Dungeons and Dragons

Dom Robinson reviews

Dungeons and Dragons
Distributed by

Entertainment in Video

    Cover

  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: EDV 9093
  • Running time: 104 minutes
  • Year: 2000
  • Pressing: 2001
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 16 plus extras
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: None
  • Widescreen: 1.85:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras : Trailer, Making Of, SFX & Artwork, “Let The Games Begin”,Deleted Scenes

    Director:

      Courtney Solomon

    (Dungeons and Dragons)

Producers:

    Thomas M. Hammel, Kai Jam and Courtney Solomon

Screenplay:

    Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright

Music :

    Justin Caine Burnett

Cast :

    Profion: Jeremy Irons
    Ridley Freeborn: Justin Whalin
    Snails: Marlon Wayans
    Marina Pretensa: Zoe McLellan
    Empress Savina: Thora Birch
    Norda: Kristen Wilson
    Xilus: Richard O’Brien
    Halvarth: Tom Baker

He’s as mad as a hatter and he’s the Archmage Profion(Jeremy Irons). In the special FX-fest, Dungeons and Dragons,Empress Savina’s (Thora Birch) father, the Emperor of Izmer, has beenpoisoned so it’s up to her to protect the Royal Sceptre and it’s ability tocommand the Gold Dragons, who as powerful as a very powerful thing indeed.

Of course the plot plays second fiddle to the fantastic visual flair createdonscreen, which takes along chancers Ridley Freeborn (Justin Whalin)and Snails (Marlon Wayans), talent in the form of Marina Pretensa(Zoe McLellan) and Norda (Kristen Wilson), plus eccentricnear-has-beens like Richard O’Brien as Xilus and Tom Bakeras Halvarth.

D&D, spawning from the age-old role-playing game but being played outas a film that works for a while even for those not used to it, but what startsoff as an entertaining piece of fluff soon becomes predictable and ploddingand a part-Indiana Jones rip-off from all three of its films.Devotees of sci-fi fantasy may stay the course with a smile on their facethough.



Jeremy Irons does his best “Jeffrey Archer in prison
after being shown by his cellmate how to clean the poop deck”.


Presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, the print is anamorphicand contains bold, striking colours, but is let down by artifacts that giveit a slightly grainy appearance throughout.The average bitrate is 5.83Mb/s occasionally peaking over 9Mb/s.

The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is its best feature, kickingin delightfully when the necessary characters, particularly Irons, ham it upfor all they’re worth and let rip with spells and other magical stuff.

After the obligatory 2-minute anamorphic 16:9 Trailer, comes around70 minutes of well-rounded extras, also in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen, whichtake in a 20-minute “Making Of”, with the usual chat from those in the knowmixed in with film clips, a 16-minute SFX & Artwork that shows clipsfrom the film with the special FX work replaced with work-in-progress CGIand drawings, Let The Games Begin (15 mins), which looks at the legendof D&D and talks to the nerds to whom it means everything; and finally,a series of 12 Deleted Scenes which are a mixture of new content,extended scenes and B-roll footage.

The disc contains just a mere 16 chapters, there are no subtitles (boo!)and most menus are static and silent, bar the main one and those sequencesinbetween.



It’s a dragon in a dungeon. What more do you want?


FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.

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