Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Gerry Lively

Writers:

Robert Kimmel (writer)
Gerry Lively (writer)

Release Date:

September 2005 (Thailand)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

From the ultimate evil comes the ultimate quest.

Plot:

Based on the phenomenally successful role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons 2 takes you deeper into the dark and fantastical world of this fantasy epic...

Plot Keywords:

Dungeons And Dragons | Cult Favorite | Box Office Flop | Magic | Sword And Sorcery

Cast

Bruce Payne	...	Damodar
Mark Dymond	...	Berek
Clemency Burton-Hill	...	Melora
Ellie Chidzey	...	Lux (as Ellie Chidzley)
Tim Stern	...	Nim
Steven Elder	...	Dorian
Lucy Gaskell	...	Ormaline
Roy Marsden	...	Oberon
Geoffrey T. Bersey	...	Galtar (as Geoffrey Bersey)
Leonas Ciunis	...	Old Mage
Liubomiras Lauciavicius	...	Mage #1 (as Liubomiras Laucevicius)
Ervinas Peteraitis	...	Mage #2
Vytautas Rumsas	...	Valerious
David Merheb	...	Tibio
Aurimas Meliesius	...	Klaxx (as Aurimas Miliesius)

Also Known As:

Dungeons & Dragons 2: The Elemental Might (Philippines: English title) (USA) (working title)
Dungeons & Dragons - Die Macht der Elemente (Germany) (DVD title)
Dungeons & Dragons: The Sequel (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:105 min | Philippines:105 min

Country:

Germany | Lithuania | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 | France:U | Singapore:PG | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:Not Rated | Germany:12 | Australia:M | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Trakai Castle, Lithuania

Company:

Skyline Films

Trivia:

The film has several explicit references to the AD&D game. A map during the opening credits contains the name "Yeenoghu", a demon lord from the game, and another demon lord from the game, "Jubilex", is mentioned by the characters several times. Also, several references contain the names of AD&D adventure modules (published scenarios). Berek mentions that Dorian helped him in the Ghost Tower of Inverness, a reference to module of the same name (C2). Nim asks Lux what happened to her brother at the "Barrier Peaks", a reference to the module "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" (S3). Lux makes reference to the Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, a reference to the module of the same name (D2).

Goofs:

Continuity: Berek's sword changes scene to scene. One such example is during the dungeon scene: when fighting the darkmantles, his sword has a simple blade-guard and straight-edged blade. In the scene directly afterward, his sword has an ornate blade-guard with jewels and the sword edge has protruding sections to it.

Quotes:

Valerious: Berek, you will always be my captain and I will never forget what you have taught me. Especially this last lesson.
Berek: And what lesson is that?
Valerious: To recognize... when it is time to sheathe your sword... for good.

Movie Connections:

Follows Dungeons & Dragons (2000)

Fun if you are a D&D fan, probably not so fun if you aren't.

The first D&D movie was largely hated by D&D players, partly because it wasn't a good movie, but also because it was not very much like D&D the game.

Perhaps because of the cool reception of the first, this was changed dramatically in the sequel. It now really is like the game, sure to provide lots of geek moments where viewers try to guess which spell is being cast or what magic item is being used. The characters also tend to act like D&D characters, and they actually explore a dungeon.

Unfortunately, as a movie, it has some shortcomings. For one, much of the acting is uninspired. Not bad, but about a wooden as a dummy of Keanu Reeves. The first movie also suffered from this problem, but in this movie, it's probably because most of the actors are new, this generally being their first film. Exception being Tim Stern, the guy playing the Rogue, who brought some life to his character.

The characterization and dialog isn't great, either. Less character development than in some commercials, even though this is a fairly long movie. But I chalk that up also to the inexperience of the screen writers (though also is relatively common in D&D games, so perhaps is a feature, not a bug).

When it comes to special effects, they are about on par with Sci-Fi channel offerings. Slightly better. Lord of the Rings it ain't. But not terrible, either.

Still, just judging it as a fantasy movie, it's much better than most other low budget ones. Worth watching. And for D&D players, it's a lot of fun.