I've been hearing talk of Dragonlance the movie for a long time now. I thought I would do some search-fu to see if the movie was really being made, and it's posted to be out autumn 2007. I'm excited about it. It will be animated which I wasn't too happy about, but I guess animation might help it not turn into D&D-1. I hope it turns out to be something worthy of Weis and Hickman. I'm a huge fan of their work and love the first 3 Dragonlance trilogies. Let’s hope this movie won't be the nail in Dragonlance's coffin.
Fizz
for more info http://www.dragonlance-movie.com/movie/
I've been hearing talk of Dragonlance the movie for a long time now. I thought I would do some search-fu to see if the movie was really being made, and it's posted to be out autumn 2007. I'm excited about it. It will be animated which I wasn't too happy about, but I guess animation might help it not turn into D&D-1. I hope it turns out to be something worthy of Weis and Hickman. I'm a huge fan of their work and love the first 3 Dragonlance trilogies. Let’s hope this movie won't be the nail in Dragonlance's coffin.
Fizz
And Kefier Sutherland is playing Rastilin. I can already see it now:
"WHERE ARE THE DRAGON EGGS!!!!"
Animated. :( Why not live action?
I wish it were a huge expensive hollywood blockbuster directed by Ridley Scott or something like that. Still might be good if done right.
If it isn't CG animated, I think it'll be cool.
Not too many 2-D animated movies are in theaters anymore. I miss them terribly.
I hope it's 2-d animation as well. I like the cartoony/comic booky feel that it looks like it will have. And those goblins look really familar...
Animated. :( Why not live action?
I wish it were a huge expensive hollywood blockbuster directed by Ridley Scott or something like that. Still might be good if done right.
Animated as in cartoon kinda movie? That would suck...
http://www.dragonlance-movie.com/
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Animated as in cartoon kinda movie? That would suck...Animated. :( Why not live action?
I wish it were a huge expensive hollywood blockbuster directed by Ridley Scott or something like that. Still might be good if done right.
At a brief glance, it doesn't look like any of the large film industries are behind it. So, the creators may be looking for the most cost economic manner to make the movie. Hence, CG. CG shouldn't be too bad. As a matter of fact, I happen to like a lot of CG movies. The storyline is more important to me. So far, 2 out of 2, I've been sorely disappointed with D&D movies - and it's not because of the FX, but rather the storylines. Okay, the FX, too.
So far the best "rpg movie" was Lord of the Rings, and though it was good, it was boring as hell. I'm sure Dragonlance could beat Frodo and his fellas easily with the right people.
Well, I have to say it's animation is very bad/cheap looking. Its rubbish -and aimed at very young children. :( The voice acting is well cheesy also. Thumbs down.
If I'm not mistaken, I think it comes out on DVD today, January 15th, 2008.
Overall I thought it was a decent adaptation of the books. The pacing was an issue- and they knew that going in. I think if it had been 2 hours it would have been a little better. Everything moves very quickly. The animation was okay, similar to the recent Marvel animated features. I'm hoping that this does well enough that they can complete the trilogy.
Wow, I just watched the trailer for this. Remember that bad Lord of the Rings movie, where they mixed in live action with the animated, yeah that is what this looks like. Pick a freaken style and stick with it.
I thought it was a horrible adaptation, and the shoddy western style animation doesn't do it any favors. Everything moves slowly and jerkily, except for the abysmal CGI, which looks bad as well. Most of the voice acting is pretty bad as well.
I'm honestly stunned that this movie even got made. If you're going to go with animation as a format, I would have assumed they would be using an eastern company. I've been surprised over the years by how many D and D fans hate anime, but I still think its the highest quality animation on the planet, and I still think titles like Record of Lodoss War blow this "movie" out of the water.
I just saw it. Its horrible. The artwork that makes up the cel animation is just terible and ugly. The animation is choppy and not fluid at all.
The CG elements appear to be early 90s quality.
The mixing of the 2 is the worst offence of all. When the cartoon heroes fight the CG Draconians it looks so jaw-droppingly bad that I cant believe anyone approved this as the final product.
This feels a lot like one of those, 'We paid for the darn license, and we gotta pump something out to keep it or we're gonna get sued' kinda deals.
I agree completely. The only excuse for the movie beiong this bad is that its an Ashcan Copy of a movie.
Look up Ashcan Copy on Wikipedia...Or look up how there was a Fantastic Four movie made in 1994 that was never intended to be a "real" movie to get the idea of what I think this DVD is.
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Well I didn't have high hopes for it, but I did have hopes. I kept telling myself and my wife that it was going not going to be anywhere near as good as we hope it would be.
It helped to soften the blow.
I expected there would be cut scenes, but iconic scenes like the first encounter with Onyx were cut completely. Scenes that actually devolop plot were left out.
And the animation? Don't get me started. I actualy liked the hand drawn animation. Yeah it was choppy at places, but it reminded me of the '80s and to me that ain't all bad. But the CG? Anyone remember the Battletech cartoon? Where the epic battles were done in CG? Bad CG? Well that was better than this. What gets me is the total lack of connection between the CG draconians and dragons and the rest of the world. I mean, if Futurama and Family Guy can use CG and seamlessly intigrate it in thier animation I don't understand how the animators for this couldn't use the same techniques.
I think the voice acting wasn't bad, and some pretty good casting all around, atleast for the main characters. Don't listen when bystanders talk. I guess you can't get good extras in the world of voice acting either.
IF (and that's a big if) they make enough for a second and third movie, I hope they learn and use full cell animation and, for the love of Pete, keep iconic scenes in.
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The director's credits include Captain Planet if that tells you anything. And the fight scenes (as well as everything else) are pretty terrible. The level of animated choreography you might have expected in an episode of GI Joe or something, where two characters stand near each other and make shuffling attack motions from one camera angle/view point.
Ah well.
I can't wait for my copy to arrive.
..And what did you think of it?
This is from my technologically challenged other thread (which you should ignore)Last night at my sister-in-laws I was conversing with my neice's WOW playing boyfriend (and alledgedly potential D+Der) and he had seen the Dragonlance movie so I rushed out to Blockbuster this morn to rent it...he said they left stuff out but he watched it twice and after watching it myself (with my wife and the boys) I have to give it basically a thumbs down...they did the cliff notes/saturday morning cartoon version of it and all of the mysterious parts were given away in blatant yet crappy expositions....the gobbos and hobgoblin fewmaster toede were sub Rankin and Bass "the Hobbit" and though the elves didn't have crowns of salad they were likewise done poorly.
Will anyone ever get a D+D based movie right without making it completely goofy? Such a good set of novels given unto people whose lack of vision is disturbing. My kids liked it...but they avidly watch the power rangers too. why? why? why?
Why can't someone make a Paizo-goblin looking animation....If I was to judge the hobby on stuff like this (it says " a Dungeons and Dragons Adventure" on the cover) I'd be mortified to play.
I can't fully say how dissapointed I am. I bought and watched this movie over the weekend and it stunk. The animation was raw, and the CG was out of place. I thought something was wrong with my TV when I saw the animation.
The list of voice actors had me excited, I mean Jack bauer as Raist?! It sounded cool. Some of the voive acting was OK, but in general it had a very smurfy feel to it.
I can only hope they somehow do well enough to make the second and do it some justice.
I have no idea why my last post has a smurf avatar? Any ideas?
What is going on with my avatar?
What is going on with my avatar?
You've uncovered something the forum software does when the word "smurf" is uttered...
Looks like Gary got the best of you on that one Lilith. Hey wait, you edited it....
let's see:
s.m.u.r.f
Looks like Gary got the best of you on that one Lilith. Hey wait, you edited it....
let's see:
s.m.u.r.f
yup, periods can't stop it.
smurph
[ED: bastards]
Smorf
It's actually an incursion by happy blue outsiders; You all know how dangerous uttering a demon's true name is. Tsk. Tsk.
Okay, back to the movie, and no more of this smowrfing around.
Anyway, watched most of the movie - I didn't think it was terrible - not good, but not awful. The acting was good, the soundtrack was good (when it wasn't overpowering the voiceovers). Animation - well, it wasn't so good. And the GGI and drawn animation did not mesh well. They did butcher the story a little, apparently for the sake of brevity - famous scenes cut out, characterization sometimes sketchy. (I couldn't help but wondering if someone had not read the books if they would understand why Sturm kept accusing Raistlin of evil.) Anyway, overall a disappointment, but it could have been worse (it could have been the D&D movie.)
Edit - Ha! I'm not blue!
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..And what did you think of it?I can't wait for my copy to arrive.
I finally got a chance to sit down and check it out today. After reading the numerous complaints about the movie I hit Play with a wince.
While I didn't like the CGI/Cartoon mix, I have to say, I actually kinda liked the movie.
It definitely had room for improvement but I didn't find it to be the total crapfest that I've been hearing about. I'm not upset that I picked it up and hope they make enough sales n it so they can continue the series while learning from some of the mistakes they made on this one.
I was surprised by Lucy Lawless in it. I hated the fact that she was going to be the voice of Goldmoon but have to admit, she did a really good job. Keifer Sutherland on the other hand sounded awful.
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The film-maker apparently couldn't decide on how violent the movie should be. Some fights scenes were strangely sterile, like the one at the beginning involving Tanis, Flint and the goblins - none of the goblins bled. Later in the film, we see blood, we see heads on pikes, bodies dissolving in acid, only to slip back into more bloodless fights.
It was one of many distractions.
BTW, I hated Kiefer's voice for Raistlin. Raistlin is soft-spoken, Kiefer's version sounded like he was ready to break into a rendition of Monty Python's "I'm a Lumberjack" Song.
On the positive side, my six-year old son thought the movie was cool.
I was in the video store today, saw the Dragonlance DVD on the shelf and picked it up to look at it.
The very first line of copy on the back of the DVD case begins: "After 300 hundred years of peace..."
Three hundred hundred years of peace.
This is a movie that was released direct to DVD. The DVD package is the entirety of the product. Millions of dollars were spent (I presume...Sutherland and Lawless' voices would cost at least that much)... and they couldn't be bothered to even proofread the descriptive copy on the DVD box.
Unbelievable.
Ok I rented and watched the movie about 5 minutes ago. It wasn't horrible, but not good either.
What in Paladine's name was with the crapy CGI? I liked the animation it was kind of hobit-ish, but why make all the dragons and draconians in 3D/CGI?
I didn't care for Taz and his voice acting. I also don't remember Tanis looking for the gods or yo-yo-ing on faith like that. Tanis was usually just like "yeah the gods are real. I don't need them, but I'll help you look."
Why were all the elves dressed in brown? Weren't they all in white and gold at least the royality. And wasn't Laurana attractive and Goldmoon for that matter? They kind of just looked weird.
Lastly did Paladine fight the Dark Queen in any way? I have no memory of that.
I'm disappointed as usual. I had such high hopes when I started this thread.
As always
Fizzban
Oh and one more thing what was with Tika's breast? They would move, turn, point, jiggle, and bounce without her moving. I've never seen any that did all that on their own.
It was the first thing my wife said, "Holy Crap! They just won't stop jiggling. Forget the Blue Crystal Staff they should use those to bring back the gods."
Fizz
When I first heard this movie was being animated, I cringed. I'm still not convinced after the commercial success of the LOTR trilogy that support couldn't be raised for a live-action Dragonlance movie. In fact, as far as plot and storyline, I should think Dragonlance would sell better to the nongaming community. Hasbro managed to turn something cartoon based (Transformers) into a cool, visually appealing movie so why can't their stepchild Wizards of the Coast do the same thing with literary characters. Oh yeah, I forgot, we're talking Wizards of the Coast here, unchallenged experts at taking a good thing and totally screwing it up!
(deep breath) Well, before I rant on some tangent I'll get back to my point...Dragonlance the movie. I tried to squash my fears and my further feelings of trepidation upon seeing the film go directly to DVD. My husband and I rented it, trying to brace for the worst. Yep, that's what we got.
My previous posters have pretty clearly outlined the simply terrible animation/CGI visual failure. Let me agree with every disparaging remark previously made and add my own - visually, this movie sucked.
I also agree with complaints about the strangely bloodless battles mixed with brief glimpses of carnage. Why is Riverwind's skin nicely brown and Goldmoon looking like she's suffering from a vitamin D deficiency? They are the same tribe, just different social stations, people! Or was that some subtle racism. They couldn't seem to master the shading for Raistlin's skin - half the time he looked green around the gills. Tas's voice helped overcome some of the visual shortcomings but at first, he looked more like a midget teenage girl than a kender. All the draconians looked the same and yet they are supposed to represent vastly different subspecies. I know it sounds petty complaining about such details when the entire visual effect makes the viewer feel like you're watching an underfunded PBS cartoon, but really, couldn't they get ANYTHING right? Tika's possessed, jiggling boobs were so distracting and yet arguably the most interesting part of the movie.
What was up with the characterization? Did the screenwriters even read the books? Why was Tas hiding (fearlessly) under the wagon during their encounter with the draconians? What was up with Tanis's struggle with faith? Now, I'm not saying Tanis doesn't get rebuked by his comrades at different points of the story in the books, but the screenwriters choice to include all of them when other essential plot-driving scenes from the book were excluded is just ridiculous. It made Tanis seem like everyone's whipping boy, including his own. Raistlin's voice was not nearly as weak and whispery as it should've been, thus negating any points the movie might have earned by hiring Keifer. Even his coughs were hearty! One minute, Raist was shown leaning on his brother, the next he was speaking and acting with strength and bravado. If you're going to destroy iconic characters then do us a favor and don't sign on for the job in the first place.
As if subconsciouly knowing what a wretched product they were creating, the writers and producers then created scenes that destroy any sense of suspense or intrigue that the original storyline ever possessed. If they did, by some miracle, make enough money for the other two movies in the series, what would be the point? We'd be bored to tears without any real mysteries left to uncover. Which brings me to my next point, does the failure to introduce the Everman mean they've surgically removed that entire plotline from the story?
My main question is this ... if you could produce 90 minutes of crap why not go for 120. At least with a full-length movie the pacing and character development would've been more appealing (then again, maybe the torture would've just been prolonged a further half hour).
Bottom line, this movie is total crap. I can't find one redeeming thing about it. If a person has any love for the Dragonlance series, do yourself a favor - Don't rent this movie!
Thank you Lady Aurora. With some people saying it wasnt that bad I was starting to scratch my head. This thing made the D&D movie look like an amazing cinematic masterpeice.
Theres also straight-up animation mistakes.
For example:
When the heroes are escaping in the rowboat the goblins run out onto the beach and start firing arrows. Theres one goblin whos chest dissapears and you see the bushes behind him. Its a perfect square just missing on his chest. It happens real fast but its there. There are more than one instance where peices of characters dissapear.
My personal favorite. Tasslehoff's hoopak is traditionally illustrated as having a forked end. Almost like a slingshot on the end of a pole. In this movie its just a quarterstaff with a length of leather hanging off it. At the movie's end when Tas is crying about Fizban's death his staff has the slingshot on the end!
Theres at least 2 or 3 instances where characters in the forground will point or gesture, and their arm with be hidden behind characters in the background.
Though not a mistake, theres a few times that when characters are talking and no action is happening so they just zoom in on the eyes. Saving money by not animateing anything. And the eye zooms arent fluid. Bangs will blow in the wind and they will skip around.
Their mistake was hiring expensive stars Kiefer Sutherland and Lucy Lawless to do voices.
Honestly, celebrity casting in animated movies is pointless. People pay to *see* stars act, not hear them act. There's nothing particularly special about those two actors' voices... not like they're Charlton Heston and Lauren Bacall.
By casting lesser known talent in those voice roles they could have saved a *lot* of money that could then have been put into production quality.
There might normally be some promotional value in having two big names attached to the project, but really, a Dragonlance movie sells itself. Its audience is 1) fans of the Dragonlance novels, then 2) fans of the Dragonlance game setting (not necessarily the same group as 1), and then 3) some general fantasy fans.
Big-name voice casting won't significantly expand that audience pool. There may be a few people out there who wouldn't ordinarily pay attention to a Dragonlance movie but who absolutely *must* have everything Kiefer Sutherland or Lucy Lawless does. But they'd have done much more business in the end by allocating their funds better and making a decent movie.
Read the books!! Yaayy! I read them 20 yrs ago and could write a better plot summary then that "adaptation" What about Tas and the wicker Dragon? The elevator/ cauldron scene? aargh.
Get the annotated edition. It's fascinating.
Soth is still a bad mofo.
