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Dungeons & Dragons
New Line Cinema


5.0

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 37 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

An American Haunting

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for fantasy action violence.

Starring Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayans, Thora Birch, Zoe McLellan, and Jeremy Irons

The Empire of Izmer has long been a divided land. The Mages - an elite group of magic users - rule whilst the lowly commoners are powerless. Izmer's young Empress, Savina (Birch), wants equality and prosperity for all, but the evil Mage Profion (Irons) is plotting to depose her, and establish his own rule. (Wizards of the Coast)

GENRE(S):	Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Topper Lilien Carroll Cartwright and E. Gary Gygax (game)
DIRECTED BY:	Courtney Solomon
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 22, 2001 Video: May 22, 2001 Theatrical: December 8, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / Czech Republic

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The special effects work fine for minor acts of magic, but the climactic aerial dragon fight is lame, and most of the performances are at the level of high school plays.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Much of the dialogue is the silliest sort of fantasy mush, and a good deal of the picture appears to have been shot while the lighting guys were out to lunch.

Boston Globe Loren King

A mildly entertaining but tepid extravaganza more suited to television than the big screen.

Miami Herald Charles Savage

A splashy, silly movie that inexplicably stars Jeremy Irons but will delight 10-year-old boys across the realm. Regrettably, the hordes of pre-adolescent boys it would have delighted most were that age 20 years ago.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Malty brew of heroics and minutiae.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Jeremy Irons, giving what is, hands down, the worst performance of his career.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Dungeons & Dragons looks like they threw away the game and photographed the box it came in.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

Gamer geeks, I speak your language! And I warn you: Flee! Or, at the very least, crank down any expectations you harbor -- a few notches below "zero" should do it -- before buying a ticket.

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

The sad truth is, I can say nothing to recommend this film.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The audience has already checked out, long before the formulaic finish.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

Worst of all, Marlon Wayans' performance as a cowardly thief would have seemed in bad taste a half-century ago.

Baltimore Sun Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

The plot is as thin and confusing as it sounds.

Los Angeles Times John Anderson

Whalin is awful, Birch is saddled with lines that would make a silent film star blanch and Irons devours huge chunks of scenery with the ferocity of one of those dog-fighting dragons.

Film.com Gemma Files

Good intentions, bad writing.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Stinketh like the breath of a dyspeptic dragon.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

A cheap "Star Wars" rip-off with swords instead of light sabers.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

This fantasy crap, fake-o effects and all, betrays princes of dice, masters of graph and wielders of bong.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Take this as a warning: it's not much fun.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Horribly slapdash affair.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The plot somehow manages to be both hackneyed and convoluted.

Variety Scott Foundas

Stunningly bad sci-fi/fantasy hokum.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Maybe I should let a role of the dice determine whether I use a cudgel or a broadsword to put this puppy out of its misery.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

This dragon, sadly, is DOA.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Tacky-looking, incoherent, badly acted and hopelessly directed disaster is easily the dullest adventure film of 2000.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

At once laboriously expository and defiantly incomprehensible.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kevin G. gave it a7:
I enjoyed the movie. It had the remnant redeeming qualities of a bad 80's sci-fi or fantasy movie, which I love. The story isn't terrible, the acting is pretty good (Save for Jeremy Irons completely overacted, even for a maniacal genius, role.

samtam90 gave it a4:
Pros: Jeremy Irons' performance, some D&D elements were nice, it's (quasi-)decent for an action/adventure movie Cons: everything else; basically, calling this a D&D movie is ridicolous.

Monica gave it a0:
The only film that I ever walked out on and demanded my money back. Just awful.

J B gave it a0:
I consider this the second worst film I have ever seen, next to the Garbage Pail Kids thing that was direct to video (when I was a kid). This is THE worst game to film adaptation of all time, bar none, and it's a genre filled with mediocre crap. There is no acting in this film. None. It's like a bunch of high school students set up a V-8 cam and did improv to a D&D campaign of their own device. The music is dull and generic. The special effects are as cheesy as anything I have ever seen in CGI. The plot just isn't there, it isn't there at all, likely hiding in shame in one of those dungeons the heroes never really visit.

Bob S. gave it an8:
It was really cool. Not the best but cool. The specail effect were good in spite of everyone else's comments.

Mark S. gave it a2:
This was real bad. When snails died and the lead actor went to his knees screaming noo, I was embarrased to be sitting through the performance.

Gio R. gave it a1:
This movie is only funny/cool if u have ur friends watching it with u making funny comments!!! If not, u can take it to the supreme court for cruel and unusual punishment.

Dungeons & Dragons New Line Cinema

Dungeons & Dragons
New Line Cinema