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Not to be confused with DreamWorks Dragons.

Dragon Rider
German theatrical film poster.
GermanDrachenreiter
Directed byTomer Eshed
Screenplay byJohn R. Smith
Based on Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke
Produced by
  • Oliver Berben
  • Christoph Müller
Starring
CinematographyOlaf Aue
Edited byRikke Malena Nielsen
Music byStefan Maria Schneider
Production
companies
Distributed byConstantin Film
Release dates
  • 1 October 2020 (2020-10-01) (Germany)
  • 10 September 2021 (2021-09-10) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountriesBelgium
Germany
United Kingdom
LanguagesGerman
English
Box office€6.4 million [1]

Dragon Rider ( German: Drachenreiter), also known as Firedrake the Silver Dragon by Netflix, is a 2020 animated fantasy film; while officially based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke, the film takes influence from the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell, with its visuals and marketing based on that of the DreamWorks franchise. The film was due to be released in theatres on 6 August 2020, [2] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film release was postponed until 1 October 2020. [3]

Netflix acquired global distribution rights to the film, and it was released on the streaming platform on 10 September 2021. [4]

Premise

Firedrake is a young silver dragon, who has had enough of constantly having to hide in a wooded valley. He wants to show the older generations of dragons that he is a real dragon. When humans are about to destroy his family's very last refuge, Firedrake secretly sets off on an adventurous journey with Sorrel a bad-tempered cat-like forest brownie. He wants to find the "Rim of Heaven", the dragons' mysterious haven. On their quest, Firedrake and Sorrel encounter Ben, an orphan and stray, who claims to be a dragon rider. While Ben and Firedrake make friends quickly, Sorrel becomes increasingly distrustful and tries her best to get rid of the orphan at every opportunity. But the unlikely trio have to learn to pull together, because they are being hunted by Nettlebrand, an evil dragon-eating monster which was created by an alchemist with the aim of tracking down and destroying every dragon on Earth.

Voice cast

Production

It was announced in June 2017 that production had begun on an animated adaptation of Cornelia Funke's novel. [5] [6] [7] The film is a German-Belgian co-production. The animation was handled by Spain's Able & Baker and Cyborn Studios, while additional parts of the lighting and compositing took place at Rise FX and Big Hug FX. [8] The production work took place in Berlin, Munich and Antwerp. [9]

In May 2018, the castings of Felicity Jones, Patrick Stewart, Freddie Highmore, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Nonso Anozie, Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar were announced. [10]

Reception

Box office

Dragon Rider has earned $6,385,553 at the global box office. [1] [11]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 5.5/10. [12]

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave it 3 out of 5. Collin said the film borrows heavily from other recent films and wrote: "Dragon Rider is unlikely to spawn many imitators of its own—even if it did, how could anyone tell?—but as a half-term diversion, it ticks every box." [13] Cath Clarke of The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5 and called it a "bland but entertaining family film". [14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Dragon Rider (2020) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  2. ^ "DRACHENREITER - Ab 6. August 2020 im Kino (FOTO)". OTS. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. ^ "DRACHENREITER (2020)". kino-zeit.de (in German). 1 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (15 August 2021). "German Toon 'Dragon Rider' Wings Worldwide as 'Firedrake' on Netflix". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  5. ^ John Hopewell (12 June 2017). "Constantin Initiates Production on Timeless-Sold 'Dragon Rider'". Variety. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  6. ^ Clarke, Stewart (12 September 2017). "German VFX Firm RISE Joins Constantin's 'Dragon Rider' as Co-Producer". Variety.
  7. ^ "Constantin Begins Production on 'Dragon Rider'". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Drachenreiter: Alle Infos zum Film nach Cornelia Funkes Buchvorlage". KINO (in German). 21 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Constantin Film verfilmt DRACHENREITER nach dem Weltbestseller von Cornelia Funke". presseportal.de (Press release) (in German). 8 June 2017.
  10. ^ Stewart Clarke (9 May 2018). "'Rogue One' Star Felicity Jones Joins 'Dragon Rider' Animated Movie". Variety. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Dragon Rider Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Firedrake the Silver Dragon (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  13. ^ Collin, Robbie (12 February 2021). "Dragon Rider, review: a colourful half-term romp (but the kids will have déjà vu)". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021.
  14. ^ Cath Clarke (10 February 2021). "Dragon Rider review – starry family animation seeks fire". The Guardian.

External links

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