I feel obligated to preface this review with a confession. Back in 1998, I not only saw the “”Godzilla”” remake in theaters, but later in the year I also asked for the VHS for Christmas. To this day, that VHS sits on my movie shelf, except for the occasional times when it is in my VCR.

That’s right, folks, I have a guilty pleasure for cheesy disaster movies.

This guilty pleasure led me to the movie theater Friday night, when I proudly purchased a ticket to “”Dragon Wars: D-War.”” I knew exactly what to expect, and I was not disappointed. As a matter of fact, I was a little bit surprised.

What I expected was a screenplay most likely written in a single day, horrible special effects, even more horrible acting and the complete devastation of a major U.S. city.

“”D-War”” delivered all of those things, with one exception: the special effects, to my great surprise, were excellent. The movie was a lot more epic than I expected it to be.

Movies like “”D-War”” are a bit of an anomaly. Their plotlines are too whimsical to be taken seriously – in “”D-War,”” the story is about a good mutant snake and a bad mutant snake, both trying to seize the power of heaven as it is manifested in a 20-year-old human girl. The power of heaven will allow one snake, and one snake only, to become an all-powerful dragon and live eternally. Hence, the war.

Oh yeah, and then there’s a bit of romance thrown in because there’s some dude trying to save the human girl from the dragons.

Even though the story is essentially one of good versus evil, it is too abstract to really get that message across. On the other hand, the fact that the film is done in live action with excellent special effects, rather than in animation, suggests some degree of seriousness. Because of this, it is difficult to decide how to react to it.

The dragons look pretty real – not as though animated by some 13-year-old kid with a knack for CGI. Though not as realistic as the “”Jurassic Park”” dinosaurs, the dragons are definitely scary enough to frighten an 8-year-old. The multiple scenes involving both the dragons and the U.S. military are solidly edited and looked believable enough to keep me from scoffing.

The film also has some epic moments. One scene at the beginning takes place in Korea and has some great shots of the country’s architecture. Near the end, there is a scene that looks like it takes place in Mordor, with cinematography reminiscent of the “”Lord of the Rings”” series.

“”D-War”” isn’t a movie that is made to win Oscars, nor is it a movie that is made to show off its moving storytelling methods. It is a movie that is made to entertain you and maybe make you laugh a little.

Or, perhaps, if you aren’t a fan of cheesy disaster movies, it is a movie made to inspire spoofs and ridicule.