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Post by tdenmark on Mar 20, 2023 0:00:23 GMT -6
D&D advanced screening was this weekend. Reviews are starting to pour in and they are surprisingly good. Currently 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
I'm still looking forward to it next weekend, and I'm glad I don't have to boycott it now that Hasbro backed down on their OGL shenanigans.
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 20, 2023 4:07:52 GMT -6
Yeah, I've enjoyed all of the previews and enjoy most Chris Pine movies, so I have great hopes for this. Also, I'm not a "rulebook" guy so I'm not as bothered by the owlbear thing as some others appear to be. My hope is to go see this with my gaming group.  |
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Post by jeffb on Mar 20, 2023 5:30:44 GMT -6
My wife and daughter saw the previews at another movie this past w/e and now want to see it. I'm flabbergasted. Any opportunity to push D&D on them is something I try to capitalize on, so I guess I'm going to go see it despite my apathy. But I've made it known to them I may be whining and commenting like a little beeatch as we watch |
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Post by rredmond on Mar 20, 2023 8:24:00 GMT -6
But I've made it known to them I may be whining and commenting like a little beeatch as we watch Ha ha, my friends call it "the Ron sigh" - the groan I let out (while we are watching the movie) that they know I don't like the movie.  |
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 20, 2023 13:01:41 GMT -6
Yeah, I've enjoyed all of the previews and enjoy most Chris Pine movies, so I have great hopes for this. Also, I'm not a "rulebook" guy so I'm not as bothered by the owlbear thing as some others appear to be. My hope is to go see this with my gaming group. While I'll appreciate if they hold to the spirit of the game, I wouldn't want to put rules shackles on the storytellers, it is hard enough to make a good movie. I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but I really hope this resonates with an audience because there are so many great movies to be made with the adventures of D&D. I'd even like to see a Dragonlance movie trilogy. I think Expedition to the Barrier Peaks would make an awesome sci-fantasy action adventure film! |
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Post by DungeonDevil on Mar 20, 2023 21:32:15 GMT -6
YAAAASSSS!  |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Mar 21, 2023 4:55:39 GMT -6
It looks like a fun comedy adventure film, I suppose. I guess the last two seasons of Game of Thrones screwed our last chance of ever getting serious fantasy on the screen again.
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 21, 2023 5:41:40 GMT -6
The wife and I saw it. We both really liked it. Yes, there's comedy, but it's the same type of comedy you get from banter at the game table - it's not a comedy movie. The comedy is never at inappropriate moments, and there are actually a few intense scenes and some heart-wrenching scenes as well. It's a fantasy adventure with comedic elements. It feels like a D&D game, from the quest down to the individual characters. This is the game where the player shows up with a 10-page background for his bard and the DM goes, "Yeah, I'm SO going to mess with you over this." The story meanders, but in exactly the same way a D&D game's story menaders. Yes, they take rules liberties, but they all work for the film, and none are really any worse than any houserules I've seen or used through the years. I'm not sure it will be a blockbuster hit, as there's a LOT of D&D-specific callbacks, but if we never get another, at least we finally got a worthy D&D film. I'm dismissive of the complaints that it's not grimdark from start to finish. We've had enough grimdark in our entertainment lately. Even the WILLOW series was grimdark. I'm glad to see something lighthearted for once. I've never sat at a D&D table that didn't see people joking and laughing (often in character) and if I did sit at one, I'd probably leave. D&D is a GAME. It's about having FUN. And this movie, in the end, is FUN. Also, the soundtrack is traditional symphonic music, not the modern music they have used in the trailers. If I DO have a complaint, it's that neither the druid nor the bard cast a single spell, and there are multiple instances where a cure wounds spell would come in handy. That being said, using a Wild Magic sorcerer took guts to do, and it's something that is only mentioned once, but actual D&D players paying close attention (and familiar with the concept of wild magic from later editions) will pick up on it. In the end, the cast is good, the story is good, the callbacks to D&D and the Forgotten Realms are EVERYWHERE but never forced, it's well-written, and it's fun to watch. It is, in the end, and finally, a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS MOVIE. For those interested without TOO much spoilery stuff, here's a list of the individual callbacks I caught that I can think of off the top of my head:
Icewind Dale
Neverwinter
Underdark (but sadly, no drow, duergar, or svirfneblin)
Sword Coast
Waterdeep (map reference)
Baldur's Gate (dialogue and map reference)
Harpers
Red Wizards of Thay
Emerald Enclave
Lord's Alliance
Mordenkainen (mentioned)
Halflings
Gnomes (mentioned)
Dwarves
Elves
Tieflings
Dragonborn
Bugbear
Black Dragon
Red Dragon (specifically Themberchaud)
Intellect Devourers
Displacer Beasts
Mimic
Gelatinous Cube
Lich
Revel's End
The Kids from the D&D Cartoon (all grown up)
A LITANY of spells
Magic User Concentration
That's just off the top of my head. I am 100% sure there's tons I am forgetting. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 21, 2023 5:44:19 GMT -6
Yeah, I've enjoyed all of the previews and enjoy most Chris Pine movies, so I have great hopes for this. Also, I'm not a "rulebook" guy so I'm not as bothered by the owlbear thing as some others appear to be. My hope is to go see this with my gaming group. While I'll appreciate if they hold to the spirit of the game, I wouldn't want to put rules shackles on the storytellers, it is hard enough to make a good movie. I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but I really hope this resonates with an audience because there are so many great movies to be made with the adventures of D&D. I'd even like to see a Dragonlance movie trilogy. I think Expedition to the Barrier Peaks would make an awesome sci-fantasy action adventure film! I can agree with this. I'd love to see a series of D&D movies made from the actual classic adventure modules, especially now that this film introduces general audiences to the tropes and concepts. It's a shame they never finished the animated Dragonlance trilogy after Dragons of Autumn Twilight - I mean, the awkward juxtaposition of traditional and 3D CGI animation didn't work for it, but the voice cast was great and the adaptation of the Autumn Twilight novel was well done. |
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Post by dicebro on Mar 21, 2023 5:56:41 GMT -6
I’d like to see a good production of Fafrd & the Mouser.
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 21, 2023 6:33:20 GMT -6
It looks like a fun comedy adventure film, I suppose. I guess the last two seasons of Game of Thrones screwed our last chance of ever getting serious fantasy on the screen again. When I was in high school I took a creative writing course, and one of the assignments was to make a short film. We got to see other projects from previous classes and they were all bad, but the also tried to be serious. My concept was to make something comedic with the notion that funny stuff would carry better than serious, since serious might come off as cheezy or stupid. Our film turned out good and the teacher used it as the classic example for years afterwords. In the same vein, I think that a totally serious D&D movie has the potential to come off as stupid, but throwing in comedy elements makes the thing fun and an audience can overlook the "bad" because of the "fun" part. |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Mar 21, 2023 7:14:45 GMT -6
In the same vein, I think that a totally serious D&D movie has the potential to come off as stupid, but throwing in comedy elements makes the thing fun and an audience can overlook the "bad" because of the "fun" part. I agree, judging by cinema history it seems to be more difficult making a good serious fantasy movie than an okay fantasy movie with funny bits. But, as life slips away at an accelerating pace, I am less willing to settle for less-than-my-ideal in terms of entertainment. I can dream!  |
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 21, 2023 11:06:46 GMT -6
Yeah, I've enjoyed all of the previews and enjoy most Chris Pine movies, so I have great hopes for this. Also, I'm not a "rulebook" guy so I'm not as bothered by the owlbear thing as some others appear to be. My hope is to go see this with my gaming group. I really like Chris Pine, in pretty much everything he's in (even that terrible Wonder Woman 1984 movie, he was ok in). I'm seeing more reviews from people I know and trust their opinion saying the D&D movie really good. Still trying to keep me expectations in check. |
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 21, 2023 11:07:58 GMT -6
It's a shame they never finished the animated Dragonlance trilogy after Dragons of Autumn Twilight - I mean, the awkward juxtaposition of traditional and 3D CGI animation didn't work for it, but the voice cast was great and the adaptation of the Autumn Twilight novel was well done. I thought I was the only one who enjoyed the Dragonlance animation (even though it was terrible, I still liked it). |
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 21, 2023 11:11:18 GMT -6
I’d like to see a good production of Fafrd & the Mouser. Now that the superhero genre has peaked, hopefully epic fantasy movies will be the next big thing. Would love to see Lankhmar on the big screen. Mike Mignola illustrated one of my favorite adaptations of a Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story: Ill Met in Lankhmar. It's fantastic! They can just use this graphic novel as the storyboards and make this movie.   |
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Post by DungeonDevil on Mar 21, 2023 17:32:48 GMT -6
I’d like to see a good production of Fafrd & the Mouser. I agree with thegreyelf and dicebro: there are two routes this can go to everyone's benefit. 1) adapt the better-known/loved modules. Start with B1, then follow up with B2. Later on, tackle the Advanced modules. (I'd give several organs to see a respectable rendition of S4!) 2) an "Appendix N" approach to expanding the D&D franchise. The obvious ones are off the list (LotR, Hobbit, etc.) Getting the rights to the Conan IP would be tough...and expensive, so that may have to wait. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser would be ace. Moorcock's Elric books would also rock. Dying Earth? Hm, maybe. Lots of juicy possibilities. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 21, 2023 18:00:00 GMT -6
HAH! Someone just pointed out an Easter Egg that I totally MISSED. Now I have to go back and see it again. For those who haven't seen it yet, apparently the D&D 3.5 PHB is sitting on a Wizard's table somewhere in the film!
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Post by dicebro on Mar 22, 2023 6:03:36 GMT -6
I’d like to see a good production of Fafrd & the Mouser. Now that the superhero genre has peaked, hopefully epic fantasy movies will be the next big thing. Would love to see Lankhmar on the big screen. Mike Mignola illustrated one of my favorite adaptations of a Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story: Ill Met in Lankhmar. It's fantastic! They can just use this graphic novel as the storyboards and make this movie. Amen, it’s an awesome series of comics and you are spot on about the story boards. It’s basically ready to shoot! |
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Post by cadriel on Mar 22, 2023 8:59:06 GMT -6
I'll catch the official D&D movie when it's available in streaming, I haven't been too into going to the theater in general lately.
I do think that Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser would be great, though I kind of think that a TV series adapting the short stories would be better than trying to make a big movie out of it. Leiber created a lot of good ideas that would be fun to explore for about 45-60 minutes.
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 22, 2023 10:24:40 GMT -6
Agreed that Fafhrd & Mouser would be a much better tv series than a movie. The short story format of most of the best tales would seem to fit into a tv format, much like the main Witcher stuff comes from the short stories and not from the novels. Also, IMO Leiber's best work was his early writing, and those were almost always short stories.
I'd love to see Elric get a similar treatment for pretty much the same reasons.
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 22, 2023 10:56:53 GMT -6
Agreed that Fafhrd & Mouser would be a much better tv series than a movie. The short story format of most of the best tales would seem to fit into a tv format, much like the main Witcher stuff comes from the short stories and not from the novels. Also, IMO Leiber's best work was his early writing, and those were almost always short stories. I'd love to see Elric get a similar treatment for pretty much the same reasons. While I agree a series would be best, I would say short stories adapted to movies don't have to have as much material cut out of them as novels do in order to fit the 90min runtime of typical movies. |
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Post by robertsconley on Mar 22, 2023 11:15:06 GMT -6
The movie is good. The heist plot is a bit pedestrian but you wind up liking the main characters. There is plenty of pathos to go along with the joking. The point of the heist follows from the motivations of the character. Some plans come up successful and some fail. And they make sense given that it is a D&D world.
This film is just simply fun. Just like the majority of our campaigns, the film will not withstand deep analysis and focuses on what is fun. The longer you have been playing this hobby the more you will enjoy the various easter eggs. But none of the easter eggs are important to understand what is going on. Nor they are gratuitous, just part of the general background of the characters existing in a D&D world.
The only bad thing I will say is in the credit where it was listed as Hasbro's D&D. While no fan of Wizards I thought that was a bit of a dick move on Hasbro's part. Incidentally, the main end credit is an enjoyable bit of animation. And there is one end credit scene.
Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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Post by jeffb on Mar 22, 2023 17:27:08 GMT -6
The movie is good. The heist plot is a bit pedestrian but you wind up liking the main characters. There is plenty of pathos to go along with the joking. The point of the heist follows from the motivations of the character. Some plans come up successful and some fail. And they make sense given that it is a D&D world. This film is just simply fun. Just like the majority of our campaigns, the film will not withstand deep analysis and focuses on what is fun. The longer you have been playing this hobby the more you will enjoy the various easter eggs. But none of the easter eggs are important to understand what is going on. Nor they are gratuitous, just part of the general background of the characters existing in a D&D world. The only bad thing I will say is in the credit where it was listed as Hasbro's D&D. While no fan of Wizards I thought that was a bit of a dick move on Hasbro's part. Incidentally, the main end credit is an enjoyable bit of animation. And there is one end credit scene. Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars. What would you give the LOTR Trilogy, Rob? As a whole or individually? The Hobbit Trilogy? Just trying to get a sense of "rating scale' here. |
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bobjester0e
Level 4 Theurgist
DDO, DCC, or more Lost City map work? Oh, the hardship of making adult decisions! ;)
Posts: 195 
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Post by bobjester0e on Mar 23, 2023 1:13:17 GMT -6
I've been on the fence about seeing this D&D movie since it was announced; knowing the track record of D&D movies so far, I am still prepared to be wildly disappointed. But the reviews I am seeing & hearing on youtube give me hope that this one will be entertaining. And it has some star power in it that previous D&D movies didn't - or at least resulted in some pretty egregious over-the-top hammy acting.
For those that have seen it, does this hae the potential of being a fantasy D&D version of Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Serious with moments of comedy, pace, plot, script and acting?
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 23, 2023 6:44:57 GMT -6
I've been on the fence about seeing this D&D movie since it was announced; knowing the track record of D&D movies so far, I am still prepared to be wildly disappointed. But the reviews I am seeing & hearing on youtube give me hope that this one will be entertaining. And it has some star power in it that previous D&D movies didn't - or at least resulted in some pretty egregious over-the-top hammy acting. For those that have seen it, does this hae the potential of being a fantasy D&D version of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Serious with moments of comedy, pace, plot, script and acting? That's actually quite a good description. There's even a deep subterranean delve to get an ancient artifact before the bad guys. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Mar 23, 2023 6:51:50 GMT -6
The movie is good. The heist plot is a bit pedestrian but you wind up liking the main characters. There is plenty of pathos to go along with the joking. The point of the heist follows from the motivations of the character. Some plans come up successful and some fail. And they make sense given that it is a D&D world. This film is just simply fun. Just like the majority of our campaigns, the film will not withstand deep analysis and focuses on what is fun. The longer you have been playing this hobby the more you will enjoy the various easter eggs. But none of the easter eggs are important to understand what is going on. Nor they are gratuitous, just part of the general background of the characters existing in a D&D world. The only bad thing I will say is in the credit where it was listed as Hasbro's D&D. While no fan of Wizards I thought that was a bit of a dick move on Hasbro's part. Incidentally, the main end credit is an enjoyable bit of animation. And there is one end credit scene. Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I can agree with all of this, except that I don't necessarily think the "Hasbro's D&D" thing was bad or a dick move, but I don't want to hijack the thread debating that. Might be an interesting discussion for down in the One D&D forum. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 23, 2023 10:28:05 GMT -6
Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars. What would you give the LOTR Trilogy, Rob? As a whole or individually? The Hobbit Trilogy? Just trying to get a sense of "rating scale' here. I'm looking forward to hearing robertsconley weigh in on this. Here are my own thoughts on the LOTR movies: Fellowship of the Ring = 5 stars Two Towers, Return of the King = 4 to 4.5 stars Entire trilogy = 4.5 stars Hobbit movies all in the 3.5 to 4 star range. Parts that tied in to the LotR movies (i.e. the parts from the timeline in the Appendix) and Smaug scenes are on the 4 star or maybe 4.5 star end of the scale, whereas the slapstick parts and/or poor CGI parts more on the 3 to 3.5 star end. The trilogy as a whole no better than 4 stars, even though there were some really good parts. In my opinion. I re-watched the Hobbit trilogy a while back and didn't cringe as much as I had the first few times. |
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Post by robertsconley on Mar 23, 2023 11:43:10 GMT -6
What would you give the LOTR Trilogy, Rob? As a whole or individually? The Fellowship 5 out of 5 the other two 4.5 out of 5. Overall 3.5 of 5. Bilbo 5 out of 5. In general, I liked the main characters but the movie was bloated in an obvious way and it suffered for it. Just trying to get a sense of "rating scale' here. Sure thing. More comments, the D&D movie has likable characters, believable motivations, an ok plot (a lot of flashbacks but points), and it didn't feel bloated like the hobbit did. Also bonus points for the primary motivation NOT being to save Neverwinter or the world like the trailers implied. Saving the day was a side effect. Also, the hobbit would be a 4 out of 5 FANTASY movie but it is not supposed to be just that it is about Tolkien's Middle Earth. Hence the downgrade. Also as for Rings of Power, it ranges from 2 out of 5 to 4.5 out of 5 depending on the specific storyline we are talking about. The best by far was with Elrond and Durin. The 2 out of 5 is the forging of the three-ring sequence except where Sauron interacts with Galadriel which was way better IMO but too short to salvage that last episode. Far too rushed and totally dropped the lore about the nine and the seven. |
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 23, 2023 13:37:29 GMT -6
Fellowship: 5 out of 5
Two Towers: 5 out of 5
Return: 4.5 out of 5, but the extended edition fixed all the problems and made it 5 out of 5
Two Towers was the only one that wasn't improved by the extended edition. Other than Legolas shield surfing the movie was perfect.
The Hobbit is a real mixed bag and the last one was not good. But there were moments of shear genius in The Hobbit, like the Riddles in the Dark scene = a masterpiece of dialogue, editing, and cinematography. The entire Mirkwood sequence was also amazing.
I'm not one to quibble too much about accuracy to the books - unless they obviously threw the book away and made their own story - as I understand film is a different medium with different strengths and weaknesses. But I do think every effort should be made to be true to the book when adapting.
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Post by tdenmark on Mar 23, 2023 13:40:48 GMT -6
btw. Whenever The Hobbit movie comes up I like to mention that a professional film editor made a "Tolkien Cut" version that adheres closely to the book, it fixes virtually all the problems with the films. You can find it easilly,
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