Movie trailer make this look a lot better than I expected.  As to complaints about REPRESENTATION and what will surely be a sending of THE MESSAGE, my suggestion is to not go watch it.  If you are expecting anything other than Hollywood to be Hollywood in how they run that narrative, you are looking in the wrong place.   I will not be going to watch it though Chris Pine can make almost anything watchable.  I do get a laugh that the raging barbarian is a tiny lesbian....maybe hollywood is sending a message they did not intend to?

I like the look of the trailer, it resembles the sort of D&D adventures I have been part of for a few years now.

I will go and see it.

I may be prejudiced, but all I know is that while watching that trailer, I couldn't help flashing back to the 2000 film...

It looks like something I can just shut my brain off and enjoy as I watch the mindless action. I'm under no illusions it won't have woke messaging though. I think Hollyweird might just be wizening up and not making it obvious, but the subtle signs are all there. 

Quote from: Manic Modron on July 21, 2022, 05:09:59 PM
Trailer looks fine.

https://youtu.be/IiMinixSXII

Generic, goofy, but basically fine.   I like the black dragon just puking up streams of acid gloop.  Considering D&D is such a broad brush, generic is all I can hope for.  Anything more specific would probably have a more specific title.

Ok. Against all odds this might actually be fun.

Quote from: Rhymer88 on July 22, 2022, 03:22:50 AM
It's like a showcase of D&D's goofiest monsters (i.e. owlbear and mimic). Will we also get to see an otyugh and a flumph?

Black dragon (and I admit, the acid breath weapon looked impressive and horrible as the dragon strafed the infantry. Corrosive black ooze that causes the earth to smoke?  )

Mimic  (I smirked watching Rodriguez scramble to get away from it)

Displacer beast (leaps at the camera in the colosseum scene)

Gelatinous cube (two party members jump into it to avoid the displacer beast)

Owlbear (guys, owlbears may LOOK stupid, but statwise they're fairly nasty for their challenge rating)

But yeah, it's gonna be a case of 'watch for the monster cameo!'. I might watch it with friends on movie night or something. Sure don't wanna spend more money on it than I have to.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on July 22, 2022, 08:46:36 AM
But yeah, it's gonna be a case of 'watch for the monster cameo!'. I might watch it with friends on movie night or something. Sure don't wanna spend more money on it than I have to.

My thoughts exactly. Get a group of friends together, take a shot if you see a monster you killed, take two if it killed you.

Quote from: Reckall on July 22, 2022, 02:21:17 AM
The movie is set in the Forgotten Realms. This isn't in the trailer but the promotional material makes the setting clear.

I didn't bother to read the promotional material so thanks for the clarification. That makes it better I think. Might give it a chance, but this still seems to me like a simple "watch it once, then forget it" popcorn flick.

Quote from: jhkim on July 21, 2022, 10:05:59 PM

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 07:39:49 PM
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.

I don't think it's all one or the other. There are clearly *some* people who are sold on dark and/or serious fantasy like Lord of the Rings. On the other hand, there are also some people sold by fantasy with light-hearted elements and banter - like Pirates of the Carribean or The Princess Bride. It's not about reproducing a typical game, it's about evoking what a truly great game is. For some people, a really great game session can be one with really clever banter and entertaining moments and so forth. A film that evokes this can have jokes and banter written by a brilliant writer and performed by a very engaging professional actor.

And of course, some people enjoy both light-hearted fantasy and serious fantasy.

I'd say that Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princess Bride are still "serious" in the sense that they still take themselves seriously for purposes of presenting the type of world that they're trying to present, even though the tone of the films is "lightheaded" comedy, which is part of what I meant by "serious". Though, I would also prefer a D&D film to be more "serious" in tone as well, emphasizing heroic struggles and world shaking events in a way that doesn't make light of it, except maybe for the occasional banter, like Gimli and Legolas had in LotR, while still keeping the overall tone of the story serious.

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 22, 2022, 10:40:54 AM

Quote from: jhkim on July 21, 2022, 10:05:59 PM

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 21, 2022, 07:39:49 PM
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.

I don't think it's all one or the other. There are clearly *some* people who are sold on dark and/or serious fantasy like Lord of the Rings. On the other hand, there are also some people sold by fantasy with light-hearted elements and banter - like Pirates of the Carribean or The Princess Bride. It's not about reproducing a typical game, it's about evoking what a truly great game is. For some people, a really great game session can be one with really clever banter and entertaining moments and so forth. A film that evokes this can have jokes and banter written by a brilliant writer and performed by a very engaging professional actor.

And of course, some people enjoy both light-hearted fantasy and serious fantasy.

I'd say that Pirates of the Caribbean and The Princess Bride are still "serious" in the sense that they still take themselves seriously for purposes of presenting the type of world that they're trying to present, even though the tone of the films is "lightheaded" comedy, which is part of what I meant by "serious". Though, I would also prefer a D&D film to be more "serious" in tone as well, emphasizing heroic struggles and world shaking events in a way that doesn't make light of it, except maybe for the occasional banter, like Gimli and Legolas had in LotR, while still keeping the overall tone of the story serious.

It's definitely gonna be serious; what with an owlbear, a gelatinous cube, and so forth.

Quote from: VisionStorm on July 22, 2022, 10:28:58 AM

Quote from: Reckall on July 22, 2022, 02:21:17 AM
The movie is set in the Forgotten Realms. This isn't in the trailer but the promotional material makes the setting clear.

That makes it better I think.

Two words: group sex

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.

And WTF is their obsession with thieves?

1: The 2nd movie, which had the least Solomon influence. Is what you are looking for then as it is mostly serious and straightforward D&D movie. With a little better budget it would have looked better. But they did well with what they had.

2: I think the main character may either actually be a bard. Ir a rogue pretending to be a bard. As noted prior each movie has had a different focus. First was the Thief (or Thief/Wizard if the story had continued), second was the Fighter, Third was a Paladin.

Total party composition has shifted some too. First one had 2 Thieves, a Mage, a (drow?) Ranger, and a Dwarven Fighter. Second had the Fighter, Barbarian, Cleric, Elven Mage, and a (halfling?) Thief. Third Im fuzzy on as its barely a D&D movie. But Paladin, Shadar-kai Sorceress, Goliath Barbarian, a Warlock, and an Assassin or Thief I think.

This one looks like will be a Bard or Thief, a Fighter or Barbarian, a Paladin, an Elf Mage, and what is probably a Tiefling Druid?

Quippy overdesigned MCU schlock. Already seeing the totally natural 'viral marketing' going out around WAOWIE I RECOGNISE THAT EASILY MERCHENDISABLE THING TAKE MY MONEY.

Not for me.

Quote from: Omega on July 22, 2022, 11:04:10 AM

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.

And WTF is their obsession with thieves?

1: The 2nd movie, which had the least Solomon influence. Is what you are looking for then as it is mostly serious and straightforward D&D movie. With a little better budget it would have looked better. But they did well with what they had.

2: I think the main character may either actually be a bard. Ir a rogue pretending to be a bard. As noted prior each movie has had a different focus. First was the Thief (or Thief/Wizard if the story had continued), second was the Fighter, Third was a Paladin.

Total party composition has shifted some too. First one had 2 Thieves, a Mage, a (drow?) Ranger, and a Dwarven Fighter. Second had the Fighter, Barbarian, Cleric, Elven Mage, and a (halfling?) Thief. Third Im fuzzy on as its barely a D&D movie. But Paladin, Shadar-kai Sorceress, Goliath Barbarian, a Warlock, and an Assassin or Thief I think.

This one looks like will be a Bard or Thief, a Fighter or Barbarian, a Paladin, an Elf Mage, and what is probably a Tiefling Druid?

The party in this one should be:

Chris Pine as Elgin, a Bard
Michelle Rodriguez as Holga, a Barbarian
Regé-Jean Page as Xenk, a Paladin
Justice Smith as Simon, a Sorcerer (Simon the Sorcerer? Really?)
Sophia Lillis as Doric, a tiefling Druid
Hugh Grant as Forge Fletcher, a Rogue and the antagonist.

So, interestingly, no thieves or rogues in the main cast.

I think that the city we see in some shots is Neverwinter, which would make sense in the 5E era.

If I was making a D&D movie I'd have everyone with vaguely English accents. All except one guy who speaks in modern American English complete with modern slang and metaphors. The others would occasionally role their eyes or tell him to get serious and then he'd have a vaguely English accent for a sentence or two before lapsing into modern speech again.

I would also have one actor play/voice every NPC the way Deerstalker Pictures does. This guy is the DM of course.

The thing is based on a game after all, not on a book. So treat it like a game.