Pitch me your ulitmate D&D movie

[Upper_Krust]

Hey DM-Rocco!

Um, I do love Star Wars, Indian jones and other movies like that, but I hardly call them a non-stop rollercoaster ride.

Indiana Jones is the very definition of a roller-coaster of a movie.

I fail to see how my own synopsis is more overblown than that. Although I suppose I have fleshed out the action scenes more than the dramatic scenes. But that doesn't mean I haven't allowed for dramatic scenes in there.

Off the top of my head...

Revenge of the Sith:

1) Big Opening Space Battle
2) Fight vs. Droids
3) Anakin-Dooku Duel
4) Crashing Ship scene
5) Kenobi-Grievous Duel
6) Wookies vs. Droids Battle
7) Kenobi-Grievous Chase
7) Windu-Palpatine Duel
8) Yoda-Palpatine Duel
9) Kenobi-Anakin Duel

Tomb of Horrors (my proposal)

1) Villains vs. Fire Giants
2) Heroes vs. Dragons (Young then Old)
3) Heroes vs. Orcs
4) Heroes vs. Skeletal Tomb Guardian
5) Heroes vs. Acererak
6) Heroes escape Astral Dreadnought
7) Heroes vs. Undead Townsfolk
8) Heroes in Temple of Orcus
9) Heroes battle on the Tarrasque

I think you and i agree on a lot of ground, but our main battle ground is the time and importance of the Tomb.

If you can't tell the story in about 2 hours 15-20 minutes then you are probably getting pretentious.

As regards the module, I think I have made it clear I am not turning it into a movie, but rather making a movie which uses elements of the module.

 

[GammaPaladin]

i wouldnt go with eberron. maybe i try something that old timers and "new timers" all enjoy togheter.

The thing is... That even if you get all the old timers and new timers... Your movie will still bomb. You have to get people in who don't play D&D if you want to make a profit.

Eberron is the setting that will appeal to the widest audience in the public at large.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Hey DM-Rocco!



Indiana Jones is the very definition of a roller-coaster of a movie.

I fail to see how my own synopsis is more overblown than that. Although I suppose I have fleshed out the action scenes more than the dramatic scenes. But that doesn't mean I haven't allowed for dramatic scenes in there.

Off the top of my head...

Revenge of the Sith:

1) Big Opening Space Battle
2) Fight vs. Droids
3) Anakin-Dooku Duel
4) Crashing Ship scene
5) Kenobi-Grievous Duel
6) Wookies vs. Droids Battle
7) Kenobi-Grievous Chase
7) Windu-Palpatine Duel
8) Yoda-Palpatine Duel
9) Kenobi-Anakin Duel

Tomb of Horrors (my proposal)

1) Villains vs. Fire Giants
2) Heroes vs. Dragons (Young then Old)
3) Heroes vs. Orcs
4) Heroes vs. Skeletal Tomb Guardian
5) Heroes vs. Acererak
6) Heroes escape Astral Dreadnought
7) Heroes vs. Undead Townsfolk
8) Heroes in Temple of Orcus
9) Heroes battle on the Tarrasque



If you can't tell the story in about 2 hours 15-20 minutes then you are probably getting pretentious.

As regards the module, I think I have made it clear I am not turning it into a movie, but rather making a movie which uses elements of the module.

Actually, those movies are not rollercoasters at all. Each has a moment where love is given the center stage and the action is slowed to a crawl. There is a struggle for personal growth and maturity for the characters as well.

Yes, there is a ton of action, but it is not the only thing and the characters have a lot of depth and history. I'm not saying your characters wouldn't have depth, but it sounds like you want more action and less talk. That is a combination that may get a few bucks at the box office week one, but would be lucky to turn a profit over all.

As to the module, if it just a side note in the movie, then let it be named something other then the Tomb of Horrors. I think it would be shameful to call a movie the Tomb of Horrors and then just use it for name sake only. That would be like calling The Last Star Fighter a Star Wars movie only to learn that a Star Wars poster on the wall of the Last Star Fighters bedroom was the only Star Wars refference.

 

[TexasBEAST]

Rouse,
I agree wholeheartedly that "The Legend of Drizzt", and specifically "The Icewind Dale Trilogy", seems to be the best bet for a blockbuster for the masses. I don't game (don't shoot me!), but I've been following the drow ranger since the first edition of The Crystal Shard, and there's plenty of quality material there, in his character arc alone. Salvatore doesn't load his stories down with D&D-isms, which makes them very accessible and relatable to complete newbs. And that should hold true for film audiences, as well.

For what it's worth, I have taken extensive, detailed notes of the texts' descriptions of the characters' personal appearances, wardrobe and weapons, and locations/set pieces from all of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels and novellas. If faithfulness to the books is a priority here (as it should be), then such notes should prove valuable to any film crew's art department. In fact, I initially started assembling these notes back in the '80s specifically so I could make more accurate drawings of scenes from the books than what I saw on the books' cover art, and even when I gave up on graphic arts myself, I still kept up the note-taking, just in case they might be useful in some other medium. Looks like we might have found it.

(Honestly, I kept obsessively taking notes on the books for nerdly debating purposes with other fans, mostly. But this rationalization sounds a lot better!)

While I do not have professional training or experience with scriptwriting, I would love to pitch in with that process, as well. For the last several years, I've been reading passages from the books of "The Icewind Dale Trilogy" specifically with a virtual eye toward how the scenes should look on screen, transitions between scenes, how to incorporate the "Drizzt Diaries" in some non-brow-beating manner, etc.

If you think there's an opening for a guy like me, holler. Roar. Blast me with a psionic communiqué . . .

 

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy DM-Rocco!

Actually, those movies are not rollercoasters at all.

Well they are to me and thats certainly the tempo (Star Wars. PotC, Indiana Jones) I would be aiming for, as opposed to LotR.

Each has a moment where love is given the center stage and the action is slowed to a crawl. There is a struggle for personal growth and maturity for the characters as well.

No reason why we cannot have that as well (I just haven't written those bits yet), but first and foremost its an action-adventure blockbuster, therefore it needs some amazing action set pieces.

Yes, there is a ton of action, but it is not the only thing and the characters have a lot of depth and history. I'm not saying your characters wouldn't have depth, but it sounds like you want more action and less talk. That is a combination that may get a few bucks at the box office week one, but would be lucky to turn a profit over all.

I've stated I am after a Star Wars/Indiana Jones/Pirates of the Caribbean vibe, rather than a more drawn out Lord of the Rings vibe, whether thats in tune with what you are looking for is another matter.

As to the module, if it just a side note in the movie, then let it be named something other then the Tomb of Horrors. I think it would be shameful to call a movie the Tomb of Horrors and then just use it for name sake only.

Its got Acererak as the main villain and the party enters the Tomb of Horrors, they just don't stay in the darn Tomb the whole movie!

That would be like calling The Last Star Fighter a Star Wars movie only to learn that a Star Wars poster on the wall of the Last Star Fighters bedroom was the only Star Wars refference.

Maybe its more like calling the Last Starfighter movie "The Last Starfighter" only that the principle character doesn't get to become the titular hero until halfway through the movie.

Maybe you would prefer it if that movie had been called "Teenage Arcade Player becomes the Last Starfighter"!?

Just because I'm calling the movie Tomb of Horrors does not mean they have to spend the whole movie in the tomb. The tomb is the centrepiece of the movie, its also central to the plot.

 

[Klaus]

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that something along the lines of James Wyatt's novel "In The Claws of the Tiger" would be perfect. With a few tweaks (like more monster variety instead of

Spoiler

almost all rakshasa

, for instance) it could be perfect. The book already has Indiana Jones + Pirates of the Caribbean +

Spoiler

self-sacrifice of the main female lead at the end

+

Spoiler

unexpected twist [~spoiler] .

 

[qstor]

I didnt mind the last one on the Sci-Fi Channel. The best movie for me, would be using the same actors as a follow up to the last movie. Maybe a plot referencing a classic module or a new adventure using the lich or other villan from the movie series.

I'd prefer not to have a Drizzt movie and just keep the same actors and director as the last movie and just have it on Sci-Fi again. I think there's problems with having D&D movies on the big screen. After all the Dragonlance movie was going to be on the big screen, IIRC, but it went just to video.


Mike

 

[RangerWickett]

Revenge of the Sith:

1) Big Opening Space Battle
2) Fight vs. Droids
3) Anakin-Dooku Duel
4) Crashing Ship scene
5) Kenobi-Grievous Duel
6) Wookies vs. Droids Battle
7) Kenobi-Grievous Chase
7) Windu-Palpatine Duel
8) Yoda-Palpatine Duel
9) Kenobi-Anakin Duel

Tomb of Horrors (my proposal)

1) Villains vs. Fire Giants
2) Heroes vs. Dragons (Young then Old)
3) Heroes vs. Orcs
4) Heroes vs. Skeletal Tomb Guardian
5) Heroes vs. Acererak
6) Heroes escape Astral Dreadnought
7) Heroes vs. Undead Townsfolk
8) Heroes in Temple of Orcus
9) Heroes battle on the Tarrasque

But Revenge of the Sith sucked. I mean really, really hard. Weak involvement of the war into the plotline, ridiculous levels of zipping around the galaxy so we can show off all the CG environments Lucas wants, incredibly anticlimactic defeat of hundreds of bad-asses, and the most ridiculous ploy ever to trick someone into becoming 'EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!'

Not to mention, as a director, George Lucas could make even Anne Frank be an unsympathetic character.

All those fights are completely uninteresting because I don't give a damn about the characters. The only good thing that came out of that movie is the sound track.

And the 'I have the high ground' joke my group uses for D&D.

Indiana Jones is good because Harrison Ford is a good actor, and Indiana Jones is a fun character. Look to the Indy movies for inspiration, because you need interesting characters to make the action worth watching. Tell me who your characters are, and what makes them cool enough that I want to watch them on the roller coaster.

I mean, my failed pitch for a D&D cartoon was pretty much "how I wish the Star Wars prequels had been," set in a D&D fantasy setting, but to actually bring up RotS as an example you want to hew toward? Bad idea, man.

 

[WayneLigon]

I was thinking about how cool Against the Giants would be as a live-action movie. Basically, use just the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl because of the somewhat more easily-recognizable idea of titanic vikings. Death-pale giants with dark eyes dressed in mammoth skins and saber-toothed-tiger pelts, carrying axes the size of Volkswagons.. man, that is one great image. Now imagine fighting that with your little sword.

You have one classic adventure movie right there. Open with a frost giant raid on a village, showing just how unstoppable and physically powerful a true giant really is. The desperate plea for heroes, and the half-crazy nutters who show up to take on an entire community of beings four times their size. The old dwarf campaigner who fought the last giant incursion, the kid with Something To Prove, the wizard who secretly wants an artifact the giants have in their possession, the priestess who lost everything and has no reason to live, etc.

Huge big set-peices. Fight on a crumbling ice bridge. "Release the hounds!" as the giants let loose their white saber-toothed-tiger hunting cats. The eeriely-beautiful glacier rift and fantastic ice caverns. Frost giant warriors on mastadons, bay-bee. The artifact that causes their glacier to dissolve into a volcano. The frost giant king with his white dragon ally.

Black screen dedication to Gary at the ending, of course

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey there Ranger!

But Revenge of the Sith sucked. I mean really, really hard. Weak involvement of the war into the plotline, ridiculous levels of zipping around the galaxy so we can show off all the CG environments Lucas wants, incredibly anticlimactic defeat of hundreds of bad-asses, and the most ridiculous ploy ever to trick someone into becoming 'EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!'

Not to mention, as a director, George Lucas could make even Anne Frank be an unsympathetic character.

All those fights are completely uninteresting because I don't give a damn about the characters. The only good thing that came out of that movie is the sound track.

And the 'I have the high ground' joke my group uses for D&D.

I disagree that the movie sucked. It was good, though certainly not great, nor even my favourite of the prequel trilogy* (let alone the original trilogy). To say it sucked is harsh bordering on fanboy vitriol. Personally I thought it was entertaining even though it failed to amaze.

*Attack of the Clones gets that honour.

Indiana Jones is good because Harrison Ford is a good actor, and Indiana Jones is a fun character. Look to the Indy movies for inspiration, because you need interesting characters to make the action worth watching.

Of course, but DM-Rocco and myself were primarily discussing the pace of the movie. Not the characters. I mentioned I didn't want a Lord of the Rings pace but rather something more akin to Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Tell me who your characters are, and what makes them cool enough that I want to watch them on the roller coaster.

Whats going to make them cool are their actions and words.

Is the only way for me to defend my synopsis to write a full script!?

I mean, my failed pitch for a D&D cartoon was pretty much "how I wish the Star Wars prequels had been," set in a D&D fantasy setting, but to actually bring up RotS as an example you want to hew toward? Bad idea, man.

Inaccurate. I was simply using RotS to show that you can have x number of action scenes in a movie. I could have used any of the Star Wars movies or Indiana Jones movies for such a purpose.