maz4u61
This is an excellent movie. It has another name too. Dark Kingdom: Dragon King. And If you are the type of guy who enjoys Lord of the ring type movies with sword fight and magic. You will love it. The story line is so well narrated with twist and turn. The acting is very well done in the movie. Loved k Loken. She has done her role superbly. The movie has a decent pace and does not let one feel bored or dragged into it. AS i said, you will love if if you enjoys time period movies. In search of good movie, i started watching movies from different countries and bump to this one. The movie has medieval touch. It If n e one knows similar movie to this one, please reply.
david-sarkies
This is an adaptation of the German epic poem the Nibelungenleid. The story is about Sigfried, the heir to a kingdom who watched his kingdom destroyed as a boy by the twin kings of Saxony, but was saved by being put on a raft were he was found by a kindly weapon smith. As he grew up he became a swordsman of no uncertain skill, and then one day, after a meteor crashes near his house, he travels out to see what caused the explosion and meets the Queen of Iceland, and after a long battle he subdues her and they fall in love.Later he travels with his adopted father to the local city, the capital of the Kingdom of Burgandy. He learns that they are being terrorised by a dragon who sits on a horde of treasure. He goes out and kills the dragon, and after killing it, bathes in its blood, and thus becomes invulnerable, with the exception of a section of his back where a leaf landed. When he discovers the treasure, he learns that it belongs to the dead, the Nibelungs, and that it is subject to a curse, but he lays claim to it, and takes it with him back to Burgund.This is only the first half of the film, and as you can see the plot is very complex. Not only is there this treasure (which is cursed) there is also a love triangle, deception, betrayal, and innocent murder. This story is a tragedy, and Sigfried is the tragic hero. However, Brunhild, the queen of Iceland is also tragic in her own right, however she never did anything wrong. It was because the sister of the King of Burgundy fell in love with Sigfried and used magic to take his love for herself.Tolkien took a lot of ideas for his story and his realm from this (and other) tales, but the main theme of Lord of the Rings, that is the cursed ring and the desire to possess it, comes directly from this tale. The desire is the possess the treasure for oneself, but possession of this treasure breeds envy and jealousy. When the Twin Kings learn of the location of this treasure, they raise an army and travel to Burgundy to forcefully take it for themselves.This film is divided into two sections, but then again it was originally released as a mini-series, which is not surprising because the movie is three hours long. However, it seems that the first half is about Sigfried's rise, while the second half is about his fall, and his fall is bad and hard indeed. It turns out that the King of Burgundy is also in love with Brunhild, but he is nowhere near as skilled in battle as Sigfried. By this time Sigfried is no longer in love with Brunhild (witchcraft has turned his heart away from her) and Sigfried agrees to disguise himself so that first he might defeat her so that the king may marry her, and then he does it again to get her into bed. She knows that something is up, but it is not until she is mocked before the church by Sigfried's wife when she realises that she has been betrayed.However, it is not Sigfried that betrayed her, but his wife. She has poisoned him so that he may no longer love Brunhild, and in her guilt, she withdraws from the world and dies a lonely woman. However, by the time that everything has been revealed, it is too late to do anything about it. Sigfried has been murdered and the damage has been done, so in a tragic set of circumstances, the show comes to an end, while the treasure is thrown into the Rhine, never to be seen from again.When I first saw this film I wasn't all that sure about it, but as soon as I discovered that it was the Nibelungenleid I really came to appreciate it. In a way I first thought that it was simply another Lord of the Rings rip off, but it is not. In fact, the story that this film ripped off (a lot of the story has been left out) is the same story that Lord of the Rings ripped off. That does not mean that Lord of the Rings was a bad book, it was not, but then neither was this a bad movie.
Clays13
Some rare stories don't lose their appeal no matter how old they get. One of these is the Nibelungelied, which is also called the national epic of the Germans. It was written in the 13th century, but it is much older. This movie states to portray it, but it doesn't. First of the Nibelungenlied has two parts and this movie is only about the more popular first part. Other than that there are some really major differences between the original story and the movie, for example considering the ending. But still you could put that to the freedom of arts. The Nibelungenlied is probably just one version of the story. It exists in a different form in the Scandinavian mythology, so there is not just one way to tell the story. But what really angers me is that the movie tells a very one dimensional story. Siegfried is all around good and Hagen is all around bad. These two characters are one if not the main attraction of the story, and it is just not like that. Hagen is not just this evil selfish person. He is extremely loyal and a great warrior, what the movie doesn't get at all. And Siegfried is not entirely good in the original story. For example he wants to gain the crown of Burgund when he first comes there. A story like this wouldn't have survived the ages if it was as one dimensional as this movie. Other than that the movie doesn't give you the feeling of watching an epic story, as it should. The music and the language are unappropriate in my opinion.The material for this movie is great, because its based on one of the greatest stories ever told. But the movie doesn't leave any room for interpretation and tells the whole story very one sided. Some actors don't really fit their roles. Siegfried who is supposedly a tall blond hero, is portrayed by a dark haired Benno Führmann who isn't even 6 feet tall. The movie just never gets as epic as the story. 3 stars for good material badly formed. I hope the movie will be redone without Hollywood involved.
