DRAGONLANCE - Bad D&D Movies Part One | Cynical Reviews
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- Опубликовано: 19 фев 2020
- It rolled a natural 1 for performance.
Welcome to Bad D&D Movies, a series in which I review movies of questionable quality based on the Dungeons and Dragons licence. In this first episode, I take a look at Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, based on the first book in the Dragonlance Chronicles, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman based on their experiences playing through the first of the Dragonlance game modules.
With an overly-condensed and rushed narrative, stock characters, and awful animation, it's no surprise that, despite some solid voice acting, the film bombed among both fans of the Dragonlance books and with the general audience, killing all hopes for future instalments of the franchise.
But maybe we can get something out of it.
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At 14:08, I done goofed. I meant to say Goldmoon, not Halfmoon. Sleep deprivation is a hell of a drug.
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that's epic
it sure is
Can you do a video on your opinion on the 2007 animated film Beowulf.
Hello Cynical. I know this seems a little rushed but I started a review channel a few months ago and I do not know if its any good. Since you are more experienced in reviewing and the movie industry overall, I was wondering if you could give me an honest opinion.
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PS. All constructive feedback is 110% welcome
Cynical Reviews THE IRON GIANT WAS CG?!
“Fireball is the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
Yep. Wizard player. Can relate.
Fireball + WEB
Just fireball.
FIZBAN!!!!!!!!...........Oh he approves!
My God
The books make the fireball joke so much. It's really fucking funny when it goes meta like that.
“I have spells.”
-Tom Hanks
Mazes and Monsters Reference! AWESOME!
That was great.😁
Charming.
Any spell caster in a combat situation
I just watched that move and good god is it terrible
"Painfully devoured by the great worm Caterpillius", as opposed by the great caterpillar, Wormius.
that sounds like came direct from a yugioh episode
but it was most likely a great use of performance and some cantrip-magic. I mean I once played a hilarious Wizard Illusionist where all he did was tricking enemies with various illusions, mind-trickery, etc.
It's wormin' time
@@kinagrill Yup. In the book that scene is 100% just Raistlin using stage magic
Vernias Wermius.
"The edgy wizard who sacrificed his health for his magic powers and is clearly an asshole, and will probably turn into a villain."
Nah, he's not that bad. I mean, there's that one time where he kills all the gods and pretty much fucks up the entire world, but other than that he just needs a hug.
Yeah, I mean he goes back in time and tells his brother to stop him if he ever tries to kill a 5-headed dragon goddess and take over her place. :D
I'll hug Raist-
@@SwiftNimblefoot Hey that dragon have boobs n she is sexy!!!!
“DnD is the devil’s game!”
Me a proud Christian with a paladin/Cleric that always tries to resolve matter’s peacefully.
You mean policeman/cleric, if you're playing 3.5
Lol!
hehe, i once convinced a paladin to burn down the mayors mansion (his character was completely wasted)
and that act forced him to become evil :D
brandon roberts
The Moral Panic has become something of an embarrassment for Christians frankly. Most have gotten far away from that foolishness.
Yeah! Instead, you should read a book that doesn't have murder, magic, or torture in it called the Holy Bible! Like here, they're doing a good christian act by nailing tent pegs through a man's skull...
...
Okay well how about here where King Saul goes to see a witch about his impending death...
...
Uh... How about the story of Sampson, yeah! Where he burned down the Philistene's fields by tying foxes together and setting them on... fire...
(I joke, at least partially. I'm a Christian myself, but it always struck me as somewhat hypocritical/tone-deaf to demonize D&D for the very things you could find in the Old Testement.)
I owe my introduction to D&D to the satanic panic of the 80's! My parents watched Mazes and Monsters when it was first aired and warned me against a "dangerous game." So naturally when one of my high school friends offered me to play with his group, I immediately said YES!
I think that I'm a touch older than you but satanic panic was scary as hell... why is it that I think I see it returning.....oh well I'm old... Carpe Viva
Complains the half elf's surname is half-elven.
Elrond: *looks away*
Tolkien characters are excempt from these rules.
@@TheSmart-CasualGamer
They have their own rule, more liek.
While technically "half-elven" and called such, Elrond and Elros ( and, later their descendants) were given a choice to go full elf or full man. Elrond is full elf by Middle Earth standards, and Elros is Edain and gift of Men (mortality) is his.
@@Helltamirre Tolkien also created languages and Elrond's often called by the Sindar equivalent of Half-Elven, Peredhel.
Half-elven in Dragonlance is a slur surname like how Snow is used in Game of Thrones.
The funny part is, that’s not even his actual name. Tanthalas Quisif-Nan Pah is. Half Elven is more of a descriptor, title, or slur more than anything. It’s not his surname.
"How does it begin again? Ah, yes. FIREBALL!"
Sounds about right.
About the tropes: To be fair, many of these tropes in part came from dragonlance. These characters were written in the 1980s.
But the tropes were established before the 1980s. He pointed out that the authors of Dragonlance were clearly influenced by Tolkein and other fantasy writers that certainly predate the 1980s, and didn't stray far from the character and plot formulas from those earlier works.
@@talloncusack that is true. But they hadn't been around long enough nor used frequently enough to really be tropes.
Honestly, DragonLance is a waaay better read than LotR even with the tropes. It's like a more refined, less Academic version of LotR with better more relatable drama and characters. Oh, and it's waay funnier too.
That's just in my humble opinion though
I watched and enjoyed this movie. It's like a cheeseburger from McDonald's. There's better food everywhere, but sometimes I just want to sit down, be stupid and enjoy my garbage.
@Omi S. to be fair I haven't read the books, and watched a lot of movie knock offs at my grandmas house as a kid.
No need to insult mcdonalds.
this is my new favourite description of McDonald's
Fair enough but for me *oof*
The problem is that too many people eat nothing but junk food.
Trying to explain D&D to a friend:
Friend: "So is it mainly video games or mainly books?"
Me: "No."
Book games.
@@ninjabluefyre3815 Like a "choose your own adventure" book?
I never understood why Dungeons and Dragons was considered “nerdy” when you need at least 3 other friends to play it and it seems to have influenced every derivative action/adventure movie ever.
Because imagination is super gay, bro.
Apparently.
@@talloncusack Awww, did someone have a bad day?
It’s no so much “nerdy” as it is geeky. Don’t get them mixed or you’re in for a war 😂
@@elianaasiedu "or you’re in for a war" i'll take my chances... for me dc and marvel are the same... nice colors and sounds on screen.
@Jeffery Thrash you are 100% right. I am a bored middle aged lady with free time, and I think being in a DND group would be great fun. Haven’t played it in 40 years, but I love the books, the die, the characters, and seeing what wild deeds the Dungeon master can come up with. Wonder if there’s an immersive online version i should try first.
Raistlin is definitely not evil... in this part of the story. He's chaotic neutral and still practicing for his evil exams.
actually hes choatic good. but yeah he changes
@@Nerd_Gamer_Buddy those who wear the red robes are neutral aligned they can be lawful/chaotic or true neutral
@@daemonisedone4256 yes but then he went to black robes
I hear the professional maniacal laugh certificate is tough to get.
I always thought of him as wanting to be evil, but failing. Like he has evil desires, but they just can't outweigh the good side of him.
ocelot : "they have a weapon to surpass metal gear"
snake: "SPELLS"
Armstrong: FIREBALLS, SON!!
"D&D is the Devil's game!"
Me: Why yes. *Proceeds to recreate DOOM as a Cleric.*
Using music from Ride to Hell: Retribution. Nice choice.
Awful game badass music
The image of awkward, fully clothed sex is burned into my brain! 😫🤢🤯
@@Xander_P.G.K With those unmoving mannequin faces, perpetually frozen....
1:45 I'm glad you gave credit to Arneson. I've been kinda out of the PnP RPG scene the last couple years, but when I was really into it, too often people would forget Arneson and only credit Gygax for basically all of DnD.
GyGax was a pushy shill and has his name plastered on everything in large letters! All the basic adventures I started with back in the day!
No matter HOW powerful a wizard IS, he's limited to the NUMBER of SPELLS he can cast each DAY.
Imagine unironically saying this while talking to your party mates.
Right! It wears you out!
And a Sorcerer...and a Cleric...and an Oracle...and a Witch...and a Druid (though l I guess druids still have wild shape and their animal companion)...
Yeah I feel like the writer for the movie was definitely on his first campaign.
@@flutterbaws9579 * cries in warlock spell slots *
@@Matteo-tq9zl To be fair I've never played 3.5 or 5th edition DnD except like a one off 5th edition session. Mostly played Pathfinder where Warlocks are pretty different and not super great.
1980s: Evangelicals freak about about how D&D is, supposedly, a tool of indoctrination into Satanism and Witchcraft. (Not to mention the whole "Satanic Panic.")
1990s: Evangelicals freak out about how Pokèmon is, supposedly, tool of indoctrination into Satanism and Witchcraft (...and Evolution.)
2000s: Evangelicals freak out about Harry Potter and how it is, supposedly, a tool of indoctrination into Satanism and Witchcraft. (Even my Lutheran stepmother pitched a hissy fit when my father bought me the first three for my birthday.)
2010s: Evangelicals return to freaking about Pokèmon in the form of Pokèmon: Go
Moral of the story: Many Evangelicals need a hobby... outside of church.
Can't wait to see what they target next.
How the tables have turned. Now it's the "woke" crowd NPC's trying to shut things down in the name of "anti-racism and inclusion".
@@Tomi-oe5mz Not to mention trying to get Anime and Manga banned while calling themselves fans of such. They want to ban it under the guise of stopping "pedophilia," even though a lot of these woke people have some pretty big skeletons in their closet.
Ugh, while I don't know what kind of people you're talking about it's undeniable that some of anime content can be easily dubbed a pedophilic porn
Don't take me wrong, I'm against purity culture no matter if it originates from the political right or left BUT it's really difficult to defend a shit like loli
"She looks like a 5 years old but it's OK because mentally she's 5000" - an argument never used by any pedo in human history ever
Then sometimes anime industry just doesn't give a fuck and we get Eromanga Sensei. Like they say: there's a demand so there's a supply. While we anime fans know better, from the outside it looks like we're just a bunch of degenerated perverts who like pedophilic, cartoon soft-porn
It's understable that many modern anime watchers don't want to be associated with that.
Especially considering that nowadays watching anime don't make you immediately an outcast
There're other things more worthy fighting for. Like supporting anime porn or letting girld have stupidly big titties
4021: Evangelicals freak out about how other evangelicals are in fact satan and start a world war
My mom and dad let me read DND. I rather play DND than with Milk Caps or Magic Cards.
if my D&D party were the Main characters, it would probably become an Unintentional Comedy
Kender aren't the same as halflings. The authors were uncomfortable with a thief race, as the halflings were depicted at the time and instead invented a similar race. The Kender have a child-like mindset and don't see taking things as stealing, instead borrowing. They have every intention of returning it but then quickly forget. Its also a running gag throughout the universe.
Interesting! Probably not mention in the movie, witch is confusing!
Mechanically I believe halflings were also completely rewrote to use kender mechanics too because kender just worked better for them after release. This all started in early second edition as far as release.
Also it would be weird to have it explained in movie since as far as common populace is concernede they're a bunch of bold faced thieves and liars.
Unfortunately, it wasn't something that many players saw as cute or childlike. It was mostly just seen as roleplay justification to steal from other players and act innocent if caught in the act or with the stolen goods afterwards.
@@nicholasmorgan7609 game play wise it may have been seen that way, but for those who read the books, it was more of reoccurring joke.
Remember Kender are fearless as well as feckless. So they became one of the most hated races (at least online), as this race of ultimate chaotic neutral, attracted the kind of player who believes CN is whatever you want to be, and driving their fellow players 'round the bend.
The animation is so bad, it's actually epic in a way
I can't help but to feel that the animation staff was worked to death on this.
I love that animation style though. :\
Alan Smith-Emerson
All 3 of them. 😝
it looks like my animations i make at 2:00 am
I dunno why people say this animation is bad. It's pretty mediocre for its time. You guys saw the Swan Princess sequels, or that Sinbad movie? Looks about the same, straight to DVD fare. The CGI, now that was baaaaaad.
The Dragonlance Chronicles are my favourite books of all time, and as someone who watched this when it came out originally... God, it's like reliving a traumatic event asdflhjk
The books are super stock, but that's why I think they're great. They aren't doing anything new or special, but they're still good fantasy stories.
"Fizban feels like a DMPC"
Well, you're not wrong...
Just a rip off of Gandalf anyways.
He's a firm believer of "World as Myth" and shows up in other series. Quite OP.
Well at least there is a reason his spell casting is different
Players: We set off to raid the heavily guarded flying citadel.
DM: *sighs* pulls out Fizban's character sheet.
@@stefantyler I mean, he's technically the chief god of light but mostly exists as a dues ex machina in the books. That said, he does still in fact use non-standard verbal components in the books it's just he never tells anyone what he's doing so it's up to raistlin's min-maxed spellcraft check to tell people to duck incoming fireball inside an enclosed cage. And in the books you can see the DM dripping with "Why can't you solve this?" at times.
Also the best part of fizban's character is definitely his hat.
The wizard who sold his health for power who will probably turn into a villain later?
He does. Yes. He does that. I dont remember if its final though
He tries to kill a god to become the god of evil magic, fails, kind of succeeds, gets both of the gods in this video killed, then becomes the god of all magic. So he goes full evil, good(mostly), then to neutral.
I mean it's not like he has evil wizard inside him and the good guy master wizard gave him vision to see everything die before him in moments... as a gift to temper him?
He redeems himself in the end
The legends trilogy centered on him is so much better than the first trilogy
His story arc was long and kinda weird. It's hinted he will go villian in the second chronicle I believe though at the time he's still clinging to his mistress of neutrality as a patron. Eventually fistandulus or w/e the super evil non-lich life sucking soul eating wizard was called gets his claws into him leading to an entire story arc where he goes off on a time travel adventure to kill and replace the dude and become truly powerful and ends up in one timeline killing all twenty one gods and causing the destruction of the universe which leads to an artifact book existing in the main timeline recording his folly with another VIP character who's job is to write campaign notes and record the stupidity of players live.
Also he technically didn't sacrifice his health for magic. He took a dagger to the lung and got a huge chunk tore out during his magic trial. He would be just as powerful without having a chunk of his lung permanently scarred/missing. It was this that led him making a pact with the spirit of a dark wizard though out of desperation.
*DM's 50 page setting bible that the players will neither remember nor care about*
I feel personally targeted.
3:04 "worse than a pack of rust monsters"
As a rogue that had once been trapped at the bottom of a pit with about 8 rust monsters, this triggers me deeply.
"DnD is a gate way to devil worship"
Paladin- a class centered around banishing evil.
Good is a point of view, Anakin.
Cleric, a class centered around faith in a god
@@krimsonkarma8412 The devil is a god to some.
@@bolbyballinger God is the devil to some XD
Also warlocks, paladins, and clerics are technically in the same business
@Frizzurd I mean, clerics don't necessarily have to serve good aligned gods either
Focused in on her d20s, definitely failed my Wisdom Save against Tasha's Hideous Laughter. 12:03
"The one woman who's also the healer of the party"
I felt that.
Edit: Also, with it's animation style, if you told me it was made in the 80s I would have believed you it looks like freaking He-Man.
I mean it's not like she is the ONLY cleric in the world at this point, when divine magic is returning finally to Krynn...
"Rastlin says magic words, fizban just says the name of spells." Rastlin is a mage, fizban is the god Paladine.
Well, yeah, he would not need to cast spells, such as it is, just think of them.
I was going to comment this as soon it was mentioned in the video but I decided to check the comments to see if anybody else would give the reason, bravo, sir you beat me to it.
There it is
is paladine really his name? his faerun name Bahamut is much better.
Incognito as an old forgettable man, yes. It’s even revealed in the last part of the movie where He fights the evil God as the God Paladine.
Oh man... Can't wait to get to the moment where we get to Jeremy Irons acting.
noooooooooo!not even in jest!
Hachachachachacha!
You leave Scar alone ;-;
RAIN FAH FROM THE SKAH!!!
Let the bloooood RRAAAAAAINNN FROOOOM THE SKIIIIEEEES!!!
I have fond memories of reading the Dragonlance books as a teen, and I have introduced my daughter to them. They are derivative, but still enjoyable. (At least Weis and Hickman were better writers in their early books than Salvatore and his Drizzt books. Oy, so cringeworthy.) My husband bought the dvd, watched it once, and consigned it to the bowels of the dvd closet, never to be seen again.
I agree sooo much with you, I had to lay the Drizzt books aside after only ten pages, because I couldn't stand Salvatores incompetent wrinting style... but luckily a friend of mine had the comics, so I could still read through the whole story for once (even if that still doesn't improve on Cattie-Brie's name though... I can't get over how cheese-y [haha] it is)
My friend and me used to do the Drizzt test in the 90s and it went like this: go to the Forgotten Realms novels in your local gaming store, pick a book at random and open a random page. You would probably find the name Drizzt on the page you opened.
The Sellswords Trilogy spin off that R.A Salvatore wrote about Artemis was actually quite good.
Don’t get me wrong, Salvatore improved over time, and I own or have read nearly all his bibliography. However, that first trilogy was rough. At my house, we still joke about Wulfgar the barbarian sublimating his emotions, and other jarring and uncharacteristic turns of phrase.
@@melissaquinn1463 Oh yeah lol for sure I agree with the Icewind Dale Trilogy being very rough for Salvatore's first work. It's action sequences are very juvenile and padded out. The Dark Elf Trilogy I would say Salvatore started to get good as he expanded on the Drow lore and showed how fucked up of a society Menzoberranzan was in the Underdark.
"Thank you it doesn't hurt anymore" I laughed out loud, thanks for that
Tom Cyr the cut to the sobbing lady was hysterical 😂
You have to realize though, a lot of the tropes in this movie...were invented by the original novels!
Then explain why they were criticized for being derivative at the time they were released.
Sadly he has not read them. Which I feel should be a pre-requisite to understanding why the movie is bad.
@@SwiftNimblefoot no it shouldn't. Movies should be judged on their own merits.
Is... is that the "sex" scene music from Ride to Hell: Retribution in the intro?
Glad I wasn't the only one that recognized it immediately. xD
Uh no 🧐
Oh yes it was! I'm glad to see that other people recognize it
It is. That game is a trash gem.
@@Gruntvc Sits in the Hall of Hilariously Bad Games: E.T. Atari, Superman 64, Sonic 06, Daikatana, Big Rigs, Sonic Boom. Batman: Dark Tomorrow, etc.
Spoiler Alert:
The reason Fizbin can cast spells so easily is that he is considerably more then a wizard. He isnt actually human at all.
He is palladium, god of metallic dragons.
@@l0re811 I thought that was supposed to be bahumat.
I think it's just a different name in Dragonlance. Just like Tiamat is called Takhisis in Dragonlance.
@@l0re811 Yeah, I pointed out that one as well. Thing is, I was pretty certain their names were consistent across all settings.
@@l0re811 Paladine.
I remember at like 10 years old being obsessed with this movie. I knew the animation was shit but I think it was the characters, voice actors, and decent atmosphere art that saved it.
"A fight with goblins is how every D&D campaign starts and would only be more stereotypical if it started in a tavern, which is the very next scene"
As a DM, i feel personally attacked.
i always include a goblin fight on the quest board and my party happened to pick it the first time ok!
People are attracted to stabbing goblins.
@@beepboopmeow203 dnd is just a penetration game, your players are either penetrating monsters with their swords or their dicks or maybe in-between
@@arctrog Bards are just playing the NSFW version while everyone else is playing the regular.
@@beepboopmeow203 idk man, I've had sorcerers pull the same shenanigan's
4:54 sure make fun of the poor man with 3 legs, 3 arms, and carries 2 swords because he is only left handed. But he was still brave enough to become an adventurer.
That bit with Raistlin talking about a Wizard's limited spellcasting per day could have definitely been explained in a more diagetic way.
"A Wizard must put everything into casting his spells. His attention. His passion. His _WILL._ It's exhausting, bending the universe to your designs. Even the greatest Wizard cannot keep it up all day."
In DL lore, wizards forget how to say the words the moment they speak them (movie is kind of off here in its depiction.) So the wizard must re-read the words to re-learn them. In the books he spends every night with his books for this reason.
I don't think it was really a problem. The spells/day game mechanic is also an actual part of the way the magic system works in-universe. You don't need to be glib about it when wizards literally have to prepare a specific numbered amount of spells when they wake up from getting 8 hours of rest.
Akshualllllyyyy, Jack Vance originated the spell memorization concept in his classic (and amazing) Dying Earth stories. If you haven't read any of his work, you really should. It's foundational for D&D.
@Marshal Marrs I don't think he sounds anything like Ozai and they absolutely have different voice actors.
My friend sent me this video and said "The intro is you. Its screaming big you energy." I didn't know what to expect but now I feel called out
I won't lie. I think of every D&D movie as a Guilty pleasure. I love them all so much despite those glaring flaws!
Very sexy into CJ, intro could've had a warning of "scenes of a nerdy nature" 😂
8:18 Here is a spoiler for the dwarf warrior....he dies from a heart attack. It's actually well foreshadowed.
Fizban casting spells the way he does I think is meant to be foreshadowing.
Raistlin is not so much a bad guy in waiting, but rather a magnificent bastard with no morals or ethics. For awhile he was the best part of the series. Then he turned full evil and it was kinda awesome, but also kinda cliche. And then he died and went good again....
I mean it wasn't bad.....
Doesn't really sound good either.
@@fightingmedialounge519 I mean it wasn't great, but even when wallowing in cliché Raistlin still stayed a compelling character. The main reason people like him is because he is a high level caster that actually acts like he has reality warping powers on his beck and call.
There was an alternative timeline in which he kinda curb stomped all of the gods and destroy all life on Krynn. His brother stopped him, but the gods were still buthurt and now any and all high level casters get send to a different Plane to be somebody else's problem.
@@trifontrifonov4297 Yeah, Raistlin is still one of my favorite fantasy characters.
The reason for the differences in spell casting is that the wizard has to cast the spell as memorized and the old man is actually the avatar of a greater god.... so he wouldn't actually have to speak at all if he didn't want to.
Fizban is QUITE LITERALLY a god. He doesn't need to follow the rules of magic, and in the novels this is a hint that he's more than he lets on.
As a longtime fan of the novels and setting, yeah the books are trope heavy and read like a transcript of a good but unoriginal game by today's standards, but a fun read. This movie misses everything about them that redeems the formulaic story and stock characters.
(I know I'm late but...) THANK YOU. A "trope" by TODAY'S standards. I'll never understand someone's need to bash something a decade or more older for being "full of tropes"... Where do they think the tropes CAME from?
I've read tons of DL books, several of the trilogies multiple times and I am a huge, huge fan. I was unable to finish this movie. I was so disappointed.
I loved those books when I wasn't yet the D&D/Pathfinder nerd that I am...I was afterwards. Thank you school library!
I read the books too, and I'm also a huge fan! I knew about this movie ever since it was first announced, yet I was never brave enough to actually pick it up and watch it. Even back in 2008, when I was 12 years old and on my height of being addicted to the DL books series, I somehow knew this movie was shit, and avoided watching it at all cost. Well, at least now I know that that was a good decision.
AMEN TO THAT! -.-
I was maybe 11, when I watched this movie (and thanks to it I few years later bought first DL book, because characters on the cover seemed familiar :D). And oh boy, I remeber it looking s o m u c h better! I think I'm going to check out my copy just to be sure it is the same 😅
@@kask5260 Yeah lol, I also remember watching the trailer, and it looked like a Disney movie level to me. Now I really questioning my childhood taste in animation, but I also liked a lot of shitty looking cartoons so.......
Nostalgia google really do do a whole lot of starge things to your memory. Welp, one thing that I can say for sure- the book was much better then this movie.
"Why didn't he do that earlier?"
To conserve spell slots, obviously!
Which is just plot conventient.
there needs to be a Sparta Remix of Tom Hanks saying: "I have Spells"
Even tho Dragonlance is very cheesy and trope-y, the books themselves are a great read, and they really start fleshing out the characters after the first book (and especially so in the sequel trilogy).
If you consider these books as a product of their times, I would argue that they actually were pivotal in establishing a few D&D tropes themselves...
The "first book"? Which one is that?
Trilogy? I remember 2 central series of 6 books, and a very large bunch of other smaller series and single books.
@@odinsrensen7460 The first book of the first trilogy, as in "Dragons of the Autumn Twilight", from the "Chronicles" trilogy, which was followed by the "Legends" trilogy. (Sometimes referred to as "The Twins" trilogy.
Then there's also the "Lost Chronicles" trilogy, which is essentially a companion piece to the original Chronicles trilogy.
After that my memory gets a bit fuzzy, I think there was "Next Generation" series, followed by the "War of the Souls" trilogy, followed by the "5th Age" series, and there's a crap ton of other character novels and other side stories and shit like that somewhere in between. Gets a bit confusing sometimes, when there's over a 100+ Dragonlance novels out there.
To be fair, Fizban just calling the spells by name wouldn't be a huge lore breaking element because he's really casting divine magic which they've established doesn't need words. He's just pretending to be an arcane caster. Dunno if spells like 'Knock' can be considered divine spells if used by someone like him, but it could be worse?
I spent the whole video wondering how many D4's were now on the floor and might never be found until it's too late...
Dammit! I can't get this jar of pickles open! Oh yes i forgot, FIREBALL!...that worked out awesome!
Your right, fireball is the answer to all life's problems.
I mean, the heat of the fire would make the lid to dilate which would make opening the jar way easier. So yeah, fireball can solve everything
The dragon lance books were my world when I was 11 or so. I friggin loved the out of that series. This movie is an abomination.
The Dragonlance film broke my heart.
I read these books when they came out, they're some of my favourite books ever.
What sucks most is I'd gotten into Anime heavily in 2005, and saw some GORGEOUS animation. My expectations for an animated Dragonlance film were... not met.
The opening was literally me in 7th grade, loving acting/role play and trying to do it with my friend without making weird
Shows a bad DnD cartoon: This is like an anime!
Me: *Laughs in Record of Lodoss War*
Record of the Lodos War may be based on a campaign, but Konosuba perfectly captures the bungling sex obsessed ineptitude of your average party.
And Rune Soldier! Don't forget Rune Soldier.... Everyone forgets about Rune Soldier :(
CatandBonez Which is ironic, as D&D isn’t as well-known in Japan, even if has had a massive influence in the fantasy genre.
@@PhyreI3ird Funny thing is...Rune Soldier Louie is actually a Lodoss War spin-off. I didn't even notice until I described it to a friend of mine and he recognized elements of the setting as being from Lodoss War.
That intro uh makes me feel...something
L U S T
@@Twoface698 S E N S U A L L U S T I N G
It makes me feel some kind of way
Lemon Nomel - But you are still not certain what that something was, true?
Oddly, my old comment indicates I watched this a year ago, yet I somehow cannot remember. Fun fact btw, Dragonlance was not a setting that Tracy and Hickman based their adventure in... they were just playing regular D&D and created a whole new world that they later sold to TSR who made a whole campaign setting out of it. Oh and, yeah, they were not happy with this adaptation, of course.
I think one thing you miss is that the Dragonlance characters are the origins of a lot of the tropes in D&D you point out. Also the first book is the most fantasy tropey and the rest next to books and sequel series goes into a lot more new directions. Its a pretty good book series, probably the best book series with the words D&D on it(Yeah I am looking at you, Drizzt)
The novels were adapted from Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules. The first book in particular reads like a prose adaption of the first two modules. The later books diverged from the modules considerably.
The half elf guy is literally just Aragorn in Legolas’s skibbies
The heroes are certainly stereotypes, but they're extremely well written stereotypes. Throughout the trilogy, they really develop them into great characters.
And Fizban is a god, so he can say whatever the feck he pleases when casting spells :p
I really dislike it when they try to blend 2D and 3D animation. Apart from a few exceptions it always looks bad.
11:50
Big villain that was defeated returns out of nowhere?
It reminds me of something
What do you mean villain? You did nothing wrong!
Chadrion a controversial statement to be sure, but a truthful one
@@sheevpalpatine7379 I guess you could say... I'm a bold one?
Your's was worse because it basically shits all over the original trilogy.
@@sheevpalpatine7379 Wait a minute...
The intro was spot on lol That's how I get into every session xD
I don't play D&D at all and know absolutely nothing about it, but I did read this trilogy and actually enjoyed it. A lot of it probably went over my head but for a fantasy novel I thought it was well grounded and very entertaining. And the authors are very good at what they do; in another one of their series, the character of Fizban shows up again but under a different name (using the same letters) and talks about his lack of ability in doing that fireball spell. It's surreal knowing that this one character is spanning completely different universes but it works and I love it.
Me: [Looks at title] "Was there ever a *good* D&D movie...?"
That intro will get you flagged bro
You mean Fragged?
this intro is already on pornhub judging by the state of humanity
As a teenager I discovered these amazing novels and was blown away, I loved the characters, the story and the setting, I read the 4 main novels which is what I had access to at the time, being a nerd living in central america in the late 90s / early 00s it wasnt easy to get comic books, novels, videogames etc.
So when I heard that they were making a DragonLance animated movie featuring some of my favorite voice actors (Michael Rosenbaum who was voicing The Flash in the animated Justice League show at the time) I was super excited. Cut to the future when I had to download (yar har) this movie and thought it was a joke, the animation was garbage, the CGI was garbage. I couldnt believe it, what a let down.
The 80's cartoon was great. at least it was to my 80's kids brain.
Literally just played through that section of tomb of annihilation that you mentioned at the start of the video. The bees killed our halfling.
3:40 Is it bad that I even recognize he is using a "Sleep" spell, which requires sand as one of its possible material components, and that affects a number of creatures whose total hit dice are equal or less to the D8s the player rolls (don't remember how many), which explains why only some of the goblins fall asleep....
HOW CAN THIS MOVIE BE SO TERRIBLE AND YET GET THIS KIND OF THING EXACTLY RIGHT???? WTF MOVIE D=
it affect up to 4HD of creatures, and take an entire round of casting, so doing that when you friend are in melee not a good idea, doing that when running away not a good idea, doing that when on a boat now is the time, TBH the guy reviewing it seems to know nothing about DND nor the book
Probably the writers of the book series helping out.
@@FrenchLightningJohn He started with 5e, so things like full round casting would be unknown to him
"The old one who knows everything and still manages to forget all the time. He's also really powerful." That's the entire character of Gandalf except not as interesting.
I actually started Dragonlance at the second book, which was written much more like a traditional novel (all the books after the first one were). The first book is... a slog... even as a fan of the series.
It's the later books where the setting and characters really shine!
The Dungeon and Dragons cartoon in the 80s was awesome. As a child, I would watch it with my father on Saturday mornings. Great memories.
The DragonLance novels and subsequent gameworld were my first experience with D&D so I will always adore them. The book characters were stock stereotypes to an extent, but aren’t a lot of fantasy stories that way to an extent? The movie was awful and offensive to me. I watched it when it aired on TV and bro, so furious. I literally ranted at the screen the whole time.
As for Raistlin’s magic style: the books implied that wizards who studied in the Towers of High Sorcery, chose their colored robes based on what schools of magic and what Moon their honored, and passed the Test were limited to casting spells using chants in another language. They had to repeatedly study their spellbooks to memorize spells. But the moment they cast that spell, they forgot it and had to study it and memorize it again. Fizban was a god so... Gods and rules just don’t always work. *shrugs*
The movie was still awful. They did Laurana and Tika nasty. Very sore about that still. They whoop ass in the books. Hell, Laurana basically becomes a general. And Raistlin’s fall from a Red Mage to a Black Mage is epic. But all of that was left out of the movie. Hate. It.
Fall... Or rise?..
@@Makverus Point. Raistlin's rise to become the greatest Black Robed Mage ever, if I remember right. But with a surname like Majere, he was asking for it.
Dragonlance is a great series of books in the 1980s derivative and non-pc way. It wins no literary awards but it’s a damn good pulp fantasy romp.
To this day, I still use Riverwind to make fun of the stereotype of wise native, by spouting nonsensical nature wisdom: Riverwind say, “Bad movie is like moose turd in road - even blind man can tell it stinks. “
I preferred the Harper books myself.
Non-pc? Huh?
@@talloncusack Not politically correct. There's a number of things that didn't age well, like Goldmoon and Riverwind being ~mystical Native Americans~ and the fact that Goldmoon, despite being coded as Native American being described as a white woman. Also Flint the dwarf talks about wanting to exterminate the entire gully dwarf race in the first book.
This just adds the point, D&D has never had a good movie.
to be fair the dragonlance novels were probably meant to be read before, but my lord they butchered this good.
The gamers: Dorkness rising is a legit good DnD movie done on a small budget. I'd say it's the first movie that depicts what playing dnd (or paper rpg in general) is like.
This underappreciated gem should be seen by more roleplayers. Its definitely rough, but they capture all the appropriate tropes and 'hiding behind the pile of dead bards' has been referenced in practically every campaign my group has played since I made them all sit down and watch it.
If you haven't watched their series "Humans and Households" I strongly encourage you to watch it. The premise is a fantasy adventuring party playing an rpg that's basically modern day suburbia and its goddamn excellent.
I love that serie. The last movie was really good and I like that the original character for the new one.
@@Mondian We compare almost all characters that my one friend plays to Leo the Bard, since he goes for spellcasters or gimmicky classes like rouges and is surprised when frontline combat next to my Fighter goes as well as you expect from someone trying to help me tank when his HP is 1/3 of mine (Because he can't comprehend that HIT die of a class is sometimes more important than constitution). His personal record for going from full hp to death saving throws was turn 2.
The gamers are the best DnD movies.
@@Mondian underappreciated? I don't know a single roleplayer who hasn't seen it
Stereotypes are fine so long as you do something fun or interesting with it and, for me at least, this movie is pretty fun. I've got no experience with dragonlance so I guess that not having any expectations might have let me enjoy it more.
I loved the dragonlance books so much when I was little. My dad had bought me vol 1-3 when I was in 6th grade and I got HOOKED and when I found out they were making a movie I was SO EXCITED. It could have been so good......instead we got this.
Thanks for reminding me about my favorite book series in middle school. It was fun hearing a bunch about where it came from and what not. It was a long book series of many cringes and for the life of me I can't even remember how it ended or where they were originally going with the plotline.
Imagine if there was a science where a character and monster were constantly missing each other swing after swing at point blank range.
“I cast a sleep spell”
*rolls a 1*
DM: You cast yourself asleep
*Few minutes Later*
DM: While you’ve been bickering, Rory wakes up from his spell
*knock him back out with my long staff*
That's not how the sleep spell works
@@Axelovskji Rule of funny.
@@Slashthekitsune it's a lot more fun if you follow the consistency and rules of the established universe
@@Axelovskji ah sir buzz killington i see you showed up uninvited once again.
@@Axelovskji Not rule of fun, rule of funny. A LOT of DMs will break the rules a little for natural 1s and 20s.
1:20
What are you gonna do?
Release the T-rexes, or the bees, or the T-rexes with bees in their mouth and when the roar they shoot bees at you?
Do your worst.
knowing Jake, he'd release The T-rexes that also have bee stingers and shoot bees out of their mouths
@@TheBonkleFox Nothing like killing a PC with a Bee-Rex
In 2023 we can say "Dragonlance is Tropey" but in the mid 1980s, this was fresh, new, and awsome. These characters were real twists on what we expected, and had depth that few other books had managed. All D&D fantasy owes something to Tolkien, but the Wizard was seeking power, he wasn't powerful. The Knight was disgraced. The healer was in hiding b/c true healing was lost and considered blasphamy. The party was like level 5.
Most books were super focussed on their settings, lore, and overall narrative. Because the Dragonlance characters were actual PCs at a gaming table, we ended up with actual depth, breadth, and introspection. I felt that I got to know these heroes more than in LotR, which makes sense. LotR is intended as a Norse/Germanic saga with a focus on great deeds and heroism over character depth.
The fact that you now think of Dragonlance characterj as tropes speaks to the impact these books had on the genre. Even if you only read the original Chronicals Trilogy, give it a shot. 35 years ago, these three books launched an entire franchise that now consists of hundreds of novels, game supplements, rulebooks, figurines, etc... Every major version of D&D has had a Dragonlance Rulebook.
Yes, Fizban's breaking the rules of magic. No, it's not like that in the books, he actually did cast proper spells. It's probably a shortcut to get across his mysterious abilities and knowledge that's shown in the books. Because (spoilers) Fizban's a god. He's literally the god of good dragons, coming down to directly help the party.
yes its like that in the book, fizban is asking what was that spell again, ah yes fireball and throw the spell
@@FrenchLightningJohn No, pretty sure noooo, because if I remember the fireball incident correctly (when he was using it to open a LOCKED CAGE DOOR) it was him muttering about the spell and looking for components, only for Raistlin to look up as he recognized the spell incantation and try and stop things. And of course where he 'messes up' in casting Featherfall by messing up the words, and instead 'creates' a huge pile of feathers for everyone else to land in.
@@AdamaGeist probably then, been a while i didn't read the books also
anyone still remembers zifnab?
To not to know how awsome for some of us were those "tropes" of characters back when we started to play/read the chronicles of D&D doesn`t make the review worst... neither turns the movie better; but it does make some of the criticism clash with arguments that made the books appealing. The development of ( again... even in the 80's they felt as tropes already, but on that decade the fantasy epic tone was novelty enough ) characters like Raistlin or Kitara were slow-paced but paid back adding weight to the drama later on when the scales were, otherwise,"too high" due to the presence of deity characters to care about "earthly" characters and plots.
We were all aware of the paralells with the LOTR books ( also started to play the RPG books of it at the same time than D&D, as with Runequest, Paranoia and later on Vampire and Kult) and we didn't care, actually we liked it as we were eager for more and at the time that was all we have while we were watching Conan, Willow and alike as we looked forward for a D&D movie.
This movie seems to svck and what we can grasp from the video makes the whole image look quite awfool nonetheless I think anyone who enjoys the D&D as much should catch up with Raist, Fistandantilus... At least the Chronicles, Legends and some "cherrypicking" on the characters you fancy while reading those.
Salu2 from Spain you brexxxiter!
Your video has been out for 6 days now and I have the bell activated, seen it in my recommended and sub feed, but I just now got a notification for it.
"the halfling rogue who's constantly stealing from the party members"
halfing? i think you mean kender
Kendar are Dragonlance’s legally distinct Halflings. XD
@@Kenshiro3rd What do they have in common besides height?
Yeah, not the same thing.
There seems to be a pattern among the people in media that pique my interest, and that is that they either play DnD, MtG or both. It's not even what draws me to them, but rather a fact that is usually revealed after enjoying some of their content. Also, that intro. 20/20 critical.
As someone who is very familiar with the source material, I had no idea this existed and I am glad I haven't watched it. Though you are point by the stock character types (a lot of character development is actually done in other novels a lot of them by other writers).
As someone is especially a fan of Raistlin, Keith Southernland's voice doesn't seem to fit in what I have in my brain though I am glad he tried.
Though...for what it is worth, the books are a pretty good read.
yeah he is meant to be like someone with severe asthma.
Yeah Raistlins voice never struck me as evil or powerful. Especially when he's talking to Fizban or the Hobgoblin? he befriends, he's supposed to be sickly and a bit of a sarcastic dick.
That halfling could steal anything except Camilla’s heart
Dragonlance was my introduction to Weiss and Hickman. Any of you out there who liked the books, please read the Darksword Trilogy. Good stuff.
Also, Dragons of Summer Twilight is one of my favorite series endings ever.
This is so hilarious; I'm doing my first character roll in 2 weeks with co-workers, of which it's been non stop talk of D&D