Dungeons & Dragons Review (Updated)

Dungeons & Dragons


Release Date: 18th January 2001 - Australia


Production Companies

New Line Cinema (presents)

Behavior Worldwide
MDP Worldwide
Silver Pictures
Stillking Films
Sweetpea Entertainment


Genre: Fantasy

Rating: M

Runtime: 107 minutes


Budget: $45,000,000

Box Office Gross: $33,807,409 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
The Empire of Izmer has
been a divided for a

long time. While the lowly

commoners are powerless,
the mages - an elite group of
magic users - rule. Savina,
the young Empress of
Izmer, wants equality and
prosperity for all. But the
evil mage Profion plots to
depose her and establish
his own rule. The Empress
owns the Royal Sceptre
that controls the golden
dragons of Izmer. To
question her rule, Profion
needs it and persuades the
Council of Mages that
Savina is unfit to hold it.
Realising that Profion will
bring death and destruction
to Izmer, Savina sends her
most trusted scout to find
an ancient artefact, the Rod

of Savrille. It has the power

to control the Red Dragons,

a species even more

dangerous than the Gold,

tipping the balance of

power and exposing the

treacherous Profion.

Aided by a dastardly pair

of petty thieves, the deadly

race begins. In their hands

lies the fate of the Empire.

Cast 

Justin Whalin - Ridley Freeborn

Marlon Wayans - Snails

Jeremy Irons - Profion
Thora Birch - Empress Savina
Bruce Payne - Damodar
Zoe McLellan - Marina Pretensa
Kristen Wilson - Norda
Lee Arenberg - Elwood Gutworthy

Richard O'Brien - Xilus
Tom Baker - Halvarth
Robert Miano - Azmath
Edward Jewesbury - Vildan

Vildir

David Kelly - Three Eyes

Kia Jam - Thief #1

Nicolas Rochette - Thief #2

David Mandis - Thief #3

Robert Henny - Crimson Brigade

Stanislav Ondricek - Another Mage

Roman Hemala - Council Mage

Andrew Blau - Elf #1 (Cameo)

Marta Urbanlva - Elf #2

Jiri Machacek - Loyalist General

Tomas Havrlik - Mage

Martin Astles - Orc #1

Matthew O'Toole - Orc #2

Crew
Producer/Director - Courtney Solomon
Based on the Board Game
"Dungeons and Dragons" -

E. Gary Gygax (Uncredited)
Writers - Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright

Associate Producers - Allen

Crawford, Bob Dahlin,

Nancy Koester, John Raczka

and Justin Whalin

Executive Producers - Nelson

Leong, Joel Silver and Allan Zeman

Producers - Thomas M. Hammel and Kia Jam
Co-Producers - Ann Flagella,
Mark Leahy, David Minkowski,
Steve Richards, Conrad Riggs,
Matthew Stillman

Co-Producer/Post-Production Supervisor -

Sean T. Stratton

Casting Director: UK - Jeremy Zimmerman

Production Designer - Bryce Perrin
Creatures, Weapons and Armour Designer -

Tully Summers

Supervising Art Director - Ricardo Spinacé

Art Director - Jindra Koci

Senior Set Designer - Stuart Kearns

Set Decorator - Tomas Hais
Costume Designer - Barbara Lane

Special Makeup Effects - Bob Keen

and Matthew O'Toole

Director of Photography - Douglas Milsome

Second Unit Director - Francis Delia
Stunt Coordinators - Graeme Crowther
and Petr Drozda
Special Mechanical Effects Supervisor - George Gibbs
Special Mechanical Effects Coordinator - Dana H. Suddath

Special Mechanical Effects Floor Supervisors -

Paul Corbould and Terry Glass
Animatronic Creature Effects - Peter Hawkins
Visual Effects Supervisor/Producer -
Joan Collins Carey

Visual Effects Supervisors: Flat Earth

Productions - Kevin Kutchaver, Kevin O'Neill

and Doug Beswick

On Set Visual Effects Supervisor - Mark Glaser
Visual Effects Producers - Chuck Comisky

and Robin Griffin

Visual Effects Supervisor: VisionArt - Marc Kolbe
Visual Effects Supervisor: Digital Firepower -
Charles Darby

Head of Production: VisionArt - Craig A. Mumma
Senior CG Supervisor: VisionArt - Daniel Kramer

CG Supervisor: VisionArt - Rocco Passinino

3D Supervisor: Flat Earth Productions - Everett Burrell

2D Supervisors: Flat Earth Productions -

Todd Vaziri and Mark Tamny
Editor - Caroline Ross

Avid Assistant Editor - Josh Campbell

Sound Designer/Co-Supervising Sound Editor -

Craig Henighan

Sound Designer - Mike Reagan

Supervising Sound Editor - Stephen Barden

Re-Recording Mixers - Leslie Shatz,

Keith Elliott and Todd Beckett
Music - Justin Caine Bennett


Review
Hi there! It's Film Guru Lad. I'm sorry to say I was about to review the first Lord of the Rings movie, The Fellowship of the Ring. Instead, I had to watch the second Star Wars prequel, Attack of the Clones, with my two friends at my Christmas party. Here's a review of the film that will make up for it. I have heard of the Dungeons & Dragons game but never actually played it, probably because I wasn't into tabletop role-playing games. Based on what I've heard, the 2000 film adaptation was a flop.

The movie is not so good and just sucked eggs. The bottom line is that most aspects of this fantasy film were abysmal, including Marlon Wayans's annoying comic relief, laughable acting, terrible dialogue, poorly rendered CGI, and the evil henchman's blue lipstick. The movie had good parts, such as Richard O'Brien and Tom Baker's minor roles and Jeremy Irons' hammy, over-the-top performance as the evil sorcerer Profion.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is usually a cheesy fantasy picture. It would have been better if the makers had toned down the awful stuff and made it decent. I am very disappointed in a film that has the potential to reignite interest in the fantasy genre, at least until Peter Jackson's first Lord of the Rings instalment took that spot a year later. Ironically, that film also came from New Line Cinema, the studio that also distributed the much-maligned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adaptation.

Star rating: (2/5) Bad Movie

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