Bowen, an English knight of 'The Old Code', mentors the Saxon Prince Einon in his ideals to make him a better king than his tyrannical father, King Freyne. While suppressing a peasant rebellion, Freyne is killed by rebels. Then a young peasant girl named Kara accidentally mortally wounds Einon's heart. Einon's Celtic mother, Queen Aislinn, has Einon taken before a dragon and asks him to save the boy's life. The dragon makes Einon promise to rule with honor and replaces Einon's wounded heart with half his own. However, Einon proves more oppressive than his father by enslaving the former rebels that killed Freyne and forcing them to rebuild a Roman castle. Einon also has Kara's father, who led the rebels, blinded. Believing the dragon's heart corrupted Einon, Bowen swears vengeance on all dragons by hunting them down.
Twelve years later, Bowen has become a skilled dragonslayer. Meanwhile, an adult Einon has rebuilt his castle. Kara asks that he free her father after years of slavery; Einon agrees but instead kills him to "release" him. Monk and aspiring poet Brother Gilbert witnesses Bowen's prowess and follows him to record his exploits. Bowen stalks a dragon to its cave, not knowing it's the one who shared his heart with Einon. The confrontation ends in a stalemate, during which the dragon states that he's the last one alive; they agree not to kill each other and instead form a partnership to defraud local villagers with staged dragon "slayings." Bowen later names the dragon after the Draco constellation, unaware of Draco and Einon's connection, through which they feel each other's pain.
Kara, seeking revenge on Einon, is imprisoned after a failed assassination attempt. Realizing she is responsible for his near-death as a boy, Einon tries seducing her and making her his queen. Despising what her son has become, Aislinn helps Kara escape the castle. Kara tries to rally her village against Einon, but they instead sacrifice her to Draco. After Draco takes Kara to his lair, Einon arrives to recapture her and fights Bowen. While fighting, Einon demoralizes Bowen by declaring he never believed in the code and only used Bowen to learn how to fight. He gains the upper hand and nearly kills Bowen, but Draco intervenes and reveals his half-heart to Einon, making him flee in fear. Kara asks Bowen to help overthrow Einon, but the disillusioned knight refuses.
