For the last fifteen to twenty years millions of people around the world have been rolling dice, fighting dragons, killing wizards and generally having a laugh and a good time; this is called role-playing. One of the most important and popular role-playing games of them all is Dungeons and Dragons.
As the years progressed and the game improved it became known as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D); with several revisions the rules became better and began to give the player a great feel for role-playing.
With the popularity of the system it became inevitable that there would be computer games. From early games like ‘Azure Bonds’ to the current games like ‘Baldur’s Gate’ the reproduction of the game in a computer fantasy setting was very good and added great value to the whole role-playing ethos. As more and more people began to play these games and AD&D entered the main stream it became obvious that a film based on the role-playing system would be made.
The Plot
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An empire exists somewhere in our imagination called the Empire of Izmer. The land contains a multitude of characters ranging
from wizards and warriors, thieves, dwarves elves, orcs, goblins and many other magical creatures including the magical Dragons.
An Empress rules this peaceful land, her Royal Scepter allowing her to control the all powerful Golden Dragons who are the protectors of the Realm.
An evil wizard (played by Jeremy Irons) begins to pollute the wizard’s council with his subtle ploys and schemes, the land is threatened with war, as the council demands the Empress gives the Sceptre to them to avoid misuse.
A lowly pair of thieves get involved when they are caught trying to steal from the wizards library. Unfortunately for them they become embroiled in the plot as a scroll that gives the secret of how to control the fearsome dragons becomes the object of desire for the evil wizard.
And so the party is formed; two human thieves, a dwarf who just happens to be laying around and a lady wizard. They travel the lands seeking a mysterious stone that can be used to create a new scepter to control dragons.
In typical AD&D fashion they get involved in brawls, succeed in fights with ludicrous odds, tackle strange mazes and fight bad guys.
The movie moves towards a fairly predictable ending with a couple of surprises along the way.
The Atmosphere and Graphics
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Perhaps the best part of the movie is the atmosphere created by the design team. You really feel that you are in an enchanted land as the combination of computer graphics and special effects wizardry combine to place you in an almost medieval world.
The computer animations of the Dragons are very good and realistic, the battle sequence of dragons being particularly good.
The effects of the spells, reproduced directly from the books are very good. The use of fireballs and lighting spells is predominant and it would have been interesting to see a few more AD&D spells being cast.
The Cast
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Jeremy Irons playing his typical evil dude over plays the character a little. Trying to be very evil he becomes a little over zealous and his character is a little too crazy.
There are generally some good performances, particularly from Marlon Wayans, but over all no one really stands out. There is a cameo appearance by Richard O’brien the creator of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ as the head of the thieves’ guild, and he gives a fairly good performance.
Conclusion
Although the film is OK I think it will disappoint AD&D fans. AD&D is a system that uses a lot of creatures such as ogres, orcs, goblins etc, and except for a ‘Star Wars’ type scene and a few floating eyeballs (called ‘Beholders’ in AD&D) there were really no real monsters in the movie.
Additionally, AD&D is often more about major campaigns where there are often more than two factions involved and this movie only really had two factions.
The plot is a little weak and is too similar to many that have gone before; if there is to be a second movie there need to be a lot more thought put into the plot!
I for one hope that the adaptations of Lord of the Rings that are being filmed now do not fall into the same traps that this movie did.
DVD Extras
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The DVD extras are OK. There are about 10 deleted scenes; the ability to have the directors overview; a good section on the animation process; a demo of Baldur’s Gate II for the PC; and a printable card game designed by ‘Wizards of the Coast’.
These extras don’t really add too much to the movie.
![Dungeons And Dragons [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78545805.jpg)
by (6%):
11.06.2001 19:56
Computer graphics are all very well but there is no substitute for the human imagination!-Jez x
11.06.2001 18:20
I suspect the forthcoming Final Fantasy film will end up being the best film of a RPG. Mind you, there was a Judge Dredd RPG before the JD film...
11.06.2001 18:02
I was looking forward to this movie when it first came out but didn't watch it in the end as it did so bad at the box officce!