killjoy32 wrote:so if you were given the funds to make a low budget D&D film, with possibly a follow up, what would you base it on and who would you have as characters and who would play them.....

First and foremost, please do not define everyone's class!  This most recent feeble D&D movie attempt lays out each character's role in the first 10 minutes.  Let the audience figure it out.  If they're D&D fans, it won't take long and if it does, great, because they won't be stereotypical characters.  If they're not D&D fans, they won't give a shit.

I would like to see a druid and cleric who don't care for each others' religious beliefs and an unconventional monk (perhaps a Scarlet Brotherhood member with some corrupt agenda) on the big screen, if the story allows.  (A religious gathering of some kind?)

Secondly, I really like the aforementioned ideas about power progression a la the game, but how about starting it like this…?  Have a beefy paladin or some such gather a group of somewhat disinterested low-level types for some kind of mission.  You get the idea that this guy is going to be the main character.  Get a well known actor to play the role.  He leads them into the "dungeon" (whatever form that takes) and then gets slaughtered in the first major combat.  Have the rest of the group unable to leave the way they came and just fighting to get out alive for the rest of the movie.

ToEE would seem to fit the bill and probably most of the D&D community would love the theory, but in practice I think it would be too cliché.  The same goes for Saltmarsh, though I enjoy the series.  The same could also be said for Slavers, but there are some great situations in that series and you could actually factor in a significant political statement if the writing was up to par (who am I kidding?).  I think Against the Cult of the Reptile God would be a good one to start with.  Of course, A1-4/G1-3/D1-2/Q1 would be the ultimate, but I'd shudder to give it to anyone but Peter Jackson right now, lest the idea be forever corrupted by some incompetent director.  Can you imagine Q1 done well with a big budget, though?

Going back to the paladin idea, I'd love to see Vin Diesel do it.  He plays the game and might take to the idea of being the badass hero that gets his ass handed to him before the movie is even half over.  Torn apart by an iron golem, bludgeoned to death by a furious ettin, sucked dry by a dozen stirges (too Pitch Black?) and eaten by a troll are a few ideas that come to mind.  Or maybe he loses a battle with wights and he becomes the antagonist!

Lastly (do I really even have to say it?), have it occur in GREYHAWK (Flaeness).

Q1 might work . . . in my opinion, I think that if there was to ever be a fantastic D&D movie there would need to be some compromises made with Hollywood and what the general public wants to see. To make a kickass movie you need a huge budget . . . to make sure that movie makes money, you have to cater to a very wide audience (like Spider-man or Lord of the Rings).

So . . . like it or not, there have to be two main elements that are employed: There has to be a romance and there has to be a main (and powerful) evil foe. That doesn't mean the movie will suck (I loved the two above mentioned films), but it does mean you don't have a Yeti's change on Nessus of seeing a high budget, well scripted D&D film without it.

Along those lines, there can be many cool plots . . . low-level characters would be ideal and there are countless examples of stories where inexperienced warriors/wizards ovecame insurmountable odds to defeat their foes. Of course, maybe a mix would be a little better (after all, we need to see some cool spells, intense fights and divine healing). That really is one of D&D's strengths - Magic is not as rare or obscure as many fantasy novels/movies make it seem. Magic is right out there playing a major role in the lives of the characters.

Q1 would be a good choice as you have a main foe in Lolth and a host of evil underlings to be combated. However, unless the setting was drastically changed, the extraplanar nature of it would cause a tremendous loss in the telling of a story as the characters would never be in the "real" world.

Two main villains come to my mind - both of which are well-known to most hardcore and casual fans and can easily be related to those who know nothing of D&D (the majority of moviegoers).


There's Vecna and there's Iuz. There's a hollywood story for you . . . The Eye and Hand of Vecna have been found. The King/Lord/Duke of wherever in Greyhawk has the Hand already and the movie opens up with an exiciting prologue where the Eye is recoverd by his minions and finally brought to him. He is already wholly evil and the power of Vecna stirs again. The land is being readied for war and evil is on the rise.

Of course, there is the Ancient archimage who is able to assemble an inexperienced group of adventurers. He is too old himself, but he entrusts them to the leadership of a female cleric (one who carries with her a grave and powerful sadness). They need to seek out a great warrior - a paladin who has fallen frace grace and left behind the world he knew to live as an anchorite (hermit).

Perhaps if he can be found - he can be atoned and redeemed if he can retrieve a legendary sword - a Holy Avenger with which he could hope to face the evil of the King and Vecna (okay well, Vecna is Neutral Evil and not Chaotic Evil, but we won't tell ).

There is much room for drama and little room for nonsense humor. The female cleric . . . why, it was the doomed love between her and our fallen paladin that caused his dishonor. But, in the face of such evil, can the gods forgive their servants?

Can evil be defeated? And, perhaps, atonement can be found as death claims both the good and evil of this world.



Or something like that . . .

NetRodent wrote:Personally I'd love see Bruce Campbell as a paladin.

That's a fantastic idea!  I would want him to stick around for the rest of the movie, though.  I mentioned Vin just for the situation I was speaking of.  How slim would the odds of survival seem if the big, burly, decorated hero got axed in the first room?

I don't disagree that some pretty good movies are made on a limited budget, but you aren't going to make a cool D&D movie without a lot of cash  . . .

A good D&D movie is going to need extensive custumes, major computer effects (spells, monsters, backgroud scenery, etc.).  Actors will have to be trained in the use of weapons to add realism . . . the costs will add up quickly.

Others would make good villains . . . I just chose what I thought were some of the more recognizable names.  Ask a former D&D player who hasn't touched or thought of the game in 15 years to name a few notable villains . . .who might they remember?  Asmodeus, Demogorgon, Orcus, Tiamat, Vecna, Lolth  and Iuz?  A few others, to be sure, but it's important for the audience to relate to the villain as well.  Vecna is the quintessential enemy - a lich - a powerful evil monster that all players can remember.

And don't forget the romance!  I'm not kidding here - there won't ever be a hollywood backed movie without it . . .

beyondthebreach wrote:And don't forget the romance! I'm not kidding here - there won't ever be a hollywood backed movie without it . . .

yeah i can see it now:

Actor: "so um what class is my character again"

Casting producer: "well we thought it would be cool for you to be a 3rd level valentino"

tsk tsk

I think we have forgotten there is a good story and great character in a series of novels that could be adapated. What if they got permission from Gygax and made the Gord series into a movie. He starts out a low life nothing and end up an epic hero. The settings grow as the series expands so they could allocate more money to the effects, locations and scenery if the series was succesfull.

Deadlord36 wrote:Successful non-romance movie? The 13th Warrior.

I was going to use that as an example of a "no love interest" movie myself but then I remembered, there is one.  Not much of one, but it's there.  If they could keep it to that level, though, I'd be happy.  It certainly conveys the mood of what a D&D flick should have, however.

Deadlord36 wrote:The series is almost a copy of what I said. Minor adversaries at first, leading up to Tharizdun. He doesn't really get romance until near the end, although he does tag a few does along the way.

good one off's would be S3 or even S2

S3 would work to a pretty good film imo. nice mix of past and future involved

and i certainly think D1-2-3 would seriously rock...even S1 would prb make a cool one-off film

The Gord the Rogue idea is a good one and I think that would be the best suited to becoming a movie (admittedly, I haven't read too many D&D novels others than the Gord books though . . . )

What would really be ideal is a TV series . . . 1 hour shows throughout a season.  Look at all the awesome episodes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek TNG there are.  Some episodes would have minor encounters, dungeons, discoveries of magic items, the young wizard could seek a master, the priests given a quest and the season could really follow a low level group as they advanced.

Next season:  A little higher level, more magic, a little more power, etc.

Some episodes can be used towards furthering an overall goal or ultimate bad-guy and some episodes are one shot deals.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer actually did a good job of this - the characters and bit players in episodes were never forgotten and could turn up at any time later.  There was a great sense of continuity and character/relationship development.  Not every episode furthered the season's plot . . . but there always was one that grew and kept you hungering for the climax.

With a movie, they would be forced to try and cram as much into a 2-3 hour story as possible.  All the little details and small quests that make D&D fun would be left out.

Sci-fi channel should be looking at something like that (and no comedy in the show!!!!!).