The movie Eragon is almost a completely different story than the book that it is based on. The book is about 544 words and the movie is only 104 minutes long, so obliviously there is going to some shortcomings in the movie. But compared to other movies that are based off of books, this movie was a huge disappointment! The movie put the story together with a series of scenes that tell the story in a choppy manner.
If you have never read the book then you might be able to understand the story and like it, but for those that have read the book, you will basically want to stop the movie not even half way through. The book is long because the author, Christopher Paloini, put an immense of detail into the story and in the movie there is almost no detail. It seems as if the producers wanted to get the story across without any embellishments, in which case they accomplished their goal. There is only two characters that I thought were portrayed well: the dragon Shaphira and the Razac. The Razac were hideous and deadly looking and Saphira was beautiful, graceful, and strong which is how she is portrayed in the book as well.
Overall I would say this movie would be a one-time view, nothing more.… Expand

Simply a terrible movie. Horrible acting and a bad adaptation of a great book. Overall it was a travesty. The only redeeming factor is Jeremy Irons' performance and that is the only reason I gave this a 1 instead of a 0. The worst part is that we all know that Malkovich can act but he wasn't in this movie. He was simply yelling.

Eragon is a fantasy film of 2006 based on the novel by Christopher Paolini and directed by Stefen Fangmeier. The story is set in Alagaesia, a magical world ruled by a cruel tyrant Galbatorix which eliminated the race of dragons and his brave knights, the only ones who had the courage to oppose his power. When young Eragon finds a blue stone in the forest initially thinks he has found a precious object to be able to sell to feed his family but later prove to be a dragon egg, which soon gives birth to a baby that grows with extraordinary speed. The creature, named Saphira soon establishes a telepathic contact with the young man, he discovers it to be an elected member of the Dragon Riders. And from here begins a dangerous adventure to save Alagaesia. The film itself has a lot of negative things such as the direction, which attempts to mimic that of "The Lord of the Rings" unsuccessfully the script that has cut many important parts and chapters for the movie success and the interpretation of some actors especially that of Edward Speleers in the role of Eragon. The special effects and the music are saved.… Expand

Oh dear lord where to begin. You know you've seen a piece of crap when you watch this film. To make a film out of an adult setting book with darkness everywhere and instead make cheesy and boring lines everwhere dissapoints me. The events were poorly plotted, not to mention the terrible Saphira and Eragon. In the future, if your gonna make a book into a movie make sure you read it first

The film would've been a lot better if Peter Jackson or Ridley Scott headlined it, and added and hour or so.

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
This is unacceptable. How could you mess this movie up so badly? Really? The book was amazing and even better when you notice that it was made by someone who wasn't even 18 yet. But... How? How do you make this movie THIS bad? If I point out ever single detail, we'll be here all day, so I'll just do a few.
The acting was bad. Bad. Terrible. No one knew how to act. The visuals where very "Eh." They spent it all on a few individual shots. The story was utter crap. It jumped around way too much and never made sense. It still doesn't make sense if you read the book. Like how Saphira could fly into the sky and suddenly become a fully-grown dragon at the start of the film.
It was so far off from the original book (like how the Ra'zac where... Whatever the hell they were, how... Everything about Brom was executed or how they made Eragon seem like a Disney princess) that I couldn't believe it was even kind of related. Even if it was it's own thing without the book, it would still be the worst film of all time. I would rate it -1 out of 999,999,999 if I could, but sadly, I can only rate it a zero out of ten.… Expand

A few words to briefly describe this film: unbearable, boring, weak and boring, the acting is bad and the ending is quite predictable, save up scenarios.

The visuals are cool but they simply have little purpose in a movie with a sloppy plot. The entire construction of the movie is sloppy and it just plain boring.

'This is the most original film ever made' would be something you would never hear about Eragon. Not only does it feel like it was written by a 2-year-old monkey , with horrible dialogue and bland, uninteresting characters, buit it also seems to enjoy stealing from every damn fantasy/sci-fi film out there. It's as if the writer went into a DVD store and rented out every friggin' sci-fi and fantasy film on the shelf, before putting each film in a boiling cauldron and mixing it into something evil. It's as if Star Wars and Lord of the Rings had a son, but this son is an ugly, stupid, bastard child with brain damage and problems with interacting with other kids.

Even if you can get past the horrible dialogue and generic, recycled plot, the acting is horrendous too. Composed of a cast of mostly nobodies, Eragon excels at making you cringe at the God-awful acting. In fact, the acting is so bad it's funny. Hearing generic-faced people utter generic lines such as 'we must destroy the empire!' and 'great power comes with great responsibility,' I found myself either laughing or sleeping throughout the whole movie. Mostly the latter.

Perhaps the one redeeming quality this film COULD have had is the effects. I'm definitely not saying that special effects should be valued over a good story (*cough* George Lucas *cough*) but in an alternate universe, if you could overlook the story and every other horrendous thing about this film the effects could make it worthwhile. That is not the case in this film. The graphics are generic and more cheesy than a packet of Doritos. Seriously, you just want to scream at this film 'WHY? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?!'.

But the saddest thing about this film is that it could have been SO MUCH MORE. Yes, the book this film is based on is hardly original either, but if the plot and setting was changed, the cast replaced by talented acters, a good writer penned the film, the dialogue got changed (or removed entirely) and the special effects were taken out, then this film MAY have become an enjoyable Winter blockbuster. Ah, who am I kidding, this film was a nuclear bomb even before the monkey started writing the script. May God rest that monkey's soul.… Expand

Just in case if you don't know, here is a rundown of the story - A poor farmboy finds a blue object with relations to a princess. When his uncle dies he goes with an old man to flee the Empire's elite troops. On the way the old man teaches him of a magical force and gives him a weapon. The boy finds out that the old man used to be part of an ancient order that kept peace before they were betrayed by one of their own. They then go to rescue the princess that sent the blue object, but in doing so the old man dies trying to save the boy. They then go to the rebel stronghold, meeting a guy with a dark past along the way. However, they are tracked and the Empire attacks the rebels. However, the boy defeats the enemy commander in a dogfight and the rebels defeat the enemy force. Sound familiar? And on top of the story being an outright copy of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the best actor is really the dragon. Ed Speelers just stands there going 'wow!', Jeremy Irons is given a really bland script and John Malkovich only speaks in one scene. The dragon is really the only redeeming factor, being that it looks and flows like a giant bird of prey and that Rachel Weisz voices her like who she is in the books, caring yet young and brash. The rest of the movie is just a worse rendition of something that we've all seen before, be it Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Its not cliched, but reading the book and seeing the movie gave me the feeling that Christopher Paolini was a wannabe Tolkien who had seen too much Star Wars. The book is well written and worth reading (originality aside), but the movie misses 70% of the story, and is less worth your time than the book. Go watch the original Star Wars Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings or read the book.… Expand

I had the nice advantage of reading the books and knew that a lot was stolen from Star Wars, but they are well written books. The movie is an epic fail one of the worst book adaptations ever, with bad performances. Cool special effects though. I give this film 21%.

"Eragon", a movie based on a book written by a 15 year old kid, is a embarrassment in film history. Everything is a mess; story, script, cast, CG, even the name! Don't expect to see a epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings" while watching this movie. It's not even close.

I've always understood films deviating from the source. Some things which may have been written cannot be filmed. Lord of the Rings was a perfect example of how to do it. Jackson looked long and hard at the books and only cut scenes if they had no semblance to the overall plot. What came out was a masterpiece. So what about Eragon? There is only one word for this: An abomination. Every detail was wrong. Colour of their hair, age, growth, places they went too, how they got there, I could go on forever but instead I shall finish with why these cuts are such an atrocity. He cuts out parts key to the plot. No future films will be made from this...... this..... atrocity unto mankind. This film is a waste of your time, money and intelligence.… Expand

This was one of the most awesome movies of the year that I saw. I think all the bad rumors about it are false. This movie was one of the greatest back when it was released. Everyone should like this movie. I hope the make a movie for the second book ,Eldest, and the third book, Brisingr. This movie should have a lot of positive reviews. :)

You guys need to try reading the books before badmouthing the author over the movie, as his first series he's done an excellent job even surpassing some more experienced fantasy authors.

The movie really annoyed me, it uses the name, a VERY simplified version of the storyline and some of the characters (minus about 90% of their personalities). I can understand the need to alter the plotline a little bit to fit into the timeframe of a movie but they changed so many things completely unnecessarily. I can't really explain it all but go read the book and then watch the movie and you may understand.… Expand

Yes, the novel clearly was influenced by Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, even in the sequel, Eldest, it seems followed this influence. However, in the third novel of the Inheritance Cycle, Brisingr, the plot begins to change. For those who do not read novels, I am sorry to say that you will never see Eldest in film form let alone Brisingr or the fourth in the cycle. Why? Well, it's obvious isn't it? The Eragon film was just plain horrible. Chances are you could probably do better filming in your backyard with your flip phone (slight hyperbole). I am not sure how to review this one without spoiling it, but it outright sucks. If you want to see why, rent it out, just make sure you have a back up video to stop yourself from destroying the television.… Collapse

The books=good. movie=terrible. It probably would be a good entertainment film for a seven year old but for the rest, its just a pile of mumbo jumbo that doesn't even remain that loyal to the book. After the most random growth spurt, laughable dialogue, and John Malkovich cutting down a curtain, I just want to lie down and scream. Watch Lord of the Rings or Narnia instead!!!!

forget what the critics say about this movie. it has great entertainment, great visuals, great everything. god praise Eragon.

Oh. My. God. I'm gonna split this review into two parts- the first for people who haven't read the book and the second for the people who have. The movie isn't that bad, it just suffers from a dull plotline and too much focus on random action, and not enough focus on the characters. Certainly, they could have developed Brom more than they had, or gave some background on Eragon. And then the second review. If you have read the book, here is my opinion of the movie. As a huge series fan, I feel that they have smothered the original story is smelly sh*t and then spit on it. For one, it is Summer in the movie. Fuc**ng Summer. The book takes place in winter. Two whole cities are cut out, at least six characters are gone and the worst part is that partway through the movie Eragon kills all the Ra'Zac like they were babies. Know what that means? It means that there is zero chance for Brisingr to ever be made into a movie, which I suppose is good so they can't ruin it. Don't see this movie. Just..please...don't see it.… Expand

It's Lord of the Rings without the depth, or Star Wars without the sense of adventure. Either way the film is awful. The book might interest some people, but stay far away from this movie.

Nice sfx effects but hell, it was written by a kid!!! It's obvious he only had 2 influences: Harry Potter books and the movie Dragonheart, which was good.

This film was terrible and nothing like the books at all - if they released a book of the sequel I wouldn't even waste money to see it.

This was the best movie that I have seen in a long time. I dont know why everyone says that it was, "Written by a teenager and its terrible." This was a great movie, and I rented it again just so I could see the details better. There should be movies of all of the other books that Christopher Paolini wrote. BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!! :)

When compared to the book, 2 stars, when not, 4 stars. Compared to the book, it really stinks. The only good thing about it was the aerial battle and the Keep Holding On song. The only worthy actors would be the ones who played Brom (altough I think he should have looked older), Durza, Murtagh, and Ajihad. I hope they remake the film to where it is very faithful to the book (which would be at least 3 hours long). Although I would like to do the script for it as well as the sequels myself. Hopefully I will and give you all those films the way they should be.… Expand

I read the books and fell in love with them. I was very excited when I found out that there was a movie about it. After I had watched I could tell the major difference between the two but it wasn't horrible. You shouoold let the movie stand on its own, away from the books, or you will have a very longwinded argument about all the things that were missing. It was a fun movie with awsome effects and I think it need some credit. So, well done.… Expand

The effects in this film, especially the work on the dragon Saphira, are impressive. That's it. Everything else is insufferable. The storyline was created by a kid in his early teens and it shows. The acting can only be called that at a push but, to be fair, they don't have much to work with.The characters they were trying to portray were extremely bland and there was very little character development. I'd love to say that this film would be better if you'd read the book, but I have read the book and it doesn't help. My basic point is that if you don't want to launch a serious attack on your brain cell count, avoid this film at all cost.… Expand

The writer and director of this movie need to burn in hell for the abomination that they have unleashed upon the earth. (sounds pretty epic, doesn't it, lol).

Eragon is a movie to be shamed of!Even the mediocrity of the overrated novel feels like a masterpiece after viewing this.The only feature that attracts some attention is the inspired "dragon" visuals that accompany it.Horrible acting,John Makcovich is a shadow of himself,nothing seperates him from the other so called protagonists.Jeremy Irons is like a breeze of fresh air in the stink this film produces!… Expand

This movie disgusted me. I am a huge fan of the books, and noone will read the books should they see the movie first. Key characters and plots are non-existent. Plot elements are entirely made up. The only redeeming features are decent special effects.This movie should be remade by a competent director.

I am a big fan of the book and I enjoyed it and I was excited to hear that a movie adaptation was to be released. I watched it the opening day and I was somewhat dissapointed. What I found most annoying about the movie is its large differences between the book. But that counted for only about one-twelvth of my final decision of how good or bad the movie itself was. There was few let downs but all in all, the movie wasn't as bad as what most people are saying it is.… Expand

The worst atrocity I have ever seen in any context anywhere. Violently rapes the source novels of all redeeming features, resulting in atrocities that make the Harry Potter movies look completely faithful and loyal to the underlying novels. Not only is the film itself atrocious, the degree to which it disgraces the novels is unparalleled.

I've read the book. It was alright, it had a poorly written storyline and most the characters were very unimaginative but it kept me interested for me to finish it. The movie is awful without a doubt. It ripped out and changed most of the storyline and made it even worse than the book, well it doesn't actually follow the book's storyline very well. The storyline wasn't the only thing changed though. Some of the characters have been screwed up. Aren't the Ra'zac supposed to have beaks and are strong and not killed by Eragon? Forgive me if i made a mistake, its been a long time since i've read the book. The entire movie felt very rushed too.… Expand

Ok, I expected nothing from this movie. Actually, I thought it'd be horrible. But to my surprise I thought it was pretty solid. The weakest link is the acting by "Eragon". But the rest of the cast was decent. I was actually touched by the story. I didn't read the book, so I couldn't care less if it did the book justice. Put it this way, it's not Return of the Jedi, but the are a lot of sci fi flicks out there that are MUCH worse than this. Writing and score were also quite solid. If you like D & D, video games and that sort of thing, I think you'll appreciate this one...it's at least worth a rent.… Expand

The movie was awful, and the book wasn't far behind. I get a huge kick out of all these people who think "awesome" constitutes a well thought out review of anything. Highly derivative is also being charitable. The story is poorly written newsgroup-class tripe. They hand a poorly done story to a director who is out of his depths from the first scene and they expect a good movie from this utter mess?… Expand

I absolutely loved this movie! Almost everyone around me hated it (for some bizarre unknown reason). But I was very entertained.

Eragon is one of my favorite books and when I heard that they were making a movie, I wasnt expecting much, considering most films generally arent very good. Not very good is an understatement for this film. Not only does it not follow the book in any sense of the word, even if you are not a fan of the series, Eragon is still a very,very, disgustingly bad movie. I cant even begin to list the inaccuracies. One of the Ra'zac is killed by Eragon wielding a stick, nearly half the book is basically skipped. But my favorite part is at the end when Eragon fights Durza. Instead of having a sword duel, like in the book, Durza summons some dark cloud thing with a mouth on it. I guess the director thought it would be cool to have an air battle with Saphira and the cloud. That, on top of bad acting, and really cheesy moments all add up to a really bad movie. Avoid.… Expand

To me, Eragon is one of the best books i ever read, so when i heard they were making a movie, I was extremely excited. But after i saw it, I nearly puked at how bad it was. What happened to the dwarves? Why do the urgals look like that? The Ra'zac turned from powerful hunters into mindless monsters which at one point, Eragon killed one with a tree branch. I bet the director ripped random pages out of the book, and threw them off an apartment. Whatever he found was in the movie. This movie was a terrible disapointment, especially to fans. It still gets a 3 because of the special effects, the locations, and Jeremy irons was pretty good. Its not often that the best book ever turns into the worst movie ever, but this one rises to the challenge.… Expand

As most of the reviews state: Do NOT watch this movie if you have read the book. Period. However, if you have never heard of the tale of Eragon, or just like dragons its worth a single watch. No replay value whatsoever, an extremely unsatisfying ending, and (butchered) boring story.

I really hated this movie. i really did. i read the book and it was awesome, but then the director and the terrible acting and fight scenes destroyed it. seriously, they took out at least ten to fifteen chapters out of the whole book to make to movie. lame acting, lame dialogue, the only good thing was the special effects. please, for your own sake don't see it. Please.

I'm really surprised this movie has been panned by both critics and viewers alike. I went into it with low expectations, thought the name was a bit silly for a start. I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie was pure fantasy escapism and thoroughly entertained me. Irons, Carlyle and Malkovich provided much needed acting mettle to counter the younger actors learning their trade but people need to remember this is at heart a kids / teen movie. I'm much older than many that have commented here (in my mid 30's) but having enjoyed it myself I'm pretty confident families with children over 10 would enjoy it too.… Expand

I gotta tell ya. I read this book and i can find hardly any likeness to the book at all. The book was great, the movie was horrible. They replaced the urgals with fat bald men. The replaced the dwarves with black people. They skipped at least twenty or so chapters. In fact, the only thing I can actually say that the movie adapted from the book was the names of people and places. When I saw this movie I wasn't expecting Lord of the Rings quality, but for god's sake man at least try to keep to the original. It seems like they took the pages of the book, ripped them out, let them soak in water for a while, then threw them at a pile of glue. Whatever stuck and whatever they could read is what went into the movie, and they blatantly made up the rest.… Expand

This movie was trash. the acting was horrible, especially from the main 'hero.' it didn't help that he was totally unlikable to boot. the only reason this doesn't get a zero is that the dragon had character and Jeremy Irons didn't suck too bad.

Take the best book ever written take almost everything (invluding some of the main important characters which ruined its chance for a sequel) and put in flashy lights What the hell were they thinking that nobody read the book seriously this movie was horrible

The movie sucked. I don't think the director read the book. The director managed to remove everything good from the book and put in scenes that sucked. This was the worst movie of my life! A total waste of money. Who the heck made the script? Whoever it was, the person was a dope to cut out every single good part from the book! What happened to the urgals' horns? What happened to the deserted city? I just hope the movie director will finally decide to read Eldest and Eragon to make the second movie.… Expand

What Happened to half the book where they where meant to go to some harbour town and what happened to GOOD acting? I still can't believe i kept watching it to the end. PLEASE DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS ME.

Personally, I think this movie topped lord of the rings. It's not nearly as cliche and includes more fantasy. At least the main character isn't as hopelessly helpless and frodo was.

Okay, as a 13-year-old fanatic of the Eragon book and sequel, Eldest, that was honestly one of the worst book remakes I've ever seen in my life. Completely ignores so much of the important points, and tries to fill it in with horrible acting. I was slightly impressed of the special effects. My recommendation is, if you have not read the book, rent it if there are no other movies at blockbuster. If you have read the book, don't even bother looking at it, it just downright sucks.… Expand

If you've read the book, DO NOT watch this movie. I had the highest expectations for this movie after I read the books. I was severely disappointed. Saphira was the best part of the film. This is the biggest piece of crap I've ever seen. Christopher Paolini should sue the crap out of whoever was in charge of this movie.

I thought the book was pretty good but the movie sucks it left out so much and most if not all the characters look different then is described by the book

This has got to be the worst movie make of a book ever made. The ONLY similarities is the names and the the plot, re-written into 300 words! All the details were left out, the acting could be done buy a grade 8 media arts class and the special effects could have been done buy a nerd in grade 10. I have read the books and they are catchy but the movie destroys every fragment of goodness that was in the book. Actually the movie shouldn't even be associated with the book. Maybe the writers of the movie should have read the book before they wrote the script. I had to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.… Expand

This movie left so much out from the book, yet I just can't give it anything less than a 7. Still, I cannot believe how much they cut out from the book; I mean they might as well have called the movie "Saphira".

This movie was a disappointment to every Eragon and Eldest fan. I don't see why you would make a movie based on a book and then make it look like a student film written by a terrible Fan fiction writer. I think it was the worst movie I've seen by far.

I hate this movie, I had so huge expectaions for ths film and after the 5 first minutes I just needed a break, and after I finished it Ii felt that the good feeling I had from the book was completely washed away by this extremely bad movie, and a bad design error on Saphira, she is a dragon, she don't have feathers, she has scales and a thin skin on her wings, not feathers, I had to laugh when I saw it.… Expand

It is unfortunate when a mediocre book that gets popularity solely from less-than-avid readers is made into a film. Eragon is one of the worst of such films, failing to inspire like the far superior "Lord of the Rings", lacking both original plot and compelling action. Purely derivative and a waste of 2 hours. Just watch LOTR3 again.

I read the book, and I think it was ok even though there where absolutely no new ideas in it. So I went to see the movie. They could just as well have called the movie DRAGON WARS! return of the ridder! It has nothing to do with the book, and the actors where porbably found in a dumpster. This movie is worse than bad and there is no reason to waste money on it. Btw how come hes the only one with clean cloth? Even after a huge battle??… Expand

I knew how bad the reviews were, and I had read the book, which was such an obvious rip off of other fantasies that it would probably lose a purgery lawsuit. But despite this, I decided to give it a chance. My attention span lasted a surprising one hour before I finally got up and walked away, with the sounds of this terrible movie at my back. I wish I could call it a decent kids movie, but I can't imagine any kid that wouldn't be bored to tears by this flick. It has no redeeming qualities at all. The special effects were even dull. If I could go back in time, only once, to do just one thing, it would be to hunt down the kid who wrote this (Paolini or something), and burn every scrap of his book before it could be published, so I could get back all the time I wasted reading and watching this atrociously bad story.… Expand

TERRIBLE!!! It has nothing to do with the book except for the names of the characters and throws the plot out the window! Tthe dialogue was cheesy, the directing terrible. The only possitive point was the way the dragon looked. All in all a terrible movie that deserves to be toasted by the dragon, if I was Christopher Poalini I would commit suicide for having my book portrayed in that matter!

Anyone who has read the books should agree, this is crud. It doesn't hardly follow the story at all - there is NO history and there is no reason to watch it. We should all ban together and get someone to make a movie that's accurate. I don't care if it's 6 hours long; that's what I want to see. I just cannot understand the mentality of the director and writers. What the heck is going on? It's RIDICULOUS how the movie turned out. It's way too short even with all the stuff out of it. It's just junk. True fans will not like this movie at all. It was very hard to actually watch the whole thing.… Expand

The movie was good, but if you want movies that follow the book, this is not your movie. They had great effecs, and the actors did the best they could with what they were given. Over all, i think it was a great movie (even though it was not true to the book) and it is worth buying.

Not as bad as review would suggest, but Eragon suffers from poor direction. The storytelling is mediocre, and the director has no grasp on emotions or character development. Fangmeier an FX guy, so the film looks good, but his lackluster direction leaves the film in an awkward grey spot. Sure, the novel, which i haven't read, won't win the pulitzer prize, but there no denying that Fangmeier failed to bring out the best in it. Eragon still makes passable fantasy entertainment, but you can't help but feel a bit frustrated that better direction could've made this a fire-breathing smash instead of a mediocre stumble.… Expand

Yeah, its definately a Star Wars plot plopped into the LOTR world, but its worth checking out. The actors are pretty decent, the dragon is wonderful, and the plot? Well, its a fun fantasy epic sure to entertain.

Cheezy sets, nice acting, great visuals, interesting story, and better than the reviewer's say. My sister would really enjoy this one because its meant to be a kids film.

This movie was fantastic! I have never read the book myself, but I still expected this movie to be one of the best films of the year; and it was! The only problem was that it was a little too fast.

It's decent fun if you like this sort of movie, not the "worst movie ever". It's not going to win over anyone who does not go out of their way to watch movies with dragons and magic. I actually felt that it was too short, not enough time for any kind of character development, and the last 30 minutes feels super rushed. Good for kids and people who like kids' movies The first hour story is Star Wars, the last half hour is Lord of the Rings, but both not done nearly as well.… Expand

The positive points are for the dragon CGI. The actual telling of the story itself was horrendous. I probably would have read the book long ago if the movie hadn't tainted the story for me.

I don't know why all the critics ripped this movie apart. No, it won't win any awards, but it was an ok movie. As far as comparisons to LoTR, it was nothing like those movies, I liked it better than LoTR, but then again, I'm not one of those geeks that thinks hobbits and elves are awesome!

I wish I hadn't been initially swayed by all the bad reviews for this movie. I watched it recently, and I didn't think it was all that bad. It's not the best movie out there, and it certainly doesn't stack up to any of the Lord of The Rings movies, but it was okay as entertainment for a lazy sunday afternoon. It reminded me a lot of the older fantasy movies from the 1980's.… Expand

Shocking movie. No sense of scale. No sense of danger. Huge holes in the story. A confusing mess. Not sure why I watched to the end, it certainly didn't get any better.

I read the two books that are out... its not even close to the true story. Yes, the effects are nice, and the relation dragon-rider is well portraited, but the story is confusing, far tru from the original and very melodramatic. Yuck!!!

Possibly the worst, and I mean THE worst movie I have ever seen. This is what happens when you take completely inexperienced actors/ director/ everything and give them movie equipment. My 12 year old brother has made better movies than this. I give one single point for the special effects, which were sub-par, but still the best part of what I don't even want to call a movie.

This is the most derivative piece of crap ever. Not only awful, but glaringly unoriginal in its slavish copying from other films in the genre. I was surprised that Peter Jackson et al. didn't sue the pants off of the makers of "Eragon," until I realized that they probably did not want to draw a comparison between their work and what is a truly painfully awful film.

Very bad movie, a lot of info was not included, after reading the book it was horrible to watch. I would rate it the worst movie of 2006.

What happens when you take a dull, embarrassingly awful, and all but plagiarized book and transform it into a movie? You get a dull, embarrassingly awful, and all but plagiarized movie. I'm not surprised at all. Paolini's vision has finally come to fruition, and you can smell it from miles away.

If the rating was on here, I would have given this movie a -10. Both my husband and I have read Eragon, and Eldest. Like one person said, it was torture sitting though the movie. Especially when you know what's supposed to happen. Not only was the story line wrong, but so were the characters. Uh, Arya had black hair, not reddish blonde, and they didn't even bother to make her look like an elf. Saphira having feathers??? And growing up while flying in a lightning storm? Look, I know that they have to pace the story but come on! Not only was the story line botched beyond repair, but I felt like the movie was on fast foward the whole time. What happened to the dwarves? They are kind of important in the next book...and so are the elves, but we didn't see them either. This movie was the saddest attempt for a book-to-movie that I have ever seen in my life, and being that I rather enjoyed the books, I'm pretty pissed.… Expand

The movie was a horrible attempt to bring a book and a magical world to the theaters. Making a book into a movie is ussualy never succesful and this movie took all the don't and put them there. They changed the story line, cut too many events, rushed into teh action and basicaly destroyed an authors work.

After reading Eragon and Eldest, I was amazed that a teenager had come up with the idea. When I heard that Eragon was coming to the big screen, I was ecstatic! Never once in my life have I been so disappointed by a movie - or anything, for that matter. The books were amazing, and well written, even if so many of the ideas came from other stories. It was original. The movie, though, was a bunch of ugly make-up, horrible animation, and bunch of downright horrible, unbelievable actors running around trying to save the world with their corny phrases. I did, though, enjoy TWO (yes, two) parts. A) Sapphira B) You know, where it said 'THE END'.… Expand

Wow, the acting was terrible.

After reading Eragon, and seeing the movie, I would say the movie was horrible. There was such detail in the book, and in the movie the completely mixed up the order of events, left out important parts from the book. The one good thing I saw is that they showed most of the characters. All in all I think the movie was horrible, and to just read the books.

I have read both books (Eragon and Eldest) and enjoyed both of them. I was curious to see what they would do with the film. After seeing it, I was extremely disappointed. There were quite a few parts that I enjoyed of the book, but they were either changed, or just left out! Even though a film of the whole book would be quite long, if you want to do something, do it properly! At least Saphira was cute for a while.… Expand

This movie was a terrible attempt to bring a gorgeously written book to the screen. The dialogue was butchered and the only thing worth watching was Saphira, an impressive work of computer animation...except that Saphira had feathers on her wings. The original storyline was ripped to shreds by this pitiful rendition. There were so many awkwardly-phrased lines that would go over the head of smaller children. However, when Eragon shouted out "I have skills!" I couldn't help myself and just indulged in a full-on laugh. Had they changed the name of the movie, I truly would have believed them to be a separate movie. The characters portrayed little interaction, and suddenly relationships seemed to appear out of nowhere. I hated this movie for ruining these beautiful little books.… Expand

I have read both of the books Eragon and Eldest by: Christopher Paolini, and I have to say the movie is the saddest attempt to make ae book real I have ever seen. I was initially excited to see the book come to life, but now I immensly regret ever seeing it because if I ever decide to re-read the book, I will constantly have images in my head of the horrid rendition of the book. I only give the movie a 1 because of the cgi in it because that was probably the only part of the entire movie they even bothered to make sure it wasn't horrible. If i can say anything to people about the movie is just don't go waste time and money to see this movie because it is just a bunch of butchered, scenes and acting thrown together to try and make a movie which doesn't work at all.… Expand

I didn't read the book. I suspect that, if I had, I'd be a lot more ticked off this morning than I am. It's pleasant, diversionary entertainment. It's also an annoying little film. Annoying because, in the midst of the chopped and hacked sequences, the ham-fistedly filmed action scenes, the corn-pone dialogue, the 103-minute running time, is a strong, likable, interesting, and fleshed out 145-minute film just dying to have been made.… Expand

I fully agree with Mike S. This movie was beyond terrible. It was a torture for me to sit through, as I knew what was actually supposed to happen. They deviated from the original storyline so much it was painful. The creators have literally shot themselves in the foot, as it will now be completely impossible to make the second installment without COMPLETELY changing the storyline. I had to force myself to sit through to the end, and it took a great deal of effort to not yell out profanity at some stages. I have the most minimal skill with films and making them, but even I would have done a much better job of this movie (with a bit of help, of course). I would recomend the author of the books to sue the pants off of these fools.… Expand

After reading the reviews from both critics and viewers I felt I had to add my say. I liked this movie. My 6 year old son was frightened by some of the images, but it is generally an entertaining movie. More exciting than Narnia. It seemed like a definite mix of LOTR, Star wars, & Narnia. Would definitely see a sequel. God's Speed Eragon!

I read both Eragon and Elder which I enjoyed, but the movie was terrible. I have never seen such a great story butchered so badly. What a waste of time and film.

I was very disgusted with this movie. Nothing like the book. Bad acting, bad attempt to make it like the book. Tried to copy lotr but couldn't cause it sucked so bad. Easily the worst film of the year in my opinion.

Ha! My 5 yr. old son was so bored he asked if we could leave! I was willing to hang around until the battle, but we didn't. Cool maggotts on the bad guys heads, though, eh?

Probably the worst movie of 2006. I'm somewhat of a fantasy fan, but this was utterly disappointing. The director either had no sense of pacing or intentionally made this movie for those with startlingly short attention spans. Things that should take days, weeks, months or even years happen instantly. First we have the cute little CGI dragon hatchling Awww...but we need a big dragon for the rest of the story. Hmm...well we'll just make it instantly mature. Ta Da! Then we have Obi Wan, oops, I mean Brom try to teach young Eragon the ways of magic, but that might take awhile so instead we'll just have Eragon mysteriously discover how to do magic on his own. Gee that was easy. Everything here happens quick and easy. There's no sense that the hero makes any serious effort to do anything. He's constantly wanting to take on platoons of ravenous bad guys and we're supposed to swallow this as a bit of characterization. Hmm...what a brash young hothead our hero is...but then he dispatches the hordes without breaking a sweat. He's not brash--a kindergartener armed with nothing but a Duncan yo-yo would have a pretty good chance against those pathetic enemies.… Expand

Well, I didn't read the book and after this, I most likely will not ever pick up a copy. It was a want-to-be LOTR with a little SW mixed in. It didn't succeed. Leave alone the terrible SFX and the non-existing story, the dialogues were beyond frustrating. Nothing in this movie made sense and it felt rushed, put together as if chronology doesn't matter and sold it as an unfinished product. Nothing in this thing is believable or entertaining. Just throwing in some British actors to pretend to have some class is just not cutting it. It doesn't even hold its own as a copy of LOTR, because the writing is simply too bad. There's nothing redeeming about this and I will not go and see the sequel (if there ever is one). If there was such a thing a as minus rating, I would gladly use that.… Expand

I thought the movie was good, if you read the book then i can see why you wouldn't like it. I read the book and i still enjoyed the film. Even though it didn't follow the book i think it made the story come to life. The acting was good and Saphira was amazing. Go see it if you like fantasy.

This film appeared to be a storyboard with no connecting events. Movies based on comics have richer plots than this novel turned comic strip. The director of this train wreck should go get a real job. Again Hollywood insults its customers by putting out material unfit for DVD.

This movie's a joke. I can handle the fact that it take 's it's plot lines from SW, HP and LOTR, I can handle the fact that the movie's special effects are frustratingly armature, I can handle the fact that the plot makes no sense and there is way too many dragon fights, what I can't handle is the fact that it has an decent script written for it in the book Eragon, yet it's dialogue is embarrassingly laughable. Unless you are a nine year old who likes dragons and wouldn't know a good movie unless it hit them in the face, AVOID THIS MOVIE. Whoever got paid to make this pile of poo should be charged with fraud.… Expand

When I saw this movie I thought, "wow, this is a good movie." But after reading the book, I was completely disappointed. They left out a lot of good things and turned, what could have been a good movie, into a horrible one. With a great book like Eragon, it was really disappointing to have a movie like this. I feel really bad for the author of this book, but oh well. I guess if you haven't read the book, then you'll like the movie.… Expand

This movie was a total disgrace. A butchering to a book. I don't understand how someone could let them butcher there book like that. It was a absolutely horrible piece of cinema. Wish I could have that hour and a half of my life back.

Every bit as good as Alien Vs Predator. Take a great IP, destroy it with cheesy dialogue, slow-motion fire sequences, and horrible acting, and you have Eragon the movie--loosely based on the best-selling book.

Take Lord of the Rings, remove the originality, add bad acting, plot inconsistency, and horrid dialog and you get Eragon.

The pacing, acting, cinematography, and writing to this movie borders on atrocious. Someone call up George Lucas, I think he'll want his cut from this baby.

Not a bad movie... not a great one either. like most book-turned-movie movies, it doesn't quite justify the book. it was short, had some ho-hum acting, and only a few good moments. but, its definitely something to see on a snowy christmas eve-eve.