Bad movie... but not that... It is unbelievable how this movie could have been created with such good actors and so much money, but such a bad script and directing. Dialogues are painfully bad in this movie, as is the story itself. The acting is also below any standard you would expect from such an expensive movie. Jeremy Irons was especially shocking, his performance was very pathetic and flat, as if this would be a bad movie for three year olds. That was not acting, that was a torment ! I cried every time he appeared on the screen. Thora Birch was also far, far below her level in 'American Beauty', obviously unable to tell how one should put a little life into her bad dialogue and flat character, and somehow even thinking that that was her own fault. If at all, the thief Snails (Marlon Wayans from Scary Movie) had quite some good moments in his slapstick scenes, the only good moments in the whole movie. Unfortunately they don't last long. Wayans seems to have a talent to shine even in the worst movies, however. The performance of the main actor was also bad. His dull and cheap sunnyboy behavior really nerved me, and I saw absolutely no reason for his 'being special', but far more for 'being untalented'. The effects where better than the story, but really not that exciting either. Some people say fantasy is about stereotypes, but that doesnt mean you can forget all rules how to make up a good story ! This story was not worth getting on the screen. This story was also not worth getting such good actors and effects. This story was nothing but crap ! And I can't believe that Jeremy Irons and Thora Birch are such bad actors, they have proven they can do far, far better ! I can only guess it must have been the director who forced them to do such bad performances. Definitely not recommended for anyone except maybe children below ten. Oh wait, they're not allowed ? No loss. Anyway for the special effects I rate this movie 3/5 star.
Courtney Solomon and crew evidently never played Dungeons and Dragons, nor did they consult anyone who was even remotely a maje, not even a dungeon master, because this was horrid. Nothing like the game. This is Atari Adventure compared to Dungeons and Dragons, and that's an insult to Atari Adventure! When a young orincess goes off on an adventure to seek a powerful item to cure her people, bad guys crack stupid jokes and chase after her. The only quality moment, the senate scene. It was downhill from there. The dragons were actually lumbering and stupid, when in the game they were smart. The sorcerers are powerful, but not in this.The skeletal dude was not from the stories. They were thinking of Goonies. Yikes, that even insults Goonies. Horrid, horrid script didn't help.
I've been playing D&D since 1979, and this movie did not have enough of a D&D feel. Of course I stopped playing with the 1st Edition rules, I hoped that more monsters, character classes, armor-types, traps and spells from the D&D world would've been shown in this movie. Where were all the wonderful monsters that D&D players know fondly from the game? I would've loved to see the onscreen representations of some of the famous monsters from the game. The filmmakers should've crammed the movie with tons of references to the actual game, so the D&D fans could pick them all out. The "dungeons" in the movie were extremely short. A vital part of the game is about a party working together, but in this movie - the hero Ridley went solo through most of the dungeons, while his companions waited outside -- what was the purpose of that? The ending made little sense, except to make way for a sequel. I would've prefered an ending that reverted to our world, showing a group of gameplayers sitting around a table, finishing up the story we had just seen. The scale of the movie seemed a bit cramped and staged. No attempts were made to combine the sweeping CGI vistas with the live actors. I think they should've left the scenes inside the scroll and the Ridley's dream of the baby dragon intact. On the DVD, you can see these scenes and others under the Deleted Scenes section. I think they ran out of time with this movie, and wanted it released in time for Christmas. If they had done more post production, it may have been a much better movie.
To be honest this is the only Part of Dungeons and Dragons I really enjoyed. The other two were boring. I like Jeremy Irons, but the reason I watched this Movie was Bruce Payne and Justin Whalin. Alright it is not a blockbuster or something, but I enjoyed it. My Bad luck I always miss the Intro.
this movie sucked ass, I mean, I didn't have one good thing to say about it, and the only reason I watched was for Thora Birch cause I enjoyed her in American Beauty so much....lol
Peli mala, mala y muy muy mala. Es triste ver como cogen una buena idea y la conviertene en un bodrio desmesurado, triste y ridículo.
El enano calvo y mal hecho, la elfa negra (no es por ser racista... pero cuando alguien ha oido de un elfo negro????!!!!), los monstruos excepcionalmente irrisorios.
Un despropósito hecho película. Ni se os ocurra verla, que desvirtúa aún más los juegos de rol.
One man's home world and home rules thrust upon an unsuspecting audience. It was as much "Dungeons and Dragons" as "Spirit Within" was Final Fantasy...little to none. Few elements made this movie good, but so many made it a disappointment.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of fantasy. As a genre, it's always seemed too feeble for me to really get attached to, significantly more so than science fiction or horror, because EVERYTHING is made up: the landscapes, the kingdoms, the animals, even the species of the main characters is all make-believe. Often none of it is grounded in any identifiable reality, and it's very, very hard for me to give a damn about a world where nothing is relatable. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this- I did enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy a great deal- but with fantasy, it takes extremely skilled storytelling to bridge that gap to the audience and make the viewer invest interest in the film. Sadly, Dungeons and Dragons never even comes close to this. Based on the most popular role-playing game of all time (yippee-kai-yay), D&D is a perfect example of fantasy at its worst, concocting a meaningless threat to a poorly-realized world that must be saved by two-dimensional characters who go on a cliché-filled quest to find a convenient magical plot device- one that the ridiculously over-the-top forces of evil wish to obtain for themselves. Justin Whalin (you may remember him as Jimmy Olsen from TV's Lois and Clark... but if you don't, I don't blame you) stars as Ridley, the young thief who just might have what it takes to find the red-dragon controlling staff and save the kingdom of Izmer (or he could die a horrible death, but I guess no one else would find that entertaining. At least, as much as I would). He plays the standard Luke Skywalker part okay, but he just doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "subtle"- I never laughed as hard as I did when I saw him react to an on-screen death (Jesus Christ, man, take it down a few notches!). Also in this film is Marlon Wayans as comic relief sidekick Snails, and since I don't really have anything nice to say about him, I'll just change the subject. Together with a bargain basement team consisting of a red-headed, fake bearded dwarf and a pretty elf in plastic armor- neither of which do a damned thing to move the plot forward, or even add some character to the proceedings- they set out to find... something. I don't know, I really didn't care what they were doing. In fact, in the end, they end up destroying the plot device anyway, and they were the only ones with the map to the cavern that held it, so... why didn't they just burn the map and call the quest a victory? Oh well- who cares. On the villains' side, we have the normally awesome Jeremy Irons... ripping the scenery to shreds with his teeth. I have never seen such incredible overacting in my life- I think he had fun with it, mostly because he knew that fun would be the best he could get out of the experience. Anyway, he's trying to overthrow the rule of the grossly miscast princess Savina, played by Thora Birch- she just couldn't seem to stop fidgeting, as if she just couldn't wait to finish shooting and get off the set (and frankly, I can't blame her). Finally, there's the Darth Vader of the whole thing- a guy named Damadar, played by a guy named (heh) Bruce Payne. About his performance, I can't help but say that it's kind of sad how he seemed to think speaking really slowly and quietly would make him sound menacing; about his character, I have only two words: BLUE LIPSTICK. As for the rest, it's all fairly derivative, with a "maze" in the second act (consisting of only three rooms) that's a straight rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Arc, and it's filled to the brim with questionable CGI shots that would look more at home in a TV show than a major motion picture. In fact, the whole thing has television production values, from the shoddy lighting to the minimal set design. There's no drama in the compositions, or the editing. Really, there's no drama anywhere in this movie- if you don't know how it's going to end going in, then you obviously haven't watched many movies lately. The screenwriters do try to throw in a curve ball or two, but they're poorly conceived and executed haphazardly (one concerning Marlon Wayans did catch me off-guard, but I didn't care- I come too far without caring to muster a reaction by then). The script is juvenile, the plot is irrelevant (it's good guys vs. bad guys, there doesn't have to be a reason). Frankly, all Dungeons and Dragons managed to illicit from me was a deep feeling of apathy at best, and an irritated annoyance at worst. It did get some laughs out of me, but none of them were good-natured. When it was finally over, I could feel the hole in my life where two hours had previously been, but that was all. It takes a lot to make a fantasy film really work, and a hell of a lot more to make one great. Of course, that doesn't keep Hollywood from trying; sometimes the result is Lord of the Rings, but sometimes... MOST of the time... it's this. Save your two hours, friend. Go forth, live life, and never think about watching this movie ever again. Trust me.
EXCEPT FOR THE COMEDY ASPECT AND THE LEAD CHARCTER THE MOVIE WAS EXCELLENT. THE SEQUAL WAS BETTER AND MORE SUITED FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE RELIGIOUS GAMERS.
I feel cheated, next time I see Jeremy Irons I expect a personnel apology for what is probably one of the worst films I have seen in quite awhile. Bad acting throughout especially by Jimmy Olsen from superman. If your thinking of seeing this, don't, rather watch Eragon it is not nearly as bad!
Cheap and cheesy I could handle, but I wasn't prepared for just how dull this thing was. Jeremy Irons' scenery-chewing is the most energetic thing about it, while Thora Birch gives a performance so terrible I almost wrote her off as an actress then and there.
Corny as hell but c'mon, it's Dungeons & Dragons! This has everything a B Grade fantasy movie should, from see through characters, lame plots, and comic relief. Personally, I thought it was cute.
The Author must have been a massive LOTR fan cos this movie has more than a hint of rip off... Entertaining all the same. Marlon Wayans tries but fails to bring some comic relief. I would rate this more of a kids movie. but hey.. i watched it!
I thought even though this movie was a bit corny. I thought it was a good fantasy movie and it had a good story! I loved how funny this movie was too, the characters were a very good delight. Though I think they went a little to insane on the character Profion.
Make no mistake; this is a bad movie. The effects are awful; the acting is atrocious; the dialogue is abysmal; the story is crap. Yet, for some reason, I found myself really enjoying it. It's far from being a Lord of the Rings,--it's not even a Chronicles of Narnia--but I liked it more than Eragon. (Damning with faint praise, I know.) I can't really give any justification for it unfortunately. Oh, and Zoe McLellan is hella cute.
Oh, god, why oh why they wasted the D&D franchise in such a movie? My dream is to see an adaptation from the D&D's 80s cartoon (the kids that are on the roller coaster and then go to D&D world). Imagine how it would be! Somebody call Peter Jackson and demand the cartoon adaptation. It would be a guaranteed hit. And about this movie, don't waste your time watching it.
MCT:July 30, 2008
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MCT:December 9, 2007
