- Actors: Justin Whalin, Jeremy Irons, Zoe McLellan, Bruce Payne, Marlon Wayans
- Directors: Courtney Solomon
- Writers: Carroll Cartwright, E. Gary Gygax, Topper Lilien
- Producers: Allan Zeman, Allen Crawford, Ann Flagella, Bob Dahlin
- Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language English
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: New Line Home Video
- DVD Release Date: 22 May 2001
- Run Time: 107 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00003CXQM
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 39,639 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
A sword and sorcery fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons the film is based on the role-playing game first introduced in the 1970s. It delivers some of the same kind of fantasy and fun the game offered, as its youthful heroes journey through a magical kingdom battling with the forces of evil. One or two scenes (such as someone having their brain sucked out by a nasty thing with tentacles) might upset very young children. But many of the special effects look tame compared to state-of-the-art films like The Matrix (the dragons in particular are rather wimpish), and though you do need full-blooded acting for this sort of thing, Jeremy Irons goes way over the top as the wicked wizard Profion. Marlon Wayans is supposed to provide some street-wise comedy, but is simply annoying. If you enjoyed playing the game you might like this, but there's a lot of competition in the fantasy film genre these days, and Dungeons and Dragons isn't really up to it. --Ed Buscombe
On the DVD: This one disc is packed full of extra features. The film and special effects are breathtaking in needle-sharp Widescreen (1.85:1) Anamorphic transfer. As for the soundtrack, you haven't heard a dragon roar until you hear it in Dolby 5.1 or 2.0 Surround. The director Courtney Solomon, Justin Whalin who plays the hero Ridley, and the Dungeons and Dragons game co-creator Dave Arneson, offer one commentary track, which is a bit inane and doesn't really add anything to the film. However, the second commentary with Solomon, Arneson and cinematographer Doug Milsome is much more intelligent and offers some great info about the filming of specific scenes. Along with the UK trailer, there are two special features--a 20-minute "Making of" featurette, with some entertaining stuff about how Solomon secured the rights to the D&D universe and the creation of the special effects, CGI, costumes and make-up and a 14-minute special feature on the legacy of Dungeons and Dragons. There are 12 deleted scenes, most of which are pretty near completion (save a few blue screens here and there) and the more adrenalin-pumped scenes are broken down in stages to show how the SFX were created. For those who have seen the film and want to play the game, on the DVD-ROM there is also a playable demo of Black Isle's computer game sequel, Shadows of Amn. --Kristen Bowditch
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I bought this in anticipation of Fellowship of the Ring, to see what could be done with a fantasy film. The script is painful, the characters are annoying and Jeremy Irons looks like he wants to strangle his agent. The dragon battle is spectacular. The dwarf and elf characters are terrible. The main character has to go into the "dungeon" alone, totally opposite to the teamwork principle of the game that inspired this film.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I've been a Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan all my life, and am an avid fan of the Star Wars saga, Lord of the Rings and stuff of the likes. This film looked promising, with Jeremy Irons among those cast, and the single biggest lure for me was the fact it promised Dragons.
But I was wholly disappointed by this product...
The film is terrible. It has decent special effects, but nothing not seen before, and wouldn't do but to entertain a child audience - unfortunately, it's rated 12, so that option's a no-go.
The story is messy and weak, and all the characters are irritating, except possibly for Iron's villainous 'Profion'(sp?). There were hardly any dragons in the film until near the end, and the whole affair was so corny and poor that I felt utterly stupid for buying this DVD - the decent artwork on the DVD cover betrays the film, and makes it look alot better than it is.
The only consolation is that the extras are okay on the disc - but what's the point of extras if the film is bad?
If you're looking for something like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, then there's no substitute for the real thing. This is as corny, poor and cheesy as they come, and I advise you to steer clear and to keep to the films that are truly worthy of the sc-fi/fantasy genre. Bring on 'The Two Towers' and 'The Chamber of Secrets'...
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This whole dvd is awful.
Firstly the film. The acting is terrible, the dwarf is as tall as the main characters, Jeremy Irons is definately thinking "That pays for a new house!", The plot is disjointed, the editing is dreadful, items re-appear after being left behind ages ago(the eye of the dragon). I could go on.
On the Plus side, The final dragon fight is good, as are a few other CGI bits. The maze sequence is OK, and the elf tracker woman is cute.
The DVD extras are as bad as the main feature.
The deleted scenes should have been deleted, as they add nothing to the dvd, the "play the game" featurettes make the RPG Hobby sound 5000 times more nerdy than it actually is(some achievement there!) The "making of" short contributes nothing to anyones knowledge of how a film is made, and the director came across REALLY badly.
I rented this movie as a last resort, I see why it vanished at the box office, My son, who shouldnt really have watched it found it dull and, in parts, laughable
A sad outing all round, and the D&D hobby deserved a better thought out, bigger budget, well plotted, and well acted movie than this.
Firstly the film. The acting is terrible, the dwarf is as tall as the main characters, Jeremy Irons is definately thinking "That pays for a new house!", The plot is disjointed, the editing is dreadful, items re-appear after being left behind ages ago(the eye of the dragon). I could go on.
On the Plus side, The final dragon fight is good, as are a few other CGI bits. The maze sequence is OK, and the elf tracker woman is cute.
The DVD extras are as bad as the main feature.
The deleted scenes should have been deleted, as they add nothing to the dvd, the "play the game" featurettes make the RPG Hobby sound 5000 times more nerdy than it actually is(some achievement there!) The "making of" short contributes nothing to anyones knowledge of how a film is made, and the director came across REALLY badly.
I rented this movie as a last resort, I see why it vanished at the box office, My son, who shouldnt really have watched it found it dull and, in parts, laughable
A sad outing all round, and the D&D hobby deserved a better thought out, bigger budget, well plotted, and well acted movie than this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
So Bad It's Good
Don't go into this movie expecting a fantasy epic, you will be disappointed. Go into it for unintentional comedy. It's fun and in absolutely no way serious. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Roxanne Adams
You canNOT be serious
Take every cliche in the world of high fantasy, shove it in a blender with paper-doll characters and an incoherent plot, and add the most obnoxiously annoying sidekick who never... Read more
Published 13 months ago by E. A Solinas
I can only agree with the other 1-stars
I can't add any more synonyms for 'awful', so see the 1-star reviews before mine -- I doubt there's anything there with which I'd disagree. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Prokopton
What a load of rubbish ...
This film must be the worst film I have ever seen. Jeremy Irons was so OTT it was unbelievable. It was like watching the worst type of school play villian. Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by L. MacLean
A Joke of a Film
This film is terrible. It only merits a single star for the simple fact that it is occasionaly funny. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by Gonzo Journalist
terrible in nearly' every way but...
After watching this I have to say it probably one of the worst films ever made special effects, camera work you name it this film screwed it up, they even messed up the line "you... Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2009 by L. Streader
splendid
this product was fun to watch with my family and friends but i think the rating is to high a pg would fit it perfictly the story line was good and i could understand it the whole... Read more
Published on 22 July 2009
A rare thing indeed .. a truly hideous movie.
This 'thing' is horrible. There are no redeeming things to it. The plot sucks, the acting is woeful, the sets and costumes completely contradict with each other and its a disgrace... Read more
Published on 6 May 2009 by Marco M
Fantastic
Don't believe any of the other reviewers, I thought this film was fantastic. Great CGI, very funny, emotional. Brilliant. Watch and enjoy. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2008 by A Reader
Really not that bad
Maybe it all depends on your expectations, but having read all the reviews here, I felt the need to say something more positive. Read more
Published on 14 April 2008 by Daniel
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