Dungeons and Dragons the Movie 2

[Matthew]

The Elemental Might / Wrath of the Dragon God

So, I saw this the other day, and I didn't think it was terrible. It wasn't great, but it was watchable. The special effects were passable, as was the script; though the acting was a bit hit and miss, on the whole it didn't make me want to cry tears of woe. There were some amusing 'in jokes' that didn't detract from the mood of the film and though the plot suffered from a Manga style deus ex machina towards the end, it was tolerable. It felt like a game of D&D, which was entirely in keeping with the theme. In short, it was like Hawk the Slayer, not good, but endearing. I thought the lead actor in particular, who played 'Beric' (oh yeah, the nomenclature wan't too awful either), did a good job.

Any other thoughts on this movie?

[Jerthanis]

This movie should have been the only D&D movie. It had SO many D&D in jokes, so much of the type of action and adventure that has populated so many tables since the 70s, and plots and characters that were completely watchable. The worst thing about the movie was that every time they mentioned "the combination of arcane and divine magic" I kept thinking to myself, "Mystic Theurge isn't THAT good of a prestige class." The movie was entertaining, funny and endearing. The fact that it didn't have any of these qualities in spades wasn't that big of a deal for me.

[Matthew]

Yeah, I also thought the Soundtrack was okay, unlike the first film (and actually unlike The Lord of the Rings, which had a soundtrack that kicked in at inappropriate moments and was often overbearing).

Did you notice that Beric's Sword changed over the course of the film? At the Goblin Village and during the battle with the White Dragon, it was a straight parallel edged D&D Bastard/Long Sword with plain ornamentation (but actually magic, as shown when it glowed during a casting of Detect Magic). Later on, it has changed, the blade acquiring a more 'fantasy' shape and the hilt being bejewelled. I didn't notice him acquiring a new sword, so I can only assume that he either kept that one 'for best' or there was a scene cut portarying his finding of the weapon.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Was it a good movie? No. Was it better than the first one? By miles.

D&D2 had the distinct advantage of having the exact same quality of writing and acting that I would expect from a weekly D&D group. Thus, it was highly entertaining despite being technically and artistically mediocre.

[Dhavaer]

Entertaining but cheap. I'm hoping for about ten or so sequels. They can't be that hard to make.

[Baerdog7]

My group and I watched it during the TV premiere and enjoyed it. A couple of them had seen the original Dungeons and Dragons (poor them) and were able to more fully appreciate it's un-craptitude. I thought it was a pretty decent movie with some amusing "in" jokes. It was neat to see some of the spell and magic item visuals (Ring of the Ram and Gem of True Seeing, anyone?) and our group had a good time trying to guess what spell that was or what item he/she/it just used.

All in all, an enjoyable movie to watch with a gaming group. Probably not something to force your non-gamer friends to watch.

[Dhavaer]

I'd like to know what the spell the wizard used on those raiders while they were trying to get into the dungeon with the pool was. Some kind of rapid fire magic missile type thing, it looked like.

[knightsaline]

now if it had the budget of the 1st movie it would have been perfect.

slightly unrelated fact: the 1st D&D movie couldn't use the class names for some legal reason

[ray53208]

i disliked them both. greatly.

they didnt even have the kitsch value of hawk the slayer or deathstalker. and those were some bad movies.

the d&d movies should be gathered together and sunk to the bottom of the deepest sea.

[FdL]

Hey, aren't there two sequels for the D&D movie?

[Teal Kuinshi]

Was it a good movie? No. Was it better than the first one? By miles.

By 'the first one', are you talking about the one that had the villain with blue lips? Because that one was so bad it was totally worth watching.

[FdL]

Actually that's true. It can't be taken seriously, it's so bad it's funny.

The only positive feature of that movie is the female lead, Zoe McLellan, which at the time I saw the movie I thought she was quite pretty.

I kinda feel sorry for Jeremy Irons, really. It has to be some feature of great actors the fact that they can adjust the quality of their acting to that of the movie (ie, he sucked).

[EvilElitest]

By 'the first one', are you talking about the one that had the villain with blue lips? Because that one was so bad it was totally worth watching.

I am damador.......

Heheh, watching movie because they are complete crap is funny, but somebody else explain why it was so bad because i just don't have the will
from,
EE

[Nerd-o-rama]

This girl (http://www.jabootu.com/d&d.htm) does it far better than I ever could.

Warning: spoiler-heavy (like you care) and extremely detailed/long. And now that I look again, quite demeaning to D&D players. Oh well.

[Lerch]

I personally would have preferred one of the old modules being turned into a movie...decent writing and some of them even had visual handouts (TOmb of Horrors..!!)

I didn't like either of teh D&D movies...just made me want to get a copy of the D&D cartoon and want to pummel dungeonmaster....

*sigh*

[Matthew]

Yeah, there were two sequels slated, but only one ever came to pass, to my knowledge. I'm sure there will eventually be a third movie.

Wow, that article really lays into the passtime. Oh well.

You know there are a lot of similarities between D&D 2 and Hawk the Slayer, not least that garb of the hero...

So did anybody think a particular scene was particularly lame or cool? I found that there were few scenes in the film I could really say were terrible (and those were fairly common fare in movies generally).

[knightsaline]

the turn undead scene. It confirmed what turning undead looks like to me (lightning arcing from closest undead to the next one)

[Matthew]

I will have to look out for that. Is that when they're being chased through the forest? On a similar note, I liked how the Detect Magic Spell scene worked, as most of their weapons lit up, even though there was no indication that many of them were magical during the course of the film (with the definite exception of the Cleric's War Hammer). A very nice mundane magic touch, I thought.

[knightsaline]

yes, its when they are being chased through the forest by the ghosts and a lich

[Malik]

And you have to love about DnD 2 the movie the female barabarian i cannot remember her name but she was cool.

[Dhavaer]

And you have to love about DnD 2 the movie the female barabarian i cannot remember her name but she was cool.

Lux, I think.

[Baerdog7]

Of course Dhavaer would remember the barbarian chick. :smallwink:

[Matthew]

Heh, heh... and right as well...

So, I watched that bit with the Spectres and Turning again today. Yeah, it looks like Lightning shoots out to Turn them, but not in every case. A bit of an odd scene, actually. I have to say I never really imagined Turning to look like that, more like a Light than Lightning, I would have thought, but there you go.

[The J Pizzel]

I bought it a while back and have watched it several times. I second the idea of watching it with gaming buddies. It's a blast. I watched it with my "new recruits" after a session about 3 weeks ago, they loved it. Not that it's a masterpiece of modern film or anything, it's just a fun watch. I'd recomend it to anyone in the gaming community.

As far as my favorite parts...hmmm...
Lux going into her rage when she's tearing up all those henchmen. The white dragon fight. The scewed up teleport spell. That's all I can remember right now.

jp

[Dhavaer]

Of course Dhavaer would remember the barbarian chick. :smallwink:

You've no idea how long it took me to come up with her name.

[Matthew]

How long did it take you to think to look it up on the Internet Movie Data Base...?

[Dhavaer]

How long did it take you to think to look it up on the Internet Movie Data Base...?

Since I only thought of that on seeing your post, about two days.

[Matthew]

Ah well, at least you may think of it more quickly next time...