DVD review
Starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich
Directed by Stefan Fangmeier
Release date 16 April 2007

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Or was it in the land of Honah Lee?

It sounds like a winner, albeit a lazy one. Take the plot of Star Wars, dress it up in Middle-earth mythology and reap the geek dollar like George Lucas in a pointy wizard's hat. It certainly worked for Christopher Paolini, the teen author who wrote the original Eragon book, amid accusations of plagiarism and being an annoying little twit.

But Eragon the movie is far worse than any big budget rip-off of two established franchises has any right to be. Lacking any kind of heart, wit, or charm, it goes through all the motions of Star Wars (farm boy is raised by his uncle, whom he later finds dead, then gets taken under the wing of a mysterious old man who trains him in the lost arts of a forgotten noble order, that he might travel far to save a princess and defeat an evil ruler), but captures none of its spirit or sense of adventure.

The most imaginative thing about the whole enterprise is that Eragon himself is played by cheeky cockney TV chef Jamie Oliver, except he isn't. He's just played by someone who looks like him (Ed Speleers). Conversely, Jeremy Irons really does play the Obi-Wan figure, Brom, and presumably just wishes it was someone who looked like him.

What the film lacks most of all is any sense of wonder or excitement, surely the most basic ingredients for a film about a boy and his magic dragon. Never pausing to delight in the world it inhabits, it plods relentlessly towards its inevitable conclusion without characterisation or any hint of why we should care.

The deleted scenes go some small way to rectify this, but the fact that they were cut just underlines the misconceptions inherent in the production. On the commentary, director Stefan Fangmeier says these scenes "held up the action", but in fantasy fiction the quest is the thing, and there should be no hurry to get to the end.

The other extras are annoyingly organised on a map of Alagaësia (where Eragon takes place), with names that give no indication of what lies within. Investigation reveals production sketches, storyboards, a documentary and, oddly, a short interview with Christoper Paolini about Eldest, the sequel to Eragon, but none is particularly insightful.

If you were disappointed by Eragon at the cinema and were hoping to see what might have been, prepare to be disappointed again. An utterly pointless 'special edition'. Simon Hugo

VERDICT: 2/10
So bad, it's bad. Not even to be approached for kitsch value, of which it has none.