DragonLance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

[SirFozzie]

Well, twenty years of hopes and dreams of seeing the DragonLance saga in video splendor has ended. Amazon delivered me my copy of the movie today, and I will attempt to watch it in one sitting to see if my twenty years of waiting was worthwhile, or if my dreams were crushed like a walnut in the path of a steamroller.

First thoughts as I open the package..

A) I've heard bad things about the trailers, even from fellow geeks, so I know that there's at least a chance this will truly suck, and be even worse then "Uwe Boll presents: World of Warcraft" could ever be. (There's a thought that sends shivers down everyone's spine, huh?)

B) The packaging is VERY minimal. Just the DVD, and a one page sleeve advertising a World of Dragonlance book (Lost Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home) on one side, and the fiction series on the other side.

C) Yes, I know it's straight to DVD, so that's another strike against it. But truly, it's DragonLance. How horrid could it be..






(Can I take that last item back, please? No. Damn)

[Izulde]

Where did you buy it?

And I will be -pissed- if they screwed up Raistlin.

[Izulde]

dola,

duh, amazon. *facepalms*

[SirFozzie]

Previews of the new Iron Man movie, Beowulf, so far.

[SirFozzie]

Spent a couple minutes trying to get a picture of Raistlin from the movie, no luck so far.. (don't know why print screen isn't working on Vista)

[SirFozzie]

I can see why some folks think the animation window is weird. A lot of it is prerendered background, with action happening in the foreground.

Wait.. those are draconians? Oh this is not a good start.

[SirFozzie]

Fair warning. the first minute or two makes it clear this is not a kiddy movie. There are some real disturbing shots in the first 90 seconds or so, while the credits are showing even

[SirFozzie]

Getting a screenshot of the Draconians..

[SirFozzie]

Ok, they're not Draconians, they're goblins

. Mmmmhmmm. They could use a sammich or two, couldn't they?

[SirFozzie]

Tika Waylan, and Fizban. Oh man, I'm not even two minutes into this movie and my heart's plummeting..

[SirFozzie]

Quote from a friend of mine from that screenshot:

"Geez, I know Tika Waylan was described as buxom in the books, but any more pneumatic, and Tika would be starring in "Sammy Does Solace" Vol 14"

[SirFozzie]

Ok, personality wise, there has been a couple good moments so far, Tasslehoff Burrfoot is always good for a laugh..

"It's ok, that dagger was Flint's!"

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Where did you buy it?

And I will be -pissed- if they screwed up Raistlin.

Here's the first shot of Raistlin in the movie.

[SirFozzie]

I'm sure they wanted to show the hobgoblin spitting on Tanis and calling him a half-breed, but.. um..

"Yeah, this was an awkward moment."

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Tika Waylan, and Fizban. Oh man, I'm not even two minutes into this movie and my heart's plummeting..

Fizban's way too tall and way too thin. He should be short and fat.

And uh, yeah... Tika's pretty busty there.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Here's the first shot of Raistlin in the movie.

....That's not the absolute worst animation of Raistlin I've ever seen, but it's not good by any stretch of the imagination.

Where the hell was Larry Elmore when they were making this film?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I'm sure they wanted to show the hobgoblin spitting on Tanis and calling him a half-breed, but.. um..

"Yeah, this was an awkward moment."

If that's red hair, I'll eat the real Fizban's hat.

[Celeval]

Didn't know this existed. Netflix to the rescue!

[SirFozzie]

it was just released today.

[wade moore]

My Brother-in-Law and I were talking about this... Might try to grab it this weekend even if Fozzie says it's awful.. I'm actually finally reading the 2nd Lost Chronicles book since it just came out in paperback.

[Schmidty]

I'll see it no matter how bad everyone says it is. Those books were a huge part of my tweenhood.

Oh, and thanks for the Tika shot. I was a bit lonely and horny at work tonight.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I'll see it no matter how bad everyone says it is. Those books were a huge part of my tweenhood.

Same here, which is exactly why I wont see this movie if it's as bad as it sounds. I don't need a shit animated movie ruining my beloved childhood memories of these books.

I still remember how misty-eyed and choked up I was when Sturm died.

"My word is my honor. My honor is my life."

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I still remember how misty-eyed and choked up I was when Sturm died.

Yeah, although I was way more torn up about Flint, because of Tas.

(By the way, should we be posting spoilers?)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Yeah, although I was way more torn up about Flint, because of Tas.

(By the way, should we be posting spoilers?)

These books came out, what, over 20 years ago? I think the statute of limitations has long passed on spoilers.

[Autumn]

It's a real shame they haven't turned out a good quality live action of this series. It obviously has a big fan base. If they could do Transformers, why not this? Fantasy trilogies are the big thing, I would expect someone must be peddling this around.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Autumn

It's a real shame they haven't turned out a good quality live action of this series. It obviously has a big fan base. If they could do Transformers, why not this? Fantasy trilogies are the big thing, I would expect someone must be peddling this around.

Same reason the D & D movie tanked...

It took a studio with enough guts/balls to roll with the Lord of the Rings, but to roll a movie out to the masses with a small segmental appeal at a higher cost these days, they choose not to do.

Raymond Feist has stated he is waiting for the right budget, right director, which to what he has stated, most of the authors are waiting on...

However, I know squat about the industry...and this is mainly an opinion/assumption

[SirFozzie]

It's not completely horrible.

I got through about half an hour before RL intruded (I took the opportunity to rip it to HD so I could stream it through Windows Media Center to my Xbox360.)

There are good moments and then there are moment.. that are either funny as hell, disappointing, etcetera.

For example, the first 90 seconds as I said, are all about goblins killing and murdering. Not SUPERexplicit, but you see them stab helpless folks, etcetera, people impaled on spears, hung, etcetera.

Then when the good guys (Tanis, Flint, and later Tas) fight, it's.. toned down. a lot of punches that send goblins flying and sword/Axe blows that shatter shields and sends goblins flying....

[Autumn]

I know big-cost fantasy series are a hard sell for the studios, but much less so since LOTR. They turned out Narnia, now Golden Compass, what else? I would think the time would be ripe for it.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I know big-cost fantasy series are a hard sell for the studios, but much less so since LOTR. They turned out Narnia, now Golden Compass, what else? I would think the time would be ripe for it.

Eregon was done too.

[sachmo71]

Geeks of Doom gave it a favorable review, so it's on Netflix now.

[Arles]

Just shipped to me today from blockbuster. We'll see how it goes - this was one the first major book series I read as a kid (right after the CS Lewis one).

[SirFozzie]

There's a moment in the final battle where Takhisis's eternal foe arrives (I think you know the moment involved) and they make it clear, the link that Fizban=Paladine.. I liked how they didn't make it clear during the books.

I give it a 6.5 out of 10. The animation is distracting at first, but it's still a decent movie.

[KeyserSoze]

I want to believe they are following the same path that the LOTR Trilogy. I mena a really bad animation movie before a great live action movie.

[Schmidty]

I just put the movie into my Netflix queue. I really hope I like it.

[-apoc-]

It could have been worse. It really seemed like it was rushed the entire way through and the character development was shallow at best. I believe it was aimed at a younger audience than those of us who grew up with it because most of the darker tones in it seemed to have vanished. It was probably based off of the Dragonlance New adventures series more than the older ones imo though I havent read the New adventures so I cant be sure.

There's a moment in the final battle where Takhisis's eternal foe arrives (I think you know the moment involved) and they make it clear, the link that Fizban=Paladine.. I liked how they didn't make it clear during the books.

They made that perfectly clear at the end of Spring Dawning but yes it does seem silly to spell it out here. Especially if they are going to make the other 2 books to follow.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Same reason the D & D movie tanked...

the D&D movie didn't happen and nothing you say will convince me otherwise.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Originally Posted by Autumn

It's a real shame they haven't turned out a good quality live action of this series. It obviously has a big fan base. If they could do Transformers, why not this? Fantasy trilogies are the big thing, I would expect someone must be peddling this around.

Calling Uwe Boll! Calling Uwe Boll! Oh wait...never mind

[lordscarlet]

Seriously, guys. How can you say this movie was anything but the worst piece of animation you've ever seen?! My childhood has been ruined (ok, major hyperbole there). What is with the inexplicable mixture of 3D and 2D animation? Why are dragons, draconians, and space scenes 3D? The first 5 minutes or so also had some sort of odd jerkiness that nearly made me sick. I would think this was bad animation Saturday morning much less on a DVD by a larger studio.

[sachmo71]

This movie was not worth the time. As has been said before, it felt rushed. The charm off the books were the characters, and there isn't much depth exploration here.

The animation was poor, and adding CGI dragons was a bad move, IMO. Didn't see the need for it, and it made a cartoon look fake, which was a really odd experience.

Can't say I'll be rushing out to see the next one.

[Sgran]

I'm not surprised you say it was rushed. Have you seen Golden Compass? Special effect -- exposition -- special effect -- exposition -- computer generated landscape -- exposition -- climax -- exposition of what will happen in the sequel -- closing credits.