A Fantasy Favorite That Birthed a Bargain Bin Saga Sets Streaming Afire

The list of franchises to have carried on for decades you’ve got no idea still exist is a lot longer than anyone thinks – and some of them show no signs of ending, either – with 1996’s cult favorite fantasy Dragonheart definitely among them after it gave rise to no less than four direct-to-video sequels.

The opening installment isn’t exactly a cinematic classic, nor was it particularly well-received by critics at the time, but it still endures as a nostalgic throwback to much simpler times when the only thing a movie needed to secure an Academy Award nomination was Dennis Quaid sporting a horrendous “British” accent and the inimitably dulcet tones of Sean Connery being used to bring a dragon to life.

Dragonheart‘s Oscars nod for Best Visual Effects was well-deserved when Draco was one of the first major main characters created using CGI that wasn’t regularly terrible, and although it definitely doesn’t hold up when viewed through a modern lens, it was remarkable for the time. That being said, going up against Independence Day and Twister ensured it never really stood a chance of winning.

A New Beginning, The Sorcerer’s Curse, Battle for the Heartfire, and Vengeance are indeed successors to Dragonheart that exist, but for a lot of people it’s a strictly one-and-done saga. That possibly extends to streaming, too, after FlixPatrol revealed the OG as one of the most-watched titles on iTunes, with more than a quarter of a century doing nothing to dampen the warm and fuzzy glow of nostalgia that the medieval romp continues to deliver.

The list of franchises to have carried on for decades you’ve got no idea still exist is a lot longer than anyone thinks – and some of them show no signs of ending, either – with 1996’s cult favorite fantasy Dragonheart definitely among them after it gave rise to no less than four direct-to-video sequels.

The opening installment isn’t exactly a cinematic classic, nor was it particularly well-received by critics at the time, but it still endures as a nostalgic throwback to much simpler times when the only thing a movie needed to secure an Academy Award nomination was Dennis Quaid sporting a horrendous “British” accent and the inimitably dulcet tones of Sean Connery being used to bring a dragon to life.

Dragonheart‘s Oscars nod for Best Visual Effects was well-deserved when Draco was one of the first major main characters created using CGI that wasn’t regularly terrible, and although it definitely doesn’t hold up when viewed through a modern lens, it was remarkable for the time. That being said, going up against Independence Day and Twister ensured it never really stood a chance of winning.

A New Beginning, The Sorcerer’s Curse, Battle for the Heartfire, and Vengeance are indeed successors to Dragonheart that exist, but for a lot of people it’s a strictly one-and-done saga. That possibly extends to streaming, too, after FlixPatrol revealed the OG as one of the most-watched titles on iTunes, with more than a quarter of a century doing nothing to dampen the warm and fuzzy glow of nostalgia that the medieval romp continues to deliver.