Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Tenzhi Oct 25, 2007 5:19:59	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHrOfJ8_D0o The CGI contrasts badly with the animation as people have said, but it altogether looks better than I expected.
#2 xmen510 Oct 25, 2007 18:39:58	Looked pretty good to me. Looking forward to this.
#3 azzoun Oct 25, 2007 21:01:33	Well, that looked pretty cool. Defineately going to have to pick it up! I would have liked to see them go all CGI like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. That would have been seriously cool.
#4 frosty_flake Oct 25, 2007 23:05:01	Well, that looked pretty cool. Defineately going to have to pick it up! I would have liked to see them go all CGI like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. That would have been seriously cool. NO!
#5 Tenzhi Oct 26, 2007 1:00:43	Yeah, if they were going to do it all cgi I would rather it be like the upcoming Beowulf rather than that "Final Fantasy" movie.
#6 Elemental_Elf Oct 26, 2007 2:41:57	I don't like the Animation of the Heroes. has a real 80's feel. Which the CGI just makes too apparant. From this ad, I'd say they should have gone for a completely cartoony CG than this mixed bag.
#7 daijaga Oct 27, 2007 17:30:00	Wow, that looks aweful. It was cool to see some of those great Cronicles moments though - escaping by boat over the lake, the dragon that pined Raist down with hes claw. But the animation is a huge turn off - Id likly watch this as a joke.
#8 captainvegas Oct 28, 2007 5:09:15	This is just a rough-cut trailer as well. There's no way of knowing just how much it's been cleaned up by now, or how early they put this one together.
#9 darkarcher736 Oct 28, 2007 6:59:25	Looks like the 80's D&D cartoon meets Windows 95 graphical power. Of course, I'll still buy it though :P
#10 Another_Gnome Oct 28, 2007 9:34:08	By the Power of Grayskull, it's a new He-Man cartoon, only they made it like the old one!
#11 sickpup Oct 28, 2007 14:28:19	Why in the world is it so hard to make a decent D&D movie? Regardless of whether it's live action or animated...? The last few D&D movies have been horrible, and unless they do some serious work on this one, it looks like it's going to be horrible, too. Come on... the animation looks like the old D&D cartoon of the 1980's...
#12 lord_zack Oct 28, 2007 17:02:23	I don't care what it looks like what I care about is if the story is intact.
#13 nightlord Oct 29, 2007 7:26:03	Well, the fidelity to the story is really important. I hope it is like the book... ...but I also find the animation to be horribly outdated. It is like looking to a cheap animation series from the early 80's. I am extremely disappointed.
#14 Lord_Toast Oct 29, 2007 8:43:17	Well, the fidelity to the story is really important. I hope it is like the book... ...but I also find the animation to be horribly outdated. It is like looking to a cheap animation series from the early 80's. I am extremely disappointed. The animation style does capture the ‘80s quite well and the cgi is poorly rendered. Hopefully when the final cut of the trailer comes out they will clean up the cgi….I am not holding my breath though…
#15 peteyrock Oct 29, 2007 9:03:42	I read on the official movie site that their goal was to make the art look like what we saw the beginning of each chapter. This was pulled off with the characters (mostly), but not so much with the CGI parts. The draconians look absolutely nothing like the drawing at the beginning of chapter three (2? 4? around there) in Autumn Twilight. 80's look and feel? Definitely. Guessing from how their website looks and some of the producer's woes on even getting the film started, I'm gonna go ahead and assume that the CGI isn't going to get cleaned up too much. This movie more than likely didn't receive a high budget. At least the music was highly impressive. And I can't wait to hear that cast as the characters we've grown to love.
#16 bandersnatch Oct 29, 2007 13:00:18	A lot of disappointment and negative opinions expressed so far about this work. And that is from the fans.
#17 sirsebastianharding Oct 30, 2007 8:03:56	The animation of this movie makes Mialee look gorgeous!
#18 daremonai Oct 30, 2007 14:09:20	Ye gods, no wonder that's going straight to DVD, and probably straight into the bargain bin at that. It looks awful, the voice acting in the trailer was almost as bad, and the entire thing looks like it should have been aborted at birth. And you can guarantee the the storyline will be some hideously butchered mess like the live-action D&D movies were too. I'm frankly surprised that after seeing the trailer, the various execs in charge didn't just call the whole thing off. It would have been kinder.
#19 Dragonhelm Oct 30, 2007 20:32:13	The animation of this movie makes Mialee look gorgeous! No need to get insulting! :D Ye gods, no wonder that's going straight to DVD, It's going straight to DVD so that we have a better chance for sequels. If it goes to theatres, then more money has to be sunk in and the studios expect a better return. If it doesn't do as well as they want, then no Winter Night or Spring Dawning movie. And that comes straight from the producers, folks. Going straight to DVD is no longer a symbol of a bad movie. The Iron Man animated movie was fabulous, the Babylon 5 Lost Tales DVD was phenomenal, and there's talk that they may make Serenity 2 a straight-to-DVD release. Considering how well the Firefly boxed set and Serenity DVD have done in sales, going to DVD with Serenity 2 is a stroke of genius. Point is, the economic model is changing. Going straight-to-DVD doesn't mean that the movie will be bad. It looks awful, the voice acting in the trailer was almost as bad, and the entire thing looks like it should have been aborted at birth. I've met Jason Marsden, and I can tell you - the man is a pro. Check him out on IMDB. Plus, talents such as Kiefer Sutherland and Lucy Lawless. And you can guarantee the the storyline will be some hideously butchered mess like the live-action D&D movies were too. Weis and Hickman are involved here, folks. George Strayton has been very faithful, and the studio even put a scene back in at Margaret's request. That just doesn't happen!
#20 Tenzhi Oct 31, 2007 0:47:35	the voice acting in the trailer was almost as bad There were, what, three words said by Kiefer Sutherland? And they sounded to me like they might be a pretty good Raistlin, but really there wasn't enough to go on at all. The announcer bugged me, though. He was pronouncing "dragon" slightly weird - almost like "dray-gun." But that has naught to do with the voice acting for the movie.
#21 t.rex Oct 31, 2007 1:34:28	The animation I can live with and maybe even learn to like. But what bugs me is the scene with Takhisis fighting Huma(?) and the green dragon head breathes fire. I've seen another still that shows all the heads breathing fire, and that bugs me. Now I'll be the first to admit that my chagrin is a bit this side of fanboyish but, damn it I was promised faithfulness! A detail like that would at least show me that they are paying attention. Having vented that, I must say in all truthfulness that i am very excited and the trailer makes me even more so.
#22 Lord_Toast Nov 01, 2007 9:55:28	I plan on purchasing it as a novelty item. If the DVD sales go well then they will make another one straight for DVD release (Think of the animated Batman or Superman S2DVD movies as examples) As for the voice actors being done by professionals, it all depends on how the person sales it. I hear Kiefer Sutherlands voice and I think Kiefer Sutherland. When I hear Jason Marsden I think whatever character he is voicing. P.S. The rumor of the Serenity 2 DVD movie is just that a rumor, the actor was talking about if the Serenity DVD sales well then they would likely double dip which is what they just did a few months ago.
#23 arderkrag Nov 01, 2007 16:56:34	Looks awesome. I always preferred 80's style animation anyway.
#24 soulnova Nov 02, 2007 2:51:04	Holy Dice! "Road to Mithril Hall" Animation beats this Dragonlance Animation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ZM1B-wrys :S I feel bad for the fans....
#25 grimm_judge Nov 02, 2007 23:38:08	Holy Dice! "Road to Mithril Hall" Animation beats this Dragonlance Animation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ZM1B-wrys :S I feel bad for the fans.... I agree... nice little animation you posted. All i can really say is that this Dragonlance Trailer was simply painful to watch. If they wanted the 80's look.... fine. Then the whole thing needed to be that way... leave out the CG dragons and animate them. They can count me out of this DVD purchase. I will wait for the fateful day that eventually they will put out a D&D movie/cartoon that actually has a budget and is worth my viewing.
#26 grandpa_gort Nov 03, 2007 15:43:04	I agree about the CG clashing horribly... watching the trailer made me cringe. And I had such high hopes for this movie. However, I will definitely purchase the DVD. How long have they been trying to make a DL movie, he asked rhetorically? I've been waiting 10 years for it, heh. I'm willing to bet that Dragonlance's future prospects (either a theoretical live-action movie/s or future D&D sourcebooks) are heavily dependent on the success of this film. I rarely advocate being a consumer *****. For me, though, getting the chance to see some new Dragonlance material is worth at least $19.95.
#27 eruadan Nov 04, 2007 1:20:02	I loved the animation but I hated the cgi. The movie might have been really good visually if they kept it with the traditional animation. On a related note: When was the last time we saw a traditional animated film in theaters? Why does everything have to be CGI, today? I personally enjoy the hand-drawn works more. D&D might even make a better transition to film if it was animated. Some of the monsters and magics feel more right in that medium than in live action (Monsters could actually look like their pictures in the Monster Manuals) or at least it seems that way to me. Am I the only one who would pay the price of a ticket to see a Dungeons&Dragons movie that was good, old-fashioned cartoon (so long as the story was no way involved with that stupid t.v. series ;) )?
#28 weiser_cain Nov 06, 2007 20:50:35	Should have been live action...
#29 kalstrand Nov 10, 2007 22:19:49	The release date has been announced, Jan 15 2008, with cover art on the movie web page and is available for preorder on amazon.com.
#30 Arcane_Guyver Nov 11, 2007 6:58:00	.... After watching that, I almost feel bad for ragging on about how bad the Marvel direct-to-video movies look. 'Doctor Strange' looks downright fantastic comparatively.
#31 tensaiga Dec 01, 2007 6:30:20	All the visions of heroics crumble in 80s style animation (Not good, but not evil per se) and 90s CG (I think I threw up in my mouth a little...). I mean...80s animation was a tad before my time, but I can appreciate it (I grew up with late 80s, early 90s stuff). Afterall, it does hearken back to the age of DL. But that CG destroys it. Absolutely and totally. I will still buy it I don't know if I can stand showing this to a friend who loves DL. I don't know if I could take his disappointment.
#32 weiser_cain Dec 01, 2007 19:26:20	I watched anime in the eighties, there's no excuse for this.
#33 Eberronknight Dec 03, 2007 19:53:37	I got reamed by my gamer friends with the first live action D&D movie cuz I believed the hype. The straight to DVD sequel was better but still a SCI-FI channel "C" movie. Then I heard about 6 months ago that D&D would just go the animation way with their movies. I thought, great, they can't screw this up, the animation nowadays is pretty cool and even The Avengers DVD was ok. Then I heard about the voice actors coming on and I thought... ok, this has a chance to catch on. Youtube loves to show made-up trailers and usually with old 80's stuff and I seriously thought the Dragonlance clip was created by a fan. I was laughing at first and then I slowly stopped and thought... oh god what if this is real?! So I rushed to this site and my heart sank.... I can't believe the animation. I mean with all the books and minis I've bought alone, you couldn't get updated animation??!?! Why is it so hard to create something well written and visually stunning for a D&D story, movie or DVD? I just don't get WOTC.... I just don't. EK
#34 Elemental_Elf Dec 04, 2007 2:20:58	Eberronknight: D&D movies suck because, typically, the company spends too much of its budget simply acquiring the license to the name D&D and thus has to skimp out on the production value (sets, actors, costumes, writing, etc.). There's that and the old trick of getting the license, making a cheap lame movie and relying solely on the name brand to sell enough tickets/DVD's to make back what they invested and with a sizable profit. In the case of this movie, I would suspect the company spent a lot on the DL license and the various B movie stars (the good ones like Lucy Lawless). Something had to be skimped on and I suspect it was the animation for the really involved art (i.e. Dragons and Magic). They were probably booted over to a computer and quickly drawn then slapped into the movie. As for the 80's Animation... It may be horrible to watch but I get the feeling it was intentional, as if to rekindle memories of the olden days when Smurfs, Voltron and DL were all new.
#35 arquinsiel Dec 04, 2007 11:43:35	The animation of this movie makes Mialee look gorgeous! God-dammit, I hate that you're so very right here.
#36 i_am_the_law Dec 28, 2007 22:02:36	Oi, that's a cheeply made movie. It should at LEAST be brought up to Record of the Lodoss War standards, not lower than the origenal D&D cartoon show. They didn't even bother to scale the dragons when it came to the races...they use the exact same 3D model for every dragonbreed with the only difference being color. They would have been better off to have hired some good LARPers and film students to work the cameras.
#37 merrikcale Dec 29, 2007 23:04:58	I would like to know who at WoTC likes this crap
#38 madoffler Dec 30, 2007 12:43:06	The voice over guy pronounces dragons funny. Drayguns. The only thing this is going to be good for is indoctrinatateing kids (who can't tell the difference between good and bad animation) into the fantasy fold. And to that I say Here Here! Har Har! (and that was not rough btw that was finished)
#39 elven_swordsmen Dec 31, 2007 10:38:12	I feel like most of you guys don't really understand how making a movie works. We would all love to see D&D portrayed on the silver screen with the majesty of the LotR movies, but it's just not feasible. Only one person here has mentioned production costs, and said poster is on the right track. You can't make a movie with funding. You can't get funding without expected return. The estimated fanbase that would see a Dragonlance movie is far too small to warrant the millions upon millions of dollars that a live-action movie requires. Animation is much cheaper, so in order to make a DL movie at all the writers had to go with that. I agree that the mix of drawn and generated animation looks less than pleasant, but what else do you expect of them? The production company has given the DL team a set amount of money. Once that money is gone, they can't keep making the movie, so they have to budget out the funds over the entire project. The team did have to spend money on the DL license, but probably not as much as the aforementioned poster suggested. Then they had to pay the artists, and I'm pretty sure CGI (of that grade) is cheaper than hand-drawn animation, so certain elaborate scenes had to be done on a computer because the artist would have cost the project too much money. The voice talent for this movie is actually impressive to me. I would guess that's where the plurality of their money went. The simple fact is, they just didn't have much money to start with, so I think we should all be thankful we even have a DL movie coming out. The first D&D movie was largely a flop in the eyes of the industry, so future attempts to get a D&D-based movie made will forever be that much harder. As also mentioned previously, Weis and Hickman are heavily involved with this project, so I can almost guarantee you that the finished product will be the best job they could do given the amount of money they got for the project. Lay off a bit and have some respect for the production process. Cheers Kyle
#40 kalstrand Dec 31, 2007 19:39:35	I actually think the number of people seeing the movie if it rivaled LoTR would be quite abit larger than the normal DL fanbase because there is a huge number of people who would go simply because of the stellar SFX. I know of quite a few people who had never heard of LoTR who went to see the movie simply because of the trailer.