I... likeish it. I like how they don't take themselves too seriously and I agree with many of the comments underneath: it looks like the classic collection of stunts that ended badly, broken bones and sheer anarchy that mar the history of every D&D party ever.

The thing that I like the most, however, is how the trailer for the stray D&D movie is being liked - whereas The Rings of Power is getting obliterated everywhere.

Trailer looks less horrible than I expected it to be, but then again my expectations where that it would be complete utter garbage, so they were never high, or even median, to begin with.

What I hate about all attempts at D&D movies and such is that not only do they fail to take the actual source material and make use of it (like maybe a serious movie or series based on Icewind Dale Trilogy), but what they do doesn't even look like a serious attempt at presenting classic heroic adventure, and it's always some goofy lightheaded shit that barely even resembles the game.

And WTF is their obsession with thieves? Weren't the characters from the other D&D film also thieves? Why can't the leader of a generic AF D&D film ever be a paladin? Not my favorite class, but if you're gonna go generic why not portray a champion of justice leading a band of brave heroes undertaking a daring quest to save the land from evil? And then have the thief be an opportunistic tagalong, like it usually is in classic D&D? Why must the centerpiece be thieves? Has anyone here ever played a game where the party lead was actually a thief? And if you actually have, how often did that happen compared to any other D&D campaign you ever ran into?

I know that there are probably issues regarding the rights for the material, but what I would like them to do to REALLY establish D&D in the public consciousness is, first of all, pick an established official D&D setting—specifically THE official default setting in the game (Forgotten Realms)—and base the movie on that. Not some made up toss away world concocted just for this film, but the OFFICIAL flagship setting of the freaking game. Which is not even my favorite setting but if you wanna ram the game into the public consciousness and make it stay there you gotta use a real full blown actual D&D setting with some depth.

Second (and this is probably the tricky part when it comes to rights) take the most popular character with an established IP, who happens to be from that flagship setting, and make the movie about Drizzt Do'Urden. Take Icewind Dale Trilogy and give it the LotR treatment. Treat that novel like it is a serious thing and give us a film about an actual band of adventurers going through personal struggles, where the main character is persecuted minority attempting to overcome persecution—which I know plays into the woke bullshit, but the public will eat that shit up if you do it right.

And this is a proven element with staying power and an established fan base. Not some toss away popcorn flick, but something you can take seriously and build a franchise around.

Most D&D groups I've been in don't have a party leader. Almost all of them have had a rogue, but rarely a "thief" (at least not in the last 20 years).

D&D cosplay, casual modern dialog, and CGI. It's Marvel and the Renaissance Faire.

It could be fun in a bubblegum way, but not my cup of tea.

The leader in any game I've ever run or played has always been the most outgoing player, regardless of class. 

Few of them have been any particular class, but while there haven't been many Thief characters (or anything else in particular) all the characters have been thieves.  Granted, they usually steal from villains, but every last one of them ever has gone someplace they weren't allowed to go and took things that weren't theirs from people that wanted to keep that stuff.

Might not have been their profession or active quest but it was always damn well at least a hobby.

Led Zeppelin makes everything better

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 06:16:08 PM
What I hate about all attempts at D&D movies and such is that not only do they fail to take the actual source material and make use of it (like maybe a serious movie or series based on Icewind Dale Trilogy), but what they do doesn't even look like a serious attempt at presenting classic heroic adventure, and it's always some goofy lightheaded shit that barely even resembles the game.

While there is room for more serious adventures, there's also always been plenty of goofy lightheaded shit in D&D. At least, that was my experience playing D&D in the 1970s as a kid, and plenty of people have kept up gonzo and/or beer'n'pretzels D&D gaming. For most players, sitting around rolling dice and pretending to be an elf isn't all that serious. The AD&D manuals had plenty of jokes and comics.



There could also be more serious D&D, but being light-hearted is in line with plenty of the source material.

Quote from: jhkim on July 21, 2022, 06:58:37 PM

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 06:16:08 PM
What I hate about all attempts at D&D movies and such is that not only do they fail to take the actual source material and make use of it (like maybe a serious movie or series based on Icewind Dale Trilogy), but what they do doesn't even look like a serious attempt at presenting classic heroic adventure, and it's always some goofy lightheaded shit that barely even resembles the game.

While there is room for more serious adventures, there's also always been plenty of goofy lightheaded shit in D&D. At least, that was my experience playing D&D in the 1970s as a kid, and plenty of people have kept up gonzo and/or beer'n'pretzels D&D gaming. For most players, sitting around rolling dice and pretending to be an elf isn't all that serious. The AD&D manuals had plenty of jokes and comics.



There could also be more serious D&D, but being light-hearted is in line with plenty of the source material.

Definitely.  A huge part of D&D for me is sitting around the table and shooting the shit with my friends.  Telling jokes, goofing off, ribbing each other, and just having fun while eating pizza and rolling dice.  I'm sure some tables are more serious than others, but goofy, lighthearted D&D is definitely not "wrong" D&D.   And I don't mind at all that the movie takes that tone.

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 06:16:08 PM
And WTF is their obsession with thieves? Weren't the characters from the other D&D film also thieves? Why can't the leader of a generic AF D&D film ever be a paladin? Not my favorite class, but if you're gonna go generic why not portray a champion of justice leading a band of brave heroes undertaking a daring quest to save the land from evil? And then have the thief be an opportunistic tagalong, like it usually is in classic D&D? Why must the centerpiece be thieves? Has anyone here ever played a game where the party lead was actually a thief? And if you actually have, how often did that happen compared to any other D&D campaign you ever ran into?

They have to show us how clever they are by subverting our expectations. You're supposed to clap and say how surprised you were that your expectations were subverted, and how you were totally expecting the traditional paladin protagonist, rather than the fresh new and exciting story about a misfit thief. Then you're supposed to gush with praise about the writers' bold new vision of fantasy storytelling.

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 06:16:08 PM
Second (and this is probably the tricky part when it comes to rights) take the most popular character with an established IP, who happens to be from that flagship setting, and make the movie about Drizzt Do'Urden. Take Icewind Dale Trilogy and give it the LotR treatment. Treat that novel like it is a serious thing and give us a film about an actual band of adventurers going through personal struggles, where the main character is persecuted minority attempting to overcome persecution—which I know plays into the woke bullshit, but the public will eat that shit up if you do it right.

And this is a proven element with staying power and an established fan base. Not some toss away popcorn flick, but something you can take seriously and build a franchise around.

Although I do agree picking a setting and characters would be better, the Drizz't story would not fly in this day and age without major alterations. I don't even like Salvatore's novels, but they clearly present certain...problems for The Message.

All black elves are evil (except the main character). NOOOPE.

Said evil race is organized as a mega evil Matriarchy. LOL NOPE.

Said evil race is even more evil because they hold slaves. HAHAHA NOPE.

The girl in the main party is not always present, and not really that relevant in terms of action. Nope.

As for the trailer, it hasn't changed my perspective. Like I said, the bells & whistles of post production do make things look less shoddy, but they still look cheap to me.

There are always exceptions and there's always the silly stuff that people do at their own table cuz they're not professional actors or authors, and their game play isn't an actual story in the literary sense. But rather it's about shooting the shit, eating Cheetos and doing random stuff that wouldn't be interesting or make sense when watching a film or reading a book. But when you're gonna sell someone on the thrill of RPGs you don't sell them on the prospect of spending hours in a room full Cheeto stained neckbeards that smell like sour milk. You sell them on the thrill of being daring, larger than life heroes undertaking dangerous quests to explore forgotten ruins, defeat fearsome monsters and villains, rescue princesses, and save the kingdom.

This is about marketing not illustrating reality or actual game play. Marketing isn't about painting reality or highlighting oddball moments that may occasionally happen (like pretending to be mice by wearing goofy outfits to sneak pass some monsters), but aren't the focus of actual play or the main thing the game is actually about. Marketing is about polishing that shit and making it look better than it actually is. No one wants to see a movie about the actual stuff people usually do in most games (in or out of character). They wanna be sold on the fantasy that this is an actual tale of high adventure.

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 07:39:49 PM
there's always...high adventure.

Fully agree on all counts.

A movie about how ridiculous gamers are when they are gaming already exists, and it didn't exactly rock the box office.

Quote from: BronzeDragon on July 21, 2022, 07:37:19 PM

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 06:16:08 PM
Second (and this is probably the tricky part when it comes to rights) take the most popular character with an established IP, who happens to be from that flagship setting, and make the movie about Drizzt Do'Urden. Take Icewind Dale Trilogy and give it the LotR treatment. Treat that novel like it is a serious thing and give us a film about an actual band of adventurers going through personal struggles, where the main character is persecuted minority attempting to overcome persecution—which I know plays into the woke bullshit, but the public will eat that shit up if you do it right.

And this is a proven element with staying power and an established fan base. Not some toss away popcorn flick, but something you can take seriously and build a franchise around.

Although I do agree picking a setting and characters would be better, the Drizz't story would not fly in this day and age without major alterations. I don't even like Salvatore's novels, but they clearly present certain...problems for The Message.

All black elves are evil (except the main character). NOOOPE.

Said evil race is organized as a mega evil Matriarchy. LOL NOPE.

Said evil race is even more evil because they hold slaves. HAHAHA NOPE.

The girl in the main party is not always present, and not really that relevant in terms of action. Nope.

As for the trailer, it hasn't changed my perspective. Like I said, the bells & whistles of post production do make things look less shoddy, but they still look cheap to me.

Maybe, but those people can always eat shit, and they're gonna complain regardless so there's no changing that. But on the up side enough of them do like this character, and they could take creative license with Catti-bree and make her show up longer, or perhaps take a different story when she's older and more involved in the adventure, rather than Icewind Dale per se. Also dark elves are barely even present till they get to Dark Elf Trilogy, which is a prequel and wouldn't really make a good D&D centerpiece story anyways.

It looks pretty awful, just like all the earlier DnD movies.
I'll probably get a bit of a laugh out of it for it's awfulness.

Quoteyou don't sell them on the prospect of spending hours in a room full Cheeto stained neckbeards that smell like sour milk.

None of that was in the movie trailer.

QuoteYou sell them on the thrill of being daring, larger than life heroes undertaking dangerous quests to explore forgotten ruins, defeat fearsome monsters and villains, rescue princesses, and save the kingdom.

All of that was in the movie trailer.  Except the princess rescuing.  Just with a more lighthearted and fun tone rather than a more super-serious tone.