Dungeons & Dragons

2000
PG-13
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

3.7/10

37K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:28

Action Adventure Fantasy

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

3.7/10

37K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,605

216

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 11 nominations total

Trivia
When asked why he did this film, Jeremy Irons replied, "Are you kidding? I'd just bought a castle, I had to pay for it somehow!"

Goofs
When Damodar is holding Snails up on the castle, a combine harvester/ tractor is visible in a field in the background.

Quotes
Profion: Let their blood rain from the sky!

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

Alternate versions
The DVD contains several deleted and extended scenes as well as alternate versions of scenes used in the movie. According to director Corey Solomon, most of these were not used because of budgetary constraints in regards to special effects. They include:
A cameo by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson as a council wizard during the dragon fighting toward the end of the movie.
An extended Council meeting where Profion (Jeremy Irons) tries to convince the Council that Empress Savina (Thora Birch) is somehow responsible for his botched experiment at controlling dragons.
Ridley (Justin Whalin), Snails (Marlon Wayans), Marina (Zoe McLellan), and Elwood (Lee Arenberg) escape the city watch through the sewers. Elwood introduces himself to the party and Marina gets sewer water dumped on her in copious amounts.
Ridley and Marina's encounter inside the magical scroll they both get sucked into. Ridley explains why he has a hatred of mages, and the duo are charged with the quest to seek the Rod of Savrille.
The party enters the Thieves' Guild of Antioch through a series of secret doors and passages.
An extended version of the Thieves' Guild fight. In this version we see footage of Elwood going into a battle rage when his helmet is knocked off.
An extended version of Snails trying to woo over Norda (Kristen Wilson). They have a conversation about the moon and "sensing" things.
A conversation between Marina and Norda after Snails' death. It is revealed that Marian has feelings for Ridley and Norda had some degree of affection for Snails. They are interrupted by an elven search party.
While being healed by the Elf King (Tom Baker), Ridley has a vision of a gold dragon hatching from an egg.
A scene of the party wating outside the cave while Ridley seeks the Rod of Savrille. They are discovered by Damodar (Bruce Payne) and his men.
An alternate ending sequence, where Ridley stands at Snails' grave alone, speaking to his friend. After his speech, Ridley walks away from the grave, presumably back to the celebrations.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Proof of Life/Vertical Limit/The Emperor's New Groove/State and Main/Pollock/Dungeons and Dragons (2000)

User reviews637

Review

Featured review

5/10

Campy, amusing heroic fantasy with - you guessed it - dungeons and dragons

RELEASED IN 2000 and directed by Courtney Solomon, "Dungeons & Dragons" chronicles events in the kingdom of Izmer where the idealistic Empress (Thora Birch) advocates equality between the mages and commoners while the power-mad Profion (Jeremy Irons) plots to overthrow the Empress with the help of his formidable henchman Damodar (Bruce Payne). A ragtag team is assembled to save Izmer by apprehending the Eye of the Dragon: Two thieves (Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans), a beautiful mage apprentice (Zoe McLellan), a dwarf (Lee Arenberg) and an elf girl (Kristen Wilson).

The first shot with Irons hamming it up as the diabolical Profion made me bust out laughing. In other words, the movie telegraphs from the get-go that it's not to be taken seriously. If you can roll with the campiness, this is an amusing throwaway fantasy flick. Imagine the gaudiness of "Star Wars" (1977) if the story were transplanted to a Medieval-like kingdom where dragons & magic are reality and you'd have a good idea of what "Dungeons & Dragons" has to offer.

This was a theatrical release that cost a whopping $45 million, but totally bombed at the box office. The 2005 sequel "Wrath of the Dragon God" (with only Bruce Payne returning as Damodar) cost just $15 million and is slightly better because the creators took the material seriously, but it's decidedly TV fantasy fare.

The film scores pretty well on the female front with the winsome McLellan and cutie Birch. Whalin and Wayans are entertaining as the two main protagonists, if you can get past their goofiness. People love to hate Snails (Wayans), but I found him to be a likable, amusing character.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 47 minutes and was shot in the Czech Republic (Kutná Hora and Prague). WRITERS: Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright.

GRADE: C