Writer: George Strayton
Director: Will Meugniot
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Lucy Lawless, Michael Rosenbaum, Michelle Trachtenberg
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: January 15, 2008

My geekiness is limited to certain things. Unfortunately, Dungeons & Dragons is not one of those things. I can appreciate video games, roleplaying, and other geekworthy things, but D&D always kind of went over my head. So, learning that Dragonlance was spawned from a book series of around 150 titles based on Dungeons and Dragons was quite shocking. While the fantasy world that has been created wasn’t my thing I figured I could appreciate a fantasy based movie, because in the past I have been able to appreciate similar stories.

There is considerable talent used for this animated movie. This didn’t hurt either, as I found more than one name that I like. My problem was not solely with the talent or the voiceovers that were provided. My problems with Dragonlance stem from the weak graphics and the not so exciting storyline. Anything that bores me cannot be good. Considering the fact that nothing is wrong with my attention span (at least when it comes to good movies) it was a sign that something was wrong when I had to keep resisting the urge to check my watch, in hopes that this would soon be over.

Release Information:
Dragonlance: Dragons of The Autumn Twilight is a direct to video release that features such talent as Lucy Lawless and Kiefer Sutherland. As you can see, it already has some ups and downs. It’s clearly a low budget picture, but that doesn’t always mean a movie will be bad. Dragonlance comes out on January 15, 2008 in a one disc set that includes the movie and any included special features.

The Dragonlance: Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight Plot
This is one of those reviews where I honestly do not know where to begin. Between the mix of 2D and 3D CGI animations the film started off bad. This is when you ignore the nonsensical and cliché plotlines. When you add one problem to another, this movie gets even worse. The basic story is set in Krynn. It’s been roughly 300 years since the gods have abandoned the world and all of the life forms (mortal men, elves, dwarves, and so on) in it. As the Gods are gone, these creatures are forced into darkness.

After 300 years, an evil God has returned to look for a blue crystal staff. The staff has powerful healing powers. The problem is that the staff is being held by an equally powerful princess and a group of heroes that have formed a group meant to protect the princess on her journey. While I could take or leave this particular plot, right now in the simplest of terms, there is hope. There are powerful themes that could be used. The problem is the entire thing becomes too religious (the princess becomes a cleric which leads to the Gods returning) and it runs like a choppy television show with the episodes strung together, loosely, at that.

This complicated story offers no true excitement. The action is dry because there is no way to relate to the drivel that was written. Of course, the nickel and dime animation certainly doesn’t help things. In fact, it makes things a lot worse. The writing would still be atrocious either way, but good animation could have saved this for some. Without that, this is going to be doomed in every way possible.

Keeping all this in mind, I had hoped that the voice cast would at least bring us a little solace, but alas there is none to be found. I think when the cast, consisting of Keifer Sutherland, Michael Rosenbaum, Lucy Lawless, and Michelle Trachtenberg, found out how bad this movie was going to be, they started concentrating on the next project and left this one behind. The problem here is that they were in the middle of it when that happened. The point being, don’t expect any help in this area because you won’t find much, if any at all.

The truth is, this film could not get any worse if it tried. Everything about it is horrid. If someone was trying to make a fan out of me they sure didn’t. Instead, they managed to make Dragonlance a laughing stock. I imagine the books must be better because I can’t imagine 150 being in existence when I couldn’t get through one movie without mapping out an escape plan.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
I had a hard time judging the video quality of this DVD. The reason is that the animation is just atrocious. I would seriously have to think long and hard, to remember seeing something else this bad. However, the actual quality of the video is not bad. You can see the awful animation and the bright Crayola colors, loud and clear. It is sad that something so ugly can be so vibrant, but it is. No expense was spared in offering an anamorphic widescreen transfer, so things look good even when they don’t look good. The audio comes in the form of either Dolby 2.0 or 5.1. Both sound fine, but obviously 5.1 will provide the better track.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are very few special features offered on this disc. The main feature is a slideshow that offers test animations and character designs. It’s hard to imagine that these could be of interest to anyone because they are short and the animations here are so detestable that it’s laughable that there were test images. The only other feature is previews for “Beowulf” and “Iron Man”.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Dragonlance might be interesting to D&D fans that loved the series of books that these movies are based on. That being said, I highly doubt that anyone else will find pleasure in them. The animation is poor, the film is sloppy, and it’s thrown together in a way that would make me cautious about anything with a direct to video label. It would be in your best interest to just ignore this title when you see it on a DVD retail shelf.

Overall Rating:

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