Hatrack River Forum: "Dragonlance" movie preview in the Aug 07 issue of "Dragon"

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Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Dragon magazine's penultimate issue contains an article about the animated Dragonlance movie due out this fall.

The animation looks okay. The lead characters will be 2D, while the dragons will be CGI.

(Hopefully it will match up well...they pulled it off in The Vision of Escaflowne anime.)

It rather amused me that the author of the article and people interviewed all agreed the first two D&D films royally sucked. [Big Grin]

I haven't really read the Dragonlance books since Junior High School, but I did flip through the two omnibus editions a while back. They'll probably make for a fun popcorn flick. Certainly they'll be ten thousand times better than the previous D&D films.

Apparently Paramount is still undecided on whether or not the films will be released theatrically, or straight to DVD. I guess we'll know by this fall.

(According to the article, the Dragonlance book series is over 150 volumes strong. Yow. Take that, Lewis & Tolkien!)

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Puffy Treat:

It rather amused me that the author of the article and people interviewed all agreed the first two D&D films royally sucked.

They made a second D&D movie? Next thing you know, they'll be making sequels to awful movies like Daredevil and Fantastic Four.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Yeah. Dungeons and Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God was a 2005 release.

It saw limited theatrical release in Russia and part of Europe.

It was only seen of the SciFi Channel here in the US before going straight to DVD.

Despite less involvement from Solomon and no Marlon Wayans, it still wasn't what most D&D fans would want in a D&D movie. [Wink]

Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :

My husband is actually breaking his rule about not seeing animated movies in the theater (yes, dumb rule, I know) to go see this.

Thanks for mentioning the article; I'll make sure he gets to see it. [Big Grin]

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

Whenever I think of the first D&D movie, I think of the following quote from Eric Snider's review of the first D&D movie:

quote:
This film is an all-you-can-eat buffet of bad acting, and Jeremy Irons is going back for seconds

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

I once watched the original D&D movie with the commentary track on, mostly because I heard Courtney Solomon's remarks turn what's merely a painfully bad movie into a camp classic.

And it's true. He and Justin Whalen recorded this track months before the film was released, with every expectation of it being a smash hit classic, with plenty of sequels.

It's also amusing to watch the deleted scenes, as in every case they're the scenes that actually explain the film's plot. [Big Grin]

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

My brothers and I were rolling on the floor when we watched that.

And I love the deleted scene with the cardboard cut-out ghost. [Smile]

BTW, did you realize that the original title for the movie Krull was Dungeons & Dragons, but it was changed when they lost the license for the name? So in a way, it's the original D&D movie.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

I did not know that! [Smile]

Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :

There were no dragons in Krull. I'm pretty sure it's a rule that stuff in the title has to be in the movie.

Krull, now there's a movie that needs a remake. Decent special effects, a stronger plot, and expanding on the kernal of decent characters it had. I'd love to see them play up more the part where Ynyr and his Lyssa were supposed to fulfill the prophecy.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

quote:
Originally posted by AvidReader:
I'm pretty sure it's a rule that stuff in the title has to be in the movie.

Tell that to 75% of the movies shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000. [Big Grin]

Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :

I'm not incredibly impressed by the images posted on the official website.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

The screenshots in the article look better.

Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :

Woohhoooo!!!! Yes! Yes! Yes! Been waiting for years man! I had a friend who was writing a screen play for a Dragon Lance movie trilogy based on the 3 books, be awesome if they matched a little.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

I bet they'll both have dragons.

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

And lances.

Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Puffy Treat:
The screenshots in the article look better.

I really hope so. I'm not in love with the character concept sketches either, but if the 3D work has been improved, maybe the 2D stuff has too. Here's hopin'.

I loved these books as a teen. Even if the art's not to my liking, the voice acting could save it. The relationships between the major characters are what hooked me on this series (especially Caramon and Raistlin) and I think the movie will live or die based on how well it executes that aspect.

Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :

Awww, Dragonlance is so cute.

The only problem is, it reminds me too much of middle school. [Angst]

Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :

Is it just me, or are the elves in Dragonlance the snottiest elves in all fantasy fiction?

And fantasy fiction has seen some pretty darn snotty elves!

Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :

More or less.

They were viscously snotty.