D&D movie

Lemernis

'Dungeons & Dragons' Movie Rights Trial Starts With Roll Of The Sequel Dice

I can't say that I'm a fan of the first film, but what with today's CGI I think that a D&D sequel definitely has potential.

NWN_babaYaga

...

the first "movie" or whatever that BS was so bad, terrible embarassing that I thought what the hell am i watching. A trip of facepalm! Pink dude within marcet crowd is "plot device" to lead to the "thiefs" guild... then the dungeon of facepalm, then the rest of facepalm... it´s so BAD and i do like some terrible movies at time. Troll 2 was better because it is funny! The only good thing would have been a gorefest right at the beginning and then cut, the end. We killed the cast and crew!

The second thing was... i dont realy remember except some ghoul in a forest who doesnt looked like a d&d ghoul but anyway it was a ghoul...

abacus

It needs to be story driven, not a fanboy gush-fest....
And though I hate to say it, it needs to be pitched at a mass-market in order to get quality people involved.
LOTR & ASOIAF work on screen because their casting, crew & production are exceptional.

There's the potential for a Marvel-esque franchise if someone has the balls to put some real investment into it.

Lemernis

True! Maybe then we'd eventually see the Baldur's Gate saga told on the silver screen.

LadyRhian

If they can resist turning the Rogue/Thief into a comic relief character, I'll be happy. In fact, just take the story seriously and not be like "OMG! We're making a movie based on a game, LOLzors!", and I'll be content.

Squire

There have been three D&D films already! The first was awful, the second was actually quite good (look, I like it, okay??), the third was...average. Not a complete fail-fest but not brilliant either.

Wiggles

It will obviously require a man in blue lipstick or it'll bust.

FACT!

Squire

LadyRhian said:

If they can resist turning the Rogue/Thief into a comic relief character, I'll be happy.

Yeah, that character spoilt it somewhat...the fact that he had no purpose other than to give a few laughs and then die, giving the big hero a motivator. If they're supposed to be companion thieves working together, I'd have given Snails a few more things to do...I got the impression that he was meant to be the smooth talking one, so I'd have played that role up a bit more than it did, and have Ridley actually rely on this. I'd also have given the dwarf more of a combat role, since, again, he seems to serve no purpose in the story. The thieves' guild should have been much harder to find than it was, and Blue Lipstick guy should never have been able to surprise them like that. The main plot was too black-and-white - some goody goody emperess who wants everybody to be "equal" - yeah, equal how, exactly? What law does she pass to allow this to happen? That was far too over-simplified. Etc, etc, I could go on but I won't. ;-)

That's why I preferred the second one. Each character had a role to play (pun completely intended!). Nim was my favourite character...so crafty, just like a rogue should be! Also, it was much more like the game than the first one, and included a lot more references to the source material.

DreadKhan

The first was a bit disapointing, but it was pretty much what one could expect at the time.

BG series may sound better, but its probably the case that a Drizzt movie (probably the IWD books) would be more sellable. He has huge brand recognition by DnD standards, he's like Forgotten Realms' Wolverine or Spiderman, and even people not a fan of Drizzt consider seeing how it works in movie form. Not many people really hate Drizzt.

I still say the wild, dark edgy world of Thieves' World would have more appeal, but brand recognition might not be up for it, and it'd be hard to keep it strictly PG. Tempus is not a PG guy! Would make a solid TV series though.

Night_Watch

Jeremy Irons' (aka Scar from the Lion King) overacting was the only good thing about the first movie.

LadyRhian

Squire said:

LadyRhian said:

If they can resist turning the Rogue/Thief into a comic relief character, I'll be happy.

Yeah, that character spoilt it somewhat...the fact that he had no purpose other than to give a few laughs and then die, giving the big hero a motivator. If they're supposed to be companion thieves working together, I'd have given Snails a few more things to do...I got the impression that he was meant to be the smooth talking one, so I'd have played that role up a bit more than it did, and have Ridley actually rely on this. I'd also have given the dwarf more of a combat role, since, again, he seems to serve no purpose in the story. The thieves' guild should have been much harder to find than it was, and Blue Lipstick guy should never have been able to surprise them like that. The main plot was too black-and-white - some goody goody emperess who wants everybody to be "equal" - yeah, equal how, exactly? What law does she pass to allow this to happen? That was far too over-simplified. Etc, etc, I could go on but I won't. ;-)

That's why I preferred the second one. Each character had a role to play (pun completely intended!). Nim was my favourite character...so crafty, just like a rogue should be! Also, it was much more like the game than the first one, and included a lot more references to the source material.

I agree with you. The first movie had plot and logic holes large enough to Fly the Starship Enterprise through (original, not D). Far too much camp and overacting, far too many lazy fantasy tropes and even lazier dramatic tropes. I watched it once, and I could barely stand it then. "Wrath of the Dragon God" did it a million times better- characters who actually had character and skills they were supposed to have. Okay, so the lady mage apprentice at the end turns into a Druid somehow (Priest/esses of Obad-hai are druids, as I understand it), but it made me sad for what might have been if that was the first movie, and not the wretched abomination we got as the first movie.

Not that there isn't a place for overacting. "Hawk the Slayer", another D&D-esque fantasy movie I like has Jack Palance as the bad guy, and he chews scenery so vigorously that everything in sight is covered in toothmarks. Metaphorically, anyway. But it's rather a fun movie, features an elf, dwarf and giant as part of a party going to rescue nuns at a Christian nunnery from Mr. Chews Scenery All Day Long and LIKES IT, dammit! Most of the party dies, brother faces off against brother, and bad guy is vanquished. Look into it, bad special effects and all. It's a hoot.

Squire

LadyRhian said:

Okay, so the lady mage apprentice at the end turns into a Druid somehow (Priest/esses of Obad-hai are druids, as I understand it), but it made me sad for what might have been if that was the first movie, and not the wretched abomination we got as the first movie.

Yeah, that was pretty much the impression I got. I did quite like that touch, though - the whole finding of the lost lore of the ancient druids thing - I thought that fitted in quite nicely (especially given how, in the first film, the Empire of Izmer was dominated by arcane magic). But yeah, it's a shame the first film - the big one that went to the cinema and was the main attempt to bring D&D to the screens - wasn't more like that. The second one went straight to video, and I wonder how many people would have enjoyed it who never watched it, either because of the reputation of the first, or because it never hit the big screen.

Hawk the Slayer was hilarious...I literally burst out laughing the first time I saw the elf bowman's rapid shooting! (...that was that film wasn't it? Or am I thinking of a different film?)

elminster

I'm willing to play Elminster

Schneidend

The D&D movie where a would-be Paladin infiltrates a group of evil mercenaries was pretty awesome. I think it was called Book of Vile Darkness.

abacus

I tried to watch wrath of the dragon god last night... got to the part with the rubber faced Lich and gave it up... It's no wonder people think we're weird!

It's also the little things, like how everyone's armour is all sparkly because they don't have the production budget to properly age it. And the hilarious ape-headed staff...

Squire

True, the visuals weren't great, especially compared to the first one, but I guess they didn't have the budget this time around.

LadyRhian

Squire said:

LadyRhian said:

Okay, so the lady mage apprentice at the end turns into a Druid somehow (Priest/esses of Obad-hai are druids, as I understand it), but it made me sad for what might have been if that was the first movie, and not the wretched abomination we got as the first movie.

Yeah, that was pretty much the impression I got. I did quite like that touch, though - the whole finding of the lost lore of the ancient druids thing - I thought that fitted in quite nicely (especially given how, in the first film, the Empire of Izmer was dominated by arcane magic). But yeah, it's a shame the first film - the big one that went to the cinema and was the main attempt to bring D&D to the screens - wasn't more like that. The second one went straight to video, and I wonder how many people would have enjoyed it who never watched it, either because of the reputation of the first, or because it never hit the big screen.

Hawk the Slayer was hilarious...I literally burst out laughing the first time I saw the elf bowman's rapid shooting! (...that was that film wasn't it? Or am I thinking of a different film?)

Yes, that was it. There was another film starring the same guy who played the elf in which he played another shooter-y guy (I don't say archer because his weapon was a gun-like thing powered by some kind of alien plant pods thing) named "Prisoners of the Lost Universe", along with John Saxon (Cheese Warrior Supreme) and Richard Hatch (not the Survivor one, the one from the original Battlestar Galactica). Oh yeah. And in this film, he was GREEN. Impressively so. This film is a huge cheesefest, so be warned.

If you LIKE cheese, I'd also suggest Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, which has Richard Moll in it as the one-eyed leader of Mutants.

DreadKhan

This reminds me why I often just stick to old cheesey kung fu movies for action. Or new cheesey ones. Western cheese is often in a world all its own, though not always bad.

Nimran

Western cheese is served in a can.

DreadKhan

With a wink and nudge of course.

Squire

Okay, that does it. This weekend I am doing a D&D film marathon! XD