I asked my stepson the name of the house plant that I gave him (his first ever plant to care for, he's early teens) and he said, Jonathan. Out of nowhere, and it stuck. Jonathan, or variations of, are a default as far as I see it.
I made the mistake of asking my then 3 year old daughter what to name my character in Skyrim. Now all my created characters in every video game have to be named "Jeff Fashion".
I wonder exactly how many people went and found the lore on Thumberchaud the fat dragon and added that to their next campaign. Yes, the fat dragon is d&d lore and was created by Gary gygax apparently when his cat laid down on the table during a session.
And just imagine this conversation with the 3D FX team.... Producers: You are going to do the displacer beasts... And you are going to do the owl bear... Now, you, we need to do the pudgy dragon.... Last FX tech: And what am I doing? Producers: We've saved the most important model for you... We need a potato...
As a lifelong D&D (etc) player, what I love about this thing is that it plays like a D&D game. So many things. Such as when they accidentally collapse the bridge so the DM (the person running the game) has to feed the players a way to continue ... in this case with his portal staff. Things like that, and the crazy lateral thinking of the players, happen all the time in D&D games.
One of the things I really loved, is that of the few lore accurate characters from forgotten realms lore, they decided to bring in Themberchaud. I did not expect them to use him and I am really happy they used him.
One of my favorite tropes from the game is Simon being the keeper of stuff...there is always that 1 player that gets stuck holding all the party's stuff
The reason neither Ed nor Doric cast any actual spells is the non-D&D players would ask, "If they can use magic, why do they need the sorcerer?". Also, the pudgy dragon is Themberchaud, an actual creature in lore - though, when last seen, he was in the Duergar city of Gracklstugh, a couple hundred miles from where they were in the Underdark.
I never thought about that, but it's a good point. Since it would be way too awkward to explain different types, and spell levels, probably a good idea to just have the sorcerer cast.
@@darksaviorx001 On a character sheet I can see it, but I get the OP's point, that the non D&D fans might get confused about needing a sorcerer if it showed him using magic. Also, what did it say about Sofina? She cast 2 9th level spells back to back (meteor swarm, time stop). I wasn't aware of a spellcaster that could do that?
@@sydhamelin1265 They gave Sofina monster stats rather than player levels, so they didn't have to explain why she could cast both Time Stop and "Swarm of Meteors" each once per day. (I put Meteor Swarm as Swarm of Meteors because that is what they called it, and it wasn't a spell, it was an ability that she can use once per day, but it was pretty much word for word Meteor Swarm.)
@@johncox7169 The fact that they'd go that far is kinda cool. Like they're still staying to the rules of the game. I also LOVE that this movie used some of the same plot devices as the 2000 movie, but showed how to do them well.
One of my favorite scenes was where Xenk was explaining the hideously complicated means to get across the bridge, then, of course, Simon fuckered it all up. That was 1000% the DM, through their DMPC going off about the awesome trap/puzzle they took several hours to create...and the PC's just screwing things up, like we always do. And when Simon looked over at Holga and asked 'What's that?...even before he could say another word, I looked over at my wife and said "That's a DM ass pull", and I was right! I cant count the number of times I've had to make stuff up, literally out of thin air, to keep my games moving, after the PC's did something silly/horrifying/mega-awesome. Awesome movie; Incredible reaction!! Love all y'all!!
So apparently that walk away scene from the paladin wasn't scripted. He just started walking out of frame and it was noisy for some reason and he didn't hear them call "cut" so he just kept going and the bard ad libbed that whole later half of the scene on the spot. Also, later in the scene while they are talking you can still see the paladin way off in the distance.....still walking....
I absolutely love this movie... partly because my go-to character when playing is a neutral/good rogue, but also because so much canon lore is represented. I watched this with a few of the guys of our former D&D group (unfortunately when you hit you 40's not everyone can commit to a regular gaming schedule) we all got excited whenever a spell or D&D creature showed up, just like you did. When Themberchaud showed up (the pudgy dragon) we all jumped up and cheered, because we had encountered him on a couple of our campaigns into the Underdark (some of the people around us did not appreciate this, but we were vindicated by not being the only ones in the theater doing so).0000000
One of the best aspects of this movie is how they scoured the Monster Manuals for all the monsters no-one uses. Intellect devourers, gelatinous cubes, displacer beasts owlbear - they even had two baby rust monsters. Hell, even the dragon wasn't standard -he was a chonky boy.
They even gave nods to Themberchaud's inspiration. The way he clings onto that bridge looking like a chubby cat struggling to climb onto something... 😂
And the black dragon spewing acid. They really set out to show audiences unfamiliar with the game the DnD "identity," these things that don't exist in other fantasy worlds, or exist but in very different ways. It's interesting to me that DnD has Elves, Dwarves, orcs, goblins, and ogres, but those seldom or ever appear in favor of more esoteric and DnD-unique races and monsters.
The random magic item to keep the plot moving when the party fucks up the path forward and then uses later on in an unintended way to skip fights is so faithful to RL campaigns. That hither-thither staff is emblematic of all of those I also love Holga's obsession with potatoes, that is such a player move to add a weird quirk like that. Simon being a mediocre sorcerer is great too because his primary casting stat is Charisma, and he clearly has none lolol
You’ve clearly seen the 2000 D&D movie with Jeremy Irons. But have you seen the direct to DVD sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God? When it comes to writing and properly using D&D lore in your film, this movie has it all over the original. However, when it comes to production quality and VFX, it falls short. Still worth the watch though. The sequel to the 1982 Schwarzenegger classic, Conan The Barbarian, also has a major D&D feel to it, Conan The Destroyer. And then there’s the “So Bad It’s Good” spin-off, Red Sonja. I always thought Dragonheart was a lot of fun. Hawk The Slayer is hard to find on DVD, but if you can acquire it, it definitely plays out like a D&D campaign. Oh, and you guys have gotta see Beastmaster.
The 2000 D&D sequel is a double edged sword in that, it's made much more competently than the first movie, but as a result, isn't "so bad it's good". I wouldn't go so far as to call it a bad movie though, but I'd only recommend it for someone who really, really needed to see a D&D movie. But, as far as the lore goes, the sequel was much closer to the game. No beholders acting as prison guards. An actual cleric. Spells from the game, and a Ring of the Ram. It was a little dry though, and uninspired. The story was pretty meh, but still, if you want a D&D adventure, it will probably scratch that itch.
@Thundarr100 The 2000 film isn't horrible but watching the deleted & unfinished scenes on the DVD made me angry. So many scenes that could've fixed the plot holes with one particularly helpful scene that clearly was only cut because of the expense of the special effects. Sigh, just sigh. I will concede that not going with the alternate "let's set up a sequel" ending was the correct choice.
Couple of fun tidbits for you as players that I haven’t seen in the comments yet. 1) combat actually takes place in six second blocks and turns, especially the final fight with Sophina though she’s using legendary actions for action economy. 2) the maze arena is made up of 5’ square pillars that rise and fall, so it’s literally a table map and there’s a group of people hovering over top of it around a table playing a game of some sort. They really did a fantastic job capturing the feel of a true table game, you can follow how the dice roll almost perfectly and identify all sorts of player shenanigans and DM coping mechanisms. I love this movie so much!
That's effing brilliant. I didn't catch that. Between this and the Save The Cat moment it makes me love this movie all the more and I am a long time player of D&D I think my first sessions was in 86 or 87,
I absolutely love Doric She is my favorite character Pudgy dragon is best dragon 😁 The glitchy spell scene is hilarious! LOL The owl-bear smash scene gives hulk smash Loki vibes 😂
Ok, So Simon the Sorcerer is an old point and click adventure game from the 1990s. When Simon try to attune the the helmet he meet a vision of his ancestor Elminster and he is a very powerful wizard in forgotten realms. I never heard anyone saying that Szass Tam is a lover until now.
Do you know how HARD it was for me in the movie theatre when the Red Wizard ignited his GREEN FLAME blade... NOT to scream "GREEN FLAME!!!" I was white knuckles chewing on my foot!!! Glad you loved this movie as much as me! Good reaction!
After the prior "attempts" at D&D movies, I went into this one with low/medium expectations. And I *loved* it! My one-line description is that it's a good movie for a casual audience, and a GREAT movie if you know/love D&D.
I have to say,when I heard the word,"Underdark",I expected to see Drow Elves,was very disappointed! Otherwise,a very entertaining and funny movie! The Paladin character was originally meant to be Drow Ranger,Drizzt Do'Urden!
A really underrated D&D movie: Zero Charisma. There's more to it than just D&D, and technically they're playing a home-brew, but they nail the culture. There's also a great snapshot of the old school vs. new school "pop culture" style of "geeking out".
I've never heard anyone mention it, but when they are fighting the executioner, etc. you can clearly see his hands can easily fit through the bindings. He's just rolling badly on dexterity on getting out of them.
Glad yous (yes...greetings from sNJ) reacted to this film. Awesome timing as I was doing NEVERWINTER dailies and inventory earlier today. From opening some chest drops and getting some mounts and companions, it was nice to see them in the movie (ex. gelatinous cube, {a grown up} bobby the barbarian, Uni the unicorn, displacer beast, etc).
You can practically feel the moment the DM of this campaign told the players about this really elaborate bridge puzzle, Simon's player fucked it up on the first step and the DM went: "Fuck it, that item Holga picked up is now a magic item."
I can't quite get across how utterly weird and fantastic it was to see The Realms on the big screen. I haven't played D&D in decades but around the time AD&D 2E turned into 3E I read tons of the books, played the games etc. I think it was seeing the Tears of Selune the completely pushed me over the edge into "OMG is this actually happening?":)
Couldn't help going back to a time when I played D&D with my brother among others. His group got caught between leopards and cave wights. Since my brother was a frost giant, he decided to pick up the leopards and throw them at the cave wights.
I didn't love this movie when I saw it but then I have never played D&D and know nothing of the game but watching you enjoy it so much make me enjoy it more than when I first saw it,
I loved this movie, and great reactions from you folks. The fact that you so often picked up the lines or story beats (like the Rochnon) just before they happened speaks volumes to how they effectively used the setting and the tropes without it being grating or inauthentic. In fact, that's one of my favorite bits - you can tell the passion for the source material from the people involved with the movie. Both of the directors played quite a bit, as I understand it, as well as two of the main actors. Both Michelle Rodriguez (Holga) and Sophia Lillis (Doric) have played a fair bit of D&D prior to signing on to the movie (Michelle a while ago but Sophia quite recently) and I feel that enjoyment of the material comes through in their characters. In fact, that cast all played a game together as the characters before starting shooting, and in interviews they all talked about how much they enjoyed it (OK, that's probably marketing but I'm choosing to believe!). Here's hoping for a sequel! EDIT to add, about not having a cleric: They agree with you! Or, at least Sophia Lillis does. When asked what they'd want to play if they played again everyone else picked either their own class or another character in the movie's class except Sophia, who was basically like, "I'd play a Cleric, we could have used one of those" ruclips.net/video/SBJp9aKVllA/видео.htmlsi=iGE6tK1YSiiNONKW&t=503
It's so great to watch a reaction from some true D&D nerds who really knew the game! It really is great fun to try and name all the spells that are cast throughout the movie. Send some good energy out there into the universe that a sequel gets made!
Funny you should say you wanted to see some drow. Xenk was actually originally planned to be Drizzt Do'Urden but they decided it just wasn't the right place to introduce him. As for the main character's levels, DnD beyond released character sheets for all of them and they are actually surprisingly high level. I would have to check again but I believe the main cast are all lvl 16 and Sophina is lvl 19.
That death stare Xenk gives Simon when he steps on the bridge and triggers the trap is the approximation of the DM staring at Simon's player after he rolls a nat 1 on his dexterity save after saying he was going to "step towards the bridge", and internally debating the highest CR he can throw at them all right now before asking Simon to roll an Arcana check on some random junk the Barbarian is carrying. "Wow, she just happens to have a portal cane that can get you over the river of lava. What a coincidence." Ten minutes later Simon: "WHY is Themberchaud here and not in Gracklstugh!?" DM: "Wow, crazy shit right? Anyway roll initiative." Sofina's got to be at least level 17 to be able to cast Time Stop from preparation, meanwhile Simon is at least level 9 since he can use Bigby's Hand. I still think it's a tall ask for a level 9 to counterspell a Time Stop. He has a +3 Cha mod against a DC19 check. Not impossible but it's definitely a high stress roll, though Edgin's Inspiration die is a d8 and he can grant it as a reaction if an ally in view fails a check, so... And as a 20 year veteran of Cleric only supremacy; fuck yeah Clerics.
If ya just GOTTA get that d&d fix, Tom Hanks was in a movie titled Mazes and Monsters (1982); it was his first lead acting role (according to wikipedia).
I actually read that book around 1989/1990 and I started DMing AD&D 2nd ed. games the next year. It took me years to realize that M&M was meant to be a scare-them-away anti-D&D story. I thought (despite Hanks' character going nuts) roleplaying was awesome!
This movie is 100 times better than the D&D movie made years before. I really miss playing AD&D. The Adventures, the Laughs, the Sodas and Snacks (Pizza and "Superbowl Snacks")... They were the best 10 years of my life! Unfortunately, I moved to a Rural Area, so drumming up a Game is impossible.
Reddit /lfg and discord. I found an amazing group there and we've been playing for over a year now. Took several tries, but we have a group that ranges from Maine to California and we have run a main campaign and filled in one shots when the DM needs a break.
The writers/directors are named John and Jonathan. They personally finding adding an R to random places in people's names hilarious so it's not surprising that Jarnathan (so similar in pronunciation to Jo(r)nathan) made it in as a random, throw-away character.
If you want a D&Desc movie, then you should try 13th Warrior. It is a very low to no magic D&D campaign. You will even sit there and figure out which ones are the fighters, the barbarians and the ranger. If you watch it in that frame of mind it is a fun movie.
I am so excited you watched this one. I was waiting and thinking, "How have they not done this movie yet? It's is exactly the kind of movie they would love!"
I don't know much about D&D but the 80's cartoon is quite popular where I live. So popular that the characters were used in a car ad and it turned out really well. I really enjoyed the movie, it's really fun. I hope there's a sequel.
I'd heard that Xenk was actually supposed to be Drizz't Do'Urden, and the Thayans they fought in the Underdark were originally Drow. I'm not sure why they switched? Could've been Drizz't rights, or maybe they didn't like how the makeup came out (maybe it looked like blackface ir something...)
We're never, ever gonna get a drow story in a movie. People confuse fantasy with real-world issues. And a cult of sinister, matriarchal, spider-worshipping bad-asses who are profiled because of their racial heritage. Uhhh, it's too controversial and confusing. Too bad, though. It'd be very cool to see.
"...are there any other, like, D & D- esque movies out there you think we gots to see, let us know..." ... Ahem...Matt and Emily...DRAGONSLAYER!!! DRAGONSLAYER! For the love of all that's good in the world, will you both *please*, finally, watch Dragonslayer!?! ...please...
My favorite game for the Nintendo GameCube was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and I saw a strong connection in the movie. I'm hoping that the success from this movie from DnD fans and movie fans will give them reason to make another movie but with other characters.
So, as with just about everyone, I too have been playing Baldur's Gate III. I have the barbarian in my party, and made her the kind that is all about animal totems and suchlike. I took a chimpanzee-related one, because I'm intrigued by the special ability that you can throw camp supplies at a foe to blind them. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I'm still wondering and hoping if I can throw *rotten* camp supplies, but just to be safe, I dug through the bag to see what I had a lot of, that was light-weight, that didn't have really high camp value. One type of supply stood out above all the others. It's lightweight, doesn't add too much, and I had tons of it. Potatoes. So I've got a barbarian character in a D&D game who throws potatoes at people's heads. Why does that sound familiar...?
For fun and sheer immersion in d&d edness you can't beat the gamers series. The original short "the gamers", "the gamers: dorkness rising" and "the gamers: hands of fate"
The tiefling design in the movie is the original one from PlaneScape! Like seeing one of Tony Di Terlizzi's illustrations in reality. Loved it. Not a fan of how all tieflings have to look like draenei from WoW these days (much more fun if they can look like a lot of weird things llike in the original PlaneScape boxed set, which is gathering dust in my bookshelf). Edit: Also, my theory on Elgin is he's multiclassed Rogue/Bard, and picked a School that gets very little magic.
I had the Planescape setup except for one of the outer planes box sets - whichever the last released was. I loved the setting, it was so abstract and a great curveball to throw at players. Exploring some ruins and *poof* welcome to Sigil. The art design was top notch, we're so overdue for another Planescape game. I was thrilled when Torment was released, and it completely NAILED the vibe of the Planescape campaign.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure when the red-skinned devilish looking Tieflings became a thing. There's s whole chunk of D&D from the beginning of 3rd Ed up to the present that I completely missed.
@@Scimarad I hear that. The last time I played was 2nd Edition. I played a couple video games that used 3e rules, and now BG3 that uses 5e. At least in BG3 you can create a pretty human looking Tiefling, BUT all the Tiefling NPCs are more devil than human. They remind me of Cambions more than Tieflings.
The only minor complaint I recall having is the painting portal. It was set in a frame that was _at least_ half an inch deep, so there's no way the portal would have been flush against the floor, and thus should have been easy to pick up.
I personally think this movie was BRILLIANTLY written and directed. It just quietly and deftly unfolds the plot, conveys what's going on, and takes care of a lot of stuff without anything dragging. Like the travel scenes, I kept thinking of how sloggy such scenes were in LOTR...
@@dancosta9488 :-) Yes, entirely normal. I am an AD&D from the TSR days, D&D 3.0 & 3.5 and Pathfinder 1st Edition (which my gaming group considers D&D 3.75) kind of guy. D&D 4.0 books never got unwrapped after play-testing the system and finding that the rules were dumbed down and the game mechanics were made to be more like a video game. D&D 5.0 disappointed me even more. Other people, for some mystifying reason, like 5.0 and that at least has them playing a version of the game. The recent fiasco with the company "simplifying" things even more, making stupid decisions to show their "wokeness" and attempting to steal the intellectual property of others has me joining the tide of people switching to Pathfinder 2nd Edition & other game systems under the ORC license. Your mileage may vary. If you and your group are happy with the current company & game mechanics, that's good because I want people to have fun. If you want to slide over to Pathfinder or another system, I would encourage that. If your group wants to try rolling back to the more complicated (some would say restrictive, I say refreshingly challenging) game mechanics of the previous eras, on behalf of my fellow grognards, I say welcome to you. Enjoy. :-) In any event, as I climb down off of my soapbox, please remember that the biggest part of the fun is the laughing, fear and comaraderie around the table with your friends.
Love this movie! It's been a long time since I was able to play, life has got in the way. The 'Speak with Dead' spell and the illusion that went wrong brought back memories. And I knew that Matt and Emily would enjoy the movie. 😁😁
as fantasy fans, you guys probably saw these already but my watch suggestion would be the sword and the sorcerer. you already watched conan but this came out the same year probably to capitalize on conan's popularity. or the year before both of those was another d&d-esque movie: dragonslayer
There is some debate about racial insensitivity regarding drow (and driders by inclusion) these days so they were left out of the movie. They initially wanted to use Drizzt Do'Urden as the hero who helps the party but because of the controversies, they turned that hero into Xenk Yendar. Much as I would love to see the old heroes of the realm have their cameos in the movie, I loved the way Xenk turned out.
Even though the whole movie is excellent, for me, it really kicks off as “D&D” when they figure out sneaking the painting with the portal into the vault. That’s like peak D&D-wacky and awesome problem solving.
I am so glad that the this movie didnt go for the cheesy special effects. This was well a thought out movie. All who were involved appear to be having a fun time and that translated into the audience having a fun time. I myself used to play D&D in my younger days (as well as othe RPGs) but some of the lore, spells, and monsters were new to me but I loved the movie nonetheless. When you mentioned the barbarian from the cartoon series, I must of missed that reference. That was a cool call back. If I heard correctly there could be a tv show. and a possible sequel.
Xenk: "So you blame his mother for his corruption?"
Forge: "I blame my mother"
... how didn't I catch that...?
I've noticed that a lot of people miss this one
woah
Jarnathon feels like a name the DM had to make up on the spot for an NPC they didn't intend on naming.
I almost named my character Jarnathon in Baldur's Gate 3.
Noooo, we would never do that.....ok, I named my characters real names but backwards, and yes, I've just changed a few letters on a normal name.
I asked my stepson the name of the house plant that I gave him (his first ever plant to care for, he's early teens) and he said, Jonathan. Out of nowhere, and it stuck. Jonathan, or variations of, are a default as far as I see it.
for that purpose i always keep an Ikea catalog in my manual's bag. Pages and pages of quick names ready to use (unless you speak swedish...)
I made the mistake of asking my then 3 year old daughter what to name my character in Skyrim.
Now all my created characters in every video game have to be named "Jeff Fashion".
I wonder exactly how many people went and found the lore on Thumberchaud the fat dragon and added that to their next campaign. Yes, the fat dragon is d&d lore and was created by Gary gygax apparently when his cat laid down on the table during a session.
They say inspiration can come from the strangest of places...but I NEVER thought it would come from something like THAT
So basically Em can act on her inner cosplayer and create a costume for Pippinchaud!
I tried looking that cat fact up and got nothing. Could you tell me where you got it from?
greatest joke in this movie most people missed, Bradley Cooper as a halfling means he's a mini cooper
Oh you bastard
😂😂😂😂😂
I don't get it....
@@LordLOCmini cooper is a type of car
When I thought the most useless scene in the movie couldn't be worse, it is also a pun 😅
The hither/thither staff feels totally like something the DM would pull out to fix that the puzzle was screwed up.
And just imagine this conversation with the 3D FX team....
Producers: You are going to do the displacer beasts... And you are going to do the owl bear... Now, you, we need to do the pudgy dragon....
Last FX tech: And what am I doing?
Producers: We've saved the most important model for you... We need a potato...
just eff Hugh Grant right up. No more direction for you thx bai
"She's throwing POTATOES!"
JAAAARNATHAN!!
The council lady is my fave, no lie
As a lifelong D&D (etc) player, what I love about this thing is that it plays like a D&D game. So many things. Such as when they accidentally collapse the bridge so the DM (the person running the game) has to feed the players a way to continue ... in this case with his portal staff. Things like that, and the crazy lateral thinking of the players, happen all the time in D&D games.
"He's a lich, he's a lover..." Brilliant. lol
One of the things I really loved, is that of the few lore accurate characters from forgotten realms lore, they decided to bring in Themberchaud. I did not expect them to use him and I am really happy they used him.
Szass Tamm & the Thayans are also a part of Forgotten Realms lore, so it was great to see them.
The part where the illusion spell of Chris Pine breaking down had me DYING!! Hahaha that was the most hilarious part ever!
The Red Wizard Sofina was played by Daisy Head... Anthony Stewart Head's daughter
I hadn’t made that connection, but super cool! Also, Daisy Head played “Genya Safin” in Shadow and Bone
I wonder if she can sing really well like her dad and uncle?
@@dereknolin5986 urgh i bet she can. the family seems to delight in having talents as well as hotness. rude tbh
This is so good - and Themberchaud is the BEST boy. We love us a chonky dragon.
One of my favorite tropes from the game is Simon being the keeper of stuff...there is always that 1 player that gets stuck holding all the party's stuff
they never mention but he has a bag of holding on him
The reason neither Ed nor Doric cast any actual spells is the non-D&D players would ask, "If they can use magic, why do they need the sorcerer?". Also, the pudgy dragon is Themberchaud, an actual creature in lore - though, when last seen, he was in the Duergar city of Gracklstugh, a couple hundred miles from where they were in the Underdark.
I never thought about that, but it's a good point. Since it would be way too awkward to explain different types, and spell levels, probably a good idea to just have the sorcerer cast.
@@sydhamelin1265 they released the character sheets for each one and Ed had spells like suggestion and friends
@@darksaviorx001 On a character sheet I can see it, but I get the OP's point, that the non D&D fans might get confused about needing a sorcerer if it showed him using magic.
Also, what did it say about Sofina? She cast 2 9th level spells back to back (meteor swarm, time stop). I wasn't aware of a spellcaster that could do that?
@@sydhamelin1265 They gave Sofina monster stats rather than player levels, so they didn't have to explain why she could cast both Time Stop and "Swarm of Meteors" each once per day. (I put Meteor Swarm as Swarm of Meteors because that is what they called it, and it wasn't a spell, it was an ability that she can use once per day, but it was pretty much word for word Meteor Swarm.)
@@johncox7169 The fact that they'd go that far is kinda cool. Like they're still staying to the rules of the game.
I also LOVE that this movie used some of the same plot devices as the 2000 movie, but showed how to do them well.
One of my favorite scenes was where Xenk was explaining the hideously complicated means to get across the bridge, then, of course, Simon fuckered it all up.
That was 1000% the DM, through their DMPC going off about the awesome trap/puzzle they took several hours to create...and the PC's just screwing things up, like we always do.
And when Simon looked over at Holga and asked 'What's that?...even before he could say another word, I looked over at my wife and said "That's a DM ass pull", and I was right!
I cant count the number of times I've had to make stuff up, literally out of thin air, to keep my games moving, after the PC's did something silly/horrifying/mega-awesome.
Awesome movie; Incredible reaction!!
Love all y'all!!
That is so true,
I love imagining the argument between player and DM over whether Holga is proficient in potatoes.
Holga is a Variant Human Barbarian who took the Tavern Brawler feat at first level for sure.
"I got Ed to mention my love for them in the FIRST session! Get the Book out!"
The reference to the animated series was golden.
When the Owlbear stomps the evil Wizard at the end it reminded me of the Hulk doimg the same to Loki in Abengers.
It was based directly off that.
A🅱️engers
Puny Wizard.
So apparently that walk away scene from the paladin wasn't scripted. He just started walking out of frame and it was noisy for some reason and he didn't hear them call "cut" so he just kept going and the bard ad libbed that whole later half of the scene on the spot. Also, later in the scene while they are talking you can still see the paladin way off in the distance.....still walking....
Some say he walked in a straight line until he stumbled into Forge.
I absolutely love this movie... partly because my go-to character when playing is a neutral/good rogue, but also because so much canon lore is represented. I watched this with a few of the guys of our former D&D group (unfortunately when you hit you 40's not everyone can commit to a regular gaming schedule) we all got excited whenever a spell or D&D creature showed up, just like you did. When Themberchaud showed up (the pudgy dragon) we all jumped up and cheered, because we had encountered him on a couple of our campaigns into the Underdark (some of the people around us did not appreciate this, but we were vindicated by not being the only ones in the theater doing so).0000000
One of the best aspects of this movie is how they scoured the Monster Manuals for all the monsters no-one uses. Intellect devourers, gelatinous cubes, displacer beasts owlbear - they even had two baby rust monsters. Hell, even the dragon wasn't standard -he was a chonky boy.
They even gave nods to Themberchaud's inspiration. The way he clings onto that bridge looking like a chubby cat struggling to climb onto something... 😂
And the black dragon spewing acid. They really set out to show audiences unfamiliar with the game the DnD "identity," these things that don't exist in other fantasy worlds, or exist but in very different ways. It's interesting to me that DnD has Elves, Dwarves, orcs, goblins, and ogres, but those seldom or ever appear in favor of more esoteric and DnD-unique races and monsters.
I'd say these are all classic monsters.
I remember the cubes from other media from my childhood. Super cool
The random magic item to keep the plot moving when the party fucks up the path forward and then uses later on in an unintended way to skip fights is so faithful to RL campaigns. That hither-thither staff is emblematic of all of those
I also love Holga's obsession with potatoes, that is such a player move to add a weird quirk like that.
Simon being a mediocre sorcerer is great too because his primary casting stat is Charisma, and he clearly has none lolol
You’ve clearly seen the 2000 D&D movie with Jeremy Irons. But have you seen the direct to DVD sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God? When it comes to writing and properly using D&D lore in your film, this movie has it all over the original. However, when it comes to production quality and VFX, it falls short. Still worth the watch though.
The sequel to the 1982 Schwarzenegger classic, Conan The Barbarian, also has a major D&D feel to it, Conan The Destroyer.
And then there’s the “So Bad It’s Good” spin-off, Red Sonja.
I always thought Dragonheart was a lot of fun.
Hawk The Slayer is hard to find on DVD, but if you can acquire it, it definitely plays out like a D&D campaign.
Oh, and you guys have gotta see Beastmaster.
The 2000 D&D sequel is a double edged sword in that, it's made much more competently than the first movie, but as a result, isn't "so bad it's good". I wouldn't go so far as to call it a bad movie though, but I'd only recommend it for someone who really, really needed to see a D&D movie.
But, as far as the lore goes, the sequel was much closer to the game. No beholders acting as prison guards. An actual cleric. Spells from the game, and a Ring of the Ram. It was a little dry though, and uninspired. The story was pretty meh, but still, if you want a D&D adventure, it will probably scratch that itch.
@Thundarr100 The 2000 film isn't horrible but watching the deleted & unfinished scenes on the DVD made me angry.
So many scenes that could've fixed the plot holes with one particularly helpful scene that clearly was only cut because of the expense of the special effects.
Sigh, just sigh. I will concede that not going with the alternate "let's set up a sequel" ending was the correct choice.
Couple of fun tidbits for you as players that I haven’t seen in the comments yet. 1) combat actually takes place in six second blocks and turns, especially the final fight with Sophina though she’s using legendary actions for action economy. 2) the maze arena is made up of 5’ square pillars that rise and fall, so it’s literally a table map and there’s a group of people hovering over top of it around a table playing a game of some sort.
They really did a fantastic job capturing the feel of a true table game, you can follow how the dice roll almost perfectly and identify all sorts of player shenanigans and DM coping mechanisms. I love this movie so much!
That's effing brilliant. I didn't catch that. Between this and the Save The Cat moment it makes me love this movie all the more and I am a long time player of D&D I think my first sessions was in 86 or 87,
I absolutely love Doric
She is my favorite character
Pudgy dragon is best dragon 😁
The glitchy spell scene is hilarious! LOL
The owl-bear smash scene gives hulk smash Loki vibes 😂
Ok, So Simon the Sorcerer is an old point and click adventure game from the 1990s. When Simon try to attune the the helmet he meet a vision of his ancestor Elminster and he is a very powerful wizard in forgotten realms. I never heard anyone saying that Szass Tam is a lover until now.
woahhh
Do you know how HARD it was for me in the movie theatre when the Red Wizard ignited his GREEN FLAME blade... NOT to scream "GREEN FLAME!!!"
I was white knuckles chewing on my foot!!! Glad you loved this movie as much as me! Good reaction!
After the prior "attempts" at D&D movies, I went into this one with low/medium expectations. And I *loved* it! My one-line description is that it's a good movie for a casual audience, and a GREAT movie if you know/love D&D.
I'm convinced there's a draft of this script that involved the characters being avatars of a D&D game in someone's basement.
I have to say,when I heard the word,"Underdark",I expected to see Drow Elves,was very disappointed! Otherwise,a very entertaining and funny movie! The Paladin character was originally meant to be Drow Ranger,Drizzt Do'Urden!
Loved this movie, went with my son, who is a player and we both came out laughing. It was a good bonding experience for us
That's why it works so well. D&D players are treated to a lot of inside jokes, non-players just get some laughs.
A really underrated D&D movie: Zero Charisma. There's more to it than just D&D, and technically they're playing a home-brew, but they nail the culture. There's also a great snapshot of the old school vs. new school "pop culture" style of "geeking out".
The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is also an amazing D&D film
Not Tiny Cooper. MINI-cooper.
I remember seeing this in the theater and the crowd went nuts when they showed T.V. D&D cartoon characters
this movie really captures the feel of playing it with friends
I've never heard anyone mention it, but when they are fighting the executioner, etc. you can clearly see his hands can easily fit through the bindings. He's just rolling badly on dexterity on getting out of them.
Glad yous (yes...greetings from sNJ) reacted to this film. Awesome timing as I was doing NEVERWINTER dailies and inventory earlier today. From opening some chest drops and getting some mounts and companions, it was nice to see them in the movie (ex. gelatinous cube, {a grown up} bobby the barbarian, Uni the unicorn, displacer beast, etc).
Such a fun movie and really appreciate reactors who know D&D to catch all the inside Easter Eggs. It was nice having your friend along as well!
Matt is lucky to have a woman like Emily in his life.
I like how they did a throw back to the D&D 80s Cartoon characters in the maze scene.
Yes! I was hoping someone would mention that 👍 I was actually cheering when I saw them show up in that scene.
You can practically feel the moment the DM of this campaign told the players about this really elaborate bridge puzzle, Simon's player fucked it up on the first step and the DM went: "Fuck it, that item Holga picked up is now a magic item."
Typical DM last-minute ass-pull. Been there, done that.
I can't quite get across how utterly weird and fantastic it was to see The Realms on the big screen. I haven't played D&D in decades but around the time AD&D 2E turned into 3E I read tons of the books, played the games etc. I think it was seeing the Tears of Selune the completely pushed me over the edge into "OMG is this actually happening?":)
Simon's great, great grandfather in his attunement vision is Elminster from The Forgotten Realms lore. They share the last name Aumar.
Couldn't help going back to a time when I played D&D with my brother among others. His group got caught between leopards and cave wights. Since my brother was a frost giant, he decided to pick up the leopards and throw them at the cave wights.
Chonky Dragon is best boy!
I love that Forge bragged about having new portcullises installed, and yet they *only* ever help the good guys get away.
I think the portrait they put the portal behind is actually Volo.
In the hand fight, Sofina cast Bigby's Hand and Simon cast Earthen Grasp.
I didn't love this movie when I saw it but then I have never played D&D and know nothing of the game but watching you enjoy it so much make me enjoy it more than when I first saw it,
I loved this movie, and great reactions from you folks. The fact that you so often picked up the lines or story beats (like the Rochnon) just before they happened speaks volumes to how they effectively used the setting and the tropes without it being grating or inauthentic. In fact, that's one of my favorite bits - you can tell the passion for the source material from the people involved with the movie. Both of the directors played quite a bit, as I understand it, as well as two of the main actors. Both Michelle Rodriguez (Holga) and Sophia Lillis (Doric) have played a fair bit of D&D prior to signing on to the movie (Michelle a while ago but Sophia quite recently) and I feel that enjoyment of the material comes through in their characters. In fact, that cast all played a game together as the characters before starting shooting, and in interviews they all talked about how much they enjoyed it (OK, that's probably marketing but I'm choosing to believe!).
Here's hoping for a sequel!
EDIT to add, about not having a cleric: They agree with you! Or, at least Sophia Lillis does. When asked what they'd want to play if they played again everyone else picked either their own class or another character in the movie's class except Sophia, who was basically like, "I'd play a Cleric, we could have used one of those" ruclips.net/video/SBJp9aKVllA/видео.htmlsi=iGE6tK1YSiiNONKW&t=503
It's so great to watch a reaction from some true D&D nerds who really knew the game! It really is great fun to try and name all the spells that are cast throughout the movie. Send some good energy out there into the universe that a sequel gets made!
Funny you should say you wanted to see some drow. Xenk was actually originally planned to be Drizzt Do'Urden but they decided it just wasn't the right place to introduce him. As for the main character's levels, DnD beyond released character sheets for all of them and they are actually surprisingly high level. I would have to check again but I believe the main cast are all lvl 16 and Sophina is lvl 19.
Honestly, I'm just happy someone in one of these reaction videos recognized the axebeaks!
It must be a rule that anyone who sees Themberchaud must say, "oh lord, he comin'"
Oh my garsh...Em sure is showing off her huge...
...tracts of land! 😜😜
That death stare Xenk gives Simon when he steps on the bridge and triggers the trap is the approximation of the DM staring at Simon's player after he rolls a nat 1 on his dexterity save after saying he was going to "step towards the bridge", and internally debating the highest CR he can throw at them all right now before asking Simon to roll an Arcana check on some random junk the Barbarian is carrying.
"Wow, she just happens to have a portal cane that can get you over the river of lava. What a coincidence."
Ten minutes later
Simon: "WHY is Themberchaud here and not in Gracklstugh!?"
DM: "Wow, crazy shit right? Anyway roll initiative."
Sofina's got to be at least level 17 to be able to cast Time Stop from preparation, meanwhile Simon is at least level 9 since he can use Bigby's Hand. I still think it's a tall ask for a level 9 to counterspell a Time Stop. He has a +3 Cha mod against a DC19 check. Not impossible but it's definitely a high stress roll, though Edgin's Inspiration die is a d8 and he can grant it as a reaction if an ally in view fails a check, so...
And as a 20 year veteran of Cleric only supremacy; fuck yeah Clerics.
If ya just GOTTA get that d&d fix, Tom Hanks was in a movie titled Mazes and Monsters (1982); it was his first lead acting role (according to wikipedia).
I actually read that book around 1989/1990 and I started DMing AD&D 2nd ed. games the next year.
It took me years to realize that M&M was meant to be a scare-them-away anti-D&D story. I thought (despite Hanks' character going nuts) roleplaying was awesome!
@@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself I love that.
This movie is 100 times better than the D&D movie made years before.
I really miss playing AD&D. The Adventures, the Laughs, the Sodas and Snacks (Pizza and "Superbowl Snacks")... They were the best 10 years of my life! Unfortunately, I moved to a Rural Area, so drumming up a Game is impossible.
Same boat. I feel you.
Reddit /lfg and discord. I found an amazing group there and we've been playing for over a year now. Took several tries, but we have a group that ranges from Maine to California and we have run a main campaign and filled in one shots when the DM needs a break.
Fun fact, the sorcerer (Simon Aumar) is a descendent of Elminster Aumar, the legendary Sage of Shadowdale. I always thought that was kinda cool.
I knew I heard that name somewhere before! I just ran into Elminster in BG3!
@@calibadgerdude6082 That cheese-stealing old weirdo.
The writers/directors are named John and Jonathan. They personally finding adding an R to random places in people's names hilarious so it's not surprising that Jarnathan (so similar in pronunciation to Jo(r)nathan) made it in as a random, throw-away character.
"Random throw away character"? It's Jarnathans story man! lol
cool fact for those that dont know. Safina the red wizard is played by Daisy head. Her father is Anthony head who was Giles in Buffy.
If you want a D&Desc movie, then you should try 13th Warrior. It is a very low to no magic D&D campaign. You will even sit there and figure out which ones are the fighters, the barbarians and the ranger. If you watch it in that frame of mind it is a fun movie.
You've already seen it, but The Mummy plays like a modern adventure RPG session.
I love the part where they speak with the dead. That first one was hilarious!
I am so excited you watched this one. I was waiting and thinking, "How have they not done this movie yet? It's is exactly the kind of movie they would love!"
I don't know much about D&D but the 80's cartoon is quite popular where I live. So popular that the characters were used in a car ad and it turned out really well. I really enjoyed the movie, it's really fun. I hope there's a sequel.
I'd heard that Xenk was actually supposed to be Drizz't Do'Urden, and the Thayans they fought in the Underdark were originally Drow. I'm not sure why they switched? Could've been Drizz't rights, or maybe they didn't like how the makeup came out (maybe it looked like blackface ir something...)
We're never, ever gonna get a drow story in a movie. People confuse fantasy with real-world issues. And a cult of sinister, matriarchal, spider-worshipping bad-asses who are profiled because of their racial heritage.
Uhhh, it's too controversial and confusing. Too bad, though. It'd be very cool to see.
I'm so glad they changed that; I was sick of Drizz't decades ago...
@@Scimarad yeah, me too, but I imagine he would've been a big draw for fans (other than you and I, of course.)
"...are there any other, like, D & D- esque movies out there you think we gots to see, let us know..."
...
Ahem...Matt and Emily...DRAGONSLAYER!!! DRAGONSLAYER! For the love of all that's good in the world, will you both *please*, finally, watch Dragonslayer!?!
...please...
_Krull_ though.
@@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself they done watched Krull...and she really enjoyed it!
My favorite game for the Nintendo GameCube was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and I saw a strong connection in the movie.
I'm hoping that the success from this movie from DnD fans and movie fans will give them reason to make another movie but with other characters.
So, as with just about everyone, I too have been playing Baldur's Gate III. I have the barbarian in my party, and made her the kind that is all about animal totems and suchlike. I took a chimpanzee-related one, because I'm intrigued by the special ability that you can throw camp supplies at a foe to blind them. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I'm still wondering and hoping if I can throw *rotten* camp supplies, but just to be safe, I dug through the bag to see what I had a lot of, that was light-weight, that didn't have really high camp value.
One type of supply stood out above all the others. It's lightweight, doesn't add too much, and I had tons of it.
Potatoes.
So I've got a barbarian character in a D&D game who throws potatoes at people's heads.
Why does that sound familiar...?
I kind of figured this film would be awesome when it was announced that the guys who directed Game Night were directing it
For fun and sheer immersion in d&d edness you can't beat the gamers series.
The original short "the gamers", "the gamers: dorkness rising" and "the gamers: hands of fate"
We actually have Dorkness Rising on the channel 😊
@@JustSUMMReactions well now I've got to go look that video up!
She's throwing potatoes!
To be fair, a raging barbarian with tavern brawler throwing potatoes would be terrifying.
Pronunciation is always interesting when adaptations like this come around. I had similar reactions with Dune.
4:46 Yep, I was really happy that they didn't do an "original" setting again and just said "Alright, Forgotten Realms, just go with it!"
Emily: "He's a lich, he's a lover."
Matt: "No."
Me: "Yes!"
Now I want that whole cover.
the guy on the portrait it's actually Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm, the author of the infamous "Volo's guide to monsters"
One of my favorite movies this year and I'm not even that big a DnD fan (although I did geek out over the mention of Baldur's Gate)!
One of my favorite Easter eggs is the characters from the dungeons and dragons cartoon are in the maze
The tiefling design in the movie is the original one from PlaneScape! Like seeing one of Tony Di Terlizzi's illustrations in reality. Loved it. Not a fan of how all tieflings have to look like draenei from WoW these days (much more fun if they can look like a lot of weird things llike in the original PlaneScape boxed set, which is gathering dust in my bookshelf). Edit: Also, my theory on Elgin is he's multiclassed Rogue/Bard, and picked a School that gets very little magic.
I had the Planescape setup except for one of the outer planes box sets - whichever the last released was. I loved the setting, it was so abstract and a great curveball to throw at players. Exploring some ruins and *poof* welcome to Sigil. The art design was top notch, we're so overdue for another Planescape game. I was thrilled when Torment was released, and it completely NAILED the vibe of the Planescape campaign.
I was really pleased when I saw a more traditional tiefling.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure when the red-skinned devilish looking Tieflings became a thing. There's s whole chunk of D&D from the beginning of 3rd Ed up to the present that I completely missed.
@@Scimarad It started with 4 when they decided to take heavy inspiration from video games. Calling them Draenei isn't being flippant.
@@Scimarad I hear that. The last time I played was 2nd Edition. I played a couple video games that used 3e rules, and now BG3 that uses 5e. At least in BG3 you can create a pretty human looking Tiefling, BUT all the Tiefling NPCs are more devil than human. They remind me of Cambions more than Tieflings.
The only minor complaint I recall having is the painting portal. It was set in a frame that was _at least_ half an inch deep, so there's no way the portal would have been flush against the floor, and thus should have been easy to pick up.
The "chunky dragon" is actually in the game. And the prison they started in was put into the game so people watching the movie could identify it.
I personally think this movie was BRILLIANTLY written and directed. It just quietly and deftly unfolds the plot, conveys what's going on, and takes care of a lot of stuff without anything dragging.
Like the travel scenes, I kept thinking of how sloggy such scenes were in LOTR...
I played D&D for the first time Saturday and then watched the movie the next day. I had so much fun with both.
Well, welcome to the gaming community.
@@pauld6967 Thank you. Is it normal that I’ve wanted to play again, every day since?
@@dancosta9488 :-) Yes, entirely normal.
I am an AD&D from the TSR days, D&D 3.0 & 3.5 and Pathfinder 1st Edition (which my gaming group considers D&D 3.75) kind of guy.
D&D 4.0 books never got unwrapped after play-testing the system and finding that the rules were dumbed down and the game mechanics were made to be more like a video game.
D&D 5.0 disappointed me even more.
Other people, for some mystifying reason, like 5.0 and that at least has them playing a version of the game.
The recent fiasco with the company "simplifying" things even more, making stupid decisions to show their "wokeness" and attempting to steal the intellectual property of others has me joining the tide of people switching to Pathfinder 2nd Edition & other game systems under the ORC license.
Your mileage may vary.
If you and your group are happy with the current company & game mechanics, that's good because I want people to have fun.
If you want to slide over to Pathfinder or another system, I would encourage that.
If your group wants to try rolling back to the more complicated (some would say restrictive, I say refreshingly challenging) game mechanics of the previous eras, on behalf of my fellow grognards, I say welcome to you. Enjoy. :-)
In any event, as I climb down off of my soapbox, please remember that the biggest part of the fun is the laughing, fear and comaraderie around the table with your friends.
Love this movie! It's been a long time since I was able to play, life has got in the way. The 'Speak with Dead' spell and the illusion that went wrong brought back memories. And I knew that Matt and Emily would enjoy the movie. 😁😁
as fantasy fans, you guys probably saw these already but my watch suggestion would be the sword and the sorcerer. you already watched conan but this came out the same year probably to capitalize on conan's popularity. or the year before both of those was another d&d-esque movie: dragonslayer
This has the proper amount of player shenanigans in this movie.
I saw this in the theater and knew the mimic was coming and it still got me
One review of this movie said it was the Chris Pineiest thing Chris pine had ever done. I concur.
For other D&D-related movies, I strongly recommend The Gamers trilogy! They're fan-made, they're all on RUclips for free, and they are amazing!
Yeah! Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
There is some debate about racial insensitivity regarding drow (and driders by inclusion) these days so they were left out of the movie. They initially wanted to use Drizzt Do'Urden as the hero who helps the party but because of the controversies, they turned that hero into Xenk Yendar. Much as I would love to see the old heroes of the realm have their cameos in the movie, I loved the way Xenk turned out.
Even though the whole movie is excellent, for me, it really kicks off as “D&D” when they figure out sneaking the painting with the portal into the vault.
That’s like peak D&D-wacky and awesome problem solving.
love this movie, and got my dad hooked on it so now he watches it all the time
25:00 - gold.
26:55 - a displacer beast! Where are the blink dogs when you need them???
Please watch the original Star Trek movies. 🖖😌
I am so glad that the this movie didnt go for the cheesy special effects. This was well a thought out movie. All who were involved appear to be having a fun time and that translated into the audience having a fun time. I myself used to play D&D in my younger days (as well as othe RPGs) but some of the lore, spells, and monsters were new to me but I loved the movie nonetheless.
When you mentioned the barbarian from the cartoon series, I must of missed that reference. That was a cool call back.
If I heard correctly there could be a tv show. and a possible sequel.
When I first saw Andrea I thought she's your twin sister, Emily! :)
a really fun movie that was highly enjoyable even with my very limited knowledge of D&D, i really hope there's a sequel.