# The New Dungeons and Dragons Movie Might Actually be Good? {NO SPOILERS until May 2023} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 21, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344 "2022-07-21T21:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/61 "2022-07-25T21:43:49Z")
Remember, you can’t spell “lawful good” without “awful goo”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/62 "2022-07-25T21:50:50Z")
Which is what you get when the gelatinous cube nibbles just a little bit off the paladin from both ends. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/63 "2022-07-26T15:18:42Z")
I know one thing for certain, this Dungeons and Dragons movie will be exponentially better than the Dungeons and Dragons movie release in 2000. That was an atrocity to the fantasy movie genre. Luckily Fellowship of the Ring righted that ship the next year. MtM ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/64 "2022-07-26T15:43:53Z")
Given that D&D is a role-playing game and not a fully-fleshed out story (like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Chronicles of Narnia, erc) being adopted to the screen, I suppose my question is what makes this a “D&D” story as opposed to “generic fantasy story referencing locations, monsters, and other canon from the D&D universe”? Know what I mean? Like if you didn’t slap the “Dungeons & Dragons” logo on this, it’s just a bunch of random heroes chasing some magical McGuffin to prevent some wizard from unleashing mayhem. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/65 "2022-07-26T16:02:21Z")
There are a ton of Magical Monsters and Spells and locations that were created specifically for D&D. Many of them actually cameo in the trailer. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/66 "2022-07-26T16:20:58Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I used to sometimes watch rinky-dink streams on Twitch that were basically “five people around a card table playing D&D” and it felt like having a game wrap up at the comic shop so you spend a few minutes watching another table play. All the ones I’d watch died out with Covid though so I fell out of the habit. I tried CR a couple times but never got into it – the slick production, voice actors and piles of toys felt too removed from my own D&D experiences to really make a connection or build interest. I think how long CR ended up going for each campaign is also what gets me. I just watched two, two hour streams of people demoing a soon to be released game, and that was okay. While I liked the first story arc of CR, when they went to one I didn’t like and it went on for 15+ episodes is when they lost me. What I will say after reading comments on the movie trailer is that it is definitely for current DND players. I didn’t recognize the town (Neverwinder), that the bad guys were Red Wizards (a specific group in Forgotten Realms), and several of the 5E spells they used, like green flame blade. I have used FR for decades but not having played Neverwinter recently or 5E material on it, I don’t know the images they used. No excuse for not thinking Red Wizard, though. 😬 LOL to the Lawful Good → Awful Goo → what the gelatinous cube nibbles a bit from the paladin! Well done! > [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > I know one thing for certain, this Dungeons and Dragons movie will be exponentially better than the Dungeons and Dragons movie release in 2000. Well, I can say there is a reason for why the 2000 movie was so bad. Source: [ENWorld Thread on the trailer](https://www.enworld.org/threads/an-analysis-of-the-dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves-trailer.690102/post-8703213) For those that don’t want to read it, Courtney Solomon got the rights to all things DND for the movie in perpetuity, before WotC bought TSR. (This had other interesting effects.) WotC sued saying that was ridiculous and would get the rights back if no movie is made every five years. Further, WotC had script approval. CS knew that WotC could not okay any script for that time then get them back, so went back to an approved script he had, which was several drafts back by Lorraine Williams, and made that. Now, that doesn’t excuse how bad it was, nor that CS didn’t seem to try and work with WotC to make a decent movie, or sequels. I don’t know if that’s how the film industry works but it does explain a fair number of bad movies. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/67 "2022-07-26T16:53:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I suppose my question is what makes this a “D&D” story as opposed to “generic fantasy story referencing locations, monsters, and other canon from the D&D universe”? > > Know what I mean? No. I mean, if it’s referencing D’nD-specific spells, iconic monsters and Forgotten Realms locations, it’s not generic, is it? > [@msmith537](#): > > it’s just a bunch of random heroes chasing some magical McGuffin to prevent some wizard from unleashing mayhem i.e. 95% of D’nD games. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/68 "2022-07-26T17:01:48Z")
I don’t hate the 2000 movie. As a Work of Cinematic Art, of course, it sucks. As a cinematic representation of a D&D game . . . well, I’ve played in worse. Hell, I’ve refereed worse. Besides, it has Doctor Who as the Grand Druid, and Riff-Raff as guildmaster thief! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/69 "2022-07-26T19:17:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > We had to take a bus to break into Arasaka headquarters. Night City has a robust public transportation system that’s the safest on the west coast. Uh, mind the combat zones though. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/70 "2022-07-26T20:20:47Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > What I will say after reading comments on the movie trailer is that it is definitely for current DND players. I didn’t recognize the town (Neverwinder), Sigh… [![](https://external-preview.redd.it/CPaS_d6IWDqUDRUBHiVlDeVevyplFObRPsx-Xtrxtms.jpg?auto=webp&s=a0bd88453b15057eb07d2eb2edaae01cd2988f0e) ](https://external-preview.redd.it/CPaS_d6IWDqUDRUBHiVlDeVevyplFObRPsx-Xtrxtms.jpg?auto=webp&s=a0bd88453b15057eb07d2eb2edaae01cd2988f0e) ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/71 "2022-07-26T20:50:24Z")
@Alessan, to be clear, I do have one game set in Luskan currently. My previous games were in the Cormyr area and Daggerdale/Anauroch. I do agree with that map! They are really ignoring a lot of the realms. Maybe so they don’t have to release another Cormyr book? I didn’t recognize Neverwinter from the trailer scene on the boat showing the town. I hope I would have recognized Waterdeep. I say that, though, and didn’t really recognize the cities in the various BG3 trailers, either. I apparently haven’t been paying attention to that stuff, since I am using 3.X sources for my FR games. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/72 "2022-07-26T20:57:38Z")
Don’t get me wrong - I was sighing at WotC, not you. Until your post, I had no idea that the movie was set in Neverwinter, and I was expressing my exasperation with the fact that, for some inexplicable reason, the powers that be seem terrified of wandering away from the Sword Coast… even in a movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/73 "2022-07-26T21:05:26Z")
> [@glee](#): > > One could also do a ‘Jumanji’ rip-off where we start in the basement and then the players are magically transported to the game world… The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 1950 iirc, and I bet there are other , earlier examples of a portal into a Fantasy realm- ERB? > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I watched the first episode of _Vox Machina_ on Amazon and wasn’t at all impressed,… First few were crap, they they got both serious and good. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > That’s probably the smartest move for adaptation since it’s based on Critical Role - something that has absolutely been driving current interest in the genre. My experience is that it was 5e, the kinder, gentler, easier D&D edition, that caused the resurgence, but Critical Role helped- except few of the D&D players I know watch it. > [@Jophiel](#): > > Unlike Vox Machina, which was generic fantasy that’s only D&D-esque if you squint and know what to look for,… The classes are a certain giveaway. To me, it was D&D. I hated the racism in Dragonlance with the “kender” the “tinker gnomes” and especially the “gully dwarves”. But the writing was damn good. > [@msmith537](#): > > Like if you didn’t slap the “Dungeons & Dragons” logo on this, it’s just a bunch of random heroes chasing some magical McGuffin to prevent some wizard from unleashing mayhem. Distinct classes. Certain monsters. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/74 "2022-07-26T21:10:02Z")
The trailer has had a very positive response from D&D fans, so my own tepid reaction to it, as someone who likes fantasy but is not a tabletop gamer, must not be a reliable indicator. I guess this movie will be for an audience that doesn’t include me. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/75 "2022-07-26T21:23:05Z")
Seeing the owlbear sold them at least one ticket to me. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/76 "2022-07-26T22:06:27Z")
FX looks pretty good, but I wish they had picked anyone other than Chris Pine to star. I know a lot of fans like him from _Star Trek_, to me he is a B-actor with a really wooden acting style. Add on my near irrational dislike of anyone that sports the magical beard stubble that never grows and that translates to me waiting until it comes out on a streaming service I have. Oh, and you guys are a bunch of nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/77 "2022-07-26T22:36:05Z")
OK, that just got forwarded to my D&D group. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/78 "2022-07-26T23:36:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Don’t get me wrong - I was sighing at WotC, not you. Until your post, I had no idea that the movie was set in Neverwinter, and I was expressing my exasperation with the fact that, for some inexplicable reason, the powers that be seem terrified of wandering away from the Sword Coast… even in a movie. Ah, thanks for the clarification! Yes, it’s annoying how much only the Sword Coast exists now for FR. > [@Chronos](#): > > OK, that just got forwarded to my D&D group. mordecaib’s response? > [@mordecaiB](#): > > Oh, and you guys are a bunch of nerds. Yep! ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/79 "2022-07-27T01:45:21Z")
I thought this was a fun interview with the cast. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Uyyiq-xWQnU/maxresdefault.jpg "'Dungeons & Dragons' Cast Playing D&D Together | MTV News") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyyiq-xWQnU) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344/80 "2022-07-27T08:25:32Z")
Regé-Jean is clearly the HC gamer there, the way he casually dropped “campaigns” into it before they were even asked about playing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-might-actually-be-good-no-spoilers-until-may-2023/968344.md?page=5)