Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (2008) (V)

Director:

Will Meugniot

Writers:

Tracy Hickman (novel)
George Strayton (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

The heroes of Krynn take a stand against evil!

Plot:

A barbarian woman with a miraculous healing staff gains the help of a group of to-be heroes as an army of dragons invades the land.

Plot Keywords:

Dragon | Knight | Sword And Sorcery | Goblin | Unicorn

Cast

Michael Rosenbaum	...	Tanthalas 'Tanis' Half-Elven (voice)
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Raistlin Majere (voice)
Lucy Lawless	...	Goldmoon (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Flint Fireforge / Fewmaster Toede (voice)
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Tika (voice)
Rino Romano	...	Caramon Majere (voice)
Jason Marsden	...	Tasslehoff Burrfoot (voice)
Neil Ross	...	Fizban The Fabulous (voice)
Marc Worden	...	Sturm Brightblade (voice)
Phil LaMarr	...	Riverwind / Gilthanas (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dee Bradley Baker	...	Pyros (voice)
Juliette Clair	...	Onyx (voice)
Nika Futterman	...	Takhisis (voice)
Caroline Gelabert	...	Laurana (voice)
Ben L. McCain	...	Elistan (voice)
Jentle Phoenix	...	Bupu (voice)
Susan Silo	...	Flamestrike (voice)
David Sobolov	...	Verminaard
Mari Weiss	...	The Forestmaster (voice)

Also Known As:

A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Tale (USA) (subtitle)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence.

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-11 | Australia:PG

Company:

Commotion Pictures

Trivia:

Kiefer Sutherland actually looked into the whole background of his character, Raistlin, before showing up on the set to do the recording. He was continuously worried about the pronunciation of the magic spells, so they had to to record multiple takes around his spell casting.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the credits, Michael Rosenbaum's name is misspelled as "Michael Rosenbaun."

Quotes:

Tasslehoff Burrfoot: Hey! She cast that spell without using those funny words! Why can't you do that, all powerful mage?
Raistlin Majere: She's channeling the power of a god, you dolt. I'm wresting arcane energies from the very fabric of the universe - it's completely different.

High Expectations, Low Return.

Coming on the tail-end of 2007 and the start of 2008, one would expect a decent amount of increase in quality in animated movies, especially considering the detail and flow of Anime that comes from across the pond, in Japan.

The first 10 seconds had me cringing and praying that the opening Dragonflight was just a basic crappy title-scene. Unfortunately, it was a horrid foreshadowing of what was to be a 90 minute flashback to TV's 1994 "animated" series, "Reboot".

The animation itself was choppy and poorly drawn. It made me believe that we haven't improved anything since the days of Thundercats and He-Man. And then someone had the bright idea to include poorly done CGI into this cesspool of Technicolor Regurgitation! What brain-child thought THIS idea would be cool, nifty, and grand is completely beyond me.

Well, at least I could fall back on the stellar voice acting of Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Rosenbaum, Lucy Lawless, and Michelle Trachtenberg, right? I mean, stars from such shows as 24, Smallville, Xena, and Buffy!! Apparently, these actors must not be able to get into character unless they can actually physically fill the roles of the character they are portraying. The voice acting was lackluster at best. The fight scenes and heated arguments were strained, as if they were trying to yell at themselves in a mirror, and just as equally unbelievable.

The story itself, if you can suffer your eyes and mental capacity long enough to watch it, remains somewhat true to form to the book. Though, if Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman were to actually see this, I'm sure they'd want to be buried so they could start rolling over.

All-in-all, I'd recommend sticking to the book and avoiding this "movie", else you run the risk of ruining a great story you once held in your mind. Pretty much the same way that Lost Boys was totally and completely awesome when I was 13, but watching it 2 weeks ago opened my eyes to how campy and crappy it really is. What a way to ruin my remembrance of two completely awesome titles.

Anyways, I'd have had more enjoyment if someone locked me into a circular room and told me to find a corner to pee in.