With fantasy shows like Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon competing for attention in the ever-growing pop culture landscape, that can only mean one thing: Dragons have returned. The scaled, fire-breathing beasts feature in both series (especially the latter, given its title), and have been the focus of many films over the years. Whether they're friend or foe, putting a dragon in a film or TV show is bound to capture the attention of your intended audience. So without further ado, here are ten films that feature a dragon at the center of their story.
Reign of Fire (2002)
While dragons are normally a staple in fantasy stories, Reign of Fire takes things one step further by having them be the cause of a post-apocalyptic war film. The winged beasts are hibernating in Rob Bowman's film until an unlucky construction crew wakes them up. Years later, Quinn Abercromby (Christian Bale) joins forces with American soldier Denton Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) to slay the dragons that dwell in London. Though Reign of Fire received a mixed critical and commercial reception, it had one unique effect on future portrayals of dragons - namely, the way they breathe fire by producing a highly flammable liquid from glands in their throat. The stars would later go on to do more successful movies, as Bale donned Batman's cape for Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and Gerard Butler would star in 300.
Dragonheart (1996)
Dragonheart is probably the movie that people think of when they think of dragons. It's not hard to see why: how many dragons are voiced by Sean Connery? But the former 007 isn't the only draw of Dragonheart - Dennis Quaid cuts a noble figure as the dragonslayer turned hero Sir Bowen and Harry Potter alum David Thewlis is appropriately menacing as the main villain Einon. Even go-to bad guy Jason Issacs shows up as Einon's slimy second-in-command Lord Felton. Dragonheart has become a cult classic due to its unabashed embrace of the fantasy genre and even boasts one of the most realistic-looking dragons in Draco as the same technology used in Jurassic Park was used to animate him. It's even spanned a few direct to DVD sequels, though none of them come close to the original's majesty.
How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
DreamWorks Animation has produced a number of hit animated films, including the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda franchises, but their crown jewel has to be How To Train Your Dragon. Taking place in the Viking age, the film follows Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), who lives in the village of Berk and yearns to fight dragons alongside his fellow teenagers. Things change when he encounters a rare Night Fury dragon; Hiccup bonds with the dragon, naming it "Toothless", and soon the pair must fight to save all of Berk from the dragon known as the Red Death.
What really makes How To Train Your Dragon stand out is the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup. Both characters are essentially outcasts in their respective communities; Hiccup isn't much of a fighter and Toothless turns out to be very expressive which marks a contrast to the "unholy offspring of lightning and death" that the other Vikings believe Night Furies to be. That friendship has lasted through two sequels and even given birth to the spinoff series Dreamworks Dragons.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Other films have followed in the footsteps of How To Train Your Dragon by forming a relationship between the dragon and the hero/heroine of the story. Disney seems to excel at this, first with Mulan and Mushu (Eddie Murphy) and last year's animated action fantasy adventure Raya and the Last Dragon. When the land of Kumandra is ravaged by the malevolent Drunn, the dragon Sisu (Awkwafina) uses her magic to repel them - leading the people of Kumandra to split into five tribes. And when the Heart tribe is attacked by the others, shattering the gem, the last remaining member Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) embarks on a journey to find the shattered pieces.
At its core, Raya and the Last Dragon is a story about trust: how easy it is to lose it, and how hard it is to build it up. Raya makes new friends along the way, each from a different tribe, and learns to trust in them. And Sisu learns to trust in her own power, as she feels that her siblings were far stronger dragons than she was. Combined with the action-adventure elements - a rarity in Disney's non-Star Wars and Marvel films - and the influence of South Asian culture, Raya is definitely worth a watch.
The Neverending Story (1984)
Even if you've never seen The Neverending Story, chances are you've seen it referenced in one way or another. TV shows from Family Guy to Stranger Things have included shoutouts to this fantasy epic, which is chock-full of iconic characters and imagery. It centers on Bastian (Barret Oliver), a shy boy who discovers the titular tome and starts to read about the journey of Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) as he seeks to cure the Childlike Empress and stop the oppresive forces of Nothing from overwhelming his home of Fantasia. However, Bastian soon shifts from reader to hero as the Empress calls him to Fantasia to stop the Nothing.
The Neverending Story serves as a testament to the power of imagination. Whole sequences feature Bastian running to read the book whenever he gets the chance, tucked away inside of his school's attic with an apple and a flashlight as he flips through the pages. And it's not a magic sword or object that saves the day - it's his imagination. Recently, The Neverending Story has become the subject of a rights battle, proving that this story will continue to capture the imaginations of audiences for years to come.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
In the decades since his inception, Godzilla has battled a number of Kaiju - but there are none more menacing than the three-headed monstrosity King Ghidorah. Director Michael Dougherty put his own spin on the eternal Kaiju rivalry with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as Ghidorah is awakened and challenges Godzilla for Titan supremacy. Dougherty made the unique choice to give each of Ghidorah's heads its own personality; two of them are sinister and calculating while the third has to literally be beaten into focus.\
But more than that, the imagery in the film is utterly awe-inspiring. Scenes feature Godzilla craning his neck to fire his atomic breath into the sky, and Ghidorah stands upon a mountain while volcanic fire and ash rage around him. This was intentional on Dougherty's part, as he wanted these creatures to emit a Godlike presence. "Primitive man saw these creatures, and you want to give them a presence that would make him drop to his knees and bow to this god," he said in an interview - potentially foreshadowing the ending where the other Titans bow to Godzilla after he slays Ghidorah. And though Ghidorah perished, his spirit would return to haunt Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong as one of his skulls was used to power MechaGodzilla.
Dragonslayer (1981)
Dragonslayer joins Dragonheart in the 'cult classic' camp, and more than lives up to its name. Galen (Peter MacNicol) is the apprentice to the sorcerer Ulrich (Ralph Richardson). Galen is chosen to kill the malevolent dragon Vermithrax Pejorative, who threatens the kingdom of Urland. But Urland has more problems than a dragon to deal with, as its king Casiodorus (Peter Eyre) offers up virgins to appeals Vermithrax and his Royal Guard is little more than a collection of bullies and killers. Unlike other fantasy films, it's not the knight who kills the dragon - it's the sorcerer (rather fitting as director Matthew Robbins and co-writer Hal Barwood drew inspiration from 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment of Fantasia. Vemirthrax has also gained a reputation as one of the most influential dragons in fiction, as Guillermo del Toro and George R.R. Martin have sung his praises.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Marvel Studios's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings pits Simu Liu's titular Master of Kung Fu against a number of opponents, including his estranged father Wenwu (Tony Leung). Wenwu re-enters Shang-Chi's life when he says that he's heard the voice of his deceased wife Ying Li (Fala Chen), and that the answer to resurrecting her lies in Li's ancestral home of Ta Lo. However, Wenwu is being tricked by a malicious creature known as the Dweller-In-Darkness, which seeks to be freed from its prison and can only be stopped by the dragon known as the Great Protector. The Great Protector itself is a massive dragon with glowing white scales; not only does it fit in with the other mythological animals that populate Ta Lo, but its scales are used to make armor and weapons for Shang-Chi to use to battle Wenwu. Plus seeing a superhero using martial arts to defeat a soul-killing dragon is nothing short of awesome.
Pete’s Dragon (2016)
The live-action Disney remakes have inspired a wealth of conversation; some people enjoy them, others find them to be unnecessary. But almost everyone agrees that David Lowery's take on Pete's Dragon is worth the watch. Like the original film, Lowery's take focuses on the relationship between teenager Pete (Oakes Fegley) and the dragon Elliott. But it also deals with the trauma Pete suffered after a car crash took his parents' lives. It's rare for a kid's film, and a Disney film at that, to tackle such sensitive material but Lowery handles it with ease. The star-studded cast, which includes Bryce Dallas Howard and Karl Urban, as well as the dreamlike sequences in which Elliott appears, also feel like a test run for Lowery's dark fantasy The Green Knight.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
With The Rings of Power taking pop culture by storm, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's work have turned toward re-watching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films by Peter Jackson. These films serves as the entry point to Middle-earth for a lot of fans, and with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug a truly frightening figure was crafted in the dragon Smaug. Benedict Cumberbatch provided the voice and motion capture for the massive dragon, who is a terrifying sight to behold. Smaug slinks around his mountain of treasure, every word out of his mouth a sibilant hiss. And every conversation he has with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) will leave audiences on the edge of their seat. They'll even believe Smaug's proclamation at the end of the film, where he labels himself "fire and death" - a fitting title for a beast such as himself.