I love this Dungeons & Dragons Movie. Everything about it made the geek inside me happy. Comment below with your thoughts on the film and if you have ever tried D&D around the tabletop. 👕 The T-Shirt I'm wearing in the video is from my merch shop. It's NewfieStyles on Etsy. Click this link ➡ www.etsy.com/shop/NewfieStyles If you want to keep watching more of my videos check out my movie playlist here ru-vid.com/group/PLnNWSHvmmGzgoHKZ05oBodCUzhXptPk7S
What got me is that he has this and Rocket Raccoon. Getting typecast as a CGI half pint is such an oddly specific and weird direction for a career to take.
Themberchaud, the fat dragon, is actually a lore character from Forgotten Realms. He was kept by the deep dwarves to keep their forges hot and they fed him copious amounts for his work. He ended up getting fat and lazy since he didn't have to do much and his fire breath required him to make a spark which at his size he couldn't do often. He instead breathes a combustible gas that the spark in his throat would ignite. They just used the candle trick to light the gas and blow their way out,
Another fun fact, Gary Gygax himself improvised Themberchaud during a 2e module, when a players cat jumped onto the board, and he thought "Yeah, this is the boss now."
The pudgy dragon was a masterstroke. What does every single party since the original edition yell when the host's fat housecat jumps onto the tabletop? "DRAGON!"
Themberchaud, the dragon, is actually in the lore of D&D and was conceived by Gary Gygax in 2e. He improvised Themberchaud when his cat jumped on the mat, so you're not wrong at all!
The intellect devourer bit was golden. If you stop to think about it... NONE of them has a class that requires INT as a core class stat. Charisma for Paladins, Bards and Sorcerors, Wisdom for the Druid and probably a lot of Strength, Dexterity and Constitution for whatever class Hulda is. :D
My whole D&D group went together to watch this in theatres. We were among only a handful present there, and we had an absolute blast. We could relate so much to what we were seeing. As someone who twice campaigned as a bard with this group, it was super validating to see one as the focal character, as well.
26:53 - I think the science behind it was that the fat dragon had the ability to breathe out the gases, but is impaired in igniting it himself, as seen several times before by the sparks in the mouth not doing anything. The only time he did breathe actual fire was when there was a lava waterfall in the way. So in the enclosed space, he could only breathe out the combustible gases which built up, then prematurely ignited by the flame finger trick. The saltwater thing just gives Edgin the knowledge that they were below a sea that they may escape through by swimming. Hope this clears that scene up. Great reaction from a passionate player!
@averyofhousejade1176 it made 208 million, it cost to make 150 million, but that doesn't count things like advertising so the rule of thumb is you have to at least double the budget to find the break even so it lost 100 million.
@@averyofhousejade1176 It released up against The Super Mario Brothers movie, didn't get enough promotion, and it just so happened that Wizards of the Coast tried to reneg on a decades long open content policy and fleece third-parties who build out their system. There was a huge boycott and one of the biggest PR disasters I've ever seen Like: I can't emphasize how colossally stupid it was. They made a game where the main focus is "You can do anything." The very core of the game is that every group has a person who designs, builds, narrates, and works out the mechanics of the world. Naturally this spawns an extremely vibrant ecosystem of mini-designers who tweak and twist their rule system to better fit their friends at the table. WotC saw that market and said "Damn, we need to get even more of that money" and tried to significantly change the terms of access to their rule system to make it super paywalled... Like, idiots: Every 3rd customer of yours IS a minidesigner. You're telling like a third of your customer base that they might technically owe you money if anything they did is really good. AND you're doing this at a time when entire publishers are built, running, and ready to step into your place and financially motivated to broadcast how dangerous your move is to every game and table Needless to say, they had to roll it back because they lost a ton of money to it and caused their biggest advocates to create their own tabletop games now (Critical Role, Matt Colville) and create their own open gaming license (ORC)
As someone who isn't that knowledgeable about D&D, I LOVED this movie. The casting were amazing, the chemistry between actors was on point and just an overall fun movie
As someone who has played for over 30 years I can say I only have one complaint about this movie....never...and I mean NEVER has a group gotten this much done in 2 1/2 hours!! LMAO....seriously though, they NAILED this movie. Enough storytelling in the right way to keep those who dont know engaged. And so so SOOOO much for us players. Fingers crossed for a sequel!!!
Fun fact: Themberchaud actually debuted in 2e lore, his previous den before the movie was a dwarven smithy. They would give him food and occasionally gold, and he would keep their furnaces lit. With food and treasure being so easy to come by, he got understandably fat. However, he was not the first, and when Themberchaud what happened to his predecessors he made his escape.
@@NewfieMovieReactions Thw whole story can be played through in Out of Abyss, It's pretty cool actually. Technically htye aren't dwarves that keep him captive, the Duergar are kind of like cousins of dwarves but with grey skin, a pretty nasty attitude and Gracklstugh, their capital is essentially one giant forge, the ash and smoke making it hard to breathe when not in a building. Themberchaud was getting too old and too smart to be kept at bay much longer so the Duergar procured another Red Dragon egg to hatch in order to replace Themberchaud. Themberchaud found out and wanted the players to steal the egg to bring it to him so he could eat it and keep being treated well by Duergar. This is Canonically what happens with the Themberchaud storyline, although the party can choose not to help Themberchaud and even actively work against him in their campaigns if they wish. Canonically Themberchaud stays in Gracklstugh for a while after killing the unhatched dragon but eventually gets tired of being a glorified furnace, as he is now too fat to fly or walk and he hasn't developed much mentally since being locked away, he inlisted others to help him escape deeper into the underdark.
This movie is so great! It’s fun for people who know everything about D&D and also fun for people who know nothing about it. They made it a movie for everyone to enjoy! Doric is my favorite character.
The other team in the maze was actually dressed like the cartoon D&D group from the 80s animation. There is also a Volkswagon commercial, though I think it only aired internationally.
I've been playing this game for around 40 years and this movie was fantastic! Love the way the writers and actors portrayed the characters - it really felt like a was watching a game in progress. You're so right about druids - one of my current players is always getting into trouble sneaking into places.
In my campaign I played as a Rogue (Tabaxi Swashbuckler), I always succeeded stealth roles when in combat. (It helps having +13 to stealth.) However, when I wanted to skulk around town after curfew to "see the sights" I always rolled a Nat 1. It became a running gag.
I love how much of the lore they got right. Really the only lore-based criticisms I've heard were minor nitpicks, they put a lot of effort into making it a movie for fans but also just good and understandable for casual moviegoers. I think this might be my favorite fantasy movie... ever.
considering today's C.G. I'd say we got very lucky with how this movie turned out. If they had used c.g. i can only assume it would have been so cheesy bad. The practical effects are awesome. and the fight sequences are so cool. Holga's stunt double kicks ass
He realized that Holga WAS Kia's mom, he was indeed not raising Kia's mom, he was raising HIS WIFE. His daughter had never known her mother... she'd only ever known Holga. So he did what he said he was going to do: he made them a family again. He brought HOLGA back so his daughter could have both her mom and dad again.
Honestly I feel this movie should win an award for the costume and practical effects alone. It made Dragonborn, aarakocra and all the other non-human races seem legit and normal
This movie was great. Other than the fact that I saw this 2 weeks after my wife had died and did not know that was a main plot point. But it was genuinely good. Having watched it a second time now with more time having passed i do appreciate him having to make the choice to move on.
Not sure if anyone brought up the 80s animated dnd show party being in the games easter egg yet, but that was easily one of my favorite bits! And I LOVE pracitcal effects! To see some puppetry was AWESOME. And for something so intrinsically creative as DnD, the mix of many crafts just added to the films faithful spirit. I'm favored towards a mix of all mediums, and this film nailed that for me
Holga is from the Elk tribe, the same tribe as Wulfgar, one of the Companions of the Hall. The wizard that Simon sees when he tries to atone with the helmet was supposed to be Elminster (but it's only a reflection of Simon himself). Themberchaud was allied with the Duergar, and worked on their forges, being paid regularly in treasure, protection of his lair, and disobedient slaves as a snack. The duergar tried to keep him happy and fat.
I think I've watched this movie like 3 times and also pretty much every reaction to it on RU-vid, lol. Been waiting for you to react to it! :D Awesome movie and a great reaction!
@@NewfieMovieReactions oh, also, it wasn't the salt water that was flammable, it was the dragon's breath :D It was shown earlier that he has trouble sparking up his breath into fully-fledged fire. So Ed's plan was to use Simon's finger-candle trick to light it up and to explode the cave they were in, because leaking salt water meant they were under sea, which meant they could escape :)
@@NewfieMovieReactions oh, and also, here's the obligatory "Rege-Jean didn't hear the director call 'cut' because of the waves, so he kept just going in a straight line, and they found it so hilarious, they kept it in the film" comment :D
The whole cg vs practical thing is so stupid imo. Ive seen good and bad of both. Even in this movie, some of the animatronics looked and moved like robots rather than living creatures. Vfx (which is what the “cgi” industry actually calls it, they never actually say cgi) is used in so much more than you’d realize, and even if they do use practical, vfx is used a lot to touch it up and make it look better. Other than that, nice reaction
regarding the underwater explosion, the dragon likely breaths out methane and would ignite the methane with a sparke from its mouth. They utilized the dragon filling the chamber with gas as a means to destroy the wall between them and the ocean.
As a D&D player, I recognized it for what it is: an Arcane Gate spell, literally on a stick. The range & duration were tweaked for plot reasons, but it's still a 6th level spell at its core.
As a long time DnD player, this film was a delight start to finish. Well cast, well filmed, beautiful, interesting sets, well LIT (I tell you what, being able to see everything on screen makes a nice change from other recent fantasy shows, they probably also had beautiful sets, but you couldn't SEE them) ALSO shoutout to the costume department for not dressing everyone in shades of "Ye Olde Mud". The choice to use a lot of practical effects was a great one, it means this film won't look ridiculous in a year, and practical effects are always better for immersion. Everything was interesting to look at, you got a great sense of the world without needing hours of infodumping, and it was just...fun :D It's been immediately added to my rotation of "movies to watch when I need to improve my day" which honestly is a short list. tl;dr: loved it, 8.5/10, loses points for Hugh Grant because I just can't stand the guy (don't at me, he's a fine actor, I just don't like most of his work), but it's great. Have you considered reacting to The Legend of Vox Machina animated series? (if you haven't watched it already, your recognition of the FCG reference makes me think you might have) based on Critical Role's first DnD campaign, and produced and voiced by the same cast that played those characters for years :) Do recommend if you want more DnD-based goodness.
You know, I LOVED Hugh Grant in this film because he plays just the sleazy git I love to hate him as. Normally we’re meant to like his characters so this was cathartic. 😂
I love real made much better then cgi.. They did a great job with The Dark Crystal series with all the puppets.. but it was too expesive so they cancleled it... So back to CGI haha
The situation with the flame finger in the cave. It was shown earlier that the dragon was having trouble ignighting its breath it succeeds earlier when it spits into the lava but it's ignition doesn't seem to work on its own. So they were just ignighting the accumulated dragons breath.
I'm sure this has been answered already, or you found it in the edit, but the combustible part when they were cornered by the dragon was the dragon breath. The dragon had been trying to blow fire the entire fight but couldn't manage to get it to spark.
Ohhh I didn't think it was that, I thought where he said. This is Salt water, I have a plan! I thought it was something to do with that. Haha okay thanks for explaining it.
@@NewfieMovieReactions The salt water was just that he knew they were close enough that if the rock blasted apart, they'd be able to swim to the surface of the ocean and escape.
This is the best G&D movie that's out there. I was 19 when I was first played D&D. The group that I was play with was just moving from the AD&D to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. It was 1989 when I first purchased the Player's handbook. Which I still have at the moment. I was working at McDonald's, it was the most stressful Of my time and playing D&D helped to get rid my mind off of somethings and some of the stress that I was faced with.
Hiyooo, life long dice thrower her as well. Been with my beloved d20 going on 37 years. Was introduced to it when I was 7, so do your math and that is how old I am. Question, did you see the multiple nods to R.A. Salvador's franchise FORGOTTEN REALMS books? Particularly the Legend of Drizzt series on the map. Places like The Spine of the World, Icewind Dale, Kelvin's Charn, and Baulders Gate. Hope you noticed that. And if you look closely in the High Sun games one of the three groups there in the background as well as safe in the cage in the middle, we see a serious IRL nod to the 80's cartoon.
This just popped up in my recommendations. I'm an Old School DnD guy myself. I'm excited to hear your take. Fwiw, I pretty much loved the whole thing. It had a lot of very recognizable things, but didn't force itself to "follow the rules". It just tasted like DnD. Oh, I've played for like, 38 years i think?
I loved this movie especially the Easter Eggs,.. the talk to dead shpele was so funny I had to pause the movie because it is so something my last Adventure group would do.. All the cock ups SO D&D. Effing great.
This movie makes me so happy. I absolutely love it. It's the best one since the first D&D movie in 2000's. " _She's throwing a potato!_ " Kills me 😂 Oh poor Jarnathan :D _Not fortune found, nor fate divine,_ _Come close to toping the juice of the vine._
The fat dragon is so overweight he can't breathe fire. He spews out gas but it doesn't light unless there is a fire. Holga hit it to get it mad so it would fill the room with gas and the candle spell ignited it. Evard's Black Tentacles.
There are so many subtle additions that may or may not have been on purpose regarding things like good or bad rolls. for example, delaying the story until Jarnathan arrived, getting trapped in the sand pit and unable to get out, when the guard was about to execute them in the alley holga was able to delay him giving her time to get the brick, the fact that Edgin kept trying but failing to cut the ropes tying his hands... just to name a few lol really well made movie and surprised me Also your comment on not being all that invested in his wife at the beginning when she died is on par with the theme of the ending, the audience was in the same position as his daughter.
I've been playing D&D for 40 years, starting with AD&D 1e. Have you watched the Dungeon & Dragons movie from 2000 and/or its sequels? Even Jeremy Irons is pretty bad in it. What about the Dragonlance animated movie? Frankly, the Record of Lodoss Wars OVAs were much better than any of those.
@@NewfieMovieReactions I wish that I could recommend Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but that was a passion project that just didn't turn out well at all. If you check out the previous D&D movies, consider having alcohol on hand. Record of Lodoss War is pretty nifty though!
Great review. I loved it too. You missed Simon's last name and there was another easter egg with the wizard (sage perhaps?) he saw while trying to attune. His last name is "Au Mar". I would assume the person he saw was Elminster.
Like JinxedPixie pointed out, he was seeing himself from the start. He himself was the only obstacle in the way of him getting better as a sorcerer, and he needed to stand up for himself to attune with the helmet.
The dragon's breath was just gas, no fire, due to its overweight nature and age (at one point it breathed near lava and then it ignited) so Edgin realized if Simon used his fire cantrip then he could set it off and detonate the cavern
Love the movie, enjoyed your reaction. TTRPGer for 40+ years, played pretty much everything at least once including most iterations of D&D (4th Edition is my favorite). Refereed a few systems - Traveller, Star Trek, Cyberpunk and 7th Sea (but not any D&D).
You guessed at levels a few times. There are official statblocks for characters in the movie. The four party members are all CR 5. Forge is CR 8. Zenk is CR 10. Sofina is CR 15.
What I love about this movie is that if you don't know anything about dnd, the movie is just a very fun fantasy movie BUT if you know a lot about dnd, you can see the matrix lol. You can see the rolls, you can tell the paladin is a DMPC, that the bard gives pep talks so much because he's using bardic inspiration, it genuinely feels like when they were writing this, they kept thinking about what the actual players were doing behind the scenes, and that's why it succeeds, it FEELS like a dnd campaign come to life
So, fun fact: Temberchaud the fat dragon canonically sucks at breathing fire. He struggles to spark because... Well... He is fat. So he just breathes a lot of flammable gas and uses outside sources to ignite it, like the fire in the forges of the Underdark Dwarves, or the lava in the movie or... Simon doing a shitty cantrip.
14:37 Well - depending on the edition she's either level 20 (in 5e - until level 20 druids only have 2 wild shapes per day, she shifted 7 times during this chase) or epic level (3.0 or 3.5 - 7th wildshape comes with level 21, and the ability to shape into magical beasts like an owlbear is an epic level feature as well). Regarding the fight with the dragon - don't forget that Paladins have Smite Evil. Not to mention that in Pathfinder (yeah I know, not exactly D&D) their first attack against their smite target deals double damage if it is an evil outsider, dragon or undead.
I started D&D back in the old days of Basic and Advanced rules - I had all of the basic box sets. From there, I spread to all other RPGs - my favorites have been Shadowrun (I love the way they did the NPC comments in the sourcebooks) and the Palladium books (including the classic TMNT, which I own a first edition of with the Not-PC Insanity tables). Of those two, I own nearly all of the original books - took me forever to find some of them - like the Tir sourcebook for Shadowrun.
So this movie uses a lot of lore from the official D&D campaign setting the Forgotten Realms. For example, Thumberchad, the pudgy red dragon, is an actual dragon from the campaign Out of the Abyss.
I knew what a D20 was before I could count that high. I had the original little white box for D&D. And Traveler. I also used to write for Games Workshop. Ran the tournaments and stuff. Loved going to all the cons, watching people play games and drinking adult beverages for a living.
I love this movie! I play so much DnD with my online friends, it's so chaotic my god, and watching this with my aunt was a trip because I was basically explaining almost everything DnD to her. Is it predictable? Yes, but I've always said, I would rather have a really good predictable movie than a terrible movie that tries too hard to go for "breaking the norm" and failing. This is a feel good movie about magic and monsters and I love it!
Playing D&D for over 25 years now and I loved this movie. The subtle easter eggs like the D&D cartoon series characters as well as the boogie man that is Thay (which I learned to know well in the AD&D 2E campaign I was in back in the days. I love how they managed to make everything easy to grasp for someone who does not know anything about D&D as well as warming the hearts of die hard fans. That is also why I think they did not make bard or druid spellcasting a thing, it would have confused the average movie goer (like "Wait... he/she is now a sorcerer too!?").
somebody might have mentioned already, but I'm a real fucking nerd when it comes to dragons, so here's what I saw. The reason why the air combusted is because the dragon "breathed out" methane (most likely) which is highly flammable. Also fun fact, If dragons would have existed irl, they most likely would have been used methane as it's both lighter than air (helping in flight) and flammable. :D
"I told you he'd get us out!" You: "Yeah, against his will though." Me: "Every great party knows that the best plans always contain an element of surprise."
My good friend and I love this movie! One of the things we enjoy about this movie, is the fact that they went with practical effects and make-up for the non-human species characters instead of CGI.
I used to play D&D while in the military in the early 90's. I also read most of the books from both Dragonlance & Forgotten Realms and played a lot of RPGs on the computer & consoles.
I still have my original box set of D&D. Haven't played it, or any other tabletop game in years, but I was there at the beginning. Loved this movie. Not great art but a great Saturday afternoon beer and chips flick.
I’m glad that they didn’t make Holga and Edgin a thing. I like that they’re close, loyal friends who raised a kid together without there having to be a romance involved.
Love this movie so much and have a major love and interest in D&D unfortunately though I have never played no matter how bad I want to. But my area is very rural and their are no D&D games close by and no lvl 1 starter campaigns. So sadly I have never played no matter how much I love the game or the film. And the film only reinforced my love for the game.
I still feel sorry for Jarnathan. I love that the guy on the portrait is Volo. When Sophina wasn't her undead look self i thought she was pretty. Those eyes of Daisy are magnificent.
I started playing D&D in '79 and have loved RPGs ever since. I loved this movie. i have seen a few reactions to this movie, but all were those who did not know D&D or RPGs. This was great to see the perspective of someone who does understand it all. One thing I really liked is that even those who had no knowledge really enjoyed it as well.
