What's better is that he wasn't just explaining it, but actively attempting to achieve a particular goal with it. Not just exposition, but plot progression.
The graveyard scene felt like those mandatory quest progression sections where you can't progress until you satisfy the DM's requirements before embarking. How even when they got to where they expected they should be they kept getting roped along prolonging the quest haha.
My favorite part about that was just how they left that dead guy to just sit there without his last question answered, so he just had to wait for who knows how long for someone to come ask him something till then
Also, I might disagree slightly, because it was Holga's idea to go to the Evermoors because she knew about the helm. As a PC, she wouldn't know about this unless she rolled a history check, which clearly she rolled well. So maybe wasn't in the DM's plan to begin with? Which is even more hilarious as that would mean the party just kept coming up with dogshit rolls until they found a corpse that would be useful to them 😂
@@connororeilly7157 That’s a perfect way to describe a situation that made the film feel like a campaign. I noticed how it seemed the sorcerer had a similar (he must have rolled well) situation when he just knew what the walking stick really was.
Pretty much exactly what I've been telling people. If you approach it like D&D campaign it makes WAAAAAY more sense. Fav Nat 1 was when the bard illusion failed. The player got his foot caught in a random hole in the paved ground. If that wasn't a Nat1 for a stealth check I don't know what is.
Or that the only reason he was able to cast Reverse Gravity (a Level 7 spell) is because he failed a wild magic surge...damn, Simon throws a lot of Nat-1s! 😆
As an 80's and 90's kid, this movie gave me the same feeling I had watching "The Princess Bride". For me, that's about as big of a compliment I can give.
what i loved was thats the stone dragon stoped the moment Sofina was distracted by Doric hitting her something from her slingshot stopping her from concentrating. and the characters from the animated 80s tv show were there that was awsome.
Fun fact that stone dragon was actually a statue version of a Brass dragon. A from the metallic true dragon family. They are " weakest "of the main 5. As with the strongest Gold they breathe fire but more like a blowtorch. Other true dragon families are Gem and Chromatic. Each have main 5 types but could easly expand by 5 more which are much less common. IF WotC could stop dragging heels about officialy include them in sources!
Loved the movie, but it was far from the perfect d&d movie, many little things could of been done better, under dark & no drow or mind flayer, no random encounters could of thrown in an orc, goblin or kobold fight, would of loved to see them barter for gear. As I said a really good fantasy film, but not the perfect d&d film, I think your overhyping it which will disappoint some.
@tra leid the problem is the perfect D&D film would be inaccessible for non D&D fans so it would make very little money I think it was a good attempt and an action fantasy movie that D&D fans could get more from due to the references.
@@traleid3755 I disagree. It might not be perfect, but I don't want to see what you said in the movie. I want to see the party story from the perspective of inside the world, not from perspective of players. Selecting and buying gears is not important from the character perspective, only important for the players perspective. I don't want to see all monsters showed up like it's a museum gallery faked as easter eggs. Keep the spotlight on the party and their story, not the setting.
"The fans, especially those who've spent their retirement money on new dice" ...dude, I feel so called out right now, except most of my retirement money went to character art. Also, I want to see all four of them on a new adventure together. The way they came together as a group felt like the best moments of my own D&D games. Truly awesome how they were able to capture that so perfectly.
I loved that they left just enough to make another movie on one or two of the characters origins. I honestly thought it was entertaining and worth the theater drive. I can’t wait to watch it again at home.
I also loved that part where Xenk acts like a true video game npc walking away on a straight path, walking over a big rock instead of walking around it
Just finished watching it at the theaters. For someone who’s NEVER played DD ever and I was born in 91’, this movie was greatly enjoyable from beginning to end. One of the best movies so far for this year imo 💥
Bradley Cooper was a halfling for sure because he said he was "tending to his garden and working on his book" which was a nod to Bilbo Baggins, Frodo and probably Samwise, the most famous Hobbits(halflings) of all.
My group is now playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen, And I really loved the attention to detail when they mentioned the Harpers, Emerald Enclave and the Cult of the Dragon.
My group is actually dealing with an offshoot of the Cult of the Dragon as part of our larger campaign. Right now, though, we're on a side quest involving the investigation of a 'ghost ship' that's actually a gremlin-infested and malfunctioning spelljammer ship. My artificer is just itching to fix it. Just gotta do something about the damned gremlins, first...
My whole DnD group went to see this last night and we all had a blast! I kept waiting for the reveal at the end of all the players sitting around the table lol but yeah this was a perfect encapsulation of a small part of this parties early campaign. Hope we get to see more!
Two young rust monsters can be seen fighting over a scrap of metal in one scene, so yes to having monsters that were not in the trailer and that you had to keep an eye out for. Fingers crossed for even more monsters in the future if this film does well.
Best film I have seen in a long long time, so much fun from start to finish. Smiled nearly the whole way through it, it was a joy to watch. and when the cartoon D&D characters showed up I nearly melted into childhood geekdom! Thank the maker!
Took my mom to see it for an early showing and for someone who knows nothing about D&D she loved it and was already saying she hopes there's another one.
Just saw this movie yesterday with a couple buddies that happen to also be in my D&D group. I can't believe I didn't pick up on the fact that 95% of the planning was done in taverns.. that just makes me love the movie even more. Highly recommended.
One thing I noticed was that during some of the combat scenes involving magic was the use of concentration - when a character got hit while they were concentrating on a spell, that effect dropped. Without spoiling anything, but the two warriors with the magic-enhanced weapons fighting each other, their spell effects dropped after they took damage. That was just some neat details.
I believe they are using magic weapons, not enhancing the weapon with their spells. What they chanting before combat is the activation action, which actually how it supposed to work but most players often ignored it and treating magic weapons effects as "always" active. The weapon "loses" the effect because they've been dropped / unequipped, not because the wielder taking damage or lost concentration, which also how it should be.
I loved every second of the movie, and now I have a better understanding of why. I knew it felt like I was playing a game, but to have it explained in-depth… this movie was genius!
The main characters weren't under-leveled compared to the big bad by the end. They leveled up like PCs would in a campaign. That's why Simon could Counterspell Sofina's Time Stop at the end of the movie. And it's also why he could attune to the helmet that he couldn't attune to earlier. He was too low-level at first, but they all leveled up.
We went to see it during the Amazon Prime early preview a couple of weeks ago and loved it. There was a fairly high gamer quotient in the theater and everyone had a fun time. The humor really felt like the kind of joking around that happens during a campaign.
It'd be really cool if you could point out all the game mechanics and "dice rolls" in the movie like you would point out Easter eggs. I especially liked how the sorcerer used his spell slots in the movie!
You have perfectly explained why I enjoyed the movie and why the things that were initially critiqued ("cookie-cutter villain" etc) didn't bother me at all. It really felt like a D&D campaign in the best possible way. I loved the creative problem solving by the characters.
This movie was so damn good. I took my kids and wife who have played through just one campaign and they immediately wanted to go home and start another. For lifelong players and for those who aren't, it was a love letter to the game and genre.
I saw the movie today and thoroughly enjoyed the 80's Easter egg reference to the D&D cartoon party, and the blink and you'll miss it rust monsters and the broken padlock scene. I will enjoy future movies if they put this kind of effort into them as they did this movie. There are so many prewritten adventures, books & characters already written that movie makers don't have do too much effort into thinking up anything very original.
It was super fun, and really entertaining. I went with someone I started dating, and she loved it. If the movie does well, it'd be amazing to have RA Salvatore's work with Drizzt and other Forgotten Realm characters.
Drizzt Do'Urden in this socially Marxist pathology though? I mean, Drizzt was all about everybody getting along no matter what their race or where they came from.
I think it’s great that they lean on the meta and the mechanics when it matters, spins them to feel more natural, and leaves them behind when it doesn’t. Not everything in the movie adheres to D&D rules (combat, certain spell applications) but the ones that do feel extra well-thought out, and magic is creatively used, creatively abused, and just as creatively countered throughout the film. Knowing mechanics in DND really gives you an incredible impression of the movie!
Yes! More DnD movies please! I played DnD with the neighbors since '90. Our ages ranged from 10 to 18. We played at the DM's basement. This movie brought so much memories and nostalgia. There was no social media then; so finding out decades later that kids around the country (around the world?), were doing the same thing, in their basements, with their friends, on Friday nights, really meant a lot in realising we have much more in common among our generation.
For sure man. I never played pen and paper (none of my friends were into it), but I had a lot of the older comp D&D games and use to read a lot of RA Salvatore in my late teenage years and this movie was a blast. I’m glad the pen and paper community got to experience this.
I am still relatively new to DnD and I still absolutely love the film. my favorite part of the movie was seeing two rust monsters fighting over some metal for a blink-and-you-miss-it moment as it brought back memories where I encountered some rust monsters and promptly disintegrated them with my centaur's bare hooves after rolling high.
I didn't get to see this with my whole dnd group, just my gf who is in our group too. But as soon as this is available on streaming next time our group is planning to meet and someone cancels, we're all gonna watch this together. I haven't been this overjoyed about a movie in a very long time and it's precisely because I can talk about it with people that i know will have loved and understood it in the exact same way. I'm also very happy with how they executed the movie and made it super super accessible to non-players. Wonderful movie. Would and will recommend to everyone.
Ryan insightfully pointed out that all the characters would likely have intelligence as a 'dump stat'; i.e. one their profession doesn't utilize. Now that's attention to detail! There needs to be a love button.
Yeah kudos to him. I’m a old game rpg vet, and forgotten realms reader in my younger day, and this review really opened my eyes on things I didn’t realize but became so obvious after his review. Good job!
I had the exact same thought. Seeing the corpses answer questions which the players didn't even ask them is exactly what I'd do just to fuck with the players. Xenk just walking right over the boulder is exactly the kind of thing that a player would suggest off-hand which I'd just run with because it's funny.
Took my 9yo and his friend. We all had a blast! They talked about it for an hour afterward, which is a shining endorsement. The characters and action were great. Wonderful casting. Storyline was solid. 10/10 would recommend
Me and my D&D group had a long discussion on the ride home from the theatre about what Edgin was. He wields a lute but never once casts a spell and was not given a magic-dampening bracelet while in prison, so we doubted bard. The next theory was a rogue as he was exclusively martial the whole time and could still be reliably charisma based. He did seem comfortable relying on stealth and I don’t think he ever attacked someone who wasn’t adjacent to an ally (getting those sweet, sweet sneak attack dice), but the lack of traditional rogue attributes in favor of more rogueish ones still left us unsatisfied. Then, I realized something. The plot hooks in his backstory, the simple actions in combat, the constant direction to what the party needs to do- all of it fit with one, specific type of character: the Guiding NPC. Imagining him as the DM’s mouthpiece makes sense when you realize that, for all the spotlight he had on him, he spent a lot of time in the background when things got dicey (both metaphorically and literally in the case of fights). Any time the party lacked a direct course of action, he was there to give them one. When they had a set course and knew what needed to be done, he kept out of the way, like any good framing device.
I saw the movie with my friend and we where just having so much fun noticing all of the easter eggs and figuring out what checks they had to roll in what scenes and I lost my mind when I saw the characters from the cartoon, and that reference went over my dad's head when he saw it even though he introduced me to the cartoon.
The moment you chose to use for an intro for your video, is exactly where I fell in love with this movie. I've been playing dnd for 20 years, and I laughed so hard at the dialog. They worked the tropes in so well :)
This movie was absolutely fantastic man & I don't give a hoot about D&D lol. You can tell everyone involved took this movie seriously as the passion just oozes from the screen & every frame.
They knew they wouldn’t be able to play it straight and keep the magic so they instead treated it like a bunch of friends playing a round Smart approach
I'm a gamer, never played d&d, and I absolutely loved this movie. The characters were great, which I understand is a big part of d&d, the fact that you can roleplay anybody with any agenda. I loved the paladin guy being a complete square, I'm sure there were references that went way over my head, but I walked out of the cinema absolutely beaming.
Fantastic review! Matched entirely my experience seeing it today, and your inclusion of CR & D20 clips was icing on the cake. I hope you do an Easter egg one too
I played many games with similar set pieces like Everquest, classic 80s RPG, ect with its races, roll dice like luck and other things, and while i do understand many things of D&D I havn't played a real campaign. But oh man do I love this movie!! 5 out of 5, I so want more!
Loved the way the movie made you feel like you were in a campaign. Plus there was a lot of tropes from pop culture that non players could find relatable
It was amazing. The whole movie felt like a genuine campaign. You just feel that everyone put love and effort into this. Also, I wanna add that the actors all did amazing jobs, my favorite being Doric.
I watched the movie without reading reviews or knowing almost anything about the game itself and I absolutely loved it. The use of the pudgy dragon made the entire lobby laugh, I loved it.
More than anything appreciated as a breath of freashair how different the story was on every level to how we know a hollywood story is meant to go. I think that also explains why critics were confused by it but the wider public are likeing it for having a differnt set of rules.
Absolutely loved this movies. The easter eggs and attention to detail of D&D while making it cinematic, fun, hilarious and somewhat realistic was downright amazing. Kind of a perfect homage to D&D and also just being a good fun adventure movie. One doesn't need to have played D&D at all to love it like any well made fantasy movie. I laughed so much during this movie but it never felt out of place either. The humor was woven perfectly into the story and performances. I have not played D&D in decades but I will always have fond memories of the experience and this movie rekindled that experience. I'm about to crack open some D&D rule books I recently bought myself for nostalgia reasons. Maybe I will even be able to play again. Kudos to a damn good movie. Anyone with zero interest in D&D should still see this movie in much the same way one that never read Tolkien watched the LotR movies. Its that good and its a ton of fun.
The best D&D movie by far....well, that isn't really saying much but it was a lot of fun! I like the review of the difference between NPC and PC in the movie - I hadn't thought about it that way before. High Five!
Not only was it great for d&d fans, but it takes place in the Forgotten Realms!! Man, I was so excited when, after the opening scene, the camera zooms out & shows that they're in Icewind Dale!! Has the Harpers, boulders gate, wizards of thay, etc...! Such a fun movie.
Every single event in this movie could've been explained with a dice roll and a character sheet. It's absolutely beautiful. The most spine chilling moments where seeing Themberchaud appear (bless my man he deserves the world), and the two tentacles of the displacer beast; where I paused instantly and wept like someone died out of excitement.
it's literally one of the best movies I watched in recent years, and it actually made me cry when Edgin revived Holga in the last scene, hope there's more D&D movies like this in the future!
I went with my group of 7 friends who have had a twice a month D&D session since the pandemic started. It was such a great experience and brought us all together… really enjoyed the movie.
100% agree, feels like the writers/directors have played D&D and focused on how it feels around the table as their North Star for the movie. I loved it and hope they make more!
I'm playing a campaign in Icewind Dale and was excited to see the movie start there. Just seeing the map was enough for me as a fan of the game. It felt like a one-shot campaign.
As a long time D&D player - this was definitely a loveletter to fans. And I loved every minute of it. I've watched it four times now... and after seeing this video, I want to go watch it again!
Thanks for covering this one. Just saw it last night, and as a novice player (a few times in my life) I thoroughly enjoyed it. What I noticed almost immediately after the ending was how many similarities it has to a typical Marvel film. Whether that's the camera work, the fighting scenes, or some specific acts. Was hoping you could dive into that aspect of it.
I noticed some of the Easter Eggs myself but knowing from watching this video how well they pay homage to the source material and adapt it really adeptly just confirms my own viewing experience. I remembered playing Neverwinter Nights years ago so hearing that name was such a treat in the theater!
As kid who played in the late 80s and early 90s (1st/2nd edition!) but felt like I had to hide my love for this game for fear of being judged or ridiculed, I am thrilled to see this movie coming out and D&D come out into the mainstream. I hope this brings that awesomeness of D&D to many new players of all ages. Pick up a players handbook and start gaming with your friends and family.
I just came from the movie. I've been playing DnD since thr early 90's. Lived your explanation. It hit home for me. I really hope they turn it into a movie series with several more adventures.
This was an amazing movie for D&D players, especially for those who played AD&D back in the day. The only glitch I saw was the fat dragon animation, though the scene was fun to watch. Yes give us more D&D movies as long as they are this good.
Never played D&D, but have fond memories of the cartoon show, as a kid. So I went to see it earlier, despite the negativity surrounding the film, and I am very glad I did 😁
Great movie!Recommend you folks get the pre-quel cartoon booklet. Two stories. One of them involves Xenk getting help by deep gnomes to hide a certain helmet and also elder brain+ mind flayer threat.
Really fun popcorn movie. While I'm into pen-and-paper role-playing games for 30 years now, I've never really played (A)D&D. The movie is still entertaining, very much so!
My heart leapt for joy when the camera panned over and I spotted them in the distance. Did a double take. Absolutely incredible I managed to avoid having that spoiled beforehand.
Watched this with my boyfriend. Neither of us play DnD. We had a lot of fun with it. The scene where Chris Pine was talking about failures resonated a lot with us. Would love to see more DnD movies in the future, even with a new party!
The movie also had classic game settings: prison escape, dungeon diving, labyrinths, and more. The movie itself is a complete campaign: heroes start with nothing, steal some supplies, connect w friends, receive quest, discover there are two or three pieces of information your team has that show you the set of side quests you need to do to be prepared for the actual quest. Then - after leveling up - you fight the big bad. Also they mentioned Baldurs Gate twice. They refer to their land as Sword Coast, and I swear I heard something about Wintervale or something.
I also love how in some action scene is in a 1 shot takes which makes us feel like we are there with them. Similar to how we imagine how the story would play out while we are on the table
My regular group has a couple of Aarakocra in it, and the rest of us are forever rolling our eyes about how they can just use flight to "cheat" their way through every obstacle. I knew this movie was on the right track when the opening scene concludes with the heroes "cheating" their way out of prison with an Aarakocra :D
This was an awesome film. I am reluctant to want another, if only because this feels like a one hit wonder. They perfect story, characters, drama, comedy and timing or movie release.
I’m 40, black and from Jersey. I don’t know anything about “D&D” and I absolutely LOVED this movie! I’ve seen it on MGM+ like 9 times already. It’s an easy movie to put on and I enjoy it differently every-time. I wanted to know what D&D fans thought, so Im watching reviews, like yours!! Thank you!! Glad this movie has receive well!!
Please make a deep review into this movie!!🙏 Each character had meaningful stakes, the lore, Easter eggs, the fight choreography, puppets/anamotronics, was all so amazing, and i don't even know anything about D&D. I would love to see 3 or 4 videos from this movie!! 😊
Its a great movie, I've played the Baldur's Gate games, read some books and played a couple of table top D&D campaigns but even my wife and nephew who know nothing about D&D had a lot of fun. Also, the og 80s cartoon team easter egg was awesome!
Took my wife to see this, She isn't much into D&D, but LOVED this movie! There were a number of little things that had me cracking up, that she didn't get, but they weren't important to the story, just more like fan service. She and I bought thought it was an extremely fun adventure movie. We even went back the following weekend and drug most of the kids along. It got mixed reviews among them, but my wife and I loved it just as much the second time. I hope this is "commercially successful" as I would love to see a few more of these movies!
I wanna see more of that world in future movies. So many more countless stories to tell. Cool part it doesn't have to be the same characters in every movie.
As someone who's been DMing for almost 30 years, I went in with pretty low expectations but ended up loving it. It was faithful to the source material in a way that delighted fans and didn't scare off "normal" moviegoers, had a good mix of action, comedy, and adventure, and was well worth the ticket price. My whole family loved it, including my son who gave it 10 out of 5 stars.
I've never played D&D the game and had almost zero knowledge about it walking into this movie. That being said, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a blast.
I've been an avid D&D player for 20years and loved every minute of this video.. I did see it 4DX which gave another entire different experience along with the movie.. But describing it to my brother without spoilers was a fun action pack movie like "expendables" you know the hero's win, it's how they win that make it worth it... I'll see it at least twice in theater & probably own it on Prime when released so I can see it a 3rd time with family, but you nailed the overall story.. it's well written and the hard core fan can enjoy it , the novice fan can enjoy it, & the uneducated fan can enjoy it (just slightly less as you get away from the lore) ...
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
I also love how the movie starts with him explaining his character and back story
Yes! I noticed that too lmao
If only Jarnathan was there to listen to it 😢
@@kodainogema8145 It would have ruffled his feathers..🤣
What's better is that he wasn't just explaining it, but actively attempting to achieve a particular goal with it. Not just exposition, but plot progression.
The graveyard scene felt like those mandatory quest progression sections where you can't progress until you satisfy the DM's requirements before embarking. How even when they got to where they expected they should be they kept getting roped along prolonging the quest haha.
My favorite part about that was just how they left that dead guy to just sit there without his last question answered, so he just had to wait for who knows how long for someone to come ask him something till then
@@Jawesomness16 post credits scene ;)
I went to see this with my d&d group. We had almost exactly the same scene as the first corpse play out in a game once 🤣 there was some laughing
Also, I might disagree slightly, because it was Holga's idea to go to the Evermoors because she knew about the helm. As a PC, she wouldn't know about this unless she rolled a history check, which clearly she rolled well. So maybe wasn't in the DM's plan to begin with? Which is even more hilarious as that would mean the party just kept coming up with dogshit rolls until they found a corpse that would be useful to them 😂
@@connororeilly7157
That’s a perfect way to describe a situation that made the film feel like a campaign. I noticed how it seemed the sorcerer had a similar (he must have rolled well) situation when he just knew what the walking stick really was.
Pretty much exactly what I've been telling people. If you approach it like D&D campaign it makes WAAAAAY more sense. Fav Nat 1 was when the bard illusion failed. The player got his foot caught in a random hole in the paved ground. If that wasn't a Nat1 for a stealth check I don't know what is.
Also the fact that spells malfunction or stop when a player “looses concentration” is a great use of rules in the game
Yes it does! I was wondering why he got his foot stuck so randomly 😊
Also such hilarity XD
Or that the only reason he was able to cast Reverse Gravity (a Level 7 spell) is because he failed a wild magic surge...damn, Simon throws a lot of Nat-1s! 😆
@@legionarybooks13sometimes the dice gods be like that
As an 80's and 90's kid, this movie gave me the same feeling I had watching "The Princess Bride". For me, that's about as big of a compliment I can give.
I had the same feeling
Lady Hawk was my D&D fan favorite.
Agreed
Same
Nice I didn’t make that connection but can totally see it now.
what i loved was thats the stone dragon stoped the moment Sofina was distracted by Doric hitting her something from her slingshot stopping her from concentrating. and the characters from the animated 80s tv show were there that was awsome.
We need a part two and a damn series. I loved it!
Fun fact that stone dragon was actually a statue version of a Brass dragon. A from the metallic true dragon family. They are " weakest "of the main 5. As with the strongest Gold they breathe fire but more like a blowtorch. Other true dragon families are Gem and Chromatic. Each have main 5 types but could easly expand by 5 more which are much less common. IF WotC could stop dragging heels about officialy include them in sources!
Loved the movie, but it was far from the perfect d&d movie, many little things could of been done better, under dark & no drow or mind flayer, no random encounters could of thrown in an orc, goblin or kobold fight, would of loved to see them barter for gear. As I said a really good fantasy film, but not the perfect d&d film, I think your overhyping it which will disappoint some.
@tra leid the problem is the perfect D&D film would be inaccessible for non D&D fans so it would make very little money I think it was a good attempt and an action fantasy movie that D&D fans could get more from due to the references.
@@traleid3755 I disagree. It might not be perfect, but I don't want to see what you said in the movie. I want to see the party story from the perspective of inside the world, not from perspective of players. Selecting and buying gears is not important from the character perspective, only important for the players perspective. I don't want to see all monsters showed up like it's a museum gallery faked as easter eggs. Keep the spotlight on the party and their story, not the setting.
"The fans, especially those who've spent their retirement money on new dice"
...dude, I feel so called out right now, except most of my retirement money went to character art.
Also, I want to see all four of them on a new adventure together. The way they came together as a group felt like the best moments of my own D&D games. Truly awesome how they were able to capture that so perfectly.
Dice vs Character Art - the eternal conflict.
Well said.
I loved that they left just enough to make another movie on one or two of the characters origins. I honestly thought it was entertaining and worth the theater drive. I can’t wait to watch it again at home.
They have novels on the origins of Doric and the history of the original party that went to claim the tablet.
I also loved that part where Xenk acts like a true video game npc walking away on a straight path, walking over a big rock instead of walking around it
Just finished watching it at the theaters. For someone who’s NEVER played DD ever and I was born in 91’, this movie was greatly enjoyable from beginning to end. One of the best movies so far for this year imo 💥
I went with my DnD group and we had a TON of fun!! All of us enjoyed it, even the guys who'd been playing since the 80s!!
Bradley Cooper was a halfling for sure because he said he was "tending to his garden and working on his book" which was a nod to Bilbo Baggins, Frodo and probably Samwise, the most famous Hobbits(halflings) of all.
But also because Halflings are known to live a laidback life far from war and conflict
Bradley was just a mini cooper
My group is now playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen, And I really loved the attention to detail when they mentioned the Harpers, Emerald Enclave and the Cult of the Dragon.
My group is actually dealing with an offshoot of the Cult of the Dragon as part of our larger campaign. Right now, though, we're on a side quest involving the investigation of a 'ghost ship' that's actually a gremlin-infested and malfunctioning spelljammer ship. My artificer is just itching to fix it. Just gotta do something about the damned gremlins, first...
For me it was seeing the prison in IWD. That’s literally the next area my party are heading too.
My whole DnD group went to see this last night and we all had a blast! I kept waiting for the reveal at the end of all the players sitting around the table lol but yeah this was a perfect encapsulation of a small part of this parties early campaign. Hope we get to see more!
Two words: Drizzt Do'Urden
I know it will never happen though; it's too complicated for these producers.
Two young rust monsters can be seen fighting over a scrap of metal in one scene, so yes to having monsters that were not in the trailer and that you had to keep an eye out for. Fingers crossed for even more monsters in the future if this film does well.
Best film I have seen in a long long time, so much fun from start to finish. Smiled nearly the whole way through it, it was a joy to watch. and when the cartoon D&D characters showed up I nearly melted into childhood geekdom! Thank the maker!
Took my mom to see it for an early showing and for someone who knows nothing about D&D she loved it and was already saying she hopes there's another one.
Just saw this movie yesterday with a couple buddies that happen to also be in my D&D group. I can't believe I didn't pick up on the fact that 95% of the planning was done in taverns.. that just makes me love the movie even more. Highly recommended.
One thing I noticed was that during some of the combat scenes involving magic was the use of concentration - when a character got hit while they were concentrating on a spell, that effect dropped. Without spoiling anything, but the two warriors with the magic-enhanced weapons fighting each other, their spell effects dropped after they took damage. That was just some neat details.
I believe they are using magic weapons, not enhancing the weapon with their spells. What they chanting before combat is the activation action, which actually how it supposed to work but most players often ignored it and treating magic weapons effects as "always" active. The weapon "loses" the effect because they've been dropped / unequipped, not because the wielder taking damage or lost concentration, which also how it should be.
The bad guy definitely cast flame blade and the hero cast (I would guess) magic or elemental weapon. Both don’t require concentration.
Or when Simon was casting a spell when trying to escape the theatre and the guy put his hand over Simon's mouth to prevent him from casting it.
I loved every second of the movie, and now I have a better understanding of why. I knew it felt like I was playing a game, but to have it explained in-depth… this movie was genius!
The main characters weren't under-leveled compared to the big bad by the end. They leveled up like PCs would in a campaign. That's why Simon could Counterspell Sofina's Time Stop at the end of the movie. And it's also why he could attune to the helmet that he couldn't attune to earlier. He was too low-level at first, but they all leveled up.
8:07 "basic catnip.." ah so that's how they defeat the displacer beast.
We went to see it during the Amazon Prime early preview a couple of weeks ago and loved it. There was a fairly high gamer quotient in the theater and everyone had a fun time. The humor really felt like the kind of joking around that happens during a campaign.
I loved the movie. I've been a D&D player for over 40 years and it was a joy to watch. Forgotten Realms Forever!!! Great video Thank you.
It'd be really cool if you could point out all the game mechanics and "dice rolls" in the movie like you would point out Easter eggs. I especially liked how the sorcerer used his spell slots in the movie!
You have perfectly explained why I enjoyed the movie and why the things that were initially critiqued ("cookie-cutter villain" etc) didn't bother me at all. It really felt like a D&D campaign in the best possible way. I loved the creative problem solving by the characters.
This movie was so damn good. I took my kids and wife who have played through just one campaign and they immediately wanted to go home and start another. For lifelong players and for those who aren't, it was a love letter to the game and genre.
Oh my God yes please give me a D&D cinematic universe. PLEASE give us a Drizzit trilogy! PLEASE give me IRL Raistlin Majere 😱✨
I saw the movie today and thoroughly enjoyed the 80's Easter egg reference to the D&D cartoon party, and the blink and you'll miss it rust monsters and the broken padlock scene.
I will enjoy future movies if they put this kind of effort into them as they did this movie. There are so many prewritten adventures, books & characters already written that movie makers don't have do too much effort into thinking up anything very original.
It was super fun, and really entertaining. I went with someone I started dating, and she loved it. If the movie does well, it'd be amazing to have RA Salvatore's work with Drizzt and other Forgotten Realm characters.
Dude. Yes it would.
Forgotten Realms, Icewind Dale trilogy would be great. But I'd love to see the Dragonlance Saga made into a movie series as well.
I hadn’t thought of bringing in established story arcs, but I’d love to see Dragonlance in some way on the big screen.
@@davidbell7491 @The End of Infinity Good thing they are working on a TV adaptation for Dragonlance, then :)
Drizzt Do'Urden in this socially Marxist pathology though?
I mean, Drizzt was all about everybody getting along no matter what their race or where they came from.
I think it’s great that they lean on the meta and the mechanics when it matters, spins them to feel more natural, and leaves them behind when it doesn’t. Not everything in the movie adheres to D&D rules (combat, certain spell applications) but the ones that do feel extra well-thought out, and magic is creatively used, creatively abused, and just as creatively countered throughout the film. Knowing mechanics in DND really gives you an incredible impression of the movie!
Yes! More DnD movies please! I played DnD with the neighbors since '90. Our ages ranged from 10 to 18. We played at the DM's basement. This movie brought so much memories and nostalgia. There was no social media then; so finding out decades later that kids around the country (around the world?), were doing the same thing, in their basements, with their friends, on Friday nights, really meant a lot in realising we have much more in common among our generation.
For sure man. I never played pen and paper (none of my friends were into it), but I had a lot of the older comp D&D games and use to read a lot of RA Salvatore in my late teenage years and this movie was a blast. I’m glad the pen and paper community got to experience this.
I am still relatively new to DnD and I still absolutely love the film. my favorite part of the movie was seeing two rust monsters fighting over some metal for a blink-and-you-miss-it moment as it brought back memories where I encountered some rust monsters and promptly disintegrated them with my centaur's bare hooves after rolling high.
IIRC, it was a padlock specifically.
I didn't get to see this with my whole dnd group, just my gf who is in our group too. But as soon as this is available on streaming next time our group is planning to meet and someone cancels, we're all gonna watch this together. I haven't been this overjoyed about a movie in a very long time and it's precisely because I can talk about it with people that i know will have loved and understood it in the exact same way. I'm also very happy with how they executed the movie and made it super super accessible to non-players. Wonderful movie. Would and will recommend to everyone.
I feel like a medieval comedy taking itself seriously describes dnd
Ryan insightfully pointed out that all the characters would likely have intelligence as a 'dump stat'; i.e. one their profession doesn't utilize. Now that's attention to detail! There needs to be a love button.
Yeah kudos to him. I’m a old game rpg vet, and forgotten realms reader in my younger day, and this review really opened my eyes on things I didn’t realize but became so obvious after his review. Good job!
I had the exact same thought. Seeing the corpses answer questions which the players didn't even ask them is exactly what I'd do just to fuck with the players. Xenk just walking right over the boulder is exactly the kind of thing that a player would suggest off-hand which I'd just run with because it's funny.
Took my 9yo and his friend. We all had a blast! They talked about it for an hour afterward, which is a shining endorsement. The characters and action were great. Wonderful casting. Storyline was solid. 10/10 would recommend
You've convinced me to take my family to see this. Looks like fun!
Me and my D&D group had a long discussion on the ride home from the theatre about what Edgin was. He wields a lute but never once casts a spell and was not given a magic-dampening bracelet while in prison, so we doubted bard. The next theory was a rogue as he was exclusively martial the whole time and could still be reliably charisma based. He did seem comfortable relying on stealth and I don’t think he ever attacked someone who wasn’t adjacent to an ally (getting those sweet, sweet sneak attack dice), but the lack of traditional rogue attributes in favor of more rogueish ones still left us unsatisfied.
Then, I realized something. The plot hooks in his backstory, the simple actions in combat, the constant direction to what the party needs to do- all of it fit with one, specific type of character: the Guiding NPC. Imagining him as the DM’s mouthpiece makes sense when you realize that, for all the spotlight he had on him, he spent a lot of time in the background when things got dicey (both metaphorically and literally in the case of fights). Any time the party lacked a direct course of action, he was there to give them one. When they had a set course and knew what needed to be done, he kept out of the way, like any good framing device.
I saw the movie with my friend and we where just having so much fun noticing all of the easter eggs and figuring out what checks they had to roll in what scenes and I lost my mind when I saw the characters from the cartoon, and that reference went over my dad's head when he saw it even though he introduced me to the cartoon.
The moment you chose to use for an intro for your video, is exactly where I fell in love with this movie. I've been playing dnd for 20 years, and I laughed so hard at the dialog. They worked the tropes in so well :)
This movie was absolutely fantastic man & I don't give a hoot about D&D lol. You can tell everyone involved took this movie seriously as the passion just oozes from the screen & every frame.
Loved it. The world felt full. I'd love to see more adventures
They knew they wouldn’t be able to play it straight and keep the magic so they instead treated it like a bunch of friends playing a round
Smart approach
I'm a gamer, never played d&d, and I absolutely loved this movie. The characters were great, which I understand is a big part of d&d, the fact that you can roleplay anybody with any agenda. I loved the paladin guy being a complete square, I'm sure there were references that went way over my head, but I walked out of the cinema absolutely beaming.
Fantastic review! Matched entirely my experience seeing it today, and your inclusion of CR & D20 clips was icing on the cake. I hope you do an Easter egg one too
I played many games with similar set pieces like Everquest, classic 80s RPG, ect with its races, roll dice like luck and other things, and while i do understand many things of D&D I havn't played a real campaign. But oh man do I love this movie!! 5 out of 5, I so want more!
You said "catnip" instead of "cantrip"! I'm using this from here on out.
Loved the way the movie made you feel like you were in a campaign. Plus there was a lot of tropes from pop culture that non players could find relatable
It was amazing. The whole movie felt like a genuine campaign. You just feel that everyone put love and effort into this. Also, I wanna add that the actors all did amazing jobs, my favorite being Doric.
I watched the movie without reading reviews or knowing almost anything about the game itself and I absolutely loved it. The use of the pudgy dragon made the entire lobby laugh, I loved it.
More than anything appreciated as a breath of freashair how different the story was on every level to how we know a hollywood story is meant to go. I think that also explains why critics were confused by it but the wider public are likeing it for having a differnt set of rules.
It was 500% better than what I was expecting. I'm sure I'll even rewatch it at some point.
Absolutely loved this movies. The easter eggs and attention to detail of D&D while making it cinematic, fun, hilarious and somewhat realistic was downright amazing. Kind of a perfect homage to D&D and also just being a good fun adventure movie. One doesn't need to have played D&D at all to love it like any well made fantasy movie.
I laughed so much during this movie but it never felt out of place either. The humor was woven perfectly into the story and performances.
I have not played D&D in decades but I will always have fond memories of the experience and this movie rekindled that experience. I'm about to crack open some D&D rule books I recently bought myself for nostalgia reasons. Maybe I will even be able to play again.
Kudos to a damn good movie.
Anyone with zero interest in D&D should still see this movie in much the same way one that never read Tolkien watched the LotR movies. Its that good and its a ton of fun.
The best D&D movie by far....well, that isn't really saying much but it was a lot of fun! I like the review of the difference between NPC and PC in the movie - I hadn't thought about it that way before. High Five!
Not only was it great for d&d fans, but it takes place in the Forgotten Realms!! Man, I was so excited when, after the opening scene, the camera zooms out & shows that they're in Icewind Dale!! Has the Harpers, boulders gate, wizards of thay, etc...! Such a fun movie.
Every single event in this movie could've been explained with a dice roll and a character sheet. It's absolutely beautiful. The most spine chilling moments where seeing Themberchaud appear (bless my man he deserves the world), and the two tentacles of the displacer beast; where I paused instantly and wept like someone died out of excitement.
it's literally one of the best movies I watched in recent years, and it actually made me cry when Edgin revived Holga in the last scene, hope there's more D&D movies like this in the future!
Am I the only one who heard him say “catnip” for what should have been “cantrip”? 😂
I went with my group of 7 friends who have had a twice a month D&D session since the pandemic started. It was such a great experience and brought us all together… really enjoyed the movie.
I went with my Dnd group yesterday, and we all thought it was awesome! I’m just now getting into Dnd, but either way it was an awesome movie
I just watched this, and boy, i was pleasantly surprised. It was great!
100% agree, feels like the writers/directors have played D&D and focused on how it feels around the table as their North Star for the movie. I loved it and hope they make more!
I'm playing a campaign in Icewind Dale and was excited to see the movie start there. Just seeing the map was enough for me as a fan of the game. It felt like a one-shot campaign.
This movie was AWESOME. I really hope they make a sequel.
I thought they honestly just made the story by playing a game, seeing what the characters did and then said “it’s movie worthy”. And I’m here for it
As a long time D&D player - this was definitely a loveletter to fans. And I loved every minute of it. I've watched it four times now... and after seeing this video, I want to go watch it again!
Thanks for covering this one. Just saw it last night, and as a novice player (a few times in my life) I thoroughly enjoyed it. What I noticed almost immediately after the ending was how many similarities it has to a typical Marvel film. Whether that's the camera work, the fighting scenes, or some specific acts. Was hoping you could dive into that aspect of it.
This was the most fun I have had at the theaters in about as long as I can remember. Bravo to everyone involved.
I noticed some of the Easter Eggs myself but knowing from watching this video how well they pay homage to the source material and adapt it really adeptly just confirms my own viewing experience. I remembered playing Neverwinter Nights years ago so hearing that name was such a treat in the theater!
The fact that I ran Prisoner 13 about a week ago and saw Revels End in the movie today is all kinds of awesome.
As kid who played in the late 80s and early 90s (1st/2nd edition!) but felt like I had to hide my love for this game for fear of being judged or ridiculed, I am thrilled to see this movie coming out and D&D come out into the mainstream. I hope this brings that awesomeness of D&D to many new players of all ages. Pick up a players handbook and start gaming with your friends and family.
I just came from the movie. I've been playing DnD since thr early 90's. Lived your explanation. It hit home for me. I really hope they turn it into a movie series with several more adventures.
The Bradley cooper scene was gold 😂
This was an amazing movie for D&D players, especially for those who played AD&D back in the day. The only glitch I saw was the fat dragon animation, though the scene was fun to watch. Yes give us more D&D movies as long as they are this good.
Never played D&D, but have fond memories of the cartoon show, as a kid. So I went to see it earlier, despite the negativity surrounding the film, and I am very glad I did 😁
Did you see the cartoon characters? They were contestants in the maze. No Uni though.
@@brianpeterson8908 not a dig at the movie, cause I liked it, but the Cartoon characters cameo was THE BEST part for me!
Great movie!Recommend you folks get the pre-quel cartoon booklet. Two stories. One of them involves Xenk getting help by deep gnomes to hide a certain helmet and also elder brain+ mind flayer threat.
Really fun popcorn movie. While I'm into pen-and-paper role-playing games for 30 years now, I've never really played (A)D&D.
The movie is still entertaining, very much so!
The wife and I saw it last night. Loved it! Good analysis on the film. I got really excited when I saw the characters from the cartoon.
My heart leapt for joy when the camera panned over and I spotted them in the distance. Did a double take. Absolutely incredible I managed to avoid having that spoiled beforehand.
Watched this with my boyfriend. Neither of us play DnD. We had a lot of fun with it. The scene where Chris Pine was talking about failures resonated a lot with us. Would love to see more DnD movies in the future, even with a new party!
The movie also had classic game settings: prison escape, dungeon diving, labyrinths, and more. The movie itself is a complete campaign: heroes start with nothing, steal some supplies, connect w friends, receive quest, discover there are two or three pieces of information your team has that show you the set of side quests you need to do to be prepared for the actual quest. Then - after leveling up - you fight the big bad.
Also they mentioned Baldurs Gate twice. They refer to their land as Sword Coast, and I swear I heard something about Wintervale or something.
Icewind Dale, that's where the prison was. And yeah, totally right about the settings and campaign tropes :)
The perfect review. Thanks. As a big D&D player, I loved the movie.
I was half expecting a reveal at the end of the movie that it's just someone's play session, it's just so true to the game
I really wanna see the characters from the forgotten realms books, like Drizzt Do'urden and Bruenor Battlehammer. I love those characters
I also love how in some action scene is in a 1 shot takes which makes us feel like we are there with them. Similar to how we imagine how the story would play out while we are on the table
I was expecting a post credit scene with the actor sitting around a table playing out the story in a D,and D campaigns.
My regular group has a couple of Aarakocra in it, and the rest of us are forever rolling our eyes about how they can just use flight to "cheat" their way through every obstacle. I knew this movie was on the right track when the opening scene concludes with the heroes "cheating" their way out of prison with an Aarakocra :D
This was an awesome film. I am reluctant to want another, if only because this feels like a one hit wonder. They perfect story, characters, drama, comedy and timing or movie release.
I’m 40, black and from Jersey. I don’t know anything about “D&D” and I absolutely LOVED this movie! I’ve seen it on MGM+ like 9 times already. It’s an easy movie to put on and I enjoy it differently every-time. I wanted to know what D&D fans thought, so Im watching reviews, like yours!! Thank you!! Glad this movie has receive well!!
Hugh Grants Boris Johnston impersonation was spot on
I enjoyed their nod to the dungeon, and dragons cartoons during the moving maze.
Please make a deep review into this movie!!🙏
Each character had meaningful stakes, the lore, Easter eggs, the fight choreography, puppets/anamotronics, was all so amazing, and i don't even know anything about D&D.
I would love to see 3 or 4 videos from this movie!! 😊
Its a great movie, I've played the Baldur's Gate games, read some books and played a couple of table top D&D campaigns but even my wife and nephew who know nothing about D&D had a lot of fun.
Also, the og 80s cartoon team easter egg was awesome!
Took my wife to see this, She isn't much into D&D, but LOVED this movie! There were a number of little things that had me cracking up, that she didn't get, but they weren't important to the story, just more like fan service. She and I bought thought it was an extremely fun adventure movie. We even went back the following weekend and drug most of the kids along. It got mixed reviews among them, but my wife and I loved it just as much the second time. I hope this is "commercially successful" as I would love to see a few more of these movies!
I wanna see more of that world in future movies. So many more countless stories to tell. Cool part it doesn't have to be the same characters in every movie.
As someone who's been DMing for almost 30 years, I went in with pretty low expectations but ended up loving it. It was faithful to the source material in a way that delighted fans and didn't scare off "normal" moviegoers, had a good mix of action, comedy, and adventure, and was well worth the ticket price. My whole family loved it, including my son who gave it 10 out of 5 stars.
Went with some of the folks from my d&d group. We all thought it was great. I'm really hoping for more.
I've never played D&D the game and had almost zero knowledge about it walking into this movie. That being said, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a blast.
they name dropped fresh cut grass as a spell and I love it
I've been an avid D&D player for 20years and loved every minute of this video.. I did see it 4DX which gave another entire different experience along with the movie.. But describing it to my brother without spoilers was a fun action pack movie like "expendables" you know the hero's win, it's how they win that make it worth it...
I'll see it at least twice in theater & probably own it on Prime when released so I can see it a 3rd time with family, but you nailed the overall story.. it's well written and the hard core fan can enjoy it , the novice fan can enjoy it, & the uneducated fan can enjoy it (just slightly less as you get away from the lore) ...