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Originally Posted by RumRunner151
I will watch it...have seen all the DnD flops so far. Why can't someone do DnD like Game of Thrones or like LotR: Two Towers? Why can't we have an epic DnD move with a good story/plot?

I’m all for a good story and plot, but while I do love GoT and LotR, I’m not sure that their brands of fantasy are what I’d want from a D&D movie. I guess a serious, gritty, epic fantasy set in the Forgotten Realms could work and there’s lots of interesting lore to play with, but for me what’s really special about this world is that it’s first and foremost a game setting, so I feel I’d see a film that didn’t try to engage with that, with the fun, randomness and potential absurdity it entails, as something of a missed opportunity. Though perhaps I’m influenced by the fact that I’ve not been a fan of the few serious stories I’ve read set in the FR, basically just a few early Drizzt books.

Personally, I’m glad they seem to have gone for a lighter comedic tone with this D&D film, though that could also misfire (someone mentioned A Knight’s Tale earlier, which made me shudder in horror). I’ll keep my fingers crossed it’s good, watchable fun that manages to catch some of the spirit of a D&D game without the comedy becoming cringeworthy, and am cautiously optimistic based on the reviews.


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Yeah, IDK about that. Lighthearted and fun certainly has its place out there and can obviously work with D&D, but IDK about for Forgotten Realms. It's not leveraging the expansive setting to its strengths for storytelling and worldbuilding when it's being used for a comedy about meta-humor revolving around the gameplay and pop-culture identity of D&D.

Forgotten Realms very easily *could* be a serious lotr-style epic, so IMO it's kinda disappointing to see it exploited in a very surface-level manner to chase popular cinematic trends, no matter how well executed.

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Originally Posted by Leucrotta
Yeah, IDK about that. Lighthearted and fun certainly has its place out there and can obviously work with D&D, but IDK about for Forgotten Realms. It's not leveraging the expansive setting to its strengths for storytelling and worldbuilding when it's being used for a comedy about meta-humor revolving around the gameplay and pop-culture identity of D&D.

Forgotten Realms very easily *could* be a serious lotr-style epic, so IMO it's kinda disappointing to see it exploited in a very surface-level manner to chase popular cinematic trends, no matter how well executed.

Well, I’m all for “a comedy about meta-humor revolving around the gameplay and pop-culture identity of D&D”. It’s great news for me if that’s what this film is, but obviously not so fantastic for you. Hopefully there’ll be another film or TV show that’ll be more your cup of tea in future. And I’d definitely watch that, too!


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Well, that we can agree on! This might not be my cup of tea, but hopefully it's success will encourage WOTC to expand into more (IMHO) bold territory with any future movies they might consider.

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Originally Posted by Leucrotta
Yeah, IDK about that. Lighthearted and fun certainly has its place out there and can obviously work with D&D, but IDK about for Forgotten Realms. It's not leveraging the expansive setting to its strengths for storytelling and worldbuilding when it's being used for a comedy about meta-humor revolving around the gameplay and pop-culture identity of D&D.

Forgotten Realms very easily *could* be a serious lotr-style epic, so IMO it's kinda disappointing to see it exploited in a very surface-level manner to chase popular cinematic trends, no matter how well executed.

I think a full length film only works for a setting like D&D if you keep it light hearted, because you have a LOT of information to introduce.

GoT worked because it was a series and they could spend most of the time doing worldbuilding and character building so they had a LOT of time to draw the audience in with that information before delving into magic.

Previous D&D films failed because they took themselves too seriously and thought that would allow them to reach general audiences. You end up with an exposition problem, so either you find a fun way to make exposition work or you bore your audience to tears.

LOTR worked because it spent most of its time grounding itself in character building and worldbuilding through non-dialogue. It focused on a story it was telling, not explaining everything - where explanation was required it used the visual medium to do it.

So it comes down to this - in any D&D story you are going to have an exposition problem that you need to solve. If you fail to solve it then your movie/series will flop.


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I think the key here is that they aren't making a Forgotten Realms movie, they're making a D&D movie. Those things do not immediately go hand in hand. They're leaning on the idea of D&D and what people think of whrn they think of that. And they're presenting the engaging, fun version of that rather than the mean-spirited, "for nerds" version. And I think that's on purpose. The Forgotten Realms seems almost vestigial to the game at this point based on what I've seen. The main books clearly expect you to make up your own stuff. It name drops a bunch of things but provides no details. Stuff likes Volo's guide, Tashaa's cauldron, etc, all are clearly meant to evoke names old fans will recognize, but fans who only got into 5th edition? Those names are meaningless. Speaking of sourcebooks, there have been more sourcebooks about Magic the Gathering settings than about Toril. Sure the adventures happen there, but there's no "here's an overview of the world" book. That lack of care seems to have rubbed off on Larian too for that matter, since act 1 just fails on a worldbuilding level in my opinion. They care about the big, iconic names and that's about it.

Which isn't to say I think the movie will be bad because of it. The trailer certainly captured my idea of D&D. It's just an issue I've seen with D&D as a whole. And on that subject of WotC only caring about big names, you know there's a D&D themed game of Clue out? It's about Zariel cultists in Baldur's Gate. Which is... interesting. It even references Elturel.

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Originally Posted by The Red Queen
A Knight’s Tale earlier, which made me shudder in horror


Wow, I actually loved that movie. Not the style I want for a DnD movie and not saying it was a great movie...but I really loved it. I thought Paul Bettany's Geoffrey Chaucer was an absolutely HILARIOUS character.

Again, we all have different tastes (which causes a lot of fights about what this game should and shouldn't be) so it is not surprising that someone wouldn't like that movie, just funny that you picked it in my case.

BTW, not sure how long you have been a moderator, but grats.

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Originally Posted by RumRunner151
Originally Posted by The Red Queen
A Knight’s Tale earlier, which made me shudder in horror


Wow, I actually loved that movie. Not the style I want for a DnD movie and not saying it was a great movie...but I really loved it. I thought Paul Bettany's Geoffrey Chaucer was an absolutely HILARIOUS character.

Again, we all have different tastes (which causes a lot of fights about what this game should and shouldn't be) so it is not surprising that someone wouldn't like that movie, just funny that you picked it in my case.

BTW, not sure how long you have been a moderator, but grats.

Cheers!

I’ll be honest I couldn’t even finish watching A Knight’s Tale so I’d accept that I didn’t give it a fair shot. But I have an overdeveloped sympathetic embarrassment reflex, and I seem to recall cringing in mortification and having to bail. It was a long time ago, though, so I can’t even remember what set me off, but I do still seem to have a visceral reaction to mention of it! Perhaps I’ll try exposure therapy one of these days, but I’m not yet ready smile. As you say, tastes vary!


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One of my go to YouTube reviewers is also positive. Perhaps some spoilers, as he gives story setup and lists some of the characters that appear in the film:

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Originally Posted by Wormerine
One of my go to YouTube reviewers is also positive. Perhaps some spoilers, as he gives story setup and lists some of the characters that appear in the film:

Thanks for sharing! That does sound positive, especially as he’s coming at it from the perspective of a non D&D fan. After watching that review, I’m actually now thinking I’ll venture to the cinema to see it after all, whereas I was previously thinking I’d wait for streaming options.


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Another one. Raving review: “It felt shorter than it was”

Hey, even Matt Mercer got a mention. Kermode is making a valiant effort of being hip with the kids.


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its messed up from a starting date point of view... all the adds say 30th March or 4 April but it came out a week ago in most places

the actual show had a lot of pointless cgi but the story is okey and the actors carry over the line for me turning a C grade movie into B


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Just saw it, it's really very good. The humor was solid and Hugh, Rodrigues and Pine carried it of course. I have some minor quibbles about …


why a Bard would use his lute as a weapon and not cast spells and what kind of Undead Sofina was supposed to be - also how did Forge fail to find Simon but Edgin found him in one scene?

There were way too many scenes that started by ignoring "how did we get to this location with this going on", but if you ignore that stuff it's great fun. Easily the best D&D movie ever made - not that that is saying much.

Last edited by The Red Queen; 05/04/23 11:45 AM. Reason: Added spoiler tags

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Just saw it. Wonderful movie! Funny? Yes, but carried emotional weight in other places.

Absolutely packed full of subtle (and not so) D&D’isms.

Great bad guy and solid plot. Loved Hugh Grant! Ensemble cast totally worked.

5 stars!

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The movie was a lot of fun.


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Sofina is a lich, she’s lost her humanity, has enhanced senses and can cast level 9 spells. We see her undead form at the end.

I’m guessing Forge wrote Simon off as inconsequential. Edgin saw his potential whereas Forge just remembered the middling sorcerer.

We do see Edgin casting magic! He does his programmed illusion. And we also see his companions being awesome around him. That’s the life of a bard. Not to mention his final acting trick on Sofina.
Page 3 in the thread, come on, there's gonna be spoilers. ;-)

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Originally Posted by FreeTheSlaves
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Are you spoiling the movie?

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Tell you what, if you haven't watched the movie yet, you're missing out big time! Go on, spoil yourself.

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The trailers looked like fun, and I could use some light-hearted entertainment right now. I would like to watch it with my partner and some friends, but we can not even find a date that suits everyone's schedule - this reminds me very much of our last attempt at playing D&D ... grin

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Originally Posted by FreeTheSlaves
Sofina is a lich, she’s lost her humanity, has enhanced senses and can cast level 9 spells. We see her undead form at the end.

I’m guessing Forge wrote Simon off as inconsequential. Edgin saw his potential whereas Forge just remembered the middling sorcerer.

We do see Edgin casting magic! He does his programmed illusion. And we also see his companions being awesome around him. That’s the life of a bard. Not to mention his final acting trick on Sofina.
Page 3 in the thread, come on, there's gonna be spoilers. ;-)

Nope. Randomly posting a list of spoilers for a film that just came out without a spoiler tag in a thread about said film reviewing well is not normal and not cool. I’m not planning on seeing it either way, and I’m not personally that precious about spoilers, but some other people probably don’t want you giving away major plot details like that.

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