What would make a Good *D&D* Movie?

[Hussar]

I was thinking about this the other day while reading another thread. We've been lucky in the past few years to see some pretty darn good fantasy movies. LoTR obviously, and Narnia and Harry Potter and even some fairly mediocre ones (IMO) like Eragon. I would be fairly happy with a mediocre D&D movie to tell the truth.

Anyway, we can see what it takes to make a decent fantasy movie. Pretty much the same as what it takes to make any decent movie - good acting, decent story, etc. But, that doesn't really answer what would make a movie a D&D movie. What elements would you have to add to a fantasy movie in order to put the D&D moniker on it?

Vancian magic? Possibly. Certainly pervasive magic IMO. The average D&D party has lots of magic at its disposal. You wouldn't see a high level party running from a small army of goblins in Moria - more likely they'd open up with various Wall spells, summoning and go to town, racking up an impressive body count in the process.

Core races? I'm not sure about this one. LoTR had core races, but it certainly didn't make it a D&D movie.

Setting elements from one of the big three settings? Could be. Although, to be fair, any references to something like Forgotten Realms are going to fall on deaf ears to most people in the audience.

So, what would you add to a D&D movie to make sure that it has the D&D stamp on it?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

When in combat, the characters move in five foot steps, counting them out as they move around. "Five, ten, fifteen...oh, wait, not there, I'll provoke an AoO...fifteen, twenty..."

To be honest, I wouldn't try to put a D&D stamp on the movie with anything other than settings and character archetypes (e.g. do an Eberron setting with Lightning Rail and Warforged). I think part of the problem with the two D&D movies was that they tried a little too hard to make references to D&D. Make any references to game mechanics, such as vancian magic, very subtle. People who play the game would pick up on them and it won't be as cheesy and distracting for those who don't.

 

[mhensley]

It's really simple to make a good D&D movie. Take Braveheart and change the English army into orcs. There, done. Best fantasy movie evar.

 

[RangerWickett]

So the villain's son is a gay orc? With, what, an elf wife?

 

[Grymar]

I agree, strip as much of the rules out as possible leaving just easter-egg type of hints.

But imagine how cool a real D&D battle could be...as they charge into battle with the dragon, the fighter swells to twice his normal size, the druid melds into a massive pre-historic bear, the ranger goes Legolas-on-steriods, the cleric lays down a blade barrier, and the mage summons in a balor from the pits of hell.

Now do this all in a high-action style...yeah, it sure could rock. They key though is to make it focused on the characters and events, not the "D&D" stuff.

 

[sircaren]

To be honest, I wouldn't try to put a D&D stamp on the movie with anything other than settings and character archetypes (e.g. do an Eberron setting with Lightning Rail and Warforged). I think part of the problem with the two D&D movies was that they tried a little too hard to make references to D&D. Make any references to game mechanics, such as vancian magic, very subtle. People who play the game would pick up on them and it won't be as cheesy and distracting for those who don't.

QFT

On a side note, I thought the 2nd D&D movie was pretty good.

 

[Felix]

Hard to do. D&D combat is very idiosyncratic and I don't think it would translate well without significant changes. I'd leave out blatant game mechanics references and just focus on the story. I'd have very few combat scenes. I'd relate a story that wasn't, "BBEG is trying to take over the world, and only 4 companions from different backgrounds can stop him, but only if they work together!". I'd get rid of the idea that an "adventuring" social class existed, and merely show the PCs as living on the margins of society. I'd have wicked cool music.

Basically I'd try to re-create the feeling that Conan: The Barbarian has, even though it uses the World Domination plot line.

It's really simple to make a good D&D movie. Take Braveheart and change the English army into orcs. There, done. Best fantasy movie evar.

...change?

 

[robberbaron]

Sepulchrave's Story Hour would look good on a big screen.
As would Blackdirge's Metamorphosis.

Strip out the mechanics and have 120 minutes (or more) of fantasy eye candy.

 

[Mallus]

I like the idea of adding D&D bits to an existing good movie in order to make a good D&D movie.

Braveheart and LotR are safe choices for the template, but maybe a little too safe. I'd rather use something a little less obvious, a little more left-field, say like "My Dinner with Andre". We get the original actors --remember that Wallace Shawn's got plenty of genre experience, having played both Vizzini the Sicilian and the Grand Nagus. We dress them in medieval drag and have them discuss the meaning of alignment in a high-price tavern for 90 minutes.

Oh, and at some point, someone throws a fireball at a beholder.

 

[Insight]

Just as with any other "good" movie, you start with story and characters. It's not that much different from planning your own adventure, it's just extremely railroad-y

I wouldn't use a recognizeable D&D setting. In fact, it's probably better not to have much recognizeable in terms of the setting. Every second you spend on developing the setting is another second you're not seeing something "cool" on screen. Remember the boring first half of Star Wars Ep 1? That's a perfect example of too much setting development. Don't tell us about your setting/situation, SHOW US! If your setting has an evil empire that enslaves its neighbors, have the main characters pass a slave caravan, not just some salty bard sitting in a tavern telling the main characters about the 'evil slavers'.

A D&D movie would be about action, not talking. There needs to be a main goal identified in the frist three minutes of the film, and every scene needs to drive towards the climactic battle scene against the BBEG. No stupid scenes thrown in for comic relief. If you must include comedy, it needs to be part of the ongoing story, not some ancillary scene that will annoy most of the over-12 audience.

There is a wealth of material from the D&D game that could be used in a movie. The best thing to do, rather than try to use ALL of them, is to identify which ones fit in with your story (write your story before coming up with goodies to throw in, rather than the other way around). If your movie is good enough, you'll have opportunities to show the rest.

An ideal set piece for the D&D movie? How about a dungeon crawl for starters? ANY D&D movie should feature some kind of dungeon crawl. It probably also needs to have a dragon (Dungeons & Dragons after all).