The dragon Themberchaud was basically raised as a living furnace, sitting in place using his breath to heat up metal while being given endless food. That's why he's a lazy chonker.
When establishing a character as a good person, there’s often a scene that is called “saving the cat” which is symbolic of someone’s genuine empathy and integrity. In this movie, Xenk is seen literally saving a cat. 😂 I found that funny.
int is the most common dump stat, it's a pretty rare ability to use, if I remember correctly, the priority for stats in general is: INT (specific skils and only 2 classes need it, rare saving throw) STR (okay common saving throw, useless for any caster or class that uses dex) CHA (key for charismatic characters and the most common casting, saving throw is super rare but most saving throws with charisma are a pain to fail, useless for anyone that doesn't plan on talking a bunch) WIS (passive perception, arguably the best saving throw, everyone benefits from this) DEX (except for tanks, there's no reason this should be below +2, arguably best saving throw, essential for half the martial fighters and offers great skills) CON (despite having no skills and very few checks, it has a great saving throw, and is a world of differences at lower levels. Literally everyone needs this stat to be high enough. It's the only stat I'll tell new players to not make their dump stat. It's not a very class specific stat as only barbarians get a real bonus from it (unarmored defense) but it still ends up being detrimental to most characters).
@@tammymoyer7518 Not just mindflayers. Almost all abberations that can cast spells or have innate abilities require an Intelligence saving throw. So if the big bad of the campaign is abberations and everyone have dumped Int, you're gonna have a bad time.
its much more beautiful when you think about that last part as well, the dragonfly landing on eds arm. His wife wasn't a bad mother, she just didn't get to be one, his wife basically told him that Kira wouldn't know who she was because she was unable to be there, Holga was there, Holga is all Kira knows who her maternal guardian is and maybe Ed told Kira about who her actual bio mother was but again, Holga has been there.
He has a longer history. He first showed up in Drizz't Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark which was a 2nd Edition supplement for the Forgotten Realms setting. Out of the Abyss was where he became well known, though.
the story goes that Themberchaud was first conceptualized when Gygax was running a game and a cat jumped onto the table during the session and started knocking things over, he improvised and used the cat as a fat dragon, who later had their lore expanded to become Themberchaud
“I’m a Keyleth… I’m a Doric… That’s where I’m gonna be. That’s my people.” You’re a Druid! Welcome! My first several characters were Druids, and it is still my favorite class in D&D.
Not really a spoiler since it was in the extended view trailer, but the other group in the maze, the Thief, Barbarian, Wizard, etc are characters from the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon show that came out in the early 80s
I didn't watch any of the trailers...so that was a pleasant surprise to me. It was glorious. I kinda wondered why there'd been a resurgence of those characters in the recent months... hah
The Line He Says In The Middle Of The Movie “I Know I Said I Wanted To Bring Your Mom Back, I Lied, I Wanted To Bring My Wife Back” In The End, He Brings Her Mom Back 😭 I Cried So Hard
It's great to see so many cool classic D&D monsters on the big screen! The panther is a Displacer Beast. The goo cube is a Gelatinous Cube. And the treasure chest that came alive is a Mimic.
Forgot the Axe Beaks, which they got the size wrong for, those little chickens are supposed to be big enough to fit a whole Orc on their back The Rust Monster also appeared briefly, in the castle (don't know why they didn't exterminate those, critters eat metal)
@@arcojin-carlosh.9435 They also switched the sizes of the rust monster (which are supposed to be about as big as a medium-sized dog) and the intellect devourers (who are brain-sized), but I didn't bump up against any of that... it was just cool seeing them.
I went to see this with my D&D group and we had a blast. Even if you disregard the references, it's such a good movie and I really hope we get a sequel.
had to watch it by myself in the cinema since i didn't want my wife to mock my fanboying. but after seeing it, i figured she was gonna enjoy it too so we watched it a couple of days ago.
That's so right! I watched it with a friend of mine. She didn't know anything about D&D or TTRPGs in general, but the movie still worked for her, and she had a great time.
I just hope they let the bard do his spells, more rage from the barb and more spells from the druid not just shape-shift. Oh and plz more of the pally!!!
I loved how they handled the Paladin! Those can be very one-note characters, so it was smart to use him sparingly, and with such a funny take on his direct & literal mindset.
@@leonielson7138 I can't think of anything that Xenk did which put his code before doing the right thing, so I'd say that he's an excellent example of Lawful Good and a very poor example of Lawful Stupid.
My favorite thing about this movie as a D&D player is how you can see scenes and see the rolls made. Like how Edgin failed his history check on who Xenk is, but everyone else succeeded, or when Simon failed concentration for the Illusion.
Fun movie, great reaction! favorite easter egg is 34:25, you just get a glimpse in your reaction, but in the background is the party from the 80's D&D cartoon. I love that they acknowledge a true D&D thing. You give the party an item, (hither-Thither staff) and they find new and unforeseen ways to use it.
They really captured the feeling of playing a cosy short adventure with your buddies, from the slapstick of failing to stupid plans that work too well, and even the cheesy, but charming story. And yes, I have no idea how they got Hugh Grant, but, man, am I glad they did. He's killing it. That "Aaah! Holga! Holga! Holga!" bit had me in stitches.
The best part about this movie is it truly reflects traditional pen and paper D&D, things NEVER go according to plan. You fail at rolls, get distracted by loot, find a mimic, and the best memories from the game are all the ways you succeed the mission on a wing and a prayer laughing the entire time with your friends.
other times the players get lucky crits and convince the general the guy you are after owes child support and you are here to escort him to prison then roll high enough the guy himself is wondering if the prostitute back in his village somehow got pregnant.
Not to mention the holier-than-thou paladin DMPC that was clearly better than the party members, so of course he couldn't continue the journey with them! Lol
Don't forget the characters narrating their backstory in excruciating detail at the wrong time! It took me out of the story for a few moments the first time until I realized "Oh my God, they're actually referencing this!"
really enjoyed Michelle Rodriguez's fight scenes. it's like a combo of wrestling and Jackie Chan prop-fighting. found it quite original and entertaining.
What was really good about Holga's fight scenes is that the armor of her opponents worked! It took actual effort to deal with them and she had to knock them down a couple of times. Even then they were alive. So cool.
@@nyghtmoon Also have to appreciate her exclusive use of heavy and blunt weaponry to deal with soldiers rather than easily cutting through armour like so much cardboard.
Simon's component pouch is what he uses to dial up ingredients used to cast certain spells AKA material components. Usually they are simple leather pouches full of goodies, but you can take such creative liberties with D&D. The actor also incorporated ASL into his spellcasting gesture AKA somatic components.
via the wiki: Massive even for a dragon, Themberchaud was visibly overweight. He had scales as red as lava and bright yellow eyes. His head alone was estimated to be some 20 feet. By the late 1490s DR, he was barely able to walk; he was unable to fly, only hop and flap his wings helplessly like a chicken; and he often only belched flammable gas when he could not produce flame.
To be honest, this would be considered closest to what an actual D&D campaign would be like... especially with the right group. The making of plans, often on the fly, visualizing mentally the results of the dice throws and saves, and the flexibility of storytelling. Even so far as when Simon lost his concentration when he got his foot stuck....the players and dungeon master's mind can draw that conclusion, and makes the game much more enjoyable. I really miss gaming, and have many fun stories from my years of playing.
So fun fact, Michelle Rodriguez spoke about Vin Diesel having a metric ton of D&D memorabilia, he used to play as Melkor in his home games, named after Morgoth (Sauron's boss). Vin Diesel also guest starred in Celebri-D&D as a witch hunter named Calder with the cast of Critical Role (Vox Machina 's creators)
I was afraid they already gave away the best part of that gag when they released it as a preview, but what came after that part was also hilarious. The guy who fell and died on the edge of the bathtub was hilarious
Bradley Cooper's character is a Halfling, basically a D&D hobbit. The cat creature that was attacked by the fish was called a Tabaxi. The ooze is called a gelatinous cube. The cat with the Venus fly traps as you called them is called a Displacer Beast. One of my games ended up with our characters having Displacer Beast kittens; my character was a pixie and she hated them because she was terrified of cats. Them being ignored by the Rachnon is really fitting. Bards, Sorcerers, and Paladins are Charisma-based casters, Druids are wisdom-based casters, and barbarians rely on Strength.
I was the exact same way at the end with Holga. Almost rolled my eyes when I saw her dying cuz I was like alright kinda cliche that we use the tablet on her, but then it had me crying the moment the flashbacks started. I absolutely loved how they handled that sequence.
At 24 minutes : the bridge and the Ither-Tither staff is a classical move from a PC and then the save from the DM in an actual DnD game. There is an unnecessary complex list of instructions to get on the bridge, a player didn't listen and his character put one foot of the bridge, making it to collapse... but the PCs have to go to the other side of the chasm to pursue the adventure... so the DM create a "Deus ex machina" magic item to allow them to cross the chasm... I think the "good save" from Doric at the end of the scene is her saying what the players (or the spectators of the movie) are thinking right at this moment. In any other movie, this would have been a lazy writing... In a DnD movie, this makes totally sense.
I was so pleasantly surprised when I watched this in theatres. Was it the best movie ever? No. Did I have a great time so I didn't care about the flaws? Heck yes! The cast was great, I had so much fun, and the movie even had a nice message going and was more heartwarming than I expected.
Same! I love D&D, but the earlier movies really set my expectations below the floor. And this movie really exceeded those expectations by hundreds of miles. It was so fun and full of heart!
@@funnylilgalreacts Exactly! That's the way movies should be. Yeah, it's not fine art, but I had an absolute blast with it all the same. The best description of it I can come up with is that it's just plain fun.
It's, imo, the best D&D movie, anyway. ;) Not perfect, but better than it could have been in several key moments. The end, I thought was a bit obvious how it unfolded, but the set-up had been done so well, and the acting convincing, that it worked.
This movie is more beautiful than it had to be in the end. I can't believe that we went from "Let their blood rain from the skyyyyyy!" to me weeping at the end of a D&D movie. There are more, really complex, wonderful characters, societies, and history in the Forgotten Realms setting (the one featured in this film) than what you see in the movie. I'd say that the setting has as much history by now as the Tolkein's world, and other major fantasy settings. If producers can keep making D&D movies with great characters that the general public can appreciate for quality, complexity, and relevance, there are endless movies that can come from this IP- and endless money. I'm just saying, it's all about the treasure, right, adventurers?
It'd be cool if they had a new set of adventurers for each movie. As amazing as Pine and Rodriguez are, it'd really fit the actual game where you have thousands of campaigns going at any one time.
Being a D&D player, I ADORED this film. I saw this with my gaming group and we all had a blast. (We had finished our big campaign late last summer, and we had a Thayan bladesinger, turned necromancer in our party and our party even travelled to Thay at one point.) One thing I appreciated in this film was having Edgin and Holga being just in a platonic friendship rather than becoming the usual friends to lovers tope/cliche that most movie relationships fall into. It was just a refreshing take to see, and I hope more movies do this in the future. I do wish that Doric had a character arc or more character development, rather than just being a druid doing cool wildshape stuff. And that Edgin, being a bard, didn't cast a single spell! (He makes up for it for using his inspiring speeches, which does give a nice nod to the bard's ability in the game.)
I don't have a problem with Doric. Not all D&D players are that big into roleplay and more into exploration and/or combat, and therefore some D&D characters don't have that much of an arc, if any.
@@feralart I'd say he's a bard/rogue multiclass. It's just that his abilities aren't visually represented like the sorcerer's are. But I definitely noticed points in the story where he used Bardic Inspiration (every inspiring speech he makes to the party), and he may have used Suggestion in convincing Saphina and Forge to put them in the High Sun Games instead of just killing them. He may have used Calm Emotions when he was cheering up Holga after their visit with Marlamin. So I'd say he has at least a few levels of Bard in there.
They added character sheets for every character. They are plausible and playable. He is a bard. He has at will: friends, message 3/day : charm person, disguise self 1/day : suggestion Reactions: 3/day inspiring words You can look up official character sheets for a bunch of the characters in this movie. Just google image search d&d honor thieves character sheets and you should find them all pretty easily
Hugh Grant having the time of his life by playing the bad guy is just one of the highlights of this movie. Just saw it yesterday too and didn't think it'd be as fun as it was. Kinda hoping Vox Machina would make a cameo somehow. Xenk just walking off in that scene was apparently a blooper--he didn't hear the director yell cut so he just kept walking! "Fresh cut grass" was also a reference to Critical Role (it's the name of Sam Riegel's character in the second campaign).
The best part of this movie for me were the moments that felt like they were at a table. There are scenes where you can FEEL the crits. I want another one of these movies, but worry it won't happen.
I was sold on this movie once "Jarnathan" came up. That's such a DM move of "you're asking for details I didn't prep for, and I can't just call this dude Jonathan..." Also, Zenk is such a typical DMPC it hurts
I got sold on it when I saw a clip of the cemetery scene. There is little that expresses a pure dnd experience than wasting one of he questions during Speak With Dead. Actually, Xenk using his divine sense do smell the Thay assassins in the Underdark is just brilliant.
@@means_well i mean aarakocra also have no concept of property in their culture and detest any sort of cage or confinement on principal. so you assume they just think jarnathan is a solid vote for their pardon. then all they do is grab him and jump out the window.
I think the fact that this movie was embraced by the audience and did so well commercially means Hollywood will do a sequel without a doubt. Minimal effort, maximum profits...that is the Hollywood way. It might be fun to keep it in the same world but use a whole new group with different classes and races. That's what I would like to see.
@@means_well The moment Edgin finally (and forcefully) reveals why he'd been asking about Jarnathan all this time, I could just SEE the DM's eyes widening in surprise.
One of the subtle things that I really loved was how the dialog felt like how players at the table actually talk. For example, that moment when Edgin was trying to negotiate their release from the prison and he turns to Holga, "You have anything to add?", "I'm good". The banter between characters was super relatable. P.S. When Edgin's illusion started to go wonky while playing a song and when I saw the chonkers dragon, I just about died from laughter in the cinema
So to answer a few questions : The panther beast is a displacer beast a niche but popular creature from DnD. The movie has a few iconic of thes like the owlbear, the cube and the mimic (chest). This is one unique fat dragon. This one is both a tyrant and protector to some residents of the underdark, keeping them alive in exhange of some food and loot. The main theory is that the resident overfeed him so he would be less of a threat. The joke about the intellect devourer is also a gameplay joke as Intelligence is a stat in the game and all class represented doesn't really have a use for it. So the party does lack an intelligence character. There are a lot of references to the rules of the game in the movie. Fresh Cut Grass is also the name of a Critical Role character that probably won't be in the animated serie before a long time.
BTW, the metal disc you wondered about contains Simon's spell components. Many spells need a bit of something (like cat fur, sand, sulfur, or whatever) that is a vital part of the casting process. Apparently rather than keep them all in a bag like most people, he has a fancy gadget which he can 'dial' to get the specific material he needs to cast his spell.
Themberchaud the dragon goes way back in D&D lore. He first came about during the early days of 2nd Edition of the game (1989 - 00). He was explained as a descendant of generations of red dragons who kept the furnaces running in the Underdark city of Gracklstugh (from the forgotten realms campaign).
It's not going to off the box office alone (196 million off a 150 million budget without advertising expenses), and that is a shame. All because the writers made the dumb mistake of saying they intentionally emasculated the male characters for whatever odd reason. Even though I didn't see that in the characters (all of them had their flaws and perks with actual character growth as well, imo). It wasn't a movie I would say everyone HAD to see, but it was a fun time and if you've ever had an interest in D and D, this film actually captured the feeling of going through a campaign exceptionally well. Only hope now is that the people who initially skipped it for whatever reason find it and watch it at home. If DvD/Digital sales are strong we may have a chance at another.
"If it's gonna be people-y I'd rather it be people-y with people like you" is one of the sweetest things an introvert can say. Whenever you are ready to play, any table would be lucky to have you.
The thing that made me smile the biggest in this movie, other than watching my wife squee the entire time Themberchaud was on screen, was the heroes of the Original Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon making a cameo in the maze scene. I almost hopped out of my chair the very first frame they were raised from below in the background and kept looking for them throughout the rest of the movie. I had a feeling the post credit scene would be the corpse in the graveyard, but I was really hoping that the kids would still be in the cage in the empty stadium asking for help. Bonus points if a certain voice from off screen told them to "Fear not young ones."
Oh, that would be a great end credit tease! I would be standing on the chairs and cheering and clapping if they had that at the end. It was kind of sad they did not have any speaking lines in the movie. And it would be great if they had the voice actors play the characters in the cameo - kind of like how they had the Pink and Green Rangers in the Power Rangers movie. Easy ideas to please older fans.
I'm honestly not sure how I even realized that's who they were. I barely remember that show and literally the only reason I knew that's who they were was the blonde kid with the horned helmet.
The scene where he brought Holga back was genuinely emotional and beautiful. I was laughing and grinning the whole way through and was tearing up in that scene. The dragonfly symbolism of letting his wife go was beautiful.
I will never watch this film again without thinking of the dragon as chonky and smile😂 The best most accurate description for a dragon ever. As always thank you for your wonderful reactions.
17:41 yep. A Black dragon to be exact. Every Dragon in DnD is seperated in Chromatic, Metallic and Prismatic subspecies, and their respective color also determines what kind of element they have for their breath weapon. A Black Dragon like Rakor uses Acid, and Themberchaud uses Fire.
In order to cast many spells in the D&D rules, you require a material component. Some usually small thing that powers the spell. Throwing a fireball needs a pinch of sulfur, casting fly requires a bird feather, etc. Simon's gadget is a (probably gnomish) device that holds some of the components and turning the wheel lets him access some of them depending on which spell he is casting. Themberchaud is in fact a real dragon in the game universe. He is notable for being very lazy, so yes he's a giant chonk. The large panthers with the tentacles are called displacer beasts, they are much more intelligent than typical big cats, and have the ability to project an image of themselves several feet away. Their tentacles also inject a paralysis toxin when they hit you. The race that Bradley Cooper played is called a Halfling. They were originally based on Lord Of The Rings Hobbits, but have evolved over time (in part because of legal complications with Tolkein's copyrights). The "Goo" is called a gelatinous cube. There is a whole range of carnivorous jelly creatures in D&D, most of them are blobs of goo, but the cube is...well, cubical. They are used to clean dungeons by roaming the corridors sweeping up the dust and bugs, and being nearly invisible they make good guardians.
"Throwing a fireball needs a pinch of sulfur..." And, at least in older editions (don't know about later ones), bat guano. Fun bit of trivia - saltpeter can be extracted from guano, and saltpeter and sulfur are two of the main ingredients of early gunpowder. A lot of the spell components were hidden gags like that. The feather for fly is obvious, but there's also stuff like a coper piece for detect thoughts (a penny for your thoughts), a magnifying glass to focus light for sunbeam, scrying takes a piece of cut glass that just happens to be the same price as a spyglass...
@@egosomnio In 5e as well. But as long as material components cost nothing, are not consumed on cast or both, they can be replaced with an Arcane Focus.
I'm working my way through your Vox Machina reactions, and boom! This pops up! Nice little diversion. One of my friends is a huge D&D fan, and she messaged me when she heard I'd gone to see it. She asked, "Is it going to piss me off?" I don't know much about D&D but I said I would be very surprised if she didn't love it. And I was right! It's an amazing balance between "tons of things for die-hard fans to love" and "completely accessible to newbies who know nothing." Fantastically done.
The spinning thing the Simon the Sorcerer is using is a Spell component "Pouch" but his own... spin. I played an Aarakocra (Jarnathon character) And they're very fun. It's very rare to be able to play one in a game because the ability to fly is considered unfair for certain situations for those that can't fly. (Fall damage is a thing too...) I was so excited that a Aarakocra was in this as a small yet meaningful character.
This may be mentioned in another comment, but the joke with the Intellect Devourers is my favorite D&D in-joke. All of the characters in the movie are representing classes that typically use intelligence as a dump-stat - that is a stat that isn't very vital to playing the characters and stick their lowest ability scores there (since Simon is a sorcerer - a reference to an old PC game - and not a wizard he uses charisma to cast his spells instead of intelligence). So none of them were characters with a high intelligence score.
My D&D group went to see this together and it was so much better than I was expecting. We played a campaign for 7 years in the Forgotten Realms setting (this one) and Szass Tam was one of the huge, long-running villains we went up against. I had no idea what was in the movie, so seeing his rise to power on the big screen was such an awesome experience. Really hope we get more of these (at similar or better quality, of course).
Michelle Rodriguez is such a treasure. And Chris Pine was awesome in this movie. It just seems like a movie everybody had a lot of fun making. I took my son's to the theater to see this without any expectations. And we all really love the movie
I only got into DnD about 3-4 years ago and in my late 30’s now, so it’s never too late and not too hard to learn. I don’t hardly know much lore in DnD but this movie makes a lot of references of how you would play or how people act during games and still had fun with it without knowing any lore.
As someone who's been a D&D games master for may years this movie was darn close to perfection. I took my current player to see on release and we all enjoyed it. Much of what I could bring to the conversation I see in the comments already. It was a fantastic representation of what D&D so often is.
I'd imagine every single DM can relate to the bridge trap scene. You create this whole elaborate encounter with a puzzle and your party ignores the mechanic by using a random magic item that you gave them 10 sessions ago that they hadn't touched since they got their hands on it.
There was a DnD cartoon that aired during the 80's. Its a group of kids that get sent to the world of DnD thru a ride. They appeared briefly in the movie, running into the maze, they found the axe and then showed up in the cage at the end.
Hugh Grant has really grown into the perfect casting choice for a smarmy villain. A veteran character actor, but unlike most character actors, everyone knows his name.
One of the things I love about the characters in this, is you can also kind of see the stereotypes for the PLAYERS through their characters too. You have the Barbarian, really doesn't talk much (she spends so many scenes not talking at all, looking bored) but when it's action time, she's lethal (Min/Maxed Barbarian with Improvised Weapon because the player loves describing using regular objects in combat). She's got a backstory that gets a single session for her to play with a bit, and then it's back to fighting. You've got the druid who is the player who is also not so much into the roleplaying/talking parts, but is REALLY into playing a type of fantasy escapist concept, in the form of this badass Guardian of the Woods concept. Her player is also the kind of person who loves improvising outside-the-box ways to solve problems, and has a vivid imagination on how to do things like use Wild Shape to it's maximum effectiveness, and awesomeness. But when it's talking time, yeah she's a lot like the Barbarian's player, not much to say, the occasional quip, but nothing really in depth. You've got the Sorcerer's player, who is someone who had an idea for a character that didn't exactly play out the way they thought initially, but they're sticking with it, but are also plagued with REALLY bad dice rolls a lot of the time. And then you have the Bard, who is played by the Theater Kid, who is there for the ROLEplaying. To act out a character, give them motivations and drives that fit the backstory, have those choices motivate them forward, play songs to try and cheer up their friends at the table, etc. Not there for combat, in fact he rarely ever fights at all. But if you need someone to ACT, to literally "cause a scene" whoa baby is that player the person for you!
Maybe. I thought Simon rolled a one on his stealth, getting his foot stuck, and that broke his concentration. Either way, I love how that played out and then later when Doric broke Sofina's concentration. Really great way of illustrating bad rolls without stating it..
RIP Gary Gygax. I wonder if he had any idea how much of an impression his game would have on the world. I miss playing. I still have a bag of dice and a Player's Handbook. Geeks unite!!!!
Don't forget Dave Arneson and Robert Kuntz as well. Gary Gygax is kind of the Stan Lee of Dungeons & Dragons - he tends to get almost all of the credit, despite others doing most of the heavy lifting in actually making the game. In particular, Arneson was really the main drive in turning D&D into it's own game, rather than just a modified version of the Chainmail miniature wargame.
@@KthulhuXxx Thank you for the reply! My first handbook was misplaced (read: stolen) during a long session of playing, smoking various things, and Mountain Dew. The one I currently have was printed in 1995. AD&D, obviously. I also bought a Plane Scape set, but sadly, never got to organize a game. I'm almost 50 now, so the chances of ever being a DM are slim.
@@KthulhuXxx 1983 Basic D&D set, Yes that's the one. I bought that for my cousin back when it came out and he asked me to "Help" later on , He needed a DM and I never played it before I bought it, So it was a new experience for me. I became DM for our friends and went through all the changes learning and playing for quite a few years..
i swear the opening of the bard telling the story and the escape with the knowledge that the entire plan wasn't neccesary, really shows of how singleminded a dnd party can be and i love it
49:25 The fish was practical with digital augmentation of the eyes, according to compositing supervisor Todd Vazeri. He recently posted online about that creature in particular!
One big Easter egg is the live-action appearance of the characters from the D&D cartoon from the 80s. They showed up in the labyrinth scene towards the end of the movie. They don't say anything, but they're the other group in the arena.
I appreciate the anxious with things too peopley, I'm struggling with trying to get back into functioning in a world of people again too. As for the 'monsters' you enjoyed: the panther with tendrils is called a displacer beast, there's artwork out there from a game book with a kitten version of one. owl bears are a species that was created by wizards for who knows what purpose, but now are a classic D&D beast to encounter in the wild. the cube gelatin is fittingly known as a gelatinous cube, then move down dungeon hallways and dissolve organic matter for food. they are classic monsters. the treasure chest monster is called a mimic and is also a classic, and has made many a party paranoid of treasure chests and doors (yes they come in door shape too)
I actually went to the theater to watch this. Been ages since I went to the movies. It is so fun. Being a d&d nerd for 43 years, it was awesome to see and hear all the easter eggs. It was destiny for your reaction to drop just before I'm going to go play some d&d.
I'm so happy to see you getting into D&D! Critical Role is defini9tely great. I know it's pretty long, though, so I usually consume it by way of background audio. If you ever have the time/chance, I would HIGHLY recommend the different campaigns of Dimension 20!! The episodes are shorter and lean more towards comedy. They're on a service called Dropout, however you can catch at least the first episode of most of their campaigns on TH-cam. I feel like those stories would be right up your alley.
Ooooh! Now that it’s here it seems obvious that you would have watched the dnd movie since you loved vox machina, but I still didn’t expect this! This is my favorite movie to come out this year so far!
The cats are Tabaxi or cat folk (humanoid cats) and they were practical, I believe done by animatronics, which I was sure the big fish was as well, I'm not 100% sure on that tho. SO NO ONE QUOTE ME DAMMIT! 😝
Something that I really enjoyed about the movie that is not in the game is how attunement is portrayed. In the game it's basically a matter of time and you just attune to the magic item. I loved the narrative aspect of it being a challenge to attune, and I want to incorporate that into my games. I just need to figure out the mechanics of how that will work.
I was pleasantly surprised how good this movie was! I only got into D&D about 5 years ago and it's a fantastic "world!" Glad you're enjoying it so much!!
D&D can be an amazing activity. I love playing. However, just like any activities that involve a lot of people, there is potential for a "bad experience." I've had about 10 fantastic Dungeon Masters, and I've loved my hundreds of games with them. However, I've had one very bad DM and a horrible experience with it. (I won't go into detail here, but anyone is welcome to ask about it). So I would say to definitely know who you are playing with by, at minimum, having a Session Zero. Making sure everyone is in it for a similar experience is very helpful to ensure your game is an enjoyable one. Don't worry though! "Bad experiences" are the exception and not the norm of the D&D experience. Enjoy! And don't be afraid to dive right in! If you ever have any questions, I, and many others, are excited to help!
I loved this movie, shame it doesn't seem like it will get a follow up but greatful we got one nice outing. EDIT: Also yes a displacer beast (projection panther thingo) and the little brain dudes are def dnd staples (as are owlbears).
The "little men" are called halflings, and they're basically hobbits from Lord of the Rings. In fact, in the original D&D game they were called hobbits, but then the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien made them change the name for copyright reasons.
Asking bad five questions! Happens all the time. And the creatures were right out of the D&D: Tiefling (Doric with the horns), Owlbear, Aarakocra(bird person), Tabaxi (cat person), Dragon (obviously), Mimic (the chest that's not a chest, but a creature), Displacer Beast (the panther with the tentacles, BUT they don't project holograms, they teleport at will), and the Gelatinous Cube (which does acid damage every few seconds you're in it). The last three monsters are something that every D&D adventurer can expect to run into. Hugh Grant was such a great imbecile in this movie. He's genuinely so charming and nice that you still kinda liked him even though he was actively evil. Also Doric played by Sophia Lillis is legitimately my kind of crazy hot.
I had a great time seeing this in the theater. It's really too bad the movie didn't do well at the box office as it had positive critic and audience scores.
You can actually get a plush of Themberchaud to have your own chonky dragon boy! Also early on Holga called Forge a son of a bitch, and Xenk took it literally. Then at the end Forge is telling his story about being raised by a very strict mother. That little payoff to such an offhand joke was fantastic!
Truthfully only rented this movie because I saw you reacted to it. 😅 Actually enjoyed it quite a bit even without knowing much about D&D. Another great reaction!
I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy this, but I laughed hard at times: their escape plan, that spell glitch and the owl bear making sure the lady is dead. And I love how that guy's escape plan hit the brick wall.
The joy of D and D is that it can be ANYTHING. A good dungeon master won't limits the campaign much. When you asked if there are chunky dragons in DandD, I had to laugh because there are not any rules in the game. It's like an adventure improv group. The dungeon master sets the stage but the players breathe life into their own characters. This makes it so much fun because its truly unpredicatble.
The creatures in the maze are three classic D&D specific monsters. The Displacer Beast is the cat with the tentacles that can appear to be in a place separate from its actual position. The Mimic was the treasure chest with the tongue, they can appear as anything and wait for adventurers get close and then they attack. The Gelatinous Cube is the big acid cube that is hard to see in a dungeon so it waits for adventurers to stumble into them or it traps them and slowly moves towards them to consume them. Doric’s favorite form of the Owlbear is also a D&D monster that Druids usually can’t change into but she’s a special case. Bradley Cooper plays a Halfling, basically a Honbit but the creators of D&D were sued by the Tolkien estate for using specific names so they had to change some of the names of their creatures. Simon’s great great grandfather is named Elminster, he is the character the Ed Greenwood played and Ed is the creator of the Forgotten Realms where this movie is set. Elminster is essentially the Gandalf of this world.
Apparently the main cast actually played their characters in a paper and pencil D&D game before shooting to get a feel for their characters and how they would be likely to approach different situations, and Daley was (if I remember correctly) the game master. Also, the scene where Xenk walks off was a blooper that was left in; Rene-Jean Page didn't her the "cut" call and kept walking away in a straight line like he had been directed to do. The reaction from Chris Pine is all ad-lib.
There is actually a small Easter egg in the movie..during the maze scene, there are six characters from the DnD animated series from the 80s..they are a Magician, Ranger, Acrobat, barbarian, Cavalier and Thief.
This movie had me rolling. So much like the way my D&D games used to go The chest that tried to eat her was a mimic. Lots of adventurers have been killed by mimics… which reminds me of the old joke… Tavern keep asked me why I carried my sword everywhere I went. “Mimics,” I replied. He laughed. I laughed. The table laughed. I killed the table. Good times.
The thing that Simon touches before casting spells is an Arcane Focus. Some spells in D&D require that you hold certain material items in order to cast. It can be anything from an eyelash, a copper coin, or sulfur and bat poop, depending on the spell. An arcane focus allows a caster to cast the spells without having the material components unless that component has a set value, such as a diamond worth at least 300 gold pieces. There was a lot of attention to detail and love put into this movie. It's a shame Wizards of the Coast shot themselves in the foot before this came out.
I believe the spinny thing Simon is always using is a fancy component pouch. A bag with bits for spells. You either need the components for a spell (which is stored in a component pouch) or you need a spellcasting focus (like a wand or staff). We never see Simon use a focus so yeah... my guess is a component pouch.
The Dragon question has been answered a lot, but the Panther was called a Displacer Beast. They are able to shift their image up to 5 feet away from their actual position. The Fish and Tabaxi (cat people) were not CGI. Those, the Dragonborn (dragon people), Aarakocra (bird people) and the orc at the beginning were all practicle. Simon's ancestor is Elminster, the Sage of Shadowdale. He was created as by Ed Greenwood, who created the Forgotten Realms (The world this movie takes place in. D&D has multiple settings), and is often seen as his personal avatar in the setting. There have been several novels written by Greenwood about him. There is also a D&D TV series in development over at Paramount +. It wont be set in the same world, however. The series will be pulling from Dragonlance (particularly the first three novels) instead of the Forgotten Realms.
No one talking about Hank Eric Sheila Bobby and Presto being background characters at the maze. They're from the 80's D&D cartoon show. Played by the original voice cast.
The dragon Themberchaud was basically raised as a living furnace, sitting in place using his breath to heat up metal while being given endless food. That's why he's a lazy chonker.
I thought someone had included the moment their fat cat decided to get on the table.
Ah, I just assumed it was what happened when you just sat on your hoard all day and didn't work in some cardio.
Sounds like a good life. Until, ya know, the "getting stabbed and then blown up" part.
Themberchaud been around since... 2nd edition? So the 80s
yeah his title was the Wyrmsmith of Gracklstugh
When establishing a character as a good person, there’s often a scene that is called “saving the cat” which is symbolic of someone’s genuine empathy and integrity.
In this movie, Xenk is seen literally saving a cat. 😂
I found that funny.
A cat that had been eaten by a fish.
Oh didn't know that ! Good intel, TY !
I've only heard of the official name of the opposite trope: The kick the dog moment. I always called the opposite Pet the dog moment
The bit with the intellect devourers was my favorite bit, because all of them are classes where INT is a dump stat.
Well that’s just hurtful
int is the most common dump stat, it's a pretty rare ability to use, if I remember correctly, the priority for stats in general is:
INT (specific skils and only 2 classes need it, rare saving throw)
STR (okay common saving throw, useless for any caster or class that uses dex)
CHA (key for charismatic characters and the most common casting, saving throw is super rare but most saving throws with charisma are a pain to fail, useless for anyone that doesn't plan on talking a bunch)
WIS (passive perception, arguably the best saving throw, everyone benefits from this)
DEX (except for tanks, there's no reason this should be below +2, arguably best saving throw, essential for half the martial fighters and offers great skills)
CON (despite having no skills and very few checks, it has a great saving throw, and is a world of differences at lower levels. Literally everyone needs this stat to be high enough. It's the only stat I'll tell new players to not make their dump stat. It's not a very class specific stat as only barbarians get a real bonus from it (unarmored defense) but it still ends up being detrimental to most characters).
Int is a great dump stat...until you run into mind flayers or anyone with a charm spell...and then you regret life choices.
@@tammymoyer7518 Not just mindflayers. Almost all abberations that can cast spells or have innate abilities require an Intelligence saving throw. So if the big bad of the campaign is abberations and everyone have dumped Int, you're gonna have a bad time.
@@WolfODonnelfan And now you know why my Big Bad is a Psionic demigod
Ed did always promise to bring back her mother. Promise made, promise kept.
I cried too.
its much more beautiful when you think about that last part as well, the dragonfly landing on eds arm. His wife wasn't a bad mother, she just didn't get to be one, his wife basically told him that Kira wouldn't know who she was because she was unable to be there, Holga was there, Holga is all Kira knows who her maternal guardian is and maybe Ed told Kira about who her actual bio mother was but again, Holga has been there.
The fat dragon is a Red Dragon named Themberchaud and he appears in an adventure called "Out of the Abyss". It was really cool seeing him on screen.
Honestly kind of a sad story....
He has a longer history. He first showed up in Drizz't Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark which was a 2nd Edition supplement for the Forgotten Realms setting. Out of the Abyss was where he became well known, though.
the story goes that Themberchaud was first conceptualized when Gygax was running a game and a cat jumped onto the table during the session and started knocking things over, he improvised and used the cat as a fat dragon, who later had their lore expanded to become Themberchaud
Question...how many adventurers did he have to eat to get THAT huge
@@SilverScribe85 The dragon was used as a living furnace and fed whenever he was hungry (basically always), so he was one lazy happy dragon.
“I’m a Keyleth… I’m a Doric… That’s where I’m gonna be. That’s my people.”
You’re a Druid! Welcome! My first several characters were Druids, and it is still my favorite class in D&D.
circle of the stars druid is a nice subclass. you don't turn into animals as much but it gives really fun options
@@meewec2091 my son plays a circle of the stars and it's an incredible sub class.
Fun fact Doric is Keyleth the actrice told that Doric is based on Keyleth from Critical Role
If it was keyleth, she would have jumped off a cliff and died.
@meewec2091 I still need to play as her, but I have a Plasmoid Star Druid named Nina that I've wanted to play for a while.
Not really a spoiler since it was in the extended view trailer, but the other group in the maze, the Thief, Barbarian, Wizard, etc are characters from the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon show that came out in the early 80s
I didn't watch any of the trailers...so that was a pleasant surprise to me. It was glorious. I kinda wondered why there'd been a resurgence of those characters in the recent months... hah
That cartoon was the hottest thing in Brazil in the 80s and 90s. There isn´t a person between 30 and 40yo here that doesn´t know those characters
Ah.... yes..... just missing Venger, Tiamat, and Dungeon Master.....
@@Sawyer1982OAC They did a commerical in Brazil that...well....th-cam.com/video/msDp_k-Fid4/w-d-xo.html
I started LMAO when I saw them, my husband is 5 years older than me, a Barely-Boomer, and was all, "what?!?"
The Line He Says In The Middle Of The Movie
“I Know I Said I Wanted To Bring Your Mom Back, I Lied, I Wanted To Bring My Wife Back”
In The End, He Brings Her Mom Back
😭 I Cried So Hard
Oh an, thats such a good shout, totally missed that 1st time around
The device on Simon's belt is a Spell Component Disc. It's a magic item, then gives him the material components he dials in.
So basically this film literally gave him spell slots?
It's great to see so many cool classic D&D monsters on the big screen! The panther is a Displacer Beast. The goo cube is a Gelatinous Cube. And the treasure chest that came alive is a Mimic.
Don't foget the Intellect Devourer!
Forgot the Axe Beaks, which they got the size wrong for, those little chickens are supposed to be big enough to fit a whole Orc on their back
The Rust Monster also appeared briefly, in the castle (don't know why they didn't exterminate those, critters eat metal)
@@arcojin-carlosh.9435 They also switched the sizes of the rust monster (which are supposed to be about as big as a medium-sized dog) and the intellect devourers (who are brain-sized), but I didn't bump up against any of that... it was just cool seeing them.
Also the Owlbear! Don't forget the Owlbear!
@@arcojin-carlosh.9435 Maybe those are not yet adult axe beaks
I went to see this with my D&D group and we had a blast. Even if you disregard the references, it's such a good movie and I really hope we get a sequel.
had to watch it by myself in the cinema since i didn't want my wife to mock my fanboying. but after seeing it, i figured she was gonna enjoy it too so we watched it a couple of days ago.
That's so right! I watched it with a friend of mine. She didn't know anything about D&D or TTRPGs in general, but the movie still worked for her, and she had a great time.
My D&D crew went out to dinner and then saw this. Such a good film for a D&D crew, but also just a fun fantasy adventure overall!
Same story here. I went with my group and we loved it.
I just hope they let the bard do his spells, more rage from the barb and more spells from the druid not just shape-shift. Oh and plz more of the pally!!!
I loved how they handled the Paladin! Those can be very one-note characters, so it was smart to use him sparingly, and with such a funny take on his direct & literal mindset.
A very good example of lawful-stupid ...
I liked that he wasn't contemptuous of people who weren't up to his ideals, but still good.
Yes, and clearly the DMPC too, I loved it
@@leonielson7138 I can't think of anything that Xenk did which put his code before doing the right thing, so I'd say that he's an excellent example of Lawful Good and a very poor example of Lawful Stupid.
In the fight I thought he'd use some shield spells and Turn Undead but nope. Just sword fighting.
My favorite thing about this movie as a D&D player is how you can see scenes and see the rolls made. Like how Edgin failed his history check on who Xenk is, but everyone else succeeded, or when Simon failed concentration for the Illusion.
you can also see Sofina fail a concentration save (on the spell animating the dragon statue) when doric thwacks her in the head with her sling
Edgin failing his dex check getting out of the ropes
Also a low charisma score impairing Simon's casting.
The nat 20 persuasion at the pardon hearing
@@matthewbreytenbach4483 Simon's stat block lists his Charisma at 17
Fun movie, great reaction!
favorite easter egg is 34:25, you just get a glimpse in your reaction, but in the background is the party from the 80's D&D cartoon.
I love that they acknowledge a true D&D thing. You give the party an item, (hither-Thither staff) and they find new and unforeseen ways to use it.
They really captured the feeling of playing a cosy short adventure with your buddies, from the slapstick of failing to stupid plans that work too well, and even the cheesy, but charming story. And yes, I have no idea how they got Hugh Grant, but, man, am I glad they did. He's killing it. That "Aaah! Holga! Holga! Holga!" bit had me in stitches.
that bit was completely improved by Grant as well
I love that you could tell exactly who he was just his first real line - from the way he promised to look after Keera.
The best part about this movie is it truly reflects traditional pen and paper D&D, things NEVER go according to plan. You fail at rolls, get distracted by loot, find a mimic, and the best memories from the game are all the ways you succeed the mission on a wing and a prayer laughing the entire time with your friends.
other times the players get lucky crits and convince the general the guy you are after owes child support and you are here to escort him to prison then roll high enough the guy himself is wondering if the prostitute back in his village somehow got pregnant.
Hence Doric's line 'Good save' :)
Not to mention the holier-than-thou paladin DMPC that was clearly better than the party members, so of course he couldn't continue the journey with them! Lol
Don't forget the characters narrating their backstory in excruciating detail at the wrong time! It took me out of the story for a few moments the first time until I realized "Oh my God, they're actually referencing this!"
My favourite part is when the intellect devours walk past a bunch of classes that each have Intelligence as a dump stat hahaha
really enjoyed Michelle Rodriguez's fight scenes. it's like a combo of wrestling and Jackie Chan prop-fighting. found it quite original and entertaining.
the movie directors said that the action sequences were inspired by Jackie chan's movies, so you are on point!
What was really good about Holga's fight scenes is that the armor of her opponents worked! It took actual effort to deal with them and she had to knock them down a couple of times. Even then they were alive. So cool.
@@nyghtmoon Also have to appreciate her exclusive use of heavy and blunt weaponry to deal with soldiers rather than easily cutting through armour like so much cardboard.
@@Lord_Numpty in game mechanics it’s called the Tavern Brawler Feat.
Simon's component pouch is what he uses to dial up ingredients used to cast certain spells AKA material components. Usually they are simple leather pouches full of goodies, but you can take such creative liberties with D&D. The actor also incorporated ASL into his spellcasting gesture AKA somatic components.
Could also be a spell focus.
via the wiki: Massive even for a dragon, Themberchaud was visibly overweight. He had scales as red as lava and bright yellow eyes. His head alone was estimated to be some 20 feet. By the late 1490s DR, he was barely able to walk; he was unable to fly, only hop and flap his wings helplessly like a chicken; and he often only belched flammable gas when he could not produce flame.
To be honest, this would be considered closest to what an actual D&D campaign would be like... especially with the right group. The making of plans, often on the fly, visualizing mentally the results of the dice throws and saves, and the flexibility of storytelling. Even so far as when Simon lost his concentration when he got his foot stuck....the players and dungeon master's mind can draw that conclusion, and makes the game much more enjoyable. I really miss gaming, and have many fun stories from my years of playing.
So fun fact, Michelle Rodriguez spoke about Vin Diesel having a metric ton of D&D memorabilia, he used to play as Melkor in his home games, named after Morgoth (Sauron's boss). Vin Diesel also guest starred in Celebri-D&D as a witch hunter named Calder with the cast of Critical Role (Vox Machina 's creators)
i feel like notable badass TTRPG actors missing from this film was a bit of a missed cameo... Diesel and Joe Mangienallo should've been in it.
I mean he also made a movie based on his DnD character, which is pretty extra. It was terrible so nobody remembers though
@@Deimos2k5 More than one - Riddick started out as a D&D character originally.
@@Deimos2k5 you mean the Last Witch Hunter? I never saw it but I hear it wasn't great
@@phoenixdzk
It's pretty good actually.
This movie surprised the hell out of me! The cemetery bit had me dying of laughter; I loved it so much!
I was afraid they already gave away the best part of that gag when they released it as a preview, but what came after that part was also hilarious. The guy who fell and died on the edge of the bathtub was hilarious
@@corystanish They spoiled the best part, but there was still enough jokes with the other corpses to still be entertaining scene.
The really funny part is that so many careless D&D groups in actual game play have done the exact same thing.
Bradley Cooper's character is a Halfling, basically a D&D hobbit. The cat creature that was attacked by the fish was called a Tabaxi. The ooze is called a gelatinous cube. The cat with the Venus fly traps as you called them is called a Displacer Beast. One of my games ended up with our characters having Displacer Beast kittens; my character was a pixie and she hated them because she was terrified of cats.
Them being ignored by the Rachnon is really fitting. Bards, Sorcerers, and Paladins are Charisma-based casters, Druids are wisdom-based casters, and barbarians rely on Strength.
I was the exact same way at the end with Holga. Almost rolled my eyes when I saw her dying cuz I was like alright kinda cliche that we use the tablet on her, but then it had me crying the moment the flashbacks started. I absolutely loved how they handled that sequence.
At 24 minutes : the bridge and the Ither-Tither staff is a classical move from a PC and then the save from the DM in an actual DnD game.
There is an unnecessary complex list of instructions to get on the bridge, a player didn't listen and his character put one foot of the bridge, making it to collapse... but the PCs have to go to the other side of the chasm to pursue the adventure... so the DM create a "Deus ex machina" magic item to allow them to cross the chasm...
I think the "good save" from Doric at the end of the scene is her saying what the players (or the spectators of the movie) are thinking right at this moment. In any other movie, this would have been a lazy writing... In a DnD movie, this makes totally sense.
I was so pleasantly surprised when I watched this in theatres. Was it the best movie ever? No. Did I have a great time so I didn't care about the flaws? Heck yes! The cast was great, I had so much fun, and the movie even had a nice message going and was more heartwarming than I expected.
That what I’m talking about! Will this win tons of awards? No, probably none. Did I enjoy myself and will I rewatch this a lot? You bet!
Same! I love D&D, but the earlier movies really set my expectations below the floor. And this movie really exceeded those expectations by hundreds of miles. It was so fun and full of heart!
@@funnylilgalreacts Exactly! That's the way movies should be. Yeah, it's not fine art, but I had an absolute blast with it all the same. The best description of it I can come up with is that it's just plain fun.
It's, imo, the best D&D movie, anyway. ;)
Not perfect, but better than it could have been in several key moments. The end, I thought was a bit obvious how it unfolded, but the set-up had been done so well, and the acting convincing, that it worked.
@@wtimmins Yeah, sometimes it’s the journey, not the destination
This movie is more beautiful than it had to be in the end. I can't believe that we went from "Let their blood rain from the skyyyyyy!" to me weeping at the end of a D&D movie. There are more, really complex, wonderful characters, societies, and history in the Forgotten Realms setting (the one featured in this film) than what you see in the movie. I'd say that the setting has as much history by now as the Tolkein's world, and other major fantasy settings.
If producers can keep making D&D movies with great characters that the general public can appreciate for quality, complexity, and relevance, there are endless movies that can come from this IP- and endless money. I'm just saying, it's all about the treasure, right, adventurers?
It'd be cool if they had a new set of adventurers for each movie. As amazing as Pine and Rodriguez are, it'd really fit the actual game where you have thousands of campaigns going at any one time.
@@SeanBlader Alternatively, bring back this entire crew but they're all playing different (or versions of each other's) characters.
Being a D&D player, I ADORED this film. I saw this with my gaming group and we all had a blast. (We had finished our big campaign late last summer, and we had a Thayan bladesinger, turned necromancer in our party and our party even travelled to Thay at one point.)
One thing I appreciated in this film was having Edgin and Holga being just in a platonic friendship rather than becoming the usual friends to lovers tope/cliche that most movie relationships fall into. It was just a refreshing take to see, and I hope more movies do this in the future.
I do wish that Doric had a character arc or more character development, rather than just being a druid doing cool wildshape stuff. And that Edgin, being a bard, didn't cast a single spell! (He makes up for it for using his inspiring speeches, which does give a nice nod to the bard's ability in the game.)
I don't have a problem with Doric. Not all D&D players are that big into roleplay and more into exploration and/or combat, and therefore some D&D characters don't have that much of an arc, if any.
Just because he has a lute doesn't shoehorn him in as a bard, he's more of a rogue who likes to play music.
@@feralart I'd say he's a bard/rogue multiclass. It's just that his abilities aren't visually represented like the sorcerer's are. But I definitely noticed points in the story where he used Bardic Inspiration (every inspiring speech he makes to the party), and he may have used Suggestion in convincing Saphina and Forge to put them in the High Sun Games instead of just killing them. He may have used Calm Emotions when he was cheering up Holga after their visit with Marlamin. So I'd say he has at least a few levels of Bard in there.
They added character sheets for every character. They are plausible and playable. He is a bard. He has at will: friends, message
3/day : charm person, disguise self
1/day : suggestion
Reactions:
3/day inspiring words
You can look up official character sheets for a bunch of the characters in this movie. Just google image search d&d honor thieves character sheets and you should find them all pretty easily
same. it was really good, finally!
Hugh Grant having the time of his life by playing the bad guy is just one of the highlights of this movie. Just saw it yesterday too and didn't think it'd be as fun as it was. Kinda hoping Vox Machina would make a cameo somehow. Xenk just walking off in that scene was apparently a blooper--he didn't hear the director yell cut so he just kept walking!
"Fresh cut grass" was also a reference to Critical Role (it's the name of Sam Riegel's character in the second campaign).
It'd be difficult to justify a Critical Role cameo in the Forgotten Realms universe as CR takes place in a separate one.
They did have the Critical Role easter egg in the Prestidigitation effect Simon casts in the hall --- he made the scent of Fresh Cut Grass.
(third campaign, since Sam's in second was Knott the Brave)
Supposedly instead of Xenk they kicked around using Drizzt. I would have squeed.
I loved the FCG reference. Too funny!
The best part of this movie for me were the moments that felt like they were at a table. There are scenes where you can FEEL the crits. I want another one of these movies, but worry it won't happen.
I was sold on this movie once "Jarnathan" came up. That's such a DM move of "you're asking for details I didn't prep for, and I can't just call this dude Jonathan..."
Also, Zenk is such a typical DMPC it hurts
I got sold on it when I saw a clip of the cemetery scene. There is little that expresses a pure dnd experience than wasting one of he questions during Speak With Dead. Actually, Xenk using his divine sense do smell the Thay assassins in the Underdark is just brilliant.
@@means_well i mean aarakocra also have no concept of property in their culture and detest any sort of cage or confinement on principal. so you assume they just think jarnathan is a solid vote for their pardon. then all they do is grab him and jump out the window.
I think the fact that this movie was embraced by the audience and did so well commercially means Hollywood will do a sequel without a doubt. Minimal effort, maximum profits...that is the Hollywood way. It might be fun to keep it in the same world but use a whole new group with different classes and races. That's what I would like to see.
@@means_well The moment Edgin finally (and forcefully) reveals why he'd been asking about Jarnathan all this time, I could just SEE the DM's eyes widening in surprise.
One of the subtle things that I really loved was how the dialog felt like how players at the table actually talk. For example, that moment when Edgin was trying to negotiate their release from the prison and he turns to Holga, "You have anything to add?", "I'm good". The banter between characters was super relatable.
P.S. When Edgin's illusion started to go wonky while playing a song and when I saw the chonkers dragon, I just about died from laughter in the cinema
There is a pair of rust monsters fighting for a piece of metal just before the scene Holga fights with a brick. A very classic creature.
So to answer a few questions :
The panther beast is a displacer beast a niche but popular creature from DnD. The movie has a few iconic of thes like the owlbear, the cube and the mimic (chest).
This is one unique fat dragon. This one is both a tyrant and protector to some residents of the underdark, keeping them alive in exhange of some food and loot. The main theory is that the resident overfeed him so he would be less of a threat.
The joke about the intellect devourer is also a gameplay joke as Intelligence is a stat in the game and all class represented doesn't really have a use for it. So the party does lack an intelligence character. There are a lot of references to the rules of the game in the movie.
Fresh Cut Grass is also the name of a Critical Role character that probably won't be in the animated serie before a long time.
BTW, the metal disc you wondered about contains Simon's spell components. Many spells need a bit of something (like cat fur, sand, sulfur, or whatever) that is a vital part of the casting process. Apparently rather than keep them all in a bag like most people, he has a fancy gadget which he can 'dial' to get the specific material he needs to cast his spell.
Themberchaud the dragon goes way back in D&D lore. He first came about during the early days of 2nd Edition of the game (1989 - 00). He was explained as a descendant of generations of red dragons who kept the furnaces running in the Underdark city of Gracklstugh (from the forgotten realms campaign).
This movie was SOOOOOOO GOOD. I hope it gets a sequel.
I honestly thought the destruction of Neverwinter was going to be the cliffhanger for a sequel
It's not going to off the box office alone (196 million off a 150 million budget without advertising expenses), and that is a shame. All because the writers made the dumb mistake of saying they intentionally emasculated the male characters for whatever odd reason.
Even though I didn't see that in the characters (all of them had their flaws and perks with actual character growth as well, imo). It wasn't a movie I would say everyone HAD to see, but it was a fun time and if you've ever had an interest in D and D, this film actually captured the feeling of going through a campaign exceptionally well.
Only hope now is that the people who initially skipped it for whatever reason find it and watch it at home. If DvD/Digital sales are strong we may have a chance at another.
@RicoRaynn he's a bard. They're literally the butt of every joke. And it got great reviews. Sometimes, that's enough.
@@RicoRaynnand making a profit is no guarantee of a sequel either.
I'm ready for the D&D cinematic franchise.
"If it's gonna be people-y I'd rather it be people-y with people like you" is one of the sweetest things an introvert can say. Whenever you are ready to play, any table would be lucky to have you.
Baby Kira's actress was incredibly engaged with her surroundings. I was impressed with how well she followed the action.
The thing that made me smile the biggest in this movie, other than watching my wife squee the entire time Themberchaud was on screen, was the heroes of the Original Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon making a cameo in the maze scene. I almost hopped out of my chair the very first frame they were raised from below in the background and kept looking for them throughout the rest of the movie. I had a feeling the post credit scene would be the corpse in the graveyard, but I was really hoping that the kids would still be in the cage in the empty stadium asking for help. Bonus points if a certain voice from off screen told them to "Fear not young ones."
Oh, that would be a great end credit tease! I would be standing on the chairs and cheering and clapping if they had that at the end. It was kind of sad they did not have any speaking lines in the movie. And it would be great if they had the voice actors play the characters in the cameo - kind of like how they had the Pink and Green Rangers in the Power Rangers movie. Easy ideas to please older fans.
I'm honestly not sure how I even realized that's who they were. I barely remember that show and literally the only reason I knew that's who they were was the blonde kid with the horned helmet.
The scene where he brought Holga back was genuinely emotional and beautiful. I was laughing and grinning the whole way through and was tearing up in that scene. The dragonfly symbolism of letting his wife go was beautiful.
I will never watch this film again without thinking of the dragon as chonky and smile😂 The best most accurate description for a dragon ever. As always thank you for your wonderful reactions.
17:41 yep. A Black dragon to be exact. Every Dragon in DnD is seperated in Chromatic, Metallic and Prismatic subspecies, and their respective color also determines what kind of element they have for their breath weapon. A Black Dragon like Rakor uses Acid, and Themberchaud uses Fire.
In order to cast many spells in the D&D rules, you require a material component. Some usually small thing that powers the spell. Throwing a fireball needs a pinch of sulfur, casting fly requires a bird feather, etc. Simon's gadget is a (probably gnomish) device that holds some of the components and turning the wheel lets him access some of them depending on which spell he is casting.
Themberchaud is in fact a real dragon in the game universe. He is notable for being very lazy, so yes he's a giant chonk.
The large panthers with the tentacles are called displacer beasts, they are much more intelligent than typical big cats, and have the ability to project an image of themselves several feet away. Their tentacles also inject a paralysis toxin when they hit you.
The race that Bradley Cooper played is called a Halfling. They were originally based on Lord Of The Rings Hobbits, but have evolved over time (in part because of legal complications with Tolkein's copyrights).
The "Goo" is called a gelatinous cube. There is a whole range of carnivorous jelly creatures in D&D, most of them are blobs of goo, but the cube is...well, cubical. They are used to clean dungeons by roaming the corridors sweeping up the dust and bugs, and being nearly invisible they make good guardians.
and a somatic component. Justice Smith cleverly employed ASL in his spellcasting which was ingenious.
Halfling, of course. Duh.
I was thinking 'are those gnomes? That can't be right...'
"Throwing a fireball needs a pinch of sulfur..."
And, at least in older editions (don't know about later ones), bat guano. Fun bit of trivia - saltpeter can be extracted from guano, and saltpeter and sulfur are two of the main ingredients of early gunpowder. A lot of the spell components were hidden gags like that. The feather for fly is obvious, but there's also stuff like a coper piece for detect thoughts (a penny for your thoughts), a magnifying glass to focus light for sunbeam, scrying takes a piece of cut glass that just happens to be the same price as a spyglass...
@@egosomnio In 5e as well. But as long as material components cost nothing, are not consumed on cast or both, they can be replaced with an Arcane Focus.
I'm working my way through your Vox Machina reactions, and boom! This pops up! Nice little diversion. One of my friends is a huge D&D fan, and she messaged me when she heard I'd gone to see it. She asked, "Is it going to piss me off?" I don't know much about D&D but I said I would be very surprised if she didn't love it. And I was right! It's an amazing balance between "tons of things for die-hard fans to love" and "completely accessible to newbies who know nothing." Fantastically done.
The Cemetry scene is basically the premise of the comedy-show Pushing Daisies. Very brilliant and ahead of its time.
Love that show. Too bad it only got 2 season? Surprised it did not go to cable or rebooted.
They broke the curse. That is actually a good D&D movie. 😃
The spinning thing the Simon the Sorcerer is using is a Spell component "Pouch" but his own... spin.
I played an Aarakocra (Jarnathon character) And they're very fun. It's very rare to be able to play one in a game because the ability to fly is considered unfair for certain situations for those that can't fly. (Fall damage is a thing too...) I was so excited that a Aarakocra was in this as a small yet meaningful character.
This may be mentioned in another comment, but the joke with the Intellect Devourers is my favorite D&D in-joke. All of the characters in the movie are representing classes that typically use intelligence as a dump-stat - that is a stat that isn't very vital to playing the characters and stick their lowest ability scores there (since Simon is a sorcerer - a reference to an old PC game - and not a wizard he uses charisma to cast his spells instead of intelligence). So none of them were characters with a high intelligence score.
My D&D group went to see this together and it was so much better than I was expecting. We played a campaign for 7 years in the Forgotten Realms setting (this one) and Szass Tam was one of the huge, long-running villains we went up against. I had no idea what was in the movie, so seeing his rise to power on the big screen was such an awesome experience. Really hope we get more of these (at similar or better quality, of course).
I work for a D&D-adjacent company, and our boss took us all to see this in the theater. It was really awesome. It deserves a sequel.
Michelle Rodriguez is such a treasure. And Chris Pine was awesome in this movie. It just seems like a movie everybody had a lot of fun making. I took my son's to the theater to see this without any expectations. And we all really love the movie
I didn’t expect this movie to be this good, I thought it was going to be average or below average but I gave it a 8/10 it’s great.
"What's 2+2?"
"I'm bad at math" *dies*
Me whenever I have to deal with math.
I only got into DnD about 3-4 years ago and in my late 30’s now, so it’s never too late and not too hard to learn. I don’t hardly know much lore in DnD but this movie makes a lot of references of how you would play or how people act during games and still had fun with it without knowing any lore.
you can tell when the party failed their dice rolls 😄
Started playing in my 40's, quickly became a DM and have been running games ever since. ( Though running 2 Superhero games now )
As someone who's been a D&D games master for may years this movie was darn close to perfection. I took my current player to see on release and we all enjoyed it. Much of what I could bring to the conversation I see in the comments already. It was a fantastic representation of what D&D so often is.
I'd imagine every single DM can relate to the bridge trap scene. You create this whole elaborate encounter with a puzzle and your party ignores the mechanic by using a random magic item that you gave them 10 sessions ago that they hadn't touched since they got their hands on it.
There was a DnD cartoon that aired during the 80's. Its a group of kids that get sent to the world of DnD thru a ride. They appeared briefly in the movie, running into the maze, they found the axe and then showed up in the cage at the end.
Hugh Grant has really grown into the perfect casting choice for a smarmy villain. A veteran character actor, but unlike most character actors, everyone knows his name.
One of the things I love about the characters in this, is you can also kind of see the stereotypes for the PLAYERS through their characters too. You have the Barbarian, really doesn't talk much (she spends so many scenes not talking at all, looking bored) but when it's action time, she's lethal (Min/Maxed Barbarian with Improvised Weapon because the player loves describing using regular objects in combat). She's got a backstory that gets a single session for her to play with a bit, and then it's back to fighting.
You've got the druid who is the player who is also not so much into the roleplaying/talking parts, but is REALLY into playing a type of fantasy escapist concept, in the form of this badass Guardian of the Woods concept. Her player is also the kind of person who loves improvising outside-the-box ways to solve problems, and has a vivid imagination on how to do things like use Wild Shape to it's maximum effectiveness, and awesomeness. But when it's talking time, yeah she's a lot like the Barbarian's player, not much to say, the occasional quip, but nothing really in depth.
You've got the Sorcerer's player, who is someone who had an idea for a character that didn't exactly play out the way they thought initially, but they're sticking with it, but are also plagued with REALLY bad dice rolls a lot of the time.
And then you have the Bard, who is played by the Theater Kid, who is there for the ROLEplaying. To act out a character, give them motivations and drives that fit the backstory, have those choices motivate them forward, play songs to try and cheer up their friends at the table, etc. Not there for combat, in fact he rarely ever fights at all. But if you need someone to ACT, to literally "cause a scene" whoa baby is that player the person for you!
Simon rolled a natural 1 on his concentration check for the Major Image spell.
Maybe. I thought Simon rolled a one on his stealth, getting his foot stuck, and that broke his concentration. Either way, I love how that played out and then later when Doric broke Sofina's concentration. Really great way of illustrating bad rolls without stating it..
RIP Gary Gygax. I wonder if he had any idea how much of an impression his game would have on the world. I miss playing. I still have a bag of dice and a Player's Handbook. Geeks unite!!!!
The red box set?
@@Jymm I'm going to claim ignorance and admit I don't what that is. I played mostly in the late 80's/early 90's. Please educate me.
Don't forget Dave Arneson and Robert Kuntz as well. Gary Gygax is kind of the Stan Lee of Dungeons & Dragons - he tends to get almost all of the credit, despite others doing most of the heavy lifting in actually making the game. In particular, Arneson was really the main drive in turning D&D into it's own game, rather than just a modified version of the Chainmail miniature wargame.
@@KthulhuXxx Thank you for the reply! My first handbook was misplaced (read: stolen) during a long session of playing, smoking various things, and Mountain Dew. The one I currently have was printed in 1995. AD&D, obviously. I also bought a Plane Scape set, but sadly, never got to organize a game. I'm almost 50 now, so the chances of ever being a DM are slim.
@@KthulhuXxx 1983 Basic D&D set, Yes that's the one. I bought that for my cousin back when it came out and he asked me to "Help" later on , He needed a DM and I never played it before I bought it, So it was a new experience for me. I became DM for our friends and went through all the changes learning and playing for quite a few years..
i swear the opening of the bard telling the story and the escape with the knowledge that the entire plan wasn't neccesary, really shows of how singleminded a dnd party can be and i love it
The hardest part about living in the trees is getting the plumbing right.
49:25 The fish was practical with digital augmentation of the eyes, according to compositing supervisor Todd Vazeri. He recently posted online about that creature in particular!
One big Easter egg is the live-action appearance of the characters from the D&D cartoon from the 80s. They showed up in the labyrinth scene towards the end of the movie. They don't say anything, but they're the other group in the arena.
I appreciate the anxious with things too peopley, I'm struggling with trying to get back into functioning in a world of people again too.
As for the 'monsters' you enjoyed:
the panther with tendrils is called a displacer beast, there's artwork out there from a game book with a kitten version of one.
owl bears are a species that was created by wizards for who knows what purpose, but now are a classic D&D beast to encounter in the wild.
the cube gelatin is fittingly known as a gelatinous cube, then move down dungeon hallways and dissolve organic matter for food. they are classic monsters.
the treasure chest monster is called a mimic and is also a classic, and has made many a party paranoid of treasure chests and doors (yes they come in door shape too)
I actually went to the theater to watch this. Been ages since I went to the movies. It is so fun. Being a d&d nerd for 43 years, it was awesome to see and hear all the easter eggs. It was destiny for your reaction to drop just before I'm going to go play some d&d.
I'm so happy to see you getting into D&D! Critical Role is defini9tely great. I know it's pretty long, though, so I usually consume it by way of background audio.
If you ever have the time/chance, I would HIGHLY recommend the different campaigns of Dimension 20!! The episodes are shorter and lean more towards comedy. They're on a service called Dropout, however you can catch at least the first episode of most of their campaigns on TH-cam. I feel like those stories would be right up your alley.
Ooooh! Now that it’s here it seems obvious that you would have watched the dnd movie since you loved vox machina, but I still didn’t expect this! This is my favorite movie to come out this year so far!
I felt the same way! Well,second best now since Guardians 3 came out, but still... 😊
The cats are Tabaxi or cat folk (humanoid cats) and they were practical, I believe done by animatronics, which I was sure the big fish was as well, I'm not 100% sure on that tho. SO NO ONE QUOTE ME DAMMIT! 😝
Something that I really enjoyed about the movie that is not in the game is how attunement is portrayed. In the game it's basically a matter of time and you just attune to the magic item. I loved the narrative aspect of it being a challenge to attune, and I want to incorporate that into my games. I just need to figure out the mechanics of how that will work.
I was pleasantly surprised how good this movie was! I only got into D&D about 5 years ago and it's a fantastic "world!" Glad you're enjoying it so much!!
D&D can be an amazing activity. I love playing. However, just like any activities that involve a lot of people, there is potential for a "bad experience." I've had about 10 fantastic Dungeon Masters, and I've loved my hundreds of games with them. However, I've had one very bad DM and a horrible experience with it. (I won't go into detail here, but anyone is welcome to ask about it). So I would say to definitely know who you are playing with by, at minimum, having a Session Zero. Making sure everyone is in it for a similar experience is very helpful to ensure your game is an enjoyable one. Don't worry though! "Bad experiences" are the exception and not the norm of the D&D experience. Enjoy! And don't be afraid to dive right in! If you ever have any questions, I, and many others, are excited to help!
That part at the beginning where the person got both his knees broken.. just.. OW!
I loved this movie, shame it doesn't seem like it will get a follow up but greatful we got one nice outing.
EDIT: Also yes a displacer beast (projection panther thingo) and the little brain dudes are def dnd staples (as are owlbears).
The "little men" are called halflings, and they're basically hobbits from Lord of the Rings. In fact, in the original D&D game they were called hobbits, but then the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien made them change the name for copyright reasons.
Asking bad five questions! Happens all the time. And the creatures were right out of the D&D: Tiefling (Doric with the horns), Owlbear, Aarakocra(bird person), Tabaxi (cat person), Dragon (obviously), Mimic (the chest that's not a chest, but a creature), Displacer Beast (the panther with the tentacles, BUT they don't project holograms, they teleport at will), and the Gelatinous Cube (which does acid damage every few seconds you're in it). The last three monsters are something that every D&D adventurer can expect to run into.
Hugh Grant was such a great imbecile in this movie. He's genuinely so charming and nice that you still kinda liked him even though he was actively evil.
Also Doric played by Sophia Lillis is legitimately my kind of crazy hot.
I had a great time seeing this in the theater. It's really too bad the movie didn't do well at the box office as it had positive critic and audience scores.
You can actually get a plush of Themberchaud to have your own chonky dragon boy!
Also early on Holga called Forge a son of a bitch, and Xenk took it literally. Then at the end Forge is telling his story about being raised by a very strict mother. That little payoff to such an offhand joke was fantastic!
Truthfully only rented this movie because I saw you reacted to it. 😅 Actually enjoyed it quite a bit even without knowing much about D&D. Another great reaction!
Okay, impolitely ignoring the movie, was the paper book end credits sequence not the most beautiful thing ever?
I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy this, but I laughed hard at times: their escape plan, that spell glitch and the owl bear making sure the lady is dead. And I love how that guy's escape plan hit the brick wall.
The joy of D and D is that it can be ANYTHING. A good dungeon master won't limits the campaign much. When you asked if there are chunky dragons in DandD, I had to laugh because there are not any rules in the game. It's like an adventure improv group. The dungeon master sets the stage but the players breathe life into their own characters. This makes it so much fun because its truly unpredicatble.
The creatures in the maze are three classic D&D specific monsters. The Displacer Beast is the cat with the tentacles that can appear to be in a place separate from its actual position. The Mimic was the treasure chest with the tongue, they can appear as anything and wait for adventurers get close and then they attack. The Gelatinous Cube is the big acid cube that is hard to see in a dungeon so it waits for adventurers to stumble into them or it traps them and slowly moves towards them to consume them. Doric’s favorite form of the Owlbear is also a D&D monster that Druids usually can’t change into but she’s a special case. Bradley Cooper plays a Halfling, basically a Honbit but the creators of D&D were sued by the Tolkien estate for using specific names so they had to change some of the names of their creatures. Simon’s great great grandfather is named Elminster, he is the character the Ed Greenwood played and Ed is the creator of the Forgotten Realms where this movie is set. Elminster is essentially the Gandalf of this world.
If that’s Elminster, where’s his really tall hat?
@@gawainethefirst a google image search shows him without a hat about a third of the time, I’d say this was one of those times.
I don't think l saw Bradley cooper at the end credits
@@JamesMeechan-os6sl he was uncredited
Loved the Chunky dragon. Made that scene fun and different from other dragon chase scenes I’ve seen in other things. 👍
Watched this in the theatre and this was worth it. I hope the streaming numbers are great so they may consider a sequel.
The only dragon like him that I have seen ever!
I was SO EXCITED to see this movie with your reactions! It was such a good movie!
Apparently the main cast actually played their characters in a paper and pencil D&D game before shooting to get a feel for their characters and how they would be likely to approach different situations, and Daley was (if I remember correctly) the game master.
Also, the scene where Xenk walks off was a blooper that was left in; Rene-Jean Page didn't her the "cut" call and kept walking away in a straight line like he had been directed to do. The reaction from Chris Pine is all ad-lib.
The 80's cartoon Dungeons and Dragons is still popular in Brazil. There ia a nice live action ad for TV with the characters.
There is actually a small Easter egg in the movie..during the maze scene, there are six characters from the DnD animated series from the 80s..they are a Magician, Ranger, Acrobat, barbarian, Cavalier and Thief.
😮The chest was a mimac and the panther was a displacer beast.
I love the Tetris background! I have never been beaten at that game ;) Great reaction thank you!
This movie had me rolling. So much like the way my D&D games used to go
The chest that tried to eat her was a mimic. Lots of adventurers have been killed by mimics… which reminds me of the old joke…
Tavern keep asked me why I carried my sword everywhere I went. “Mimics,” I replied. He laughed. I laughed. The table laughed. I killed the table. Good times.
The thing that Simon touches before casting spells is an Arcane Focus. Some spells in D&D require that you hold certain material items in order to cast. It can be anything from an eyelash, a copper coin, or sulfur and bat poop, depending on the spell. An arcane focus allows a caster to cast the spells without having the material components unless that component has a set value, such as a diamond worth at least 300 gold pieces. There was a lot of attention to detail and love put into this movie. It's a shame Wizards of the Coast shot themselves in the foot before this came out.
I believe the spinny thing Simon is always using is a fancy component pouch. A bag with bits for spells. You either need the components for a spell (which is stored in a component pouch) or you need a spellcasting focus (like a wand or staff). We never see Simon use a focus so yeah... my guess is a component pouch.
The Dragon question has been answered a lot, but the Panther was called a Displacer Beast. They are able to shift their image up to 5 feet away from their actual position. The Fish and Tabaxi (cat people) were not CGI. Those, the Dragonborn (dragon people), Aarakocra (bird people) and the orc at the beginning were all practicle. Simon's ancestor is Elminster, the Sage of Shadowdale. He was created as by Ed Greenwood, who created the Forgotten Realms (The world this movie takes place in. D&D has multiple settings), and is often seen as his personal avatar in the setting. There have been several novels written by Greenwood about him.
There is also a D&D TV series in development over at Paramount +. It wont be set in the same world, however. The series will be pulling from Dragonlance (particularly the first three novels) instead of the Forgotten Realms.
Would love to see Minsc & Boo if they make another.
Butt Kicking for Goodness! Go for the eyes, boo...GO FOR THE EYES!
Drizzt and Guen. Im sorry, Been a fan since I read The Crystal Shard 30 odd years ago when I was like 9.
His clock/contraption is a spellcasting focus. Just any kind of item Spellcasters use to channel their spells through.
No one talking about Hank Eric Sheila Bobby and Presto being background characters at the maze.
They're from the 80's D&D cartoon show. Played by the original voice cast.
Amusingly, that chonky dragon is actually an established being in the Forgotten Realms lore.