Before Clayface, Tom Rhys Harries Was In A Little-Discussed Fantasy Movie With Patrick Stewart

There are five films in the "Dragonheart" film series. Yes, seriously. And yes, Tom Rhys Harries — the star of DC Studios' Batman-adjacent horror movie "Clayface" – plays a lead in the fourth of them, "Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire," opposite Patrick Stewart, who played the voice of Draco the dragon. No one talks about this movie (or any of the other "Dragonheart" sequels or prequels, either).

Some readers may recall Rob Cohen's original 1996 film "Dragonheart" with clarity. Dennis Quaid stars as Sir Bowen, a knight in the 10th Century who has sworn to hunt down and slay all the dragons. His quest is successful, and the bulk of the movie concerns Bowen's relationship to Draco (Sean Connery), the last living dragon. It's a fun flick, it made a decent chunk of change, and it was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. Most folks rank it among the best movies about dragons ever made.

What many readers may not know is that "Dragonheart" has one straight-to-home-media sequel and three straight-to-home-media prequels. "Dragonheart: A New Beginning" was released in 2000. That was followed by the prequel film "Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse" in 2015, "Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire" in 2017, and finally, "Dragonheart: Vengeance" in 2020. A different celebrity voiced the dragons in each of these films, with Robby Benson, Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart, and Helena Bonham Carter taking on various draconian roles.

Prior to "The Battle for the Heartfire," Harries had accrued several movie and TV series credits, having appeared on shows like "Parade's End," "Jekyll and Hyde," and "Midsomer Murders." A "Dragonheart" film was merely another tick on his resume. Meanwhile, for Stewart, it was likely an easily acquired paycheck, employing only a script, a recording booth, and a willingness to growl.

The story of "Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire" is, as many high fantasy stories are, incredibly complex. Tom Rhys Harries plays a character named Edric, one of a pair of twins, whose sister Mehgan is played by Jessamine-Bliss Bell. These kids are the grandchildren of characters named Gareth and Rhonu, who are played by Julian Morris and Tamzin Merchant in "Dragonheart 3." Merchant returns in "Heartfire," while Valeriu Bazu takes over the role of Gareth.

Those characters had a son named Walter (Turlough Convery), who, in turn, fathers the central twins in "Heartfire." Through a complex dragon-human magical interlinking that is common in the "Dragonheart" films, the twins are born with patches of dragon scales and mild superpowers. Edric is strong, and Mehgan is able to manipulate fire. Edric's heart is also magically bound to the dragon Drago (Patrick Stewart), which is bothersome, as Edric, when invited to sit on his grandfather's throne, proves to be a less-than-stellar king. He's arrogant. Meanwhile, Mehgan, raised separately, is full of hate and bitterness following an accidental act of childhood arson.

It should be noted that arrogant royals are a common enough feature in the "Dragonheart" movies. In the original "Dragonheart" film, Draco places half of his heart into a young prince, saving his life and magically binding them together (thus, when one dies, so goes the other). However, the young prince grows up to be a terrible tyrant that must be defeated, putting Draco's life at risk.

Here, though, we're meant to root for the initially arrogant Edric. The rest of the plot of "Heartfire" involves Vikings, a battle between Edric and Mehgan, and an extended period with Edric on the lam.

Gradually, Edric is humbled, and Mehgan, now in a position of power, becomes targeted by the vicious Thorgrim (André Eriksen) and his assistant Sable (Marte Germaine Christensen). Throughout the movie, the twins reveal their past, including the fact that they weren't raised together, and other dark secrets besides. That synopsis might make the film sound complex, but all that matters is that the twins reconcile and the villains are all defeated.

There aren't a lot of reviews for "Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire" out there. Common Sense Media praised the film's clarity but snickered a bit at its theatricality. Elsewhere, Nick Rogers of the Midwest Film Journal ranked all five of the "Dragonheart" movies and surprisingly put "Battle for the Heartfire" at #1, comparing the film favorably to "Game of Thrones." As he put it:

"With a duel for command, 'Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire' is the most overtly 'GoT'-like, but it avoids painting Edric or Mehgan as evil. Instead, they're equally vulnerable to influence, folly and tragedy, albeit along differing trajectories." 

Actual moral ambiguity? Clarity of storytelling? These are signals of basic quality in any movie, and it's nice to hear that a non-theatrical "Dragonheart" sequel, one released 21 years after the original film, can possess some actual acumen.

As for Tom Rhys Harries: the early critic reactions to "Clayface" have been largely positive, and the film itself looks pretty scary. No dragons, though.