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A review by helpfulsnowman
Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms Classics, Volume 1 by Jeff Grubb
3.0
This is an extremely cheesy yet very enjoyable version of D&D.
You know what's weird about D&D? I mean, other than everything?
It seems like it's never really made the leap into other formats very successfully.
Movies, no. TV, not really. Comics, eh, probably the closest, best version that has the charm without trying to, I don't know, do something incredibly dumb with it.
My pet theory is that adaptations have been done by Hollywood types, and the chances of Hollywood types really understanding the appeal of D&D is almost nil.
A theory that might be totally false!
In 1990, Courtney Solomon got in touch with the rights-holding studio for D&D, and they supposedly told him that they couldn't figure out what the "x factor" for D&D was. D&D X factor is like too many single letters in one term.
Solomon got the rights, then spent almost two years traveling to get funding, THEN had multiple fallthroughs with GIGANTIC directors, including James Cameron (who went and did Titanic instead. I would've thought D&D would turn out a better movie than a real-life disaster that we all know the ending to, and this is one of many reasons I am not James Cameron and still kinda buy his Avatar nonsense. I've never understood him, so why would I understand him now?").
A BUNCH of things fell through, Solomon ended up writing and directing himself, which he didn't seem particularly keen to do, and, well, a movie like this with a passionate, but perhaps inexperienced, writer/director definitely presents a dicey proposition, and the results weren't incredible.
There's a new D&D movie on its way soon, and I'm...not slobbering in anticipation here. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine. Most things that get wide release these days are mostly competent, I don't know that studios can put the kind of money into a medium-sized movie they once did.
But I think the x factor is just that: it's an unknown. Because with D&D, it's probably the little side quests, the unplanned adventures, the nature of roleplaying in the game that make it what it is, and I think it's probably those things that make it beloved by fans and completely baffling to those who never played or just don't dig that sort of thing.
You know what's weird about D&D? I mean, other than everything?
It seems like it's never really made the leap into other formats very successfully.
Movies, no. TV, not really. Comics, eh, probably the closest, best version that has the charm without trying to, I don't know, do something incredibly dumb with it.
My pet theory is that adaptations have been done by Hollywood types, and the chances of Hollywood types really understanding the appeal of D&D is almost nil.
A theory that might be totally false!
In 1990, Courtney Solomon got in touch with the rights-holding studio for D&D, and they supposedly told him that they couldn't figure out what the "x factor" for D&D was. D&D X factor is like too many single letters in one term.
Solomon got the rights, then spent almost two years traveling to get funding, THEN had multiple fallthroughs with GIGANTIC directors, including James Cameron (who went and did Titanic instead. I would've thought D&D would turn out a better movie than a real-life disaster that we all know the ending to, and this is one of many reasons I am not James Cameron and still kinda buy his Avatar nonsense. I've never understood him, so why would I understand him now?").
A BUNCH of things fell through, Solomon ended up writing and directing himself, which he didn't seem particularly keen to do, and, well, a movie like this with a passionate, but perhaps inexperienced, writer/director definitely presents a dicey proposition, and the results weren't incredible.
There's a new D&D movie on its way soon, and I'm...not slobbering in anticipation here. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine. Most things that get wide release these days are mostly competent, I don't know that studios can put the kind of money into a medium-sized movie they once did.
But I think the x factor is just that: it's an unknown. Because with D&D, it's probably the little side quests, the unplanned adventures, the nature of roleplaying in the game that make it what it is, and I think it's probably those things that make it beloved by fans and completely baffling to those who never played or just don't dig that sort of thing.