Dungeons & Dragons (2000) was a passion project turned cinematic disaster

[Alzrius]

Usually when good actor ham it up this much it is because they know it is a bad movie, they are going to be memorable in a terrible movie and the director does not have to experience to notice or rein them in.

I think you quoted the wrong post, there.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I wonder if that's in the novelization of the movie, which I have but haven't read. I tried once, and the writing is as atrocious to read as the film is to watch. I'm still not sure if that's an indication that the author, Neal Barrett Jr., is incredibly talented or a complete hack.

TIL that there was a novelization of the D&D movie.

Jeremy Irons needing some money for his castle might explain why he took on the role . . . but it doesn't explain why he chose to ham it up to that level. Was that a directorial choice or an actor's choice? We'll probably never know, but in a bad movie with such a great cast, Irons' cheesy portrayal of the villain stands out from the other performances, and not in a good way.

Still think he's an amazing actor though.

I think he knew it was going to be a bad film, both Irons and Wayans, and chose to ham it up, chew the scenery. One of the deleted scenes on the DVD ends with Irons finishing a take and walking off the set with such a look on his face.

See, I love that part. He's a weird creep. I don't think you really need a big backstory on why he's a weird creep -- we don't know the backstories of most of the weird creeps in, say, Tarantino films -- but the blue lipstick just makes him stand out and not be a generic thug. Something else is going on with him, but we don't ever get to know, or need to know. (This ain't Star Wars, baby.)

Heh, you have a point. But even then, it's such an atrocious shade of blue. Had it been a little more muted, I think that yeah, it could've worked.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I think you quoted the wrong post, there.

You are correct, I think I wanted to reply to @Dire Bare

 

[MGibster]

My point is that people allege all sorts of things about Lorraine Williams with zero evidence. I suspect this allegation probably originated the same way: someone made it up because she's long been a convenient punching bag for a certain segment.

I'm pretty sure a lot of us would like to know where she was in November 1963.....

It would be very interesting to read it, but I doubt she'll ever write it. I don't see many incentives for her to do so. But, still, one may hope...

Most people want to tell their side of the story when the dominant one paints them as the villain. She might be the only major player in TSR's history who hasn't offered her account of what was happening in TSR. Of course it could be that she just decided the TSR chapter of her life was closed and she simply doesn't feel the need to talk about it. It could be that she's got something written down with the intention of having it published after her death. That'd be something.

 

[Aeson]

One day a movie will be made about how this movie got made. They'll be shown in succession at a screening and the world will implode in on itself.

 

[gnarlygninja]

That might be worth seeing. The documentary about the making of the Fantastic Four movie from the 90s wound up being interesting.

 

[Mannahnin]

To this day, Williams still doesn’t give interviews about TSR decisions. It feels like just more mythologizing going on.

It would be very interesting to read it, but I doubt she'll ever write it. I don't see many incentives for her to do so. But, still, one may hope...

For sure, she doesn't seem motivated to even really do any interviews, though I think Ben Riggs at least would give her a fair shake these days.

Most people want to tell their side of the story when the dominant one paints them as the villain. She might be the only major player in TSR's history who hasn't offered her account of what was happening in TSR. Of course it could be that she just decided the TSR chapter of her life was closed and she simply doesn't feel the need to talk about it. It could be that she's got something written down with the intention of having it published after her death. That'd be something.

The only "D&D history" book she went on the record for was one of the earliest, David Ewalt's 2013 Of Dice and Men. And it's very little info. Sadly, Ewalt was more focused on his own memoir as a lapsed player returning to his to him-shameful obsession, and less in journalism about TSR.

Certainly Riggs would give her a fair shake; he'd jump through flaming hoops to interview her.

 

[GreyLord]

Despite it's popularity here, the recent D&D movie is not the best D&D movie in my opinion.

The movie this thread is about was absolutely abominable, but the sequel was actually decent as movies go. I actually enjoyed the sequel more than I enjoyed HaT.

 

[Desdichado]

There's no rehabilitation possible for a movie that terrible. It's not really even fun bad, just bad bad. In the 90s, I was a big fan of D&D and Street Fighter and both of those movies were just.... so disappointing. What a bummer both of those were on two of my favorite franchise opportunities. And Courtney Solomon saying Gary Gygax blue all the money TSR made on a gigantic coke binge doesn't endear him to me as a likeable but hapless super-fan just living the dream. What a jerk.

There are a handful of individual elements that aren't... terrible. But nothing in it is really all that good, even if separated from the terrible context in which it appears.

 

[payn]

And Courtney Solomon saying Gary Gygax blue all the money TSR made on a gigantic coke binge doesn't endear him to me as a likeable but hapless super-fan just living the dream. What a jerk.

Not that I want to defend Solomon, but hes not the only person to point this out.