Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

What evil hath this acursed Double Feature wrought?

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 24, 2011

Dungeons & Dragons was practically doomed from the start. Adapting a novel, comicbook or television series for the big screen affords a filmmaker a foundation of established characters and stories. Adapting a sprawling fantasy role-playing game is another matter entirely, particularly when the game in question encourages players to create their own heroes, forge their own adventures and craft their own unique experiences. As such, both Dungeons & Dragons and its direct-to-video sequel, Wrath of the Dragon God, are essentially adaptations of game mechanics, complex rule sets, character classes and bestiaries developed over the course of thirty-five years; elements that are well-suited to a late night game of roll-your-own-adventure with friends who know the differences between a paladin of Dwarel Hills and a cleric of Pelor, but woefully inadequate when it comes to laying the groundwork for a feature film.

"Release the Kraken! I said, reeeelease the KRAKEN! Hm. Release... the dragon? Oh come on, release something..."

Why concoct a generic synopsis for a terribly generic fantasy film when you have a generic trailer at your disposal? Especially one that paints such a perfectly generic picture? So brandish your best gravelly theatrical trailer voices, dear readers; conjure up visions teeming with utterly unremarkable sights and sounds. This is director Courtney Solomon's maligned, turn-of-the-millennium misfire, Dungeons & Dragons. In a faraway world the forces of darkness have threatened to conquer a kingdom. (Those concerned with the lack of proper nouns shouldn't be. Solomon and his co-writers assault viewers with names for dozens of characters, creatures, spells and realms; enough to give even the most attentive filmfan fits. But I digress.) Just when you think you're safe, you're in more danger. Just when you think you've figured it out, everything changes. Just when all seems lost, you find your way. And just when you think you know the rules, you realize... THIS... IS... NO... GAME!

If only it were. There are heroes aplenty -- heart-of-gold thief Ridley Freeborn (Justin Whalin, Lois & Clark), wily partner-in-crime Snails (Marlon Wayans, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), inexperienced wizard's apprentice Marina (Zoe McLellan, Dirty Sexy Money), hot-tempered dwarf Elwood (Lee Arenberg, Pirates of the Caribbean), stoic elven tracker Norda (Kristen Wilson, Dr. Doolittle) and naive young Empress Savina (Thora Birch, American Beauty) -- and villains of vile villainy abound -- power-mongering mage Profion (Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers), blue-lipped warrior Damodar (Bruce Payne, Passenger 57) and a fleet of golden dragons, among other oversized creepy crawlers -- but in a B-movie this bad, the particulars are frankly irrelevant. Suffice it to say, a sinister plot is afoot and Ridley and his unlikely band of do-gooders have to prevent darkness from descending upon the land.

Virtually everything about Dungeons & Dragons comes up short. Rampant overacting, stilted pacing, ham-fisted character development, campy costumes and campier sets, hilarious makeup and prosthetic work, dim-witted jokes and mind-numbing comic relief, some of the worst dialogue of the decade, unbelievably awful CG and visual effects, rubbery dragons and cartoonish creatures, a subpar genre score, stagey melodrama heaped on stagey melodrama, cheese slathered on cheese... try as I might, I can't come up with a single wholehearted compliment to pay the film. I can't even muster a convincing "it's so bad it's good." It's just that bad. Whalin and Wayans have chemistry, I'll give them that. Irons and Payne get a sick kick out of gnawing scenery and screaming at the heavens, that much is certain. But nearly every one of Solomon's directorial decisions, almost every line in Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright's screenplay, and most every shot, scene, fight sequence, performance, sweeping vista and soaring CG beastie only serves as a reminder that Dungeons & Dragons has next to no redeeming value.

Just how horrible is Solomon's critically panned fantasy flop, you ask? So awful that it renders its 2005 direct-to-video sequel relatively watchable. Bearable even. At least writer/director Gerry Lively's Wrath of the Dragon God has a few excuses that help justify its mediocrity: a significantly lower budget, less accomplished actors, cheaper costumes, sillier sets and even less convincing CG (if you can imagine). If nothing else, Lively seems to have a deeper devotion to D&D and its basement-born legacy than Solomon. He not only summons a darker, more serious tone -- one devoid of the burdensome comedy that plagued Solomon's adaptation -- he delivers a more cohesive film, a more invigorating quest, a more intriguing band of characters and more engrossing peril. "More" being the operative word. Don't mistake charitable comments for praise; Wrath of the Dragon God isn't good by any means, it just has the good fortune to follow one of the worst movies of all time.

Its story? Just as generic as the first film's haggard tale. To the trailer! In another time, it was hidden. Its power is growing. Now, an unknown world has awakened its curse. Five heroes, a legendary evil, one ultimate journey, one chance for survival... Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God! Profion's right-hand malefactor, Damodar (Bruce Payne, the only remaining cast member from Solomon's film), returns from the grave with dreams of enslaving the world. His plan? Releasing the black dragon Faluzure, god of destruction and decay. To answer the threat, the King of Izmir dispatches a group of heroes -- disillusioned swordsman Berek (Mark Dymond, The Clinic), powerful mage Melora (Clemency Burton-Hill, Party Animals), cleric Dorian (Steven Elder, Good), barbarian Lux (Ellie Chidzley), elven wizard Ormaline (Lucy Gaskell, Casualty) and crafty thief Nim (Tim Stern) -- hoping beyond hope his champions will be able to kill Damodar and prevent Faluzure's resurrection.

Wrath of the Dragon God boasts better creature designs than Dungeons & Dragons, but lower-quality CG; creepier beasties, but more rubbery makeup and prosthetics; slightly sharper dialogue, but a rash of DTV performances; more commendable fan service, but a less accessible narrative. Still, despite the film's many shortcomings, Dymond and Payne do their best to elevate the material and, on a few fleeting occasions, do just that. D&D zealots will even find the sequel less disappointing than its predecessor, if for no other reason than Lively and co-writers Robert Kimmel and Brian Rudnick pay far more respect to the classes, mechanics and creatures of the original role-playing game than Solomon, Lilien and Cartwright. All that being said, neither Dungeons & Dragons nor Wrath of the Dragon God warrant much consideration. If you can't resist, stick with a rental. Just brace for the worst and prepare to chapter-skip your way through both films.

Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dungeons & Dragons Collection arrives with two very different, albeit equally disappointing 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfers. Solomon's Dungeons & Dragons features a more colorful image by far, searing the screen with gaudy fantasy-realm primaries, splashy bolts of arcane energy and malicious shadows. Detail, though wildly erratic, is decent on the whole, and many of the film's well-lit scenes and closeups look quite good. Problems arise though whenever the sun goes down. Textures wane, edges soften, black levels absorb everything they touch, noise spikes and crush descends on otherwise helpless scenes without mercy. Worse, faint artifacting, intermittent banding and other arguably minor eyesores appear early and often; contrast is inconsistent, skintones are fairly unnatural and saturation isn't up to par; and special effects sequences are haunted by muddy hues, muted blacks, color bleeding and other inherent oddities. No one issue hinders the entire presentation, but together they create an unwieldy mess in need of remastering.

Wrath of the Dragon God offers a sharper picture, but the end result doesn't fare much better. Lively's palette is almost entirely devoid of vibrant colors, favoring bleak hues and undead fleshtones over anything remotely lifelike. Though intentional, black levels are neutered, primary power is nearly non-existent and visual effects struggle with a host of issues. The film's digital-video source doesn't help matters, flattening the foreground and robbing the image of depth. Detail is more revealing, textures are nicely resolved and delineation is more satisfying, but too many sequences suffer from the same contrast, clarity and crispness inconsistencies that plague Dungeons & Dragons. Other abnormalities rear their ugly heads -- errant blocking, noise, crush and the like -- but nothing out of the ordinary for such a low-budget, DTV release. Still, it's difficult to tell which issues are attributable to the encode and which trace back to the source.

Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dungeons & Dragons Collection also comes complete with a pair of passable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks, both of which skirt by on little more than charm. Dungeons & Dragons is bright and buoyant, with clear, intelligible dialogue (for the most part anyway), crisp weapon clashes and magic blasts, weighty LFE output and serviceable rear speaker support. Unfortunately, the film's original sound design is flat, stagey and forgettable. Explosions, fireballs and dragon roars are heavy but cumbersome, spotty ADR spoils several lines, directionality is adequate but uninvolving, and much of the soundscape is hollow, tinny or worse. To be clear though, I doubt Warner's lossless efforts are to blame. Dungeons & Dragons simply isn't the immersive powerhouse fantasy fans might expect. The same could be said of Dragon God's two-dimensional mix. Again, voices rarely falter, the LFE channel answers its film's call to arms and the rear speakers grab hold of what little the soundscape has on tap. Every time I was underwhelmed, Lively -- not Warner -- was to blame. Every time I shrugged my shoulders, the film's budget and sound design were the culprits. Ultimately, each track escapes harsher criticism by the skin of its teeth.

Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first Dungeons & Dragons has the better supplemental package of the two in this Warner Double Feature, not to mention its own Blu-ray disc. Two commentaries, two featurettes, a series of deleted scenes and four visual effects breakdowns... the bonus content isn't going to convert anyone to the film's fold, but fans will find it adds even more value to an already generously priced release.

• Audio Commentaries: Two feature-length commentaries are available: one with director/producer Courtney Solomon, actor Justin Whalin (Ridley Freeborn) and game co-creator Dave Arenson, and one with Solomon, Arenson and director of photography Doug Milsome. There's some overlap between the tracks -- leading one to wonder why two commentaries were even necessary -- as well as several stretches of silence, but that isn't my chief complaint. Listening to Solomon, Arenson, Milsome and Whalin gush over every scene, special effect, performance and gag grows old fast, and digesting hyperbolic praise like this gem: "people wonder why this movie took a year-and-a-half in post and the reason is, in order to get these special effects in the way Corey told me he wanted these special effects to be, it took a tremendous amount of perseverance and unwillingness to accept anything less than perfection. And it's to Corey's credit that this is what these dragons look like." Cue awkward silence. Both tracks are meant for diehard fans of the film; everyone else should skip them altogether. The only worthwhile bits come courtesy of Arenson, but digging through Solomon and Whalin's back-patting to find the game-creator's separately recorded segments is frankly more trouble than it's worth.
• Let the Games Begin (SD, 15 minutes): More profile than legitimate history, this "Profile and History of Adventure Gaming" comes up short, delivering a quick overview of the origins of Dungeons & Dragons, its success and popularity, its publications and creatures, and the cast and filmmakers' earliest encounters with the game. Unfortunately, it's loaded with personal anecdotes and film clips, little more.
• The Making of Dungeons & Dragons (SD, 21 minutes): Solomon helms this decent behind-the-scenes documentary that digs into the genesis of the film, the unorthodox process of translating a role playing game to the big screen, shooting the live action sequences, creating creatures and kingdoms via CG, and bringing it all together.
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Director Commentary (SD, 19 minutes): Solomon reveals the reasoning behind cutting or trimming eleven scenes: "D&D Creator Cameo," "Extended Council Meeting," "In the Sewers," "Inside the Scroll," "Into the Thieves' Guild," "Extended Guild Fight," "Norda & Snails," "Norda & Marina," "Ridley's Vision," "Waiting for Ridley" and an "Alternate Ending."
• Special Effects Deconstruction (SD, 13 minutes): Four deconstructions are included -- "Opening Scene," "Dragons Attack," "Savina Leads Dragons" and "Dragon Dogfight" -- each one offering a three-stage look at the film's visual effects.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3 minutes)

Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God has its share of features as well, just not as many as the first film. Do yourself a favor though, skip the disc's audio commentary. It's... well, read on.

• Audio Commentary: Wizards of the Coast D&D special projects manager Edward Stark, Dawn Akemi and John Frank Rosenblum deliver one of the worst commentaries I've ever listened to. The trio stay in character for the duration of the tongue-in-cheek track as iconic D&D game characters Krusk (a half-orc), Lidda (a halfling rogue) and Jozan (a human cleric). It isn't funny, it isn't entertaining, it isn't informative in any way. It's simply obnoxious. Want a small taste of what lies in wait? Behold and beware: "Oh! He's got a monkey staff! I want a monkey staff! Will one of you steal me a monkey staff? Who's the bug-eyed guy? Get your eyes off my monkey staff, bug-eyed guy!" Ugh. Maybe I just didn't get any of it...
• Rolling the Dice: Adapting the Game to the Screen (SD, 22 minutes): The direct-to-video sequel's cast and crew discuss the game, its rules and appeal, and the challenges in bringing it to life on screen.
• The Arc: A Conversation with Gary Gygax (SD, 17 minutes): D&D creator Gary Gygax reflects on his life's work, chats about the game as he developed it, discusses the importance of story and character, and provides an impassioned defense of Wrath of the Dragon God.

Dungeons & Dragons 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even at six or seven bucks a piece, Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God aren't worth your time, money or effort. The former, a sadsack fantasy flop if there ever was one, ranks as one of the worst movies of all time, and the latter, though a substantial improvement over the first film, isn't nimble enough to sidestep the usual direct-to-video pitfalls. Warner's 2-disc Double Feature Blu-ray release only adds insult to injury. While each film earns its own Blu-ray disc, both video transfers stumble more often than they soar, both DTS-HD Master Audio tracks underwhelm and both supplemental packages disappoint in one way or another. Fans of the duo will be pleased to know both AV presentations thoroughly outclass their DVD counterparts, but as Blu-ray releases go, each one is decidedly average.