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Emergency Upload! D&D Trailer Review (Extended) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-07-25 19:39:33
Imported:
2026-06
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PDM and his player Dennis watch the D&D movie trailer and give their candid opinions. This video is why Hasbro doesn't send PDM free books. 

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D&D Trailer.mp4

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Comments

Gunnar Olafsson

It’s really just a long, expensive, commercial.

Lee Caddick

After watching the trailer I'm excited to see this. Good or bad, I'll support it just because it's D&D and I want to see more of this stuff.

Graham Kane

Spot on analysis, PDM! The online discourse around the druid changing into an owlbear not being rules-legal has already exploded! Some saying they would have preferred if a movie based on the game "followed the rules", I agree the next rules update will make it legal. Like you said, Hasbro know they already ready have the existing player base in the bag, they don't need their money. This film is purely a marketing exercise aimed at younger people who don't even play the game yet. Guardians of the Galaxy is also spot on. Marvel is the hot property right now, movie-wise. This movie will absolutely follow this template. Looking forward to the comments on this one. Glad you broke out the +2 vest of protection!

Máté Gergely Balogh

PDM, I had the exact same impression. It looks like a goofy Marvel movie. A commercial for 5.5. For me, the best D&D-based media is Tale of the Manticore. I would most definitely watch a movie like that :D

MrGunn

Great analysis! Well, I sure am craptivated, not sure this is what Hasbro's marketeers wanted, but there is not enough Chris Pine scent in the world to cover the stench of this flop. Must be I am old, but I agreed with almost everything you said. I too always thought Bards were just dumb, never allowed them in my games. There was a whole thing in the 80s of players hating on Bards Scorcese was right. I think the opening sums it up, a medieval fantasy city cleaner than Singapore Disney World. It has no soul, no character, it is a sterile environment in which to showcase a sterile story. Will it flop, I don't know, no one ever lost money underestimating the tastes of the public. I am surprised for the March debut, I would have waited to debut in the summer when the kiddies were out of school. I agree PDM, there is really no Star Wars after V The Empire Strikes Back. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, nice to meet Dennis.

Jim Van Cura

PDM, your lack of enthusiasm is telling from the lack of energy you put forth. Your performance in the this video gives the sense that you are put out covering the trailer because the D&D topic, in general, has "required" you talk about it. With that, I couldn't agree more with you about this trailer, and modern movies, in general. I feel that they should have made it dark similar to Excalibur from 1981. As always, thanks for the great info.

Drago Russo

Ok. Here are my two cents. I have seen all the Marvel and if it is Marvelesque then that is fine because I will enjoy it and my popcorn. However, they are going after the ones who play MTG. This just in.....Q2 had record sales with 53.7% operating profit of sales. MTG makes up 70-80% of WotC sales. Yes, 70-80% of sales. So D&D is much, much less than MTG. Not even close. Operating profit for Q2 was $225.6 million. WotC sales were $419.8 million. That means that MTG sales is about a billion per year. What??? Yes. D&D maybe 20% of that. So while that is still a big number if D&D products does around 200-250 million a year while MTG does a billion. So they are looking to tap into (see what I did there) the MTG fan base which is a younger audience.

Drago Russo

Now, as to your take on the movie and the city, etc. I recently went to Europe and I visited a few castles. I saw a number of renditions on what they looked like hundreds of years ago including the cities and it really is not how we seem to think things were. Many castles included heating/cooling systems using water and other technologies that we never give credit for. I like to imagine my D&D cities as being much better than one would imagine. Now dungeons being clean well, of course, if they have gelatinous cubes. They are the roombas of D&D. lol

Nick

This movie, in my opinion, is just the Pepsi to Guardians of the Galaxy's Coke, or more likely the RC Cola. I have no interest, the sets and costumes look cheap, and some of the effects do too, including the owlbear. I see a lot of the same pitfalls that the Critical Drinker would call "the message tm" being here and I'm not going to a movie to be lectured by quipy jerks.

Scott Spears

I have worked on tons of movies and teach screenwriting and I when I start talking about adaptations, I like to say books (or in the case games) are book and movies are movies. They are different art forms. It is nearly impossible to do a 100% faithful adaptation of any literay material and much of the you shouldn't. Books are about creating pictures in your mind and movies are the dang pictures. Some aspects of books are unproduceable. They're too internal or too much inside baseball for a general audience. Movies of this type are 80-120 million dollar gambles and you do have to do some distilling down to the lowest common audience. For all those people freaking out about the druid/owlbear transformation, I say chill out. Movies and even D&D should be about doing cool stuff. That was cool and rules be damned. Chris Pine or Sophia Lilis is not playing D&D. They are characters in a movie. Not a RPG. I tend to take trailers, especially early ones with a large grain of salt. They can be wildly off from the final movie. (Although really bad trailers will usually tell you the movie is going to bad.) I like what I saw but I did not go gaga. I'll take a wait and see approach.

Todd Sharp

I agree with PDM; I think the tone is probably going to be wrong. There's a fine line between inserting wit and undermining the stakes of a story. PDM was right about the set pieces too. Cleanly swept dungeons and streets without crowds, no livestock or signs of life, aren't going to ring true. The director and set designers should have taken a hard look at LotR and GoT for how to make a setting look lived in, a dungeon look old and weary. Gladiator or GoT did arena scenes correctly. Poorly framed arena scenes can kill gravitas; see Any Given Sunday. If Grant is 'the bad guy'; having him stand arms raised to cheering crowds should never have been done. Do you want to position yourself against images from Ben Hur and Gladiator with a goofy smiling Hugh Grant? My last thought probably disagrees with PDM. Having a shot with a hero leaping toward a dragon, weapon raised overhead; while an expected trope just has the feel of trying too hard. I'm sure I'll see this at some point. But, it just feels like someone who didn't know D&D and has no idea what 'grimdark' means got a checklist from Hasbro of images to include and pieced a framework around that. But, 12 to 24-year-olds will probably love it. How much better would it have been to have time and investment to build a world over several entries with characters in a broadening world, giving time for the audience to invest in them and for the threat level to increase as they found their way? Instead, this looks like a 'rushed to get everything in' JJ Abrams style production. Chris Pine did a pretty good job in Outlaw King, portraying Robert Bruce. While the script was a little weak, he did serviceable work. I would hate to see this flop badly enough to kill off the possibility of another try.

Mathew Folwarski

looks like we agree on most bits, I thought it was goofy and I find that generally off putting. I definitely won't be seeing it. It feels like it just another super hero movie and I am pretty fatigued of those at this point. I'm pretty sure that now I am in my 30s i've fallen out of their target audience anyways.

Mathew Folwarski
>>88309228

what, the fact that it looks like it will be another movie where the lead will be constantly bad-mouthed and made to look weak and incompetent by his "betters"? I'm sure its just a coincidence. My best case scenario is we will get a funny drinker review of it.

MrGunn
>>88305820

Sometimes the job requires us to do things we don't want to do...hey come to think it, that is the definition of job...

MrGunn
>>88309228

Yo bro, no reason to punch down on the taste of the Carolinas. ;) :D

Mighty Zeus

Say what you will- I like what I saw; it looks like a nice balance between hardcore expectations and mainstream appeal. This entire movie will prob be fan service from start to finish, with easter eggs everywhere, and I love it. Gather your playing group(s), grab some popcorn, and have some fun together away from the table.

David Lake

PDM, I agree with your take on the movie, and I also agree it wasn’t made for us old timers. But what I do respect about this first trailer is they don’t seem to be pulling any bait n switch shenanigans. The Led Zeppelin music, the pre-loaded explanation of the plot, the cool CGI renderings of some of the classic D&D distinctives, all of these let us know exactly what this movie is and is not. It’s a fun action romp aimed at a young audience. If they’ve have shown us something grim dark or nuanced then switched to this, I’d be taking a lot more exception. As it is, my daughter is hyped for it and wants to see it so I’ve no complaints.

nsideddice

I think it was good you brought one of your younger players in to help you. When he said it's aimed at a younger audience, he nailed it. As you say in the cut, they're not worried about the fans they have; they are focused on reaching a broader audience.

William Clark Stewart

If I want a solid DnD movie, I'll just watch the original with Jeremy Irons - good balance of pathos and bathos

Brian Leet

I think it looks like joyfully bizarre, slightly incoherent, fan service laden fun! I’m a little surprised by how many folks are down on it here, but I also enjoy the occasional mindless Marvel movie as well. I do agree with PDM that dialogue in movies is often a bit off. To many screenwriters trying to capture the banter of a show like Firefly and just ending up as arguing, critical, or poorly timed rather than the lines from that show which stung on the surface in a way that let you know the characters really loved each other. In any case, I’m not expecting great cinema, but I do expect to have a rollicking time with friends, eat some popcorn and probably come back with a few lines to crib at the table ourselves.

Jay

PDM, I agree with both you and Shad from Shadiversity on this one. However, I expect there will be scathing reviews from Nerdrotic, Critical Drinker, and Geeks and Gamers on the D&D movie and Amazon's "Rings of Power" after release. They already butchered the RoP trailer along with the majority of fans who disliked and ratioed it. Obviously, this does not invalidate opinions for those who like this sort of entertainment. It merely points out contrary points of view. So will you be doing a review of Amazon's "Rings of Power" as well? After all, they allege it is based on Tolkien's work.

Graham Kane
>>88310568

On the subject of tropes, I honestly think D&D is probably the most trope heavy piece of pop culture there is! I mean the first editions of the game were filled with them, 5E builds on them with its setting and background but the tropes remain.

Graham Kane
>>88320349

I’ll have to give Shadiversity’s review a look but there’s no way I’ll watch Nerdrotic or The Drinker etc. anymore. They are just SO negative and full of bile that it’s cringeworthy. I really hope it’s an act they put on to get more views, otherwise they can come across as downright nasty.

Bryan Stephens

I am going to hold judgements in reserve until I see it or friends see it. I have doubts that any movie right now can be anything over than utterly woke. I know TopGun was not, but that had Tom Cruise. This has Chris Pine who helped to destroy Star Trek.

Rhett Burgess

This movie looks bad. The environments looks static. The CGI is serviceable at best and that is far inferior to models and miniature sets. The dialogue is absolute garbage and the trailer reeks of wokeness. It's unfortunate that PDM'S guest didn't have anything interesting or insightful to add to the conversation other than that "he liked the trailer". It would be encouraging to see some young people actually acknowledge that perhaps those who have come before them might know a thing or two about various topics of interest.

james O'Boyle

hey professor, could you do a video on the term mythical underground. I hear it a lot in the osr communities and I guess it references to the old 3 books where the dungeon is alive and doors lock behind players but monsters can open them. but i don't know that doesn't feel mythical it just feels like the dungeon is out to get the players lol.

Michele Merolla

It’s not a d&d make or break moment. There’s nothing to break into. D&d is written as a role playing game. The movie industry cannot mine it in the same way they do books, comic books, and anime that are plot driven and can span every genre. Ps. First time I noticed constant action while speaking dialogue was tv Law & Order

Chad Wilkerson

Not gonna lie, the trailer gives me far more hope for the film than the promo posters did. They’re definitely following the Marvel formula. I think it will do alright at the box office, but it obviously won’t be some cultural phenomenon like LotR or anything.

Jay
>>88320349

Wasn't really fishing for anyone else's opinion here other than PDM but since you chimed in I'll just say. Ok, I don't really care what sources anyone listens to or not. IMHO, listening to various perspectives from several sources even if they have opposing views and drawing my own conclusions based on what facts and evidence are presented if any seems the best way to go. Otherwise, it just seems to be an argument over what flavor ice-cream is better or which brand is the best. It's not important for me to endorse any particular source as sometimes even the ones we listen to on the regular will state something either we or someone else will find offensive, distasteful, or whatever. Anyway, I wish you well and have a great day.

Jay
>>88302600

Seems to me we are of the same mind on a great many things. Excellent points here.

samurguybri

I truly wish some attention would be given to GenCon and Origins. When there is an ebb or fall to the current rise of DND, those people will still be there to keep things going. Even just having a Hasbro DnD booth would be enough of throwing a bone to us. Oh well.

Skyhammer

I've been very surprised at the many comments on this movie in various forums and even in my own d&d group!? Like super nick picky stuff, "the CGI is not great", "why didn't they do a Hoard of the Dragon Queen storyline", "what makes this d&d", "The Tiefling is not red", "Owlbear comment" (of course). On and on it goes... LOL. I think the movie looks super fun. There are tons of d&d elements in it, comedy relief (a central part of the gaming experience). There are accurate classes you can point to, good actors to match those classes, awesome action scenes, and a decent storyline with the wizards of thay being the antagonist. Compare this to all of the other d&d movies which were literally made as a joke... the unfunny kind. I don't know... this looks great to me, the comedic angle decision makes it all the better. If I were to watch a serious, dark, GoT style of a d&d movie, I'd be depressed. It wouldn't feel right to me.

Skyhammer

On the "will this movie make or break d&d" comment. Hmm, interesting, I didn't put that much weight on it. So, I've consulted the bones, and they divine that the movie will not be that relevant on the making or breaking of d&d going forward. But if I had to decide one way or the other, it will 'make' far more than it will 'break'. The bones also say, the movie will be a big success in the box office and will make many, many gold pieces, to the chagrin of us OSR types. Let us see if my divinations are accurate! :-)

MrGunn

Regardless, of whether the film is good or bad, it sure has this group buzzing. :D

Jose Perez (Bromos Sunstar)

I feel like Aliens was the movie that began the bantering amongst the team even though they were a "hard core" Marines unit, that dialogue broke the team unit mentality for me, they acted more like Mercenaries than a professional military unit. I was in an infantry unit we had our jokes but for the most part we did those in barracks not on the battlefield. The banter in this movie makes a little more realistic, they aren't even remotely try to portray a professional military unit. they are just a bunch of freelancers not a professional crew.

Powell Crider
>>88665013

The Marines in Aliens sounded like a lot of the Recon guys I've known over the years