Pendragon: The Sword of His Father (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Artos Pendragon, captured by the barbaric Saxons as a young man, only has one goal in mind: to save his home, the Isle of Britannia, from the invading Saxon forces as the Dark Ages fall upon ancient Europe.  Afforded the opportunity to escape his captors, he is helped by a mysterious seer who reminds him of his family’s Christian heritage and gives him a new hope by telling him to go to a fortress city on the island where King Ambrosia is building a new army to beat back the Saxons from their nation.  Artos begins a new life there are refocuses on the vision God has laid upon his heart: free the people of Britannia from the Saxon oppression.  Little does he know the intrigue, conspiracy, and battles that await him.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

For a very low budget production, Pendragon does the best it can with what it has.  The Burns production crew was quite inexperienced at this point, so they must be given a chance.  The production quality improves as the movie progresses, including the video quality and the camera work.  Some of the battles scenes are well done, but some are not.  The costuming and the sets are very complex and should be applauded when the small budget is considered.  The overarching issue with Pendragon’s production is the large amount of poorly overdubbed lines that are inserted into many outdoor scenes.  Overall, in their debut film, the Burns crew has shown that they have a lot of potential and can do even better with more funding.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

The plot of Pendragon is extremely complex.  In a noble effort to avoid narration, there are a lot of understated elements that need to be explored more.  Though the film is over two hours, it could have been longer due to the sheer amount of content that is portrayed.  Multiple characters have interesting arcs that need to be further developed.  This is not a simple action plot, as it is filled with twists and turns.  The ending is justified due to its historical genre.  Overall, the driving point of the film needs to be better highlighted and the plot needs to be expanded, if at all possible.  Once again, this is difficult to do without proper funding, and Box Office Revolution feels that Burns did the best they could with what they had.

Acting Quality (.5 point)

This is the most detracting element of the movie.  If the acting was improved, this movie would greatly improve.  It is evident that many of the main actors are members of the production crew and that this is their first major acting venture.  While there is little to no acting coaching and the best actor has a very small role in the film, they must once again be given clemency, given that they had little money to work with.

Conclusion

Pendragon has a mammoth potential, enough to be a two-part epic movie or multi-part miniseries, due to its highly complex plot and untapped character arcs.  But alas, poor funding often derails great intentions in the world of independent Christian film-making.  However, the good news is that Burns did not settle for less in their sophomore film, Beyond the Mask, which indicates that we can expect even greater things from them in the near future.  The Christian movie scene desperately needs studios like the Burns, who will flip the script and bring new genres of Christian films to the table.

 

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 10 points

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February 4, 2016January 18, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Action Adventure, Historical, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2008, 4.5 points, Aaron Burns, Action Adventure, Adrianne Burns, Andrew Burns, Brian Ervin, Burns Family Studios, Chad Burns, Erik Dewar, Historical, Howard Shepherd, Inspirational, Marilyn Burns, Nathan Ashton, Nicolas Burns, Raymond Burns, Rebekah Wixom, Tim Quinlan, Wally Patton 8 Comments