Dungeons & Dragons (2000)

Profion, a tyrant, attempts to overthrow a peaceful kingdom ruled by a tough empress.

Director:

Courtney Solomon

Writers:

Topper Lilien, Carroll Cartwright

Stars:

Justin Whalin, Jeremy Irons, Zoe McLellan

Bottom Rated Movies #68 | 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irons	...	Profion
Bruce Payne	...	Damodar
Justin Whalin	...	Ridley Freeborn
Marlon Wayans	...	Snails
Robert Miano	...	Azmath
Tomas Havrlik	...	Mage
Thora Birch	...	Empress Savina
Edward Jewesbury	...	Vildan Vildir
Zoe McLellan	...	Marina Pretensa
Lee Arenberg	...	Elwood Gutworthy
Kristen Wilson	...	Norda
Martin Astles	...	Orc #1
Matthew O'Toole	...	Orc #2
David O'Kelly	...	Three Eyes
Richard O'Brien	...	Xilus

Storyline

The Empire of Izmer has long been a divided land. The Mages - an elite group of magic-users - rule whilst the lowly commoners are powerless. Izmer's young Empress, Savina, wants equality and prosperity for all, but the evil Mage Profion is plotting to depose her and establish his own rule. The Empress possesses a scepter which controls Izmer's Golden Dragons. To challenge her rule, Profion must have the scepter, and tricks the Council of Mages into believing Savina is unfit to hold it. Knowing that Profion will bring death and destruction to Izmer, Savina must find the legendary Rod of Savrille, a mythical rod that has the power to control Red Dragons, a species even mightier than the Gold. Enter two thieves, Ridley and Snails, who unwittingly become instrumental in Savina's search for the Rod. Joined by a feisty Dwarf named Elwood, and helped by the Empress's expert tracker, the Elf Norda, the young heroes go in search of the Rod of Savrille. From the deadly maze of the Thieves Guild...

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Plot Keywords:

empress | scepter | empire | mage | dragon | 

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Taglines:

The game has just begun

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence

Details

Official Sites:

New Line WOTC site, with synopsis and bios

Country:

USA Czech Republic Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Calabozos y dragones

Filming Locations:

Kutná Hora, Stredoceský, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,237,422, 10 December 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,220,685

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,807,409

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Sweetpea Entertainment, Silver Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marlon Wayans was also starring in Requiem for a Dream (2000) while this film was shooting. His scenes were shot in a few weeks.

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Goofs

At the Tree of Life, the amount and position of the dirt on Marina's face changes between shots.

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Quotes

Profion: Not so talented eh, Mr Ridley!

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Crazy Credits

No dragons or other animals were hurt or injured during the filming of this motion picture.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD contains several deleted and extended scenes as well as alternate versions of scenes used in the movie. According to director Corey Solomon, most of these were not used because of budgetary constraints in regards to special effects. They include:

• A cameo by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson as a council wizard during the dragon fighting toward the end of the movie.
• An extended Council meeting where Profion (Jeremy Irons) tries to convince the Council that Empress Savina (Thora Birch) is somehow responsible for his botched experiment at controlling dragons.
• Ridley (Justin Whalin), Snails (Marlon Wayans), Marina (Zoe McLellan), and Elwood (Lee Arenberg) escape the city watch through the sewers. Elwood introduces himself to the party and Marina gets sewer water dumped on her in copious amounts.
• Ridley and Marina's encounter inside the magical scroll they both get sucked into. Ridley explains why he has a hatred of mages, and the duo are charged with the quest to seek the Rod of Savrille.
• The party enters the Thieves' Guild of Antioch through a series of secret doors and passages.
• An extended version of the Thieves' Guild fight. In this version we see footage of Elwood going into a battle rage when his helmet is knocked off.
• An extended version of Snails trying to woo over Norda (Kristen Wilson). They have a conversation about the moon and "sensing" things.
• A conversation between Marina and Norda after Snails' death. It is revealed that Marian has feelings for Ridley and Norda had some degree of affection for Snails. They are interrupted by an elven search party.
• While being healed by the Elf King (Tom Baker), Ridley has a vision of a gold dragon hatching from an egg.
• A scene of the party wating outside the cave while Ridley seeks the Rod of Savrille. They are discovered by Damodar (Bruce Payne) and his men.
• An alternate ending sequence, where Ridley stands at Snails' grave alone, speaking to his friend. After his speech, Ridley walks away from the grave, presumably back to the celebrations.

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Dungeons and Dragons (2011)

User Reviews

A real insult to D&D fans.

I'm not a fan of D&D at all, but I could easily understand why fans would be miffed by this overblown, campy, overacted and very cheezy film adaptation.

Jeremy Irons was in this movie? What? That skinny old guy who yelled a lot was really him?? You're kidding, Jeremy Irons is a great actor, he'd never be in such a corny flick! I suppose next you're gonna tell me Thora Birch was that awful Empress, right? She was?!?! My God, how did they get those two fine actors to both be in this movie and act so badly in it? That's not right!

Oh, and it goes without saying that putting a Wayans brother(except Damon) in your movie is equivalent to putting a dead rat in the water supply. He serves only as a tepid comic relief that painfully reminds me of Jar Jar Binks in Phantom Menace. Effectively killing what little spark of life this "film" could have had.

Overall, a nice enough idea completely ruined by lame CG effects and atrocious acting. Poor, fuggly little movie. Stay far, far away!

My score: 2/10