New D&D movie in the works

[PsychoBlonde]

http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/4/9094643/new-dungeons-dragons-movie

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/141869-New-Dungeons-Dragons-Movie-In-The-Works

Any possibility of some DDO tie-ins, since WB owns Turbine IIRC?

[PsychoBlonde]

The smartest thing to do would be to take the characters and some of the storyline from the movie and put them in FR in DDO. Then advertise, advertise, advertise!

Maybe some new iconic races based on characters from the movie? That'd be sweet.

[Fallout_Zero]

If the movie is commercially successful the there would be a renewed interest in DDO at least in short term. But really need a DDO2 just too much junk and old code in DDO.

[Hoglum]

I'm skeptical. They have the guy who did the Lego Movie helping. I hope they do something good but is it going to be for the kiddies?

[Qhualor]

I'm skeptical. They have the guy who did the Lego Movie helping. I hope they do something good but is it going to be for the kiddies?

the way these "kiddie" movies are done today, they include adult references. my daughter was 12 when I took her to see Lego movie and all I kept thinking was how inappropriate some of it was.

im more skeptical about a D&D movie actually being really good. I have yet to see one that is. Lord of the Rings is one of my favorites and watch again and again all the time, but that doesn't count :p

[Riddle_of_Steel]

Let's see we have the first one that was just plain BAD ... like really bad. It was like watching a campaign run by 5 year olds who couldn't decide if it should be a cool action game or a comedy, tried both at different times and just ended up with a mess.

The second one was "ok" but only if you were a fan of DnD / Decent quality B movies.

The third ... even more meh.

Here's a hint, don't harp that it's dungeons and dragons just make a good movie using a DnD setting and maybe a couple of iconic characters (Eliminster if in FR or Bigby if Greyhawk for example) used as tie in's or flavour characters and roll with it. Don't re-create a module or book if at all possible just make something original. There are millions of untold stories yet to be written so do one of them. DnD fans will know it's a DnD movie and non-DnD fans will know it's a good fantasy movie.

Don't go comic book, go serious and write something good for once!

Alas we all know it's going to be a train wreck. I really hope I am wrong here but I really doubt that I am.

[IronClan]

D&D is a rules set, not a movie idea, Hollywood is just so idiotic sometimes... there's a thousand different grand Science Fiction and Fantasy stories out there waiting for an honest respectful movie translation, how about Ringworld, or Hull Zero Three (opps Pandorum literally plagiarized that replaced 40,000 year old nano machines gone wrong with cheaper and stupider canibal zombies and ommited the amazing grand sci fi ending in preference for something stupid and "the guy gets the girl") or how about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress done by someone who will lovingly update the Jargon and technology while faithfully keeping the vision, characters and story?.

But no they shovel out videogame schlock and utterly vapid translations of things that have no sensible reason to ever be a movie... A rules set does not bear any fundamental relationship with a movie... Stories do... yet every time they try to do something like this they ignore the great stories in favor of pumping out some direct to video embarrassment almost like it's intended to make the RPG hobby look bad (like some person who never played D&D sees one of the movies or maybe worse that abomination of a cartoon and thinks D&D is something clowney and non ironically silly.

Want to do a trilogy based off the Dragonlance books? Sure okay but only if they take it seriously and don't turn it into the cartoon, who cares that it's D&D, nothing about D&D need enter it (outside of a opening montage splash). Take a tip from Marvel and step out of the way and let the story and characters do the talking a "D&D movie" is just a stupid as "Marvel the Movie" where instead of faithfully giving several well loved universes their own more or less respectfully treated movies, some hack who never read a comic ****s out something that looks like 70's Batman with Marvel heroes.

How about a visceral single take horror film based on Tomb of Horrors? AWESOME, no need to mention D&D, outside of splash screen it's not "D&D's Tomb of Horrors", no Dungeon masters, references or anything else that has to do with the rules set. Just take the story and make a bad ass Demi Lich as the new uber horror figure to make Freddie and Jason mess themselves. Oh and don't give him tired catch phrases... treat him like he's a 5000 year old ultra powerful evil undead wizard who is really **** unhappy someone invaded his Tomb

Spoiler: NO ONE LIVES THROUGH IT.

If there was a Forum version of dropping the mic this is where I'd do that. Thanks for indulging my single biggest longest standing pet peeve.

[Riddle_of_Steel]

For sure. Just use the setting as that ... setting.

The rest of the "rules" are useful mainly as guidelines as to what sorts of creatures you might have in there and what sorts of "powers" the characters have to deal with them. It would be really cool if it could be a "campaign" style movie where each movice is an "adventure" and the characters reoccur through multiple movies but that is likely far too ambitious.

Just make the characters believable and people are more than willing to suspend belief on the mechanics of it all. And for the love of all that is Divine please don't have them wander through some random "dungeon" filled with traps and monsters that have little rhyme or reason and then find a dragon at the end. Please.

All we really want are good fantasy movies. That being said the DragonLance "campaign" would be a fantastic set of movies if taken seriously. The characters and story there are pretty solid.

[Uska]

I have zero hopes it would be good and if its in the realms I have zero interest in it and even though I am a fan of Greyhawk and Eberron there is no good movie there either. Dragonlance would be the only hope and it would need to be a Trilogy or longer.

[Lorianus]

As long as they don't hire Udo Boll for the movie...

[FranOhmsford]

I have zero hopes it would be good and if its in the realms I have zero interest in it and even though I am a fan of Greyhawk and Eberron there is no good movie there either. Dragonlance would be the only hope and it would need to be a Trilogy or longer.

The first Gord the Rogue Novel {Gygax himself wrote this!} could make a good movie if done right - Maybe even a trilogy with the second novel.

Forgotten Realms has the Moonshae Trilogy and The Icewind Dale Trilogy {Drizz't's origin novels should be animated not live action so as we don't get African-American Drow or even worse Black-Face!}.

Troy Denning's Prism Pentad set in the Dark Sun setting would make an amazing TV series and could possibly become a quintet of movies even.

But Dragons of Autumn Twilight and sequels is of course the obvious contender {Just so long as Hollywood doesn't dump all over it like they did with that abomination of a Half-Cartoon/Half CGI adaptation a couple years ago!}.


Other possibilities are:

I Strahd - Hollywood likes Gothic - Only issue is there track record with Underworld, Van Helsing, I Frankenstein etc. leaves a lot to be desired!

The Cloakmaster Cycle - Quoted from Wiki:

Six novels set in the Spelljammer universe were published by TSR, before TSR was incorporated into Wizards of the Coast. The novels were interconnected and formed "The Cloakmaster Cycle". The novels tell the story of Teldin Moore, a 'groundling' farmer on Krynn who has a powerful and apparently cursed magical cloak that was given to him. He then ends up on a quest, which takes him first into wildspace and then away from his home sphere to distant crystal spheres. The series showcases the wonders and perils of the Spelljammer universe. The novels are now out of print.

[FranOhmsford]

Spoiler: NO ONE LIVES THROUGH IT.

I for one wouldn't even bother watching it then!

It's become a cliche in Horror now that you have to have the bad ending - Just as much so as the sequel bait!


Alien, Jaws, Halloween etc. would not have been made better by Ripley, Brody or Laurie Strode etc. dying at the end!


Tomb of Horrors and Temple of Elemental Evil because of sheer size would not translate well to Movies anyway!

[Silverleafeon]

“This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. president of creative development and worldwide production. “‘D&D’ has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property.”


I think this says it all. Its their game to lose...maybe this time they can get it right....

[FuzzyDuck81]

IMO only way "ohh it's D&D movie" is only really relevant is that Forgotten Realms is a D&D licensed setting - just make a good old-school sword & sorcery film with a few familiar locales & characters.

[Robbenklopper]

The first movie was bad, really bad and a crab Job. Just To come around and say "yeah well we got this famous brand Name and Jeremy Iron!" didn´t rock it. Utter B-Movie concept and realization over all.
D&D stands for high Quality in my eyes and wasn´t delivered. Nice to know someone tried, but there was so much lack of everything. My sons, 11+12, loved it, but they haven´t seen a lot and have no idea.
LOTR set the measure Level and if the 2nd movie won´t hit that at least even at a Little lesser, People will facepalm. Story, atmosphere, actors, sfx and sgi Need to be picked very very well please. I wanna feel welcome when i sit with me batty on the cineseat and loose myself in the created world with fancy Details and enjoy everything, and not a 100 minutes wash-up where you see gear from the mattel-store. Even let it be split in 3 parts for good Story-depth. Otherwise it´ll become a shame to represent the whole genre.

[Saekee]

I wish the phrase 'bringing to life' could be eliminated.
It is plenty alive in one's imagination.

Let larpers use the phrase...

[Coyopa]

Movies based on D&D are going to be just as good as movies based on video games. In other words, they are all among the worst sort of dreck possibly committed to film. I don't understand why everyone gets so happy about the idea. You're just going to be completely let-down and robbed of 10 or 12 bucks and two hours of your life that you'll never get back.

[Gauthaag]

D&D is a rules set, not a movie idea, Hollywood is just so idiotic sometimes... there's a thousand different grand Science Fiction and Fantasy stories out there waiting for an honest respectful movie translation, how about Ringworld, or Hull Zero Three (opps Pandorum literally plagiarized that replaced 40,000 year old nano machines gone wrong with cheaper and stupider canibal zombies and ommited the amazing grand sci fi ending in preference for something stupid and "the guy gets the girl") or how about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress done by someone who will lovingly update the Jargon and technology while faithfully keeping the vision, characters and story?.

But no they shovel out videogame schlock and utterly vapid translations of things that have no sensible reason to ever be a movie... A rules set does not bear any fundamental relationship with a movie... Stories do... yet every time they try to do something like this they ignore the great stories in favor of pumping out some direct to video embarrassment almost like it's intended to make the RPG hobby look bad (like some person who never played D&D sees one of the movies or maybe worse that abomination of a cartoon and thinks D&D is something clowney and non ironically silly.

Want to do a trilogy based off the Dragonlance books? Sure okay but only if they take it seriously and don't turn it into the cartoon, who cares that it's D&D, nothing about D&D need enter it (outside of a opening montage splash). Take a tip from Marvel and step out of the way and let the story and characters do the talking a "D&D movie" is just a stupid as "Marvel the Movie" where instead of faithfully giving several well loved universes their own more or less respectfully treated movies, some hack who never read a comic ****s out something that looks like 70's Batman with Marvel heroes.

How about a visceral single take horror film based on Tomb of Horrors? AWESOME, no need to mention D&D, outside of splash screen it's not "D&D's Tomb of Horrors", no Dungeon masters, references or anything else that has to do with the rules set. Just take the story and make a bad ass Demi Lich as the new uber horror figure to make Freddie and Jason mess themselves. Oh and don't give him tired catch phrases... treat him like he's a 5000 year old ultra powerful evil undead wizard who is really **** unhappy someone invaded his Tomb

Spoiler: NO ONE LIVES THROUGH IT.

If there was a Forum version of dropping the mic this is where I'd do that. Thanks for indulging my single biggest longest standing pet peeve.

however much I usually disagree with your other posts, I couldn't agree more with this. exactly my point of view.

[Gauthaag]

Movies based on D&D are going to be just as good as movies based on video games. In other words, they are all among the worst sort of dreck possibly committed to film. I don't understand why everyone gets so happy about the idea. You're just going to be completely let-down and robbed of 10 or 12 bucks and two hours of your life that you'll never get back.

it s just product to get more cash from fans just as tshirts of rockbands

[Coyopa]

it s just product to get more cash from fans just as tshirts of rockbands

Perhaps, but at least a t-shirt with a band's name on it isn't going to be a let-down or waste my time. I know up-front what I'm getting when I purchase it, which cannot be said for a movie.

[Gauthaag]

Perhaps, but at least a t-shirt with a band's name on it isn't going to be a let-down or waste my time. I know up-front what I'm getting when I purchase it, which cannot be said for a movie.
u re right.

u cant do wrong to wait for couple reviews:)

[Loromir]

I'm mainly hoping that WB will remember they own DDO and will do some cross marketing and throw some more $$$ this way as a result.

Bad movie or not, you know you will watch it...and so will the millions of other DnD fans around the world. This does have the potential to breath some new life into DDO, as long as WB doesn't forget us.

[Coyopa]

I'm mainly hoping that WB will remember they own DDO and will do some cross marketing and throw some more $$$ this way as a result.

Bad movie or not, you know you will watch it...and so will the millions of other DnD fans around the world. This does have the potential to breath some new life into DDO, as long as WB doesn't forget us.

I very much doubt that WB cares that DDO shares an ancestor with this movie (or series of movies) they are about to make. They can't be bothered to invest in the game now. Their attitude is going to be "This might increase the number of players/subscribers for DDO without us having to actually do anything. Awesome! Pure profit!" I almost certainly will not watch it - even when it comes to HBO or some other movie channel. I am definitely not going to be ripped off for the cost of two tickets (myself and my wife) to go waste my time watching this steaming pile. It reminds me of when I was going to college. For doing some tutoring, I got two free passes to go see The Human Stain (starring Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris, among others). That movie is so bad that even getting in free was paying too much! There were only 10 people in the theater for the showing we went to. We left about 2/3 the way through the movie, six people had already left before us, and one of the other two remaining people left when we did!

[FestusHood]

I have yet to see a good game to movie translation, or vice versa. The mediums are just too dissimilar.

Can anyone name a good movie that was based on something that originated as a game?

No, it definitely wasn't Tron.

[Gauthaag]

I have yet to see a good game to movie translation, or vice versa. The mediums are just too dissimilar.

Can anyone name a good movie that was based on something that originated as a game?

No, it definitely wasn't Tron.

Silent Hill, resident evil I-II

[Paleus]

I have yet to see a good game to movie translation, or vice versa. The mediums are just too dissimilar.

Can anyone name a good movie that was based on something that originated as a game?

No, it definitely wasn't Tron.

Super Mario Bros....no wait....Wing Commander. Granted those are video games, so board games like DnD.... I guess Battleship? Oh god, it burns, the memories of each of those burns my soul.

There was a Forbes article about most financially successful film (note this is not an indicator of artistic value)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/03/13/tomb-raider-mortal-kombat-and-the-top-grossing-video-game-movies/

That had Prince of Persia as the best, followed closely by the Resident Evil Franchise but holy **** that's the bar that has been set, so yeah, not looking good.

[Hoglum]

the way these "kiddie" movies are done today, they include adult references. my daughter was 12 when I took her to see Lego movie and all I kept thinking was how inappropriate some of it was.


I don't want to see a children's movie with a couple token innuendo's thrown in for the adults. I want to see a move where children walk away crying. See Iron's post for details.

D&D should be high magic, high stakes, no BS. Enemies should be downright frightening. Hero's downright bad***. Action unlike anything made in movies to date.

It's suffered being put down as a silly board game for children for too long. The movies they've made to date have only solidified the stereotype.

[Coyopa]

~snip~That had Prince of Persia as the best, followed closely by the Resident Evil Franchise but holy **** that's the bar that has been set, so yeah, not looking good.

LOL. Prince of Persia. I couldn't take that movie seriously when they cast Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead. If I remember right (from the previews I saw), some of the accents were borked up and seemed inconsistent, as well. And Resident Evil? Ugh. I could barely tolerate the previews. The problem is that video games do not require (and don't usually have) a plot or character development, while these things are of paramount importance for a movie. This is why movies based on video games are always so bad. A D&D movie will be terrible because Hollywood will get distracted by, and focus almost solely on, the rules rather than actual plot and character development. In other words, they'll forget what good DMs know: It's more important to tell a compelling story than to robotically observe the rules.

[Gauthaag]

that's why kind of meta movie seems like best solution to me

[PsychoBlonde]

D&D is a rules set, not a movie idea, Hollywood is just so idiotic sometimes... there's a thousand different grand Science Fiction and Fantasy stories out there waiting for an honest respectful movie translation, how about Ringworld, or Hull Zero Three (opps Pandorum literally plagiarized that replaced 40,000 year old nano machines gone wrong with cheaper and stupider canibal zombies and ommited the amazing grand sci fi ending in preference for something stupid and "the guy gets the girl") or how about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress done by someone who will lovingly update the Jargon and technology while faithfully keeping the vision, characters and story?

I would LOVE to see a movie version of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Have you seen the trailer for this yet?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI

I've read the book, it's incredible, and the movie looks to be following it quite well thus far.

Also this past year Ex Machina, Chappie, Self/Less . . . there's interesting stuff getting made.

Anyway, fantasy and science fiction movies are expensive to make. They tend to get floated on existing names (video games, etc.) because then they at least know there's SOME kind of an audience out there for it.

[FestusHood]

Silent Hill, resident evil I-II

I'm a sci-fi and horror movie geek, but i also like a lot of regular movies too. I can often tell that many movies i enjoy aren't actually good. I would put these movies in that category. People who aren't a fan of the genre would likely not enjoy them.

[Fallout_Zero]

Get Peter Jackson to direct and Vin Disiel who's a D&D fan to star, I'm all on board :)

[PsychoBlonde]

I don't want to see a children's movie with a couple token innuendo's thrown in for the adults. I want to see a move where children walk away crying. See Iron's post for details.

D&D should be high magic, high stakes, no BS. Enemies should be downright frightening. Hero's downright bad***. Action unlike anything made in movies to date.

It's suffered being put down as a silly board game for children for too long. The movies they've made to date have only solidified the stereotype.

Making something lighthearted is not the same as making it "silly" or "for children". A bunch of huge musclebound men grunting to each other about how serious they are is unspeakably lazy ****. If that's what you want, go watch pretty much any Jason Statham or Vin Diesel movie. Or most anime--emo angst is de rigeur in anime.

D&D is a lot of things to a lot of people. It is, as people have said, a rules set, not a storyline. This one seems to be aiming at the Forgotten Realms, so at least there's a fair bit of established material to work with. I'm not terribly fond of Drizz't, but it might be good if they could get R.A. Salvatore on board as a consultant--at least he understands how to put a story to the setting.

[PsychoBlonde]

Get Peter Jackson to direct and Vin Disiel who's a D&D fan to star, I'm all on board :)

Heck yeah! Esp. if they can get Diesel to do something unexpected like his Iron Giant role.

[PsychoBlonde]

Another kind of story which isn't done all that much in movies is the "gamers get magically transposed into the bodies of their characters and find out what the game they've been playing is REALLY like"--which could be REALLY great and would be a TRUE "D&D Movie".

[Gauthaag]

I'm a sci-fi and horror movie geek, but i also like a lot of regular movies too. I can often tell that many movies i enjoy aren't actually good. I would put these movies in that category. People who aren't a fan of the genre would likely not enjoy them.

same here - I m horror movie freak:)

u weren't asking for art:) u were asking for good adaptation and these are imho well done in spirit of the game, tho never make it into cultural heritage of humankind:)

[PsychoBlonde]

If the movie is commercially successful the there would be a renewed interest in DDO at least in short term. But really need a DDO2 just too much junk and old code in DDO.

"Need" is not the same as "have a budget for". The way they've been pushing content, it's pretty clear that they want to keep DDO running for a fair while yet.

[Hoglum]

Making something lighthearted is not the same as making it "silly" or "for children". A bunch of huge musclebound men grunting to each other about how serious they are is unspeakably lazy ****. If that's what you want, go watch pretty much any Jason Statham or Vin Diesel movie. Or most anime--emo angst is de rigeur in anime.



To clarify, no I don't want just muscle bound action. I want a good story to be told. I'd like them to break the mold of current shake and bake movies we see all the time.

I don't see where anyone mentioned lighthearted being the same as silly. The D&D movies to date have been silly and made for children. Go watch them. They're bad. The Dragonlance one was even a cartoon so I've no idea how you think I somehow twisted anything.

Also, for the record, no I don't want to see lighthearted. The typical comic relief and formula driven cliche in movies is getting a bit old as far as I'm concerned. I'd like my favorite genre (D&D lore) to be something a little better that these video game movies. It looks to me like most people posting here haven't been impressed with these weak efforts.

[FestusHood]

It's not just the game to movie thing, but the sword and sorcery movie genre is forever tainted by the 80's. The Conan movies weren't bad, but man there was a lot of crud that came out for the next few years trying to capitalize on that first movie's popularity

Deathstalker anyone? Sword and the Sorcerer, Warrior and the Sorceress, Beastmaster? Many others that i can't think of the names of right now. Yes, i used to go to the drive in about twice a week back in the day.

On the other hand, Ridley Scott's Legend gets a bad rap. Corny at times, but it had it's moments. Dragonslayer was also pretty good. Excalibur transcended the genre. We could hope this movie turns out to be as good as that one.

[FranOhmsford]

To clarify, no I don't want just muscle bound action. I want a good story to be told. I'd like them to break the mold of current shake and bake movies we see all the time.

I don't see where anyone mentioned lighthearted being the same as silly. The D&D movies to date have been silly and made for children. Go watch them. They're bad. The Dragonlance one was even a cartoon so I've no idea how you think I somehow twisted anything.

Also, for the record, no I don't want to see lighthearted. The typical comic relief and formula driven cliche in movies is getting a bit old as far as I'm concerned. I'd like my favorite genre (D&D lore) to be something a little better that these video game movies. It looks to me like most people posting here haven't been impressed with these weak efforts.

You haven't seen Book of Vile Darkness yet then?

Cos there's just no way that movie could ever be considered "made for children"! {Silly yes!}.


I'm having trouble thinking of a single movie that counts as a Video Game adaptation that I've liked - I couldn't stand Silent Hill but Silent Hill II was ok, Resident Evil was good until the horrid cliched sequel bait ending and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. just got worse and worse!
I did enjoy Doom but I know many didn't and it was a pretty generic actioner.

As for games - Well there's the Lego Movie which I seem to be alone in NOT thinking it's amazing - But then again I thought Battleship was OK - Note only OK though!


Fantasy {True Heroic Fantasy not including Historical or Mythological movies but actual Heroic Fantasy} Movies are an even more derided genre than Video Game adaptations and let's face it there really haven't been many that could actually be called great movies:
Lord of the Rings - All were good but for me only Fellowship was great!
Willow - Unfairly under-rated movie.
And that's pretty much it!

The Hobbit doesn't count - Pt 1 was good but made mistakes, Pt 2 and 3 were a disgrace! {Heck Pt 3 was just one long Fight scene!}.

Krull, Prince Caspian and a number of others were better than average for the genre but a D&D Movie needs to hit the heights of Willow/Lord of the Rings rather than settle for just OK.


Considering of the three D&D Movies we've had so far two have been completely new stories and the 3rd was very loosely based on a hated by GMs rules manual it might actually be a good idea for Hollywood to adapt one of the many many stories already out there!
The Moonshae Trilogy would be a very good place to start if they want Forgotten Realms
Gord the Rogue would work for Greyhawk.
Dragonlance is blatantly obvious and even has guaranteed heroic roles for the ladies!


Oh and maybe even DDO could give them some inspiration - How about Turbine put forward some of the most well known completionist players and their main characters for WB to use as Characters and then make the Movie of Threnal! {Heck they could even add in the Knock Coyle over the head bit!}.

[Gauthaag]

oh, and Willow:)

[FranOhmsford]

It's not just the game to movie thing, but the sword and sorcery movie genre is forever tainted by the 80's. The Conan movies weren't bad, but man there was a lot of crud that came out for the next few years trying to capitalize on that first movie's popularity

Deathstalker anyone? Sword and the Sorcerer, Warrior and the Sorceress, Beastmaster? Many others that i can't think of the names of right now. Yes, i used to go to the drive in about twice a week back in the day.

On the other hand, Ridley Scott's Legend gets a bad rap. Corny at times, but it had it's moments. Dragonslayer was also pretty good. Excalibur transcended the genre. We could hope this movie turns out to be as good as that one.

Conan the Barbarian was a bore!
Conan the Destroyer was ok.
Deathstalker, Sword and the Sorceror, Warrior and the Sorceress and Beastmaster were Z-Movie trash!

Dragonslayer was nothing special.
Excalibur was God-Awful!
Legend was Atrocious! {And killed any chance of us ever getting the Movie of David Gemmell's Masterpiece of the same name!}

The 80s did however give us Krull, Willow and the original Clash of the Titans! As well as the greatest Fantasy Film of all time {and second greatest film of all time!} - Return of the Jedi! {Star Wars is Heroic Fantasy in a Futuristic setting.}.

[PsychoBlonde]

To clarify, no I don't want just muscle bound action. I want a good story to be told. I'd like them to break the mold of current shake and bake movies we see all the time.

I don't see where anyone mentioned lighthearted being the same as silly. The D&D movies to date have been silly and made for children. Go watch them. They're bad. The Dragonlance one was even a cartoon so I've no idea how you think I somehow twisted anything.

Also, for the record, no I don't want to see lighthearted. The typical comic relief and formula driven cliche in movies is getting a bit old as far as I'm concerned. I'd like my favorite genre (D&D lore) to be something a little better that these video game movies. It looks to me like most people posting here haven't been impressed with these weak efforts.

I don't mean lighthearted in the sense of "hire some comedian who needs exposure and have him crack a bunch of jokes and act the fool". I mean lighthearted more in the sense of Up or Finding Nemo, which are very serious, high-stakes stories about personal transformation and growth. Most people seem to think "serious" means "constipated".

[Fallout_Zero]

Conan the Barbarian was a bore!
Conan the Destroyer was ok.
Deathstalker, Sword and the Sorceror, Warrior and the Sorceress and Beastmaster were Z-Movie trash!

Dragonslayer was nothing special.
Excalibur was God-Awful!
Legend was Atrocious! {And killed any chance of us ever getting the Movie of David Gemmell's Masterpiece of the same name!}

The 80s did however give us Krull, Willow and the original Clash of the Titans! As well as the greatest Fantasy Film of all time {and second greatest film of all time!} - Return of the Jedi! {Star Wars is Heroic Fantasy in a Futuristic setting.}.

I stopped reading after the first line. The first Conan is a classic that stands up well even today.

[Gauthaag]

heh, just thought about Lord Soth story - he s the Darth Vader of DnD:)

[PsychoBlonde]

I actually REALLY enjoyed the new Hercules movie starring the Rock (er, Dwayne Johnson). The production values weren't phenomenal, but I really enjoyed how earthy the movie was and the story was highly unexpected.

What I don't want to see is something like 300 or Clash of the Titans or Troy. I don't need another scruffy white 40-something guy growling at the camera in a faux-English accent. Been there, done that, tired of it.

It'd actually be cool to see them do a group that contained not one single Human character.

[FranOhmsford]

I don't mean lighthearted in the sense of "hire some comedian who needs exposure and have him crack a bunch of jokes and act the fool". I mean lighthearted more in the sense of Up or Finding Nemo, which are very serious, high-stakes stories about personal transformation and growth. Most people seem to think "serious" means "constipated".

Unfortunately Hollywood has a horrible habit of taking a much loved story and re-making it as a failed comedy!

Here's some examples:

Starsky and Hutch
The Dukes of Hazard
Land of the Lost

And then there's their habit of making changes to existing stories - Name any Novel that has ever been adapted but the absolute worst for me was:

The Lost World - Michael Crichton's Movie adaptations are famous for dumping all over the Novels! But this one really takes the Cake! {P.S. No I didn't like Jurassic Park as an adaptation either!}.


And then you have what they did to Clash of the Titans! OMG! Yep that's Hollywood for you - Take a Perfect Movie and re-make it in the absolute worst way possible! By making Perseus HATE the Gods!
Oh and don't even get me started on what they did to poor Bubo!

[Loromir]

Get Peter Jackson to direct and Vin Disiel who's a D&D fan to star, I'm all on board :)


Vin Deisel???? Bleh...Gimme Wil Wheaton as the hero any day!!!!! :D

[Gauthaag]

Unfortunately Hollywood has a horrible habit of taking a much loved story and re-making it as a failed comedy!

Here's some examples:

Starsky and Hutch
The Dukes of Hazard
Land of the Lost

And then there's their habit of making changes to existing stories - Name any Novel that has ever been adapted but the absolute worst for me was:

The Lost World - Michael Crichton's Movie adaptations are famous for dumping all over the Novels! But this one really takes the Cake! {P.S. No I didn't like Jurassic Park as an adaptation either!}.


And then you have what they did to Clash of the Titans! OMG! Yep that's Hollywood for you - Take a Perfect Movie and re-make it in the absolute worst way possible! By making Perseus HATE the Gods!
Oh and don't even get me started on what they did to poor Bubo!

Speakin of Crichton - Eater of Dead was not imho bad adapted - well yeah it totally ignores the clash of cultures, fine written in original book, but is still imho decent movie I like to watch from time to time

[FranOhmsford]

I actually REALLY enjoyed the new Hercules movie starring the Rock (er, Dwayne Johnson). The production values weren't phenomenal, but I really enjoyed how earthy the movie was and the story was highly unexpected.

Haven't seen that one yet - Have to add it to my list.


What I don't want to see is something like 300 or Clash of the Titans or Troy. I don't need another scruffy white 40-something guy growling at the camera in a faux-English accent. Been there, done that, tired of it.

Troy had far worse issues than that!

300 is a complete Disgrace and shouldn't even count as a fantasy movie - It's a comic-book adaptation and blatant destruction of historical fact!

Clash of the Titans - Again...The Actor growling at the camera is probably the least of this film's problems!


It'd actually be cool to see them do a group that contained not one single Human character.

Why?

A D&D Group should have between 5 and 8 main characters with maybe a couple of hirelings/henchmen in there too - And it's not like the Human character has to have the most screentime.

Hollywood has proven that it can do ensemble movies - And we don't need to have every possible PC race in the group - How about 2 Elves, 1 Dwarf, 1 Human, 1 Gnome and 1 Half-Orc with:
The Half Orc Fighter or Barbarian as the new guy main character trying to fit in.
The Gnome as the Illusionist Arch-Mage mentor.
The Human as the aloof Paladin.
The Dwarf Battle Cleric as the Leader.
A High Elven Bard {Swashbuckler}.
and
A Sylvan Elven Ranger/Rogue {Scout}.

Use the D&D trope of Elves hate Orcs so neither of the Elves will even speak to our hero at first. {Maybe the SylvanElf Scout could be especially antagonistic. But stop short of a player vs player fight to the death!}.
Change things up by having our Dwarven Cleric Leader be the Good Guy who's willing to see past Racial Hatreds and give this H-Orc a chance. {Cliched but this means this character is now the most likely of the group to suffer a tragic death!}.
The Paladin will maintain his distance from the whole group and will treat our hero the same as the rest - As an ally. {depending on what happens to the leader this is the most likely character to take that role in situ.}.
The Gnome Mentor is the only other person in the group willing to be actually friendly with our here BUT if our hero is a Barbarian he first has to get past his own hatred of magic.

[bsquishwizzy]

Fran, one does wonder if you were born before 1990.

Conan the Barbarian was a bore!
Conan the Destroyer was ok.
Of the three Conan movies (the first two with Arrrhnuld, and the most recent), the first two were not that bad. In fact, they still sell very well. Then again, they were movies for their time.

The second drags a bit through the first half. The second half of the movie is actually pretty good.


Deathstalker, Sword and the Sorceror, Warrior and the Sorceress and Beastmaster were Z-Movie trash!

Deathstalker and Beastmaster were not that bad. Yes they are very B-movie quality, but I’ve honestly seen worse.


Dragonslayer was nothing special.

And this comment is the one that galls me the most.

First, Dragonslayer was nominated for an academy award for its special effects. It was one of the first (if not THE first) to use blurring in stop animation for the dragon sequences. WAY before CGI was even practical, this film has one of the better (if not one of the best) stop-animation sequences I’ve ever seen – you have to really look to see its flaws.
?
Likewise, the film itself was pretty good. The acting was excellent, aside from some of the slightly ham-handed acting of Catlin Whatshername (who died of cancer I believe). The story was good. In fact, it’s one of the better fantasy movies out there, aside from maybe the Lord of the Rings series.


Excalibur was God-Awful!

The story was hacked to bits.


Legend was Atrocious! {And killed any chance of us ever getting the Movie of David Gemmell's Masterpiece of the same name!}

There are two distinct versions of Legend – the American and the European releases. The American release had Tangerine Dream do the soundtrack. Likewise, the original release (the European version) was HACKED TO FRICKIN’ BITS in order to give it a realistic runtime for American audiences.

You can get the Legend Ultimate Edition (or something like that) that’ll give you both versions. The European release includes a symphonic soundtrack, and the full story – which is FAR better.


The 80s did however give us Krull, Willow and the original Clash of the Titans! As well as the greatest Fantasy Film of all time {and second greatest film of all time!} - Return of the Jedi! {Star Wars is Heroic Fantasy in a Futuristic setting.}.

You’ve got to be kidding me. You trash Dragonslayer, yet elevate that dreck called Clash of the Titans? The stop-animation was SO obvious in that movie. And…Krull? Really? You want to talk about B-movie story? That movie sucked in ways movies have never sucked before. It’s an embarrassment.
?
Willow was a snoozefest. It had a story so forgettable, that I basically forgot it the next frickin’ day I saw it. The ONLY thing that the movie had going for it was the fact that Ron Howard directed it.

[FranOhmsford]

Speakin of Crichton - Eater of Dead was not imho bad adapted - well yeah it totally ignores the clash of cultures, fine written in original book, but is still imho decent movie I like to watch from time to time

The Thirteenth Warrior is a good movie!

The Book however was atrocious! {Really badly written - Almost as if it wasn't the same author!}.

So this is actually the complete opposite of literally every other Crichton adaptation - Great Book becomes terrible movie! {OK Jurassic Park wasn't terrible but I just can't get past the changes!}.

[PsychoBlonde]

Speakin of Crichton - Eater of Dead was not imho bad adapted - well yeah it totally ignores the clash of cultures, fine written in original book, but is still imho decent movie I like to watch from time to time

Yeah I'm a big fan of 13th Warrior. And it doesn't ignore the clash of cultures completely.

[PsychoBlonde]

Why?

Because nobody does it, that's why!

You know what I'd like to see? A couple of Drow escape to the surface, accidentally kidnap an Important Dwarf, meet a belligerent Halfling assassin, and wind up involved in a plot to murder the Elven High King, save a half-orc from prison . . .

Humans are passe. Let's see some non-human characters in more than token parts.

[Coyopa]

Conan the Destroyer

Olivia D'Abo is the only reason I need to watch this movie from start to finish .... over and over and over.

[Gauthaag]

Yeah I'm a big fan of 13th Warrior. And it doesn't ignore the clash of cultures completely.

well not completely but it has same space as religious aspect in adaptation of Eccos The Name of the Rose


and I m glad more people like this movie as its imho underrated unjustly

[Coyopa]

The Thirteenth Warrior is a good movie!

lol You must have watched a different movie with the same title. Because if you're referring to the one with Antonio Banderas ... that one was boring and stupid.

[FranOhmsford]

Fran, one does wonder if you were born before 1990.

I was born in 1976 for your information!

My all time 5 favourite films were released in 1964, 1984, 1986, 1977 and 1958!


Of the three Conan movies (the first two with Arrrhnuld, and the most recent), the first two were not that bad. In fact, they still sell very well. Then again, they were movies for their time.

The second drags a bit through the first half. The second half of the movie is actually pretty good.

The recent Conan was awful!

Conan the Barbarian was an overlong bore of a movie and many critics have said the same - It's liked by some but then so I assume is Jaws: The Revenge! Doesn't mean it's good!

Conan the Destroyer however is actually a lot better than it's made out to be - Mainly because it goes all out for fun and doesn't take itself too seriously like the first did {Heck it even has Grace Jones in a role that's not God-Awful!}.


Deathstalker and Beastmaster were not that bad. Yes they are very B-movie quality, but I’ve honestly seen worse.

I've seen far worse but honestly those two movies are pretty objectively bad!


And this comment is the one that galls me the most.

First, Dragonslayer was nominated for an academy award for its special effects. It was one of the first (if not THE first) to use blurring in stop animation for the dragon sequences. WAY before CGI was even practical, this film has one of the better (if not one of the best) stop-animation sequences I’ve ever seen – you have to really look to see its flaws.
?
Likewise, the film itself was pretty good. The acting was excellent, aside from some of the slightly ham-handed acting of Catlin Whatshername (who died of cancer I believe). The story was good. In fact, it’s one of the better fantasy movies out there, aside from maybe the Lord of the Rings series.

Wow - Nominated for an Academy Award means absolutely NOTHING!

Special Effects do not a good movie make!

Plot and Characterisation are FAR more important!


The story was hacked to bits.

Yup - Why I hated that movie!

I'm still waiting for a truly great Arthurian Movie - King Arthur doesn't count as it's a completely different story!


There are two distinct versions of Legend – the American and the European releases. The American release had Tangerine Dream do the soundtrack. Likewise, the original release (the European version) was HACKED TO FRICKIN’ BITS in order to give it a realistic runtime for American audiences.

You can get the Legend Ultimate Edition (or something like that) that’ll give you both versions. The European release includes a symphonic soundtrack, and the full story – which is FAR better.

A Soundtrack does not a good movie make!

Legend is atrocious!


You’ve got to be kidding me. You trash Dragonslayer, yet elevate that dreck called Clash of the Titans? The stop-animation was SO obvious in that movie. And…Krull? Really? You want to talk about B-movie story? That movie sucked in ways movies have never sucked before. It’s an embarrassment.

Ray Harryhausen is a LEGEND!

And Clash of the Titans is his magnum opus - Even better than Jason and the Argonauts!

Again though I'll refer you to what I said earlier in this reply - Special Effects do not a good movie make!

Plot and Characterisation are FAR more important and this film had BOTH!

Look at the remake to see what Special Effects without a good plot or characterisation gives you!


Willow was a snoozefest. It had a story so forgettable, that I basically forgot it the next frickin’ day I saw it. The ONLY thing that the movie had going for it was the fact that Ron Howard directed it.

Lol - Ridley Scott directed Alien and Blade Runner but he also directed GI Jane and Hannibal!

Never judge a movie on the Director!

As for the rest of that critique of Willow...Well I guess you forgot Lord of the Rings and Star Wars the next day too then! {One of the main criticisms of Willow being it's similarities to both!}.

[FranOhmsford]

Because nobody does it, that's why!

You know what I'd like to see? A couple of Drow escape to the surface, accidentally kidnap an Important Dwarf, meet a belligerent Halfling assassin, and wind up involved in a plot to murder the Elven High King, save a half-orc from prison . . .

Humans are passe. Let's see some non-human characters in more than token parts.

So you want Evil Characters then?

NO!

D&D is about HEROES not VILLAINS!

And token parts? D&D should be an ensemble movie with multiple main characters! If the Human characters have to take a secondary role then fine but they should be there!

P.S. Legolas and Gimli token parts?
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin token parts?
Heck Boromir dies at the end of Fellowship and Aragorn's role throughout the three movies isn't really any larger than Legolas'!
Gandalf ISN'T Human!

Oh and Willow - The main character is a Halfling! {Lucas actually wanted to make The Hobbit but couldn't get the rights!}.

Let's talk about The Hobbit shall we:
1 Hobbit
13 Dwarves
1 Demi-God
2 Elves {one of whom should have been kept well away from this story! - Legolas the Epic!}.

[FestusHood]

Conan the Barbarian was a bore!
Conan the Destroyer was ok.
Deathstalker, Sword and the Sorceror, Warrior and the Sorceress and Beastmaster were Z-Movie trash!

Dragonslayer was nothing special.
Excalibur was God-Awful!
Legend was Atrocious! {And killed any chance of us ever getting the Movie of David Gemmell's Masterpiece of the same name!}

The 80s did however give us Krull, Willow and the original Clash of the Titans! As well as the greatest Fantasy Film of all time {and second greatest film of all time!} - Return of the Jedi! {Star Wars is Heroic Fantasy in a Futuristic setting.}.

Deathstalker had multiple sequels, so it was popular z-movie trash. Warrior and the Sorceress had David Carradine back in a time when i knew him as "that guy from Kung-Fu". Who am i kidding, that time never ended for me. Sword and the Sorceror had a half nekkid Kathleen Beller, and back then that was good enough for me. All of them terrible movies, no doubt.

Compared to the competition, Dragonslayer was well above average for the genre. I loved Excalibur. Legend was visually impressive, like most Ridley Scott movies, and it was quite dark in tone, which was something i really enjoyed about it. Have never read the book, didn't know one existed.

Krull was meh. It came out around the same time that Conan did, and a friend of mine pointed out how much he disliked how clean and bright everything was in Krull. This was back when we were actually playing Dungeons and Dragons, and felt this was highly against the spirit of it. Clash of the Titans was ok. It seemed to be like most of the Sinbad movies that Harryhausen made. Average movies made around astounding, if not quite realistic visual effects.

I have never actually watched the entire movie Willow. Maybe i will try to someday, but at the time it struck me as a bit sappy.

Return of the Jedi was the third one right? It isn't even the second best Star Wars movie. You can't unsee Ewoks.

[IronClan]

Bad movie or not, you know you will watch it...and so will the millions of other DnD fans around the world.

Oh I wont and I'll bet many others wont. I've not seen 5 minutes of any D&D movie ever made, the most I've seen is a few minutes of Orlando Jones (I think it was) and a snippet or two of the others enough to hit the remote without any consideration of DVR'ing.

I am not above B movies either, I own Krull on bluray I would totally watch Beastmaster again if only for Tanya Roberts and the cool ferrets, Red Sonja, if I saw it on during a lazy sunday hell maybe someday get them on BD if I see a cheap collection that have each movie on individual discs. I am actually a fan of better produced fantasy such at both Conan movies (Arnold is the only Conan, I don't do reboots), Excalibur Say what you want about condensing one of the more labyrinthine sagas into a single movie: the use of Wagner and the atmosphere of this film are absolutely masterful, Dragonslayer, etc. Although I still desire more true masterpieces like Lord of the Rings trilogy and Star Wars, I am no snob... I think I have reasonable standards... I just have no use for a movie that's going to try and be "about D&D" when that is utterly impossible, because D&D isn't a story or a character. And I know for sure that the subject matter will be handled by someone who thinks D&D is a silly game for kids...

[PsychoBlonde]

So you want Evil Characters then?

Uh, yeah, I want evil characters! Can't have a good story without some good villainy! I don't necessarily want them to be the MAIN characters, but I want them to mix it up! Do something INTERESTING!

[bsquishwizzy]

You know, of the 3 DnD movies made, the last two were not all that bad despite being SyFy / B-movie grade. They were a far sight better than the first one, which was little more than a vehicle for one of the Waynans brothers, wrapped up in a fantasy game for audience draw.

However, the problem all three of them had was they lacked depth, and darkness. All of the actors assumes that fantasy characters talked like that geek you meet who speaks like some medieval knight while role-playing, because that’s what they *think* they talked like. And the bad guy? He’s always this semi-civilized, intellectual elitist-type with plans on world domination. Boring.

You want to make a good DnD movie, they need to add the following:

1) Add dark horror elements to the story. Fantasy is nothing more than a blank page on which to set a story about the struggle between good and evil. And evil is dark…very, very dark. A decent fantasy movie is as much the nightmare sequences from Nightmare on Elm Street as it is The Shire from Lord of the Rings.

2) Incorporate realistic / modern dialog to the script. Good example is how Ian McKellen NAILED the Gandalf role, Martin Freemen NAILED the Bilbo role, Andy Serkis was perfect for Gollum. Likewise Cate Blanchette transformed Galadriel into an ethereal, witchy-sort of character that seemed beautiful, feminine, powerful, and strange if not a little dark and mysterious. All of this was script and acting without overblown Shakespearean dialog.

3) Make the protagonist – the big, bad guy – a maniac. I mean a full-blown maniac. Like the Joker from the Dark Knight movie. Unruly. Singularly focused. Unreasonable to the point of demented. To a civilized person, his agenda should make absolutely no sense whatsoever. And his / her motivations? Pure emotion: revenge, desire, hunger…you know the drill.


Unfortunately, however, we’ll probably get another Uwe Boll rehash, with Elminster thrown in for kicks.

If they were smart, they’d mine Greyhawk for story elements, and not Faerun. Greyhawk always had more engaging characters.

[PsychoBlonde]

P.S. Legolas and Gimli token parts?
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin token parts?
Heck Boromir dies at the end of Fellowship and Aragorn's role throughout the three movies isn't really any larger than Legolas'!

Yes, Legolas and Gimli were token parts! They had no arcs and no character development! Legolas was there to do cool stunts and Gimli was comic relief. For frick's sake, Treebeard, Saruman, Faramir, Elowyn and Grita Wormtongue had more of an arc than either of them!

[FestusHood]

Because nobody does it, that's why!

You know what I'd like to see? A couple of Drow escape to the surface, accidentally kidnap an Important Dwarf, meet a belligerent Halfling assassin, and wind up involved in a plot to murder the Elven High King, save a half-orc from prison . . .

Humans are passe. Let's see some non-human characters in more than token parts.

The question is, will the non-human characters be actors in makeup or cgi? As cool as cgi is nowadays, it still doesn't quite look real, but i think Hollywood may have given up on actors in extensive makeup, and practical effects in general.

[Paleus]

Can anyone name a good movie that was based on something that originated as a game?

I totally forgot about Clue! Sure it was a flop at the time, but it should be an acknowledged cult classic.

[FranOhmsford]

Deathstalker had multiple sequels, so it was popular z-movie trash. Warrior and the Sorceress had David Carradine back in a time when i knew him as "that guy from Kung-Fu". Who am i kidding, that time never ended for me. Sword and the Sorceror had a half nekkid Kathleen Beller, and back then that was good enough for me. All of them terrible movies, no doubt.

Resident Evil has plenty of sequels and still going!

The Fast and the Furious has plenty of sequels and still going!

Both are ok fun movies but a movie being good or bad doesn't seem to have any bearing on whether that movie gets a sequel or not!

Heck Popularity doesn't mean anything either as it's a simple case of money! If a movie makes enough of a profit then the chances are it will get a sequel even if within a year you can't find a single person willing to say they liked said movie - Garfield for instance!


Compared to the competition, Dragonslayer was well above average for the genre. I loved Excalibur. Legend was visually impressive, like most Ridley Scott movies, and it was quite dark in tone, which was something i really enjoyed about it. Have never read the book, didn't know one existed.

Compared to the competition you say? Well there's damning with faint praise!

Legend was aimed squarely at girls! I hated the visuals!, Hated the story! Hated Tom Cruise! Heck I just HATE that movie!

Excalibur - Heck I barely remember it except for knowing that the one time I did watch it I wasn't impressed. Maybe I should give it another go but the boredom factor along with the adaptational issues really puts me off.


Krull was meh. It came out around the same time that Conan did, and a friend of mine pointed out how much he disliked how clean and bright everything was in Krull. This was back when we were actually playing Dungeons and Dragons, and felt this was highly against the spirit of it. Clash of the Titans was ok. It seemed to be like most of the Sinbad movies that Harryhausen made. Average movies made around astounding, if not quite realistic visual effects.

Funny you'd say that about Krull because for me it's possibly the most faithful D&D adaptation ever!

Clean and Bright? Are we talking about the same movie?

Harryhausen's Sinbad movies are all really strong Fantasy Movies! Not up to Clash of the Titans or Jason and the Argonauts quality but still very good!

And those special effects are 100x more realistic than a lot of CGI! And will stand the test of time far longer too!


I have never actually watched the entire movie Willow. Maybe i will try to someday, but at the time it struck me as a bit sappy.

Sappy? Yeah there's a Lucas love story in there but this was way before Attack of the Groans and Val Kilmer and his wife to be Joanne Whalley nailed it!

Willow's main problem was always it's similarities story wise to Lord of the Rings and Star Wars - If you like those then it makes no sense for you to dislike Willow other than because of said similarities!


Return of the Jedi was the third one right? It isn't even the second best Star Wars movie. You can't unsee Ewoks.

I like the Ewoks!

And considering we're talking about 3 of the greatest movies ever made It doesn't really matter which tops the list - I will say however that Empire is in my opinion the weakest of the 3 {It's still in my top 10 ever though!}.

[Uska]

Conan the Barbarian was a bore!
Conan the Destroyer was ok.
Deathstalker, Sword and the Sorceror, Warrior and the Sorceress and Beastmaster were Z-Movie trash!

Dragonslayer was nothing special.
Excalibur was God-Awful!
Legend was Atrocious! {And killed any chance of us ever getting the Movie of David Gemmell's Masterpiece of the same name!}

The 80s did however give us Krull, Willow and the original Clash of the Titans! As well as the greatest Fantasy Film of all time {and second greatest film of all time!} - Return of the Jedi! {Star Wars is Heroic Fantasy in a Futuristic setting.}.

Wow so much wrong in one post I am impressed

[Uska]

I stopped reading after the first line. The first Conan is a classic that stands up well even today.

yeah the first was so much better than the second film

[Hoglum]

If they were smart, they’d mine Greyhawk for story elements,


Yep, everyone go grab a copy of Come Endless Darkness by Gary Gygax. That's what fantasy should be about.

http://www.amazon.com/Come-Endless-Darkness-Gord-Rogue/dp/0441114466

Cheesy cover, best fantasy book ever. Come back and comment on how a movie should look after reading this cover to cover. This would re-set how everyone looks at fantasy.

Willow, shmillow.

[Uska]

Unfortunately Hollywood has a horrible habit of taking a much loved story and re-making it as a failed comedy!

Here's some examples:

Starsky and Hutch
The Dukes of Hazard
Land of the Lost

And then there's their habit of making changes to existing stories - Name any Novel that has ever been adapted but the absolute worst for me was:

The Lost World - Michael Crichton's Movie adaptations are famous for dumping all over the Novels! But this one really takes the Cake! {P.S. No I didn't like Jurassic Park as an adaptation either!}.


And then you have what they did to Clash of the Titans! OMG! Yep that's Hollywood for you - Take a Perfect Movie and re-make it in the absolute worst way possible! By making Perseus HATE the Gods!
Oh and don't even get me started on what they did to poor Bubo!


yeah the titian reboot was pretty awful

[Uska]

Vin Deisel???? Bleh...Gimme Wil Wheaton as the hero any day!!!!! :D

Vin can out act Wil even if you killed him first

[FranOhmsford]

Treebeard, Saruman, Faramir, Elowyn and Grita Wormtongue had more of an arc than either of them!

Treebeard - No Arc whatsoever!
Saruman - We find out he's Evil {if we hadn't already read the book that is!} - Again no Arc! He's Evil before we find out and even more Evil after!
Faramir - No Arc! Faramir's a good guy in a bad situation and he does the right thing - That is all!
Eowyn - Classic Heroes Journey - Wouldn't really call this an Arc!
Grima Wormtongue - You're joking right? Most blatantly Evil character in the Trilogy! Heck even Sauron has nothing on this guy!


But then again - What's this talk of Arcs anyway? Does every single character in a movie need an Arc Plot? Heck Does even the main character in a Movie need an Arc plot?

With that said:
Legolas and Gimli actually DO have an Arc Plot - Their initial antagonism towards each other and their growing friendship throughout the three movies!

[Oxarhamar]

Wow so much wrong in one post I am impressed

Can't believe I agree with Uska

[Draksel]

I always thought The 13th Warrior was like watching a D&D session/campaign unfold before my eyes. Same with the book. I still enjoy that one, at least after I got over the fact that Antonio Bandaras is in the main role....

[Loromir]

Vin can out act Wil even if you killed him first

I was kidding you know...:P

[FranOhmsford]

I always thought The 13th Warrior was like watching a D&D session/campaign unfold before my eyes. Same with the book. I still enjoy that one, at least after I got over the fact that Antonio Bandaras is in the main role....

There really aren't many actual Middle Eastern actors who have the star power AND are the right age for that role even now and certainly weren't when 13th Warrior was made!

Hispanic Actors tend to get these roles because of similarity of appearance and Antonio Banderas was the right age and most certainly had the star power!

Sometimes you just have to say OK!


BTW No-one complains about Hispanic actor Ricardo Montalban playing Khan Noonien Singh in Original Star Trek Episode: Space Seed or Wrath of Khan. {Benedict Cumberbatch however - Now that was just wrong!}

[bsquishwizzy]

So you want Evil Characters then?

NO!

D&D is about HEROES not VILLAINS!



Wow, you are SO wrong about that one.

Is Tomb of Horrors iconic because of the heroes in the quest, or because of the villain and its tomb?

Or did you plumb the depths of the Underdark because it was about your character, or because of the Drow and Lloth?

And what was the point of going back into the Temple of Elemental Evil? Because of your character and advancement, or because of the rise of Zuggetmoy?

DnD is ALL about the protagonist. Your character is simply a vessel to transport you into the story.

[Oxarhamar]

Wow, you are SO wrong about that one.

Is Tomb of Horrors iconic because of the heroes in the quest, or because of the villain and its tomb?

Or did you plumb the depths of the Underdark because it was about your character, or because of the Drow and Lloth?

And what was the point of going back into the Temple of Elemental Evil? Because of your character and advancement, or because of the rise of Zuggetmoy?

DnD is ALL about the protagonist. Your character is simply a vessel to transport you into the story.

This's one gets it


All the talk of Star Wars being the greatest movies ever would be poppycock without The dark side.

Just a bunch of space lamers going on vacation

[bsquishwizzy]

1)
Treebeard - No Arc whatsoever!
2) Saruman - We find out he's Evil {if we hadn't already read the book that is!} - Again no Arc! He's Evil before we find out and even more Evil after!
3) Faramir - No Arc! Faramir's a good guy in a bad situation and he does the right thing - That is all!
4) Eowyn - Classic Heroes Journey - Wouldn't really call this an Arc!
5) Grima Wormtongue - You're joking right? Most blatantly Evil character in the Trilogy! Heck even Sauron has nothing on this guy!
6)
7)
8) But then again - What's this talk of Arcs anyway? Does every single character in a movie need an Arc Plot? Heck Does even the main character in a Movie need an Arc plot?
9)
10) With that said:
11) Legolas and Gimli actually DO have an Arc Plot - Their initial antagonism towards each other and their growing friendship throughout the three movies!

In fact, if you watch Lord of the Rings extended edition and the commentary, you’ll find in the movie a lot of discussions on character arcs, among them Faramir and Eowyn. Likewise, they also discuss re-creating Gimli as a comic foil.

So you’re wrong. I mean, WAY wrong on some of this.

While I am in slight agreement that the need for EVERY FRICKIN’ CHARACTER to have a stupid story arc is lame, the fact is that every movie does it.

Treebeard goes from indifferent to the war, to participating based on prompting from the hobbits. That was the whole point of the Entmoot.

Grima both in the movie and the book goes from being the lackey of Saruman to killing him because he is tired of being kicked like a dog all the time. The book just did it better.

Faramir’s arc in the movie is actually a departure from his arc in the book. And it was too bad because the arc in the book was more human and interesting. Like I said, the commentary in the extended DVDs talks pretty extensively on this subject.

And Legolas and Gimli have arcs where they go from hating each other, to being the best of friends. This is only lightly touched on in the movie. It was defined WAY better in the books. In fact, Gimli’s change of heart comes about due to his meeting of Galadrial, and her gift to him.

In the movie Aragorn goes from not wanting to be king, to accepting it. Again, a major departure from the books, but it is what it is.

Every character in the movie has an arc. The only one who doesn’t is Sauron. That’s by design.

[Draksel]

There really aren't many actual Middle Eastern actors who have the star power AND are the right age for that role even now and certainly weren't when 13th Warrior was made!
Hispanic Actors tend to get these roles because of similarity of appearance and Antonio Banderas was the right age and most certainly had the star power!
Sometimes you just have to say OK!
BTW No-one complains about Hispanic actor Ricardo Montalban playing Khan Noonien Singh in Original Star Trek Episode: Space Seed or Wrath of Khan. {Benedict Cumberbatch however - Now that was just wrong!}

I'm not sure what you assumed from my post, but my distaste for Antonio Banderas has nothing to do with his ethnic origins.

Also, why would anyone complain about Ricardo Mantalban playing Khan? No one complains because he was awesome in both!

[Saekee]

My favorite film that is of the faux-Medieval genre is not based on a game and is, in fact, animated and Japanese: Princess Mononoke (http://studioghibli.wikia.com/wiki/Princess_Mononoke), 1997.


No good-versus-evil BS
Wonderful shintao spirituality
Nuanced characters
Zen and balance without ever mentioning 'Zen'
A tender love story
green theme without Luddites


Awesome.


http://artfiles.alphacoders.com/737/73713.jpg

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

That's a nightmare project.

If you go with any of the novel storylines, you'd be obliged to pick, well, Drizzt. Because that's the NTY bestseller line (and the Dragonlance rights are stickier), even if he's a cliched archetype and that story tone has been done to death already.

Something new? Okay. But it'll still be a generic fantasy film with some specific monsters thrown in, and that'll be your only selling point (Dragons! Beholders! Owlbears! iconic nostalgia).

You could go with a well-regarded module, but you're still making a film for a film audience, who will be much larger than the group of people who know what the hell that module is.
You'd be left with a bunch of jumbled scenes and a well-edited trailer.

A good D&D movie? Give me a documentary on the history of TSR or a Gygax biopic. If you want a really great D&D movie, make Werner Herzog DM a game and just film that.

[PsychoBlonde]

A good D&D movie? Give me a documentary on the history of TSR or a Gygax biopic. If you want a really great D&D movie, make Werner Herzog DM a game and just film that.

That could be surprisingly awesome.

[Captain_Wizbang]

Ah psychoblonde, I remember the spirited and fun chats in the Mournland chat room we had on the this very subject.

I'll add this,
Any fantasy/adventure movie will have to have a few BIG names, actor and directors, The CGI has to be top notch, or it will look like a syfy channel movie.
The script has to be unique, and not from one module.
If the powers that be, had any smarts to tie into this game and market, then taking one of the story arcs we have here would be over the top, and a sure bet.

STK, catacombs, GH, just to throw some ideas out there. Would all make great movie base-lines.

As for the rest of this thread, I see much popcornery here

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/chefricochet/animated/200.gif


and the movie critics, meh :cool:


http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm299/chefricochet/animated/ibtl_c.gif

[Nebless]

A good D&D movie? Give me a documentary on the history of TSR or a Gygax biopic. If you want a really great D&D movie, make Werner Herzog DM a game and just film that.

Well they already did a book; 'Of Dice and Men - The Story of D&D and the People who play it' by David M. Ewalt.

Pretty good read, lot's of things I didn't know.

[Nebless]

You really have to ask 'What is a D&D movie?' Since unless they go the route that comedy did where there were LARP players and accidently summoned a demon, how would you even know beyond the title and some references?

As has been said they need to shoot for just a really good sword and sorcery flick. To use something already in print to base it on for example; they could simply use the book 'Guardians of the Flame' series, The Sleeping Dragon by Joel Rosenberg. In it a group of College kids get sucked into their unnamed RPG and they become their characters. The beginning of the story would show a typical D&D gaming setup, it then goes into the standard sword and sorcery story with them trying to reach the magic gate to return them to their world.

[DANTEIL]

Give me a documentary on the history of TSR or a Gygax biopic.

Well, people have tried to get something like this off the ground and ran into a host of problems:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/nyregion/a-quest-to-make-a-dungeons-dragons-film-turns-into-a-legal-battle.html

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/15/5901199/the-case-of-the-dueling-dungeons-dragons-documentaries

[Chauncey1]

You really have to ask 'What is a D&D movie?' Since unless they go the route that comedy did where there were LARP players and accidently summoned a demon, how would you even know beyond the title and some references?

As has been said they need to shoot for just a really good sword and sorcery flick. To use something already in print to base it on for example; they could simply use the book 'Guardians of the Flame' series, The Sleeping Dragon by Joel Rosenberg. In it a group of College kids get sucked into their unnamed RPG and they become their characters. The beginning of the story would show a typical D&D gaming setup, it then goes into the standard sword and sorcery story with them trying to reach the magic gate to return them to their world.


No!

Hasn't the "group of college kids getting sucked into the game world" already been done?

I like the total party wipe idea. It's needs to be scary as hell, and dark. And using the "less is more" technique with the mobs. Like an EE quest where everyone is underpowered, undergeared, and in WAY over their heads. They manage to hang on by the skin of their teeth (losing one or two or three or four along the way) until the very end, then BAM! Boss fight kills them all. Then show a group of people rolling new characters while yelling at the DM for being too much of a stickler for the rules.

Or...just show a spinning 20 sided die as the credits roll.

I think the giveaway that it's a D&D film should be withheld until the end. Just make a badass flick, loosely based on some D&D campaign or book series. And they MUST get Vin Diesel on board, he's such a huge D&D fan, if he doesn't want to act in it, give him the director's chair!. This is a golden opportunity. It would be a shame to squander it by making some formulaic garbage with no-names that have no idea how cool D&D really is. For cryin' out loud, Get Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day on board too. Big budget, and big names. DOIT WB! You have enough astral shards. Don't screw this up!

Again, people should have NO IDEA it's a D&D movie until the end.

Just my 2 copper.

[Frogger1234]

For bad fantasy movies, there's also The Keeper of Time (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398150/)

[Chauncey1]

Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.

'Nuff said.

[Full_Bleed]

Wow so much wrong in one post I am impressed

Yeah. I now have to asterisk everything that guy says from here on out.

Note to D&D Movie Producers: Hire that guy! *


*and do the exact opposite of whatever he suggests.

[Nebless]

No!

Hasn't the "group of college kids getting sucked into the game world" already been done?

I like the total party wipe idea. It's needs to be scary as hell, and dark. And using the "less is more" technique with the mobs. Like an EE quest where everyone is underpowered, undergeared, and in WAY over their heads. They manage to hang on by the skin of their teeth (losing one or two or three or four along the way) until the very end, then BAM! Boss fight kills them all. Then show a group of people rolling new characters while yelling at the DM for being too much of a stickler for the rules.

Or...just show a spinning 20 sided die as the credits roll.

I think the giveaway that it's a D&D film should be withheld until the end. Just make a badass flick, loosely based on some D&D campaign or book series. And they MUST get Vin Diesel on board, he's such a huge D&D fan, if he doesn't want to act in it, give him the director's chair!. This is a golden opportunity. It would be a shame to squander it by making some formulaic garbage with no-names that have no idea how cool D&D really is. For cryin' out loud, Get Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day on board too. Big budget, and big names. DOIT WB! You have enough astral shards. Don't screw this up!

Again, people should have NO IDEA it's a D&D movie until the end.

Just my 2 copper.

True, I'm just saying don't make a D&D movie - do a little intro and then the movie. Now I really like your idea. Flip flops mine with the D&D part at the end. My vote would be to show the gaming group as the dice would only mean something to those like us.

[Oxarhamar]

No!

Hasn't the "group of college kids getting sucked into the game world" already been done?

I like the total party wipe idea. It's needs to be scary as hell, and dark. And using the "less is more" technique with the mobs. Like an EE quest where everyone is underpowered, undergeared, and in WAY over their heads. They manage to hang on by the skin of their teeth (losing one or two or three or four along the way) until the very end, then BAM! Boss fight kills them all. Then show a group of people rolling new characters while yelling at the DM for being too much of a stickler for the rules.

Or...just show a spinning 20 sided die as the credits roll.

I think the giveaway that it's a D&D film should be withheld until the end. Just make a badass flick, loosely based on some D&D campaign or book series. And they MUST get Vin Diesel on board, he's such a huge D&D fan, if he doesn't want to act in it, give him the director's chair!. This is a golden opportunity. It would be a shame to squander it by making some formulaic garbage with no-names that have no idea how cool D&D really is. For cryin' out loud, Get Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day on board too. Big budget, and big names. DOIT WB! You have enough astral shards. Don't screw this up!

Again, people should have NO IDEA it's a D&D movie until the end.

Just my 2 copper.

This

also

The Princess Bride did a great job of being an immersive story that you see thru the imagination of the sick child as his grandfather read him the book.

a D&D movie that did similar with players gathered around a table rolling dice would do well.

[UurlockYgmeov]

This

also

The Princess Bride did a great job of being an immersive story that you see thru the imagination of the sick child as his grandfather read him the book.

a D&D movie that did similar with players gathered around a table rolling dice would do well.

movie will probably only succeed if a big name actor takes on a leading role, and the only DnD fan who is a big name actor that I can remember off the top of my head is Vin Diesel (Sorry Wil and Felicia).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSynJyq2RRo

[Uska]

movie will probably only succeed if a big name actor takes on a leading role, and the only DnD fan who is a big name actor that I can remember off the top of my head is Vin Diesel (Sorry Wil and Felicia).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSynJyq2RRo

Well there are a few episodes about a hackmaster group to bad the guy behind it turned out to,be a crook as he was doing a traveler show as well

[Hoglum]

A tender love story





I've changed my mind. This is what a D&D based movie should be about.

[Gauthaag]

I want movie in which lord soth finds he s fictional character doomed to rise and loose each time some players wade into his story, thus taking his army and invading earth to find his author to make him change his story:)

[Gauthaag]

Oh and no one mentioned Order of Stick yet?

[Uska]

Oh and no one mentioned Order of Stick yet?

I prefer the noob

[AshurDS]

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I am excited that it is set in the Forgotten Realms (my preferred D&D setting). Im somewhat hopeful that WB is making the movie. I am not excited that the parties involved in the previous 3 movies found their way into producers chairs for this movie. That is BAD BAD BAD! Hopefully it will be good enough to warrant further investment in move movies and games and hopefully it will produce some interest in DDO. However, Im not holding my breath...

Ashur

[Draksel]

That's a nightmare project.



So why not make this movie a fantasy horror and set it in Ravenloft. This would probably result is a more accurate to true D&D where the band of "heros" go all murderhobo on everything and everybody.

[FranOhmsford]

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I am excited that it is set in the Forgotten Realms (my preferred D&D setting). Im somewhat hopeful that WB is making the movie. I am not excited that the parties involved in the previous 3 movies found their way into producers chairs for this movie. That is BAD BAD BAD! Hopefully it will be good enough to warrant further investment in move movies and games and hopefully it will produce some interest in DDO. However, Im not holding my breath...

Ashur

This:


Wrath of the Titans screenwriter David Leslie Johnson has already penned the script for the new Dungeons & Dragons.

Worries me more than anything else!

That's hardly a good sign!

[Algreg]

I am sure this has been brought up before in some way, but a D&D movie would be a movie about unusual dice.

They could grab one world franchise I guess. But, and now I am going to incite a riot, fantasy literature and stories, especially those derived from roleplaying games, are horrible compared to "real" art. I usually don´t divide into pop culture and "serious art", but in this special case, really, there are few talented artists in the genre, most of the stuff is written by underpaid people - whom you may refer to as "hacks" - producing them in a few weeks at best under tight deadlines. Even if they wanted to create art and had the talent, it is not wanted, publishers, especially when it comes to roleplay franchises, want quick stories with some names and characters thrown in as a fan service. Heck, I can even remember some novels I skimmed with lines like "x cast d&d spell name". Ridiculous. I am not saying you cannot create art based on roleplay franchises, but production circumstances don´t really favor that, to put it mildly. Yours truly, a comparative literature M.A.

[Gratch]

I vote for TV series based on Darksun Prism Pentad over a single FR movie. But maybe you have to do one to get to the other funded. Though with Game O Thrones success, maybe not.

Here's how you do it. Go watch the new Fantastic Four (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/reviews/cinemarter/14417-Fantastic-Four) movie. And then DO everything opposite that mush.

Base the movie around the characters and their interactions (plot). Make them interesting characters both with D&D properties and actual character ambitions, wants, personalities etc. Too many hollow characters and villains in previous D&D movies who's only description was Good Thief or Evil Megalomaniac Sorcerer all of which is revealed in boring-ass exposition about what's. Good movies have characters showing their what's by doing their why's. All I'm saying is get a good writer/screenplay, director, producer or don't even do it.

Also. Vin Diesel (http://darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Rikus) likes D&D. Just sayin'.

I'd also like a movie trilogy based on Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. I believe some studio has the option on it. Great action, characters and a plot that makes Whedon killing one main character off at the end of some of his movies seem wuss by comparison. Also, spikes through the eyes.

Edit: Hmmmm... Time to quit my job and go force HBO/Showtime/etc to MAKE THIS HAPPEN (http://brandonsanderson.com/mistborn-film-rights/).

[drathdragon]

Would they ever ever do a DECENT D&D movie ?

all i saw until now was, literally, s#@% !

[FranOhmsford]

Also. Vin Diesel (http://darksun.wikia.com/wiki/Rikus) likes D&D. Just sayin'.



Vin Diesel is Perfect for Rikus!

Or he was....10 years ago!

[wlmartin]

Nooooooooooo

First 2 movies I can live with but they only work as entertainment for fan boys

The 3rd was a joke and a clear advertisement for the worst game iteration in dnd history, 4e.

Guy walks into a magic shop and picks up a bag of holding and some armor. Guy asked him (paragon or heroic) to which he replies Paragon

This is a 4e term for the level you are at and is a meta term not a dnd term. So this 4th walling was less ironic or fun poking and more "hasBro needs to sell some more 4e books"

The new movie needs to die!! Monte Cooke could write it and I'd still ignore it

NO MORE

[Powskier]

im more skeptical about a D&D movie actually being really good. I have yet to see one that is. Lord of the Rings is one of my favorites and watch again and again all the time, but that doesn't count :p

it is amazing how re-watchable LOTRings is! Even though every single Battle is about as well thought out tactically , as a fleet of screen door hatched submarines

[Powskier]

Would they ever ever do a DECENT D&D movie ?

all i saw until now was, literally, s#@% !

Wrath of the Dragon God was quite watchable

[UurlockYgmeov]

It needs lots of gratuitous slaying and violence! (if you read something else - better go see FRED!)

[FranOhmsford]

Wrath of the Dragon God was quite watchable

Watchable doesn't mean good though!

Wrath of the Dragon God had major issues with characterisation and really bad decision making from what was clearly supposed to be a group of veteran{even Epic} Heroes!


One thing they seem to have trouble with in D&D Movies is Character Power levels! {A Massive problem this!}.

The first Movie we have:
Ridley - Who seems to be a low level Fighter/Rogue at first but is then able to hold his own in fights with Epic Bad Guys!
Snails is frankly stupidly low level in this Movie - Like Ridley he needed to be shown as a capable mid lvl Rogue and this simply didn't happen!
The "Elven" NOT! Ranger was clearly high level but did basically nothing!
The Dwarf? What was this guy? A Veteran Fighter/Barb? Again he does basically nothing so that our Heroes can prove themselves!
The Wizard - Who seems to only have like 2 Spells! And again is faced off against Epic Bad Guys!

The second Movie we have:
Fighter - Ex Captain of the Guard, Ex Adventurer, Clearly at LEAST Lvl 10 {Probably double that!}.
Wizard - Under-used, Gets hit by the plot hammer - Again clearly supposed to be high level!
Cleric - AN ABSOLUTE IMBECILE! Who tries to TURN a DRAGON!
Rogue - The ONLY good character in the Movie!
Barbarian - Massive Cliche!
Main Character's wife {a Wizard} who somehow figures out how to learn Divine Magic despite not being in any way religious!

I know Hollywood is Anti-Religious but this Movie is up there with the remake of Clash of the Titans and it's sequel Wrath of the Titans for being really blatant about it!

The 3rd Movie has what can only be described as a Lvl 7 at best Paladin with NO Powers joining/infiltrating a group of Epic Villains!

And again: Hollywood's hatred of all things religious shines through with Pelor deciding seemingly on a whim that none of his Paladins are worthy of being given their powers unless they first do Evil!



Another related issue is Villain Power being regularly in movies so superior to the Heroes and how this translates to a so-called D&D Movie where the Heroes are supposed to be taking on enemies that those Heroes actually would have a chance against!




In D&D the Heroes are supposed to be of similar power levels to each other UNLIKE other Fantasy stories where it's common for a complete newbie to join a band of veteran heroes!
The complete newbie main character hooking up with a band of veteran heroes simply doesn't work in a D&D Movie! It doesn't make sense because the Hero has to have a realistic chance against the Villains!



And finally - Characterisation itself - Hollywood has proven with the Fast & Furious and Avengers franchises {along with many other movies} that it CAN do ensemble stories and provide REAL Characterisation to each member of the group! {Heck The Rock's Hercules managed it too!}
Why can it not manage this in a D&D Movie?

[cpw_acc]

The worrying thing about basing a film on "dungeons & dragons" is the thought that the screenwriters will feel they must feature dungeons and dragons in some prominent but probably completely arbitrary way purely because it is (unfortunately) in the title of the RPG product. Where, as others have said, there is so much history to choose from.

The problem with the first movies (I only saw the first 2) was that it was as though the screenwriters FIRST tried to think of as many cliched D&D elements and concepts as they could conceivably stuff into the movie, even if its inclusion was totally random and wasted (*cough*beholder) and THEN tried to string it together into a plot (no room for characterisation with this method of course).

If they concentrated on characters and plot FIRST in order to produce a really good fantasy film, that just happened to include D&D elements, it might actually turn out all right.

I have hopes. Just not very high ones.

[Algreg]

Watchable doesn't mean good though!

Wrath of the Dragon God had major issues with characterisation and really bad decision making from what was clearly supposed to be a group of veteran{even Epic} Heroes!


One thing they seem to have trouble with in D&D Movies is Character Power levels! {A Massive problem this!}.

The first Movie we have:
Ridley - Who seems to be a low level Fighter/Rogue at first but is then able to hold his own in fights with Epic Bad Guys!
Snails is frankly stupidly low level in this Movie - Like Ridley he needed to be shown as a capable mid lvl Rogue and this simply didn't happen!
The "Elven" NOT! Ranger was clearly high level but did basically nothing!
The Dwarf? What was this guy? A Veteran Fighter/Barb? Again he does basically nothing so that our Heroes can prove themselves!
The Wizard - Who seems to only have like 2 Spells! And again is faced off against Epic Bad Guys!

The second Movie we have:
Fighter - Ex Captain of the Guard, Ex Adventurer, Clearly at LEAST Lvl 10 {Probably double that!}.
Wizard - Under-used, Gets hit by the plot hammer - Again clearly supposed to be high level!
Cleric - AN ABSOLUTE IMBECILE! Who tries to TURN a DRAGON!
Rogue - The ONLY good character in the Movie!
Barbarian - Massive Cliche!
Main Character's wife {a Wizard} who somehow figures out how to learn Divine Magic despite not being in any way religious!

I know Hollywood is Anti-Religious but this Movie is up there with the remake of Clash of the Titans and it's sequel Wrath of the Titans for being really blatant about it!

The 3rd Movie has what can only be described as a Lvl 7 at best Paladin with NO Powers joining/infiltrating a group of Epic Villains!

And again: Hollywood's hatred of all things religious shines through with Pelor deciding seemingly on a whim that none of his Paladins are worthy of being given their powers unless they first do Evil!



Another related issue is Villain Power being regularly in movies so superior to the Heroes and how this translates to a so-called D&D Movie where the Heroes are supposed to be taking on enemies that those Heroes actually would have a chance against!




In D&D the Heroes are supposed to be of similar power levels to each other UNLIKE other Fantasy stories where it's common for a complete newbie to join a band of veteran heroes!
The complete newbie main character hooking up with a band of veteran heroes simply doesn't work in a D&D Movie! It doesn't make sense because the Hero has to have a realistic chance against the Villains!



And finally - Characterisation itself - Hollywood has proven with the Fast & Furious and Avengers franchises {along with many other movies} that it CAN do ensemble stories and provide REAL Characterisation to each member of the group! {Heck The Rock's Hercules managed it too!}
Why can it not manage this in a D&D Movie?

The second anyone involved in a movie thinking "levels" and "character classes" it has already failed artistically.

[Missing_Minds]

Sounds like a lot of people in here have issues with disbalief for the sake of the movie.

Put down the dice. Put down the character sheets. Put down your expectations. You may be able to enjoy the movies for the entertainment factor they are supposed to be as I don't know how many movies I've seen that would qualify as D&D just because it really is a generic setting.

It just seems that fan rage on anything that directly slaps "D&D" on the title is going to irk people. Heck, if they were really going to do a D&D movie now... Why not just make it based on the old cartoon. Sure it would be campy, but that is the point!
Prepubesent ADHD kid with anger issues? Check.
Local nerd? Check.
Brash jock? Not quite, but wanna be seems to fit the Cavalier quiet well.
Protective older sister that doesn't like confrontations? Check.
Strong, upstanding black woman? Check.
Charismatic class president? Check.
Merchandisable animal that could tie into a current craze? check. (Face it, you could probably get Bronies to by Uni plushies.)

[Algreg]

Sounds like a lot of people in here have issues with disbalief for the sake of the movie.

Put down the dice. Put down the character sheets. Put down your expectations. You may be able to enjoy the movies for the entertainment factor they are supposed to be as I don't know how many movies I've seen that would qualify as D&D just because it really is a generic setting.

It just seems that fan rage on anything that directly slaps "D&D" on the title is going to irk people. Heck, if they were really going to do a D&D movie now... Why not just make it based on the old cartoon. Sure it would be campy, but that is the point!
Prepubesent ADHD kid with anger issues? Check.
Local nerd? Check.
Brash jock? Not quite, but wanna be seems to fit the Cavalier quiet well.
Protective older sister that doesn't like confrontations? Check.
Strong, upstanding black woman? Check.
Charismatic class president? Check.
Merchandisable animal that could tie into a current craze? check. (Face it, you could probably get Bronies to by Uni plushies.)

needs a D&D-mobile.

[Infinitedrift]

Let's see we have the first one that was just plain BAD ... like really bad. It was like watching a campaign run by 5 year olds who couldn't decide if it should be a cool action game or a comedy, tried both at different times and just ended up with a mess.

The second one was "ok" but only if you were a fan of DnD / Decent quality B movies.

The third ... even more meh.

Here's a hint, don't harp that it's dungeons and dragons just make a good movie using a DnD setting and maybe a couple of iconic characters (Eliminster if in FR or Bigby if Greyhawk for example) used as tie in's or flavour characters and roll with it. Don't re-create a module or book if at all possible just make something original. There are millions of untold stories yet to be written so do one of them. DnD fans will know it's a DnD movie and non-DnD fans will know it's a good fantasy movie.

Don't go comic book, go serious and write something good for once!

Alas we all know it's going to be a train wreck. I really hope I am wrong here but I really doubt that I am. I couldn't possibly agree more