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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5447589" data-attributes="member: 59506">Personally, I don't think what setting is used really matters for the movie (though I did pick a few I'd like to see<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />). Really, any setting will do, as long as context is provided for the viewer...specifically: what are the rules of the setting; and where is it. I think all of the D&D movies so far have suffered because they didn't adequately do this. It's not the only reason they suffered, but it's one of them, and I believe it's a significant oversight.  For example, George Lucas purposely put a preamble at the beginning of Star Wars for just that reason. With the single phrase "A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...", he set up for the viewer that it's not in our galaxy or time, it's very different from our world, and we (as viewers) automatically accept that and need no further explanation. He then goes on and gives us some context for the story, so that even though it's an epically mythic story in a complex/alien setting that viewers have never seen the likes of before (except maybe in Star Trek), we aren't lost. The D&D movies didn't do this. But, along with the above, I think the problems with the D&D movies have been: Dungeons & Dragons (2000): Big name actors (a plus) but not much character development. Storywise, not all that extraordinary. It had some good visuals, but no real sense of drama. It didn't attempt to be only D&D (for the people who know D&D), which was a plus, but it also didn't establish enough setting context with the non-D&D audience (the majority). Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005): No big name actors (not necessarily a minus, but it probably had an effect upon non-D&D viewers), but again with very little character development (even less than the first one). Okay storywise, but again, not extraordinary with a significant lack of drama. Way too much D&D (left non-D&D viewers knowing they were missing something, though not quite sure what it was). Also again, no setting context (non-D&D viewers didn't know where this was taking place - was it some past age of our world, another world, or just some fantasy world essentially placed nowhere...?). Basically it came across as a slightly (very slightly) more expensive version of the story tape from the Dragon Strike board game.<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/erm.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":erm:" title="Erm    :erm:" data-shortname=":erm:" />  I don't know that much about the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness (2011), as of course, nobody has seen it yet. But it does have the same Director and Writer(s) as Wrath of the Dragon God, and has no known names starring. And it seems like it's very much set in a D&D setting, with insider D&D setting info. Longtime D&D players will probably "get" most of it, casual D&D gamers will "get" some of it, and non-D&D gamers will probably again be going "huh...". I've heard said many times, when discussing drama in D&D games, that the game is not a novel or a movie. For the most part, I agree. However, there are lessons and tools present in movies/novels, that can be applied in games to provide a sense of drama. But, as much as the D&D game isn't a movie, a D&D Movie cannot be a game. First and foremost, it has to be a dramatic story...with all of the necessary components (character development, characters that veiwers can associate with, a story and setting that the viewer has context with, and most importantly - DRAMA). A D&D Movie can't simply be the visualization of a D&D adventure, and that's pretty much what we've had so far (especially the second one). It's why so many people have commented that a movie like Season of the Witch would have made a better D&D Movie than the official ones. (Granted, Season of the Witch isn't going to win any Oscars, but it was still magnitudes better than either of the D&D Movies we've had so far...) D&D Movies, in order to be successful, need to be aimed at non-D&D gamers first, then add in the "inside" stuff. As long as a D&D movie isn't lacking in character development and Drama in the story, any setting will work...as long as viewers understand the context. Perhaps a preamble like Star Wars, would work. Something like this: (for a generic D&D Movie...) A long time ago, on a world parallel to ours, A world once connected to our own, With lands rich in Magic and Legend, Filled with Elves, Wizards, and Monsters, A small group of adventurers will rise to fight an ancient Evil, With the fate of their world hanging in the balance.Welcome to the World of...<img src="http://www.madal.com/dnd%20logo%20small.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />  I can imagine some even more interesting preambles for other, specific D&D settings...<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /></blockquote>

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