A LoTR Inspired Fantasy Movie Renaissance - What Happened?

[Ranger REG]

Two things to say:

1. YMMV.

That's fine.

2. I happened to enjoy the first Dragonlance trilogy, but I'm afraid that, IMHO, placing it in the same realm as Tolkien is just silly.

I'm not suggesting that they try to put DL (which I love so dearly, because they're the first fantasy trilogy I've read) on the same pedestal as Tolkien's work. All I'm asking is they lay out all the details of the world as a foundation for any filmmakers who wants to take the chance to put it on-screen in vivid colors and sounds.

Besides, the last time we let someone do a D&D films, it was this director Courtney Solomon putting his own stories with no foundation at all (based on one of his past gaming sessions). The only thing he adapt is pure rules and that's it. I mean crunch is good for gamers, but for audience that wants to listen to the stories, there has to be more fluff to it.

3. You might consider qualifying highly debatable assertions regarding the relative merit of things like literary value.

Hey, I'm just a messenger. After having gone through TTT Appendices DVDs that come with the Extended Edition, most of the critics have agreed that if Tolkien were alive today and turn this work to a modern-day publisher rather than 50 years ago, he wouldn't get past the front door.

But that is just there opinions. As for myself, While I love reading them, sometimes I have to skip many of the songs and poems and minor chit-chat to get to the heart of the story.

No hard feelings.

None taken. I'm just telling you what the movie audience want, not just the hardcore genre fans. We genre fans already know the backstory, but the audience don't.

Now, I would love the Dragonlance films be made before my time, but if we can a very qualified director who would treat the literary works with just as much sacrosanct as Peter Jackson (fat chance on calling him again anytime soon, as the long-term LOTR project really took a toll on his large hobbitish body) and bring Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman to develop the races' languages (I mean in order to make them believable on-screen you gotta let them speak in their own tongue sometimes) as well as denizens of Krynn and all the details (heck bring aboard Larry Elmore and Stawicki for concept arts), it would be just as nearly as epic as LOTR with a strong box office success indicator.

 

[Tallok]

Didn't John Woo option The Runelords?

That could actually work as a movie, pretty well, iirc, even though I did read that a while ago

 

[Speaker]

..most of the critics have agreed that if Tolkien were alive today and turn this work to a modern-day publisher rather than 50 years ago, he wouldn't get past the front door.

Something that says more about modern-day publishers then it does about Tolkien .

All joking aside, I'd count Troy in as a fantasy-type movie to look out for. Epic in natue, dealing with gods and war - it's a good time to be watching movies.

 

[Shadowdancer]

When I find some time on Thursday, I'll post links to the many fantasy movies in development that I own stock in on the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

 

[Arken]

They're doing a live action version of The Last Unicorn aswell which should be amazingly awesome...

 

[Henry]

LOTR didn't make fantasy immensely popular - it made it VIABLE. Fantasy as a movie genre is a red-headed stepchild, with Sci-Fi being the poorer, yet very acceptable middle-class cousin. Comic Book is huge right now (Spider-Man, Hulk, Blade 2, Punisher, Hellboy, others I'm sure I'm missing), and we are, for fantasy, seeing now movies like Troy, which would previously not likely have had the possiblity for name actors.

 

[TiQuinn]

and we are, for fantasy, seeing now movies like Troy, which would previously not likely have had the possiblity for name actors.

"Gladiator", while not a fantasy movie, helped kick off this trend. Probably moreso than LotR.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

Hey, I'm just a messenger. After having gone through TTT Appendices DVDs that come with the Extended Edition, most of the critics have agreed that if Tolkien were alive today and turn this work to a modern-day publisher rather than 50 years ago, he wouldn't get past the front door.

Most of the critics didn't get to voice their opinions in the TTT documentaries. But one of those who did was Tom Shippey, who's written two entire books on the subject of literary "critics" not knowing one of the most important and enduring works of the 20th century from their swollen red bottoms.

Yeah, it's hard to imagine LotR being published now - but then, it was pretty amazing that Allen & Unwin let it happen back in the 50s.

 

[Mercule]

Now, I would love the Dragonlance films be made before my time,

You know, I'm not even a particular DL fanboy, and I'd love to see a movie made from the first trilogy (since I had zero empathy for any of the Majeres, the other books are a waste for me).

The deal is that the DL books are at least novels that could make it without the backing of D&D fanboys. Let's face it, most of the novels written for gaming properties are B-movie quality, at best. Far too many of them are at the same level in the book world that the D&D movie was in the movie world. This applies regardless of the game it's based on, Storyteller, D&D, or what have you.

The Drizz't novels are the only other novels I can think of that might qualify. Think about it, though, do you really want the Avatar trilogy or I, Strahd used to represent gaming?

 

[Jamdin]

The live-action Peter Pan movie is due out soon and that is fantasy. It may not have tons of elves and orcs but it is based on a children's fantasy book.