Longtime DNDer here, and i love this movie so much. So many in-jokes for the gamers, but still works beautifully for people who've never played. Its amazing.
Just a little background... Edgin's DnD class is Bard; they perform, are usually charismatic and excell in giving their party and friends boosts in morality, skill and generally are the ones who provide buffs and respite. Holga is a Barbarian; fighting, fighting and more fighting. She probably has some skills at improvised weapon fighting too. Doric is a Druid; nature-aligned spellcasters who have great skill in shapeshifting, healing and generally being a bit of a magic mix of damage and health giving. Simon is a Sorceror; specifically a Wild Magic caster which is why some of his spells went wildly off. They differ from regular wizards. Wizards have to study, Sorcerors use their force of will and personality to do magic. Zenk is a Paladin; Holy Warriors who follow a god or a special creed. Usually to the letter. There is a running joke in the DnD community that Paladins are the Fun Police and often their horses are smarter. Forge, the conman, is a Thief; Thieves in DnD are not just burglars, even though they are good at that. But they are the general catch-all to conmen as well. Which was his forte. Sofina is the actual Wizard; and a REALLY POWERFUL one as well. Those with DnD lore would have alarm bells ringing the moment she did Timestop since that is like an eigth or ninth level spell. Which requires near maximum level to cast... Additionaly, Bards, Sorcerors and Paladins use Charisma as their defining stat. Druids use Wisdom and Barbarians are mostly Strength and Constitution. None of them excell in Intelligence, at all.
I watched this movie with a group of friends, half of them (including me) were longtime D&D players and half had never played even once, and we all loved it
"We must never stop failing because the minute we do, we've failed." Basically means if you're failing, you're still actively trying. The second you stop trying, then you've failed. The movie is so much like playing a campaign, play some D&D and you'll kinda feel the rolls in the background of the movie.
Some of the references I've seen mentioned include: - The "Hither-Thither Staff" is a creation for the movie (aka. "homebrew"), but is also kinda evocative of something a DM actually might give the players to get the campaign unstuck if they broke/softlocked a critical puzzle. - Themberchaud the "pudgy dragon" is actually canon. - The catlike monster in the Arena is known as a "Displacer Beast". As shown, they have an ability to project an image of themselves somewhere else. - The colorful band of adventurers that made it to the "safety cage" in the Arena is a reference to the cast of the 1980's "Dungeons and Dragons" cartoon. (Paramount even released a trailer on their channel showcasing the connection, look it up) - Doric finishing off Sofina was indeed inspired by Hulk's beatdown of Loki in Marvel's Avengers. (To Doric's credit, D&D Wizards are _not_ known for having a lot of hitpoints)
The malfunctioning Edgin illusion had our entire theater in STITCHES. I missed most of the second half of that scene because I couldn't see or hear past the tears in my eyes and the laughter in my ears. I know there are some people who deride this movie as "Guardians of the Galaxy in the Forgotten Realms", but those same people called GotG "Marvel's D&D in Space". If it works, it works.
Re: Guardians of the Galaxy.... I see where the comparison comes from. But I see this as just pure D&D. The irreverent humor and rolling chaos has always been a part of every D&D table I've ever played at (over decades). Marvel didn't create the notion. Marvel is a part of the geeky subculture that has always embraced taking fantasy seriously yet with humor and chaos. I saw GotG as a title that provides that vibe and welcomed it. Because... well... I want to see what I've always felt with friends on a late weekend night around a table in the dim light surrounded by friends and food. Nobody has a claim to the vibe. And I can always find space for more of it when done right.
I just LOVE how they stick to proper lore around Concentration based spellcasting. Simon's stealing at the start, doing only little cantrips because he has to concentrate on his unseen servant. The illusion spell breaking when he gets distracted. Sofina losing control over the dragon statue... They're awesome examples of how this kind of thing works.
I could also see a new team of different classes / races of heroes WITH an extensive cameo of 1-2 of the original team members. Another idea would be a new movie with Xenk (Regé-Jean Page - the paladin) as the exasperated leader of a team of disrespectful delinquents on another grand adventure.
oh yeah they did a great job of putting all the lore and easter eggs in for hard core dnd players to pick up on, but they made the story so accessible to everyone even if they'd never heard of dnd before.
Thank you for the reaction. I know it takes a lot of energy and effort to edit and things. I appreciate it. When you laugh it really is delightful. Great choice of movie for it. You really don’t need to play to enjoy this but there are a ton of easter eggs if you do. It has a great balance there. It was written and directed by two guys who love D&D and have played it a lot. Their loving care in telling the story and making one of their favorite things accessible to others is so so good. Zenk was kinda like an NPC (or someone who sits in for one night of the campaign). He was a guide more or less. It does very much have the rhythm of a game. You can kinda see when die rolls go badly. An example would be when Edgin was trying to get his hands untied for a couple turns of combat. Holga had a bonus to her rolls when using certain items (perhaps potatoes or just ordinary objects). Thanks again.
I absolutely love this movie so freaking much I actually watched it 4 times before it even came out and I still can’t believe Dungeons and Dragons Honor Amongst Thieves liked my review and commented on it and my favourite characters are Doric played by my celebrity crush Sophia Lillis most known in IT ( who I got noticed by twice and it made my year since she’s my favourite actress) Simon played by the awesome Justice Smith most known in Detective Pikachu and Xenk played by the incredible Rege Jean Page most known in Bridgeton. It’s a feel good movie and I really really loved it
I feel like people don't talk enough about how awesome Daisy Head was in this. What a villain. She wasn't over the top or cheesy, but you really felt the menace and she came across as super powerful and dangerous in every scene.
I enjoyed your reaction and the movie in General. I have run quite a bit of D&D, running at one time 3 campaigns a week all set in my homebrew setting. They got alot right about this movie as far as the game goes, and some big wrongs for the sake of the movie. I understand the need to break some things for the movie. In my games I often break rules for the sake of COOL as far as my players go. Today's D&D is very much about telling a story together; with dice rolls when things can fail or succeed.
The thing with the pardon though is that they broke jail before being released, and assaulted a member of the Council, so once that happened I am sure that "pardon" became a "lock them back up" instead. LOL
“She’s a shapeshifter” Well, yeah… that’s… that’s what a druid is. Not all shapeshifters are druids but all druids have the power to shapeshift (unless they specialize otherwise, but unlikely).
Longtime DNDer here, and i love this movie so much. So many in-jokes for the gamers, but still works beautifully for people who've never played. Its amazing.
Just a little background...
Edgin's DnD class is Bard; they perform, are usually charismatic and excell in giving their party and friends boosts in morality, skill and generally are the ones who provide buffs and respite.
Holga is a Barbarian; fighting, fighting and more fighting. She probably has some skills at improvised weapon fighting too.
Doric is a Druid; nature-aligned spellcasters who have great skill in shapeshifting, healing and generally being a bit of a magic mix of damage and health giving.
Simon is a Sorceror; specifically a Wild Magic caster which is why some of his spells went wildly off. They differ from regular wizards. Wizards have to study, Sorcerors use their force of will and personality to do magic.
Zenk is a Paladin; Holy Warriors who follow a god or a special creed. Usually to the letter. There is a running joke in the DnD community that Paladins are the Fun Police and often their horses are smarter.
Forge, the conman, is a Thief; Thieves in DnD are not just burglars, even though they are good at that. But they are the general catch-all to conmen as well. Which was his forte.
Sofina is the actual Wizard; and a REALLY POWERFUL one as well. Those with DnD lore would have alarm bells ringing the moment she did Timestop since that is like an eigth or ninth level spell. Which requires near maximum level to cast...
Additionaly, Bards, Sorcerors and Paladins use Charisma as their defining stat. Druids use Wisdom and Barbarians are mostly Strength and Constitution. None of them excell in Intelligence, at all.
Mordenkainen was a playing character of Gary Gigax, one of the creators of Dungeons and dragons
I watched this movie with a group of friends, half of them (including me) were longtime D&D players and half had never played even once, and we all loved it
"We must never stop failing because the minute we do, we've failed." Basically means if you're failing, you're still actively trying. The second you stop trying, then you've failed. The movie is so much like playing a campaign, play some D&D and you'll kinda feel the rolls in the background of the movie.
Some of the references I've seen mentioned include:
- The "Hither-Thither Staff" is a creation for the movie (aka. "homebrew"), but is also kinda evocative of something a DM actually might give the players to get the campaign unstuck if they broke/softlocked a critical puzzle.
- Themberchaud the "pudgy dragon" is actually canon.
- The catlike monster in the Arena is known as a "Displacer Beast". As shown, they have an ability to project an image of themselves somewhere else.
- The colorful band of adventurers that made it to the "safety cage" in the Arena is a reference to the cast of the 1980's "Dungeons and Dragons" cartoon. (Paramount even released a trailer on their channel showcasing the connection, look it up)
- Doric finishing off Sofina was indeed inspired by Hulk's beatdown of Loki in Marvel's Avengers. (To Doric's credit, D&D Wizards are _not_ known for having a lot of hitpoints)
The malfunctioning Edgin illusion had our entire theater in STITCHES. I missed most of the second half of that scene because I couldn't see or hear past the tears in my eyes and the laughter in my ears. I know there are some people who deride this movie as "Guardians of the Galaxy in the Forgotten Realms", but those same people called GotG "Marvel's D&D in Space". If it works, it works.
Technically it's the other way around, as the Forgotten Realms has established its history years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was made.
Re: Guardians of the Galaxy....
I see where the comparison comes from. But I see this as just pure D&D. The irreverent humor and rolling chaos has always been a part of every D&D table I've ever played at (over decades). Marvel didn't create the notion. Marvel is a part of the geeky subculture that has always embraced taking fantasy seriously yet with humor and chaos. I saw GotG as a title that provides that vibe and welcomed it. Because... well... I want to see what I've always felt with friends on a late weekend night around a table in the dim light surrounded by friends and food.
Nobody has a claim to the vibe. And I can always find space for more of it when done right.
I just LOVE how they stick to proper lore around Concentration based spellcasting.
Simon's stealing at the start, doing only little cantrips because he has to concentrate on his unseen servant. The illusion spell breaking when he gets distracted. Sofina losing control over the dragon statue... They're awesome examples of how this kind of thing works.
YEAH IM NEED A SEQUEL TO THIS MOVIE! LIKE NOW!
Same I need more of Doric more of Simon heck more of absolutely everything
Yassss, my only regret is that they killed off Sofina. She was an incredible villain.
I could also see a new team of different classes / races of heroes WITH an extensive cameo of 1-2 of the original team members. Another idea would be a new movie with Xenk (Regé-Jean Page - the paladin) as the exasperated leader of a team of disrespectful delinquents on another grand adventure.
oh yeah they did a great job of putting all the lore and easter eggs in for hard core dnd players to pick up on, but they made the story so accessible to everyone even if they'd never heard of dnd before.
The grave scene part has me dying bro! Your laugh sent me 😂
Thank you for the reaction. I know it takes a lot of energy and effort to edit and things. I appreciate it. When you laugh it really is delightful. Great choice of movie for it.
You really don’t need to play to enjoy this but there are a ton of easter eggs if you do. It has a great balance there. It was written and directed by two guys who love D&D and have played it a lot. Their loving care in telling the story and making one of their favorite things accessible to others is so so good.
Zenk was kinda like an NPC (or someone who sits in for one night of the campaign). He was a guide more or less.
It does very much have the rhythm of a game. You can kinda see when die rolls go badly. An example would be when Edgin was trying to get his hands untied for a couple turns of combat. Holga had a bonus to her rolls when using certain items (perhaps potatoes or just ordinary objects).
Thanks again.
Thanks for this comment! Amazing movie!
Excellent reaction. You've definitely got my subscription.
I absolutely love this movie so freaking much I actually watched it 4 times before it even came out and I still can’t believe Dungeons and Dragons Honor Amongst Thieves liked my review and commented on it and my favourite characters are Doric played by my celebrity crush Sophia Lillis most known in IT ( who I got noticed by twice and it made my year since she’s my favourite actress) Simon played by the awesome Justice Smith most known in Detective Pikachu and Xenk played by the incredible Rege Jean Page most known in Bridgeton. It’s a feel good movie and I really really loved it
Such a fun film!!!
I feel like people don't talk enough about how awesome Daisy Head was in this. What a villain. She wasn't over the top or cheesy, but you really felt the menace and she came across as super powerful and dangerous in every scene.
I enjoyed your reaction and the movie in General. I have run quite a bit of D&D, running at one time 3 campaigns a week all set in my homebrew setting. They got alot right about this movie as far as the game goes, and some big wrongs for the sake of the movie. I understand the need to break some things for the movie. In my games I often break rules for the sake of COOL as far as my players go. Today's D&D is very much about telling a story together; with dice rolls when things can fail or succeed.
The thing with the pardon though is that they broke jail before being released, and assaulted a member of the Council, so once that happened I am sure that "pardon" became a "lock them back up" instead. LOL
Top movie in 2023. The most thoughtful, most entertaining film this year.
that is Bradly Mini-Cooper
“She’s a shapeshifter”
Well, yeah… that’s… that’s what a druid is. Not all shapeshifters are druids but all druids have the power to shapeshift (unless they specialize otherwise, but unlikely).
It's kinda why you'd ever roll druid...
Loved your reaction as much as I loved the movie!
Thanks for Reeling It In with me! Movie is awesome! Need a sequel!
Fights and jokes 🎉
A 'One Shot' of a CGI sequence?