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Kiefer Sutherland Headlines Dragonlance Movie

Posted by Zonk on Sun Jul 16, 2006 09:44 PM
from the you-are-entering-a-parallel-world dept.
Media Movies Role Playing (Games)
Pre-production on the animated Dragonlance film is continuing apace, and the voice casting for the Companions has been completed. Kiefer Sutherland will be headlining as the voice of Raistlin Majere. Other case members will include Michael Rosenbaum (Justice League's Flash) as Tanis Half-Elven, Lucy Lawless as Goldmoon, Michelle Trachtenberg at Tika Waylan, and Jason Marsden as Tasslehoff Burrfoot. From the site: "The film is based on the first book in the Chronicles series, "Dragons of Autumn Twilight". The director is comics and TV animation veteran, Will Meugniot, and the screenplay has been adapted by George Strayton with plenty of involvement from Margaret and Tracy."
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  • Oh great (Score:5, Funny)

    by 0racle (667029) on Sunday July 16 2006, @09:48PM (#15730361)
    How am I supposed to ogle an animated Lucy Lawless?

  • Justice League's Flash? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    He's also Smallville's Lex Luthor! It's a much bigger role.
    • And he actually makes a cool Lex Luthor. I never liked the movie Lexes. They always felt corny. I think the guy who played Lex in Lois and Clark was pretty good too (tough I haven't seen this show in years, it may be that my childhood memories are better than what they actually were)
  • I have a lot of trouble putting Sutherland and Raistlan together. It's probably just the whole Jack Bower thing, but Keifer Sutherland has built such a tough-as-nails, show no mercy personna around himself thanks to 24 that I'm having a lot of trouble picturing him as the sickly, yet sinister Raistlan. Granted it's a voice acting gig, so hopefully that will help with any potential suspension of disbelief issues some may have with this casting choice. :\

  • This article is a clumsy fake (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rogerborg (306625) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:08AM (#15730417) Homepage
    Not one of those names is replete with the required f'antasy punc'tuation.

  • I read that in High School (Score:3, Funny)

    by Asahi Super Dry (531752) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:14AM (#15730459)
    It's my understanding that the book was basically an edited transcript of a Dungeons and Dragons game run by the authors. Is that in fact the case? Regardless (and this is of course just my opinion) it made me never want to read a book based on a game ever again. I can't think of a single thing I liked about it. If D&D really was the instrument of Satan then the guy has remarkably questionable taste.

    • Re:I read that in High School (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AcidLacedPenguiN (835552) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:52AM (#15730659)
      that is actually true, the entire series apparently spawned from one of the author's theatrical performance of his D&D character one night.

      Personally I found the main arc of the series to be really good (the Dragons of * books, didn't really care for any of the others.) I think I may have enjoyed it only for the characters.
      As far as game related books, I do believe the Battletech book series was spawned by the table top RPG, and I find for the most part they were excellent.

      I think the one thing that makes a successful fantasy/sci-fi book is the authors. I know that Micheal A Stackpole authored many of the Star Wars novels, as well as most of the battletech books I enjoyed.

      now onto another topic, wasn't there already a Dragonlance cartoon in the 80's, and didn't it suck hard (removed violence to make it a kids show or something)? Hopefully this will be more oriented towards a mature audience.
      • wasn't there already a Dragonlance cartoon in the 80's, and didn't it suck hard (removed violence to make it a kids show or something)?


        There was a Dungeons and Dragons cartoon for Saturday mornings. You can see it from time to time on the Toon Disney Saturday and Sunday at 7PM. In fact, I watched it last night. It was not Dragonlance based as the latter came after the cartoons.
      • Raistlin's rasping whisper was the result of one player's characterization.

        Bupu, the gully dwarf, also was spawned from their sessions.

        To claim it was a transcript, however, is a bit of a reach. The ideas came from the sessions, and the basic outline of the plot was based on the modules, but most of it was their own.

        And the Legends series, AFAIK, was completely independent of the modules. I consider that series to be fantastic, much better than Chronicles. But both were fantastic. Fizban rules.

      • Agreed... although the "Twins" trilogy was very very good also IMO (written by the same authors)... but once other authors started into the setting with the "Tales" book (and the three gazillion books afterwards) i lost all interest.

        However, the first and second trilogy is a great read IMO. Also, "Dragons of Summer Flame" (the uber-long 4th book of the original "trilogy" which came out YEARS after the orginal trilogy and by the original authors) is not too bad either.

  • always been a fan (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Kranfer (620510) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:15AM (#15730470) Homepage Journal
    I have always been a fan of the Dragonlance books. For a year or so I even sat on the Whitestone council who does the new 3rd Edition D&D books for Dragonlance. Went to GenCon met Margaret and Tracy got recognized at the Dragonlance Author Reception etc... was great. Now I am slightly... well I don't like the idea of an animated Dragonlance film. Its something that can do JUST as well at the box office as LOTR did... and I just have a feeling that this MIGHT just MIGHT destroy it for me. I want to see a live action version of the movie.

    Also what happened to Aron Eisenberg playing Tasslehoff? He volunteered to play it years ago and hes being pushed off? WTF? (BTW Aron is Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for those of you who don't know.)

    I am going to take this with a gain of salt for now I suppose. It has potential... but I don't like the idea of animated movies from a book. I didn't even like the animated version of LOTR. Can't connect with it as much. Ah well.
    • I think an animated/CG version of the film would make it easier, or more cost-effective, to generate the special effects (spells, dragon breath weapons) that come along with any D&D-based story.

      I imagine it also makes it easier to draw the characters in ridiculous proportions (think of an over-muscled Caramon, or a Sturm with layer after layer of armor) without having to come up with the costumes or makeup that would accomplish the same effect.

      I'd watch whatever version came out, just to see how that

  • Kiefer is a horrible choice. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jerk City Troll (661616) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:16AM (#15730471) Homepage

    Raistlin is a subtle, quiet-spoken, calm, cold and calculating character. Kiefer could not be more different. Based on his antics in 24 and other roles, he does everything over-the-top. His gestures and voice are always exaggerated and phoney. As silly as it may seem, Sir Ian McKellen, speaking softly might do it (I honestly do not mean to type-cast him, but the man is could be perfectly suited for this). (And damn, there is another actor I am thinking of who would be just as good, but I cannot remember the name at the moment.)

    • Re:Kiefer is a horrible choice. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Telastyn (206146) on Monday July 17 2006, @08:42AM (#15730950)
      On reflection, I disagree. Kiefer was quite good as an anonymous voice in Phone Booth, which is similar to the calm malevolance needed for Raistlin. Add Kiefer's general raspy overtone and you've got the vocal parts for the character. I'm a little more skeptical of the Lawless choice though.

    • Re:Kiefer is a horrible choice. (Score:5, Funny)

      by chuck (477) on Monday July 17 2006, @09:13AM (#15731125) Homepage
      You must be thinking of Samuel L. Jackson.
    • You're falling into a typical trap with respect to typecasting. Sutherland is a fine actor, and he's done some very good work in fantasy and SF. He'll play Raistlin just fine, and no, you don't need "that guy that played that other wizard" to play every wizard ever depicted on the screen. What's more, I'm not sure that Sir Ian would make a very good voice actor. He has a fine voice, but he's also a very physical actor. Sutherland, on the other hand has done a fair amount of voice work, and he does an excell
    • Oh, I dunno .. he has a good range, I think. Ever seen Dark City?
    • > Raistlin is a subtle, quiet-spoken, calm, cold and calculating character.

      It's a voice part. Sutherland can do soft-spoken too. But personally, I'd cast James Spader.

      But really, this movie is going to suck as bad as the D&D animated series. This movie is probably going to suck worse than the Dungeons and Dragons movie. Not that anything could do the books justice except maybe a chipper -- those were seriously bad books (I'll admit to liking them when I first read them, but I also liked Velveeta

  • It's going to be crap (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 17 2006, @07:23AM (#15730509)
    How do I know? In browsing their website I found these two little nuggets:

    Who's written the script for the film?
    The script for the film has been adapted from "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" by George Strayton. Strayon has penned several episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and was a key staff writer on Xena: Warrior Princess.

    What will be the running time for the film?
    The movie is an animated feature film and will have a running time of approximately 90-100 minutes.

    So it's written by a guy whose best work is absolute tripe. The dialogue of Xena and Hercules is one of the worst parts of those shows. And 90-100 minutes is not "feature length" for a book adaptation like this. 120 minutes would be a bare minimum, and 150 would make me feel a lot more comfortable. I would love to think this movie is going to be decent, but right now it looks like a disaster.

    • Re:It's going to be crap (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Achoi77 (669484) on Monday July 17 2006, @09:15AM (#15731140)
      Here is a quote from Margaret Wies:

      ...Suffice it to say, Tracy and I have been working with the production team for over a year now. They've been wonderful to work with! They've allowed us to have script approval and asked for our suggestions. They've shown us all the art work and allowed us approval on that (as well as the WoTC art director in charge of Dragonlance)...

      Weis and Hickman haven't lost complete control (yet), so let's reserve judgement untill we start seeing more material. They'll have a say on the script, and I don't think they are willing so mess this chance by jumping the shark on their fans.

      I do think, however, that 90-100 minutes will be way too short. I'm actually more worried that the movie is animated! :-( If it looks like a Don Bluth film, I'm gonna cringe.

      • I know from first hand experience that the gentleman who is writing the script is a fantastic RPer and I personally feel confident that he will do the series justice, especially if he is working with Margaret and Tracy.

        Joe H.
    • Certainly the screenwriter is a key player, but I don't think you can judge this guy. It's not that his "best" work was on Hercules/Xena, it's that his only work was on Hercules/Xena. He's essentially an unknown that got a break on a rather cartoony series and it's related shows. That doesn't mean he's a waste of hydrocarbons.

      I'd wait and see what he does with it, and what the director does with it.

      Though, keep in mind that those books weren't exactly Lord of the Rings. I'm expecting a movie that's going to
    1. Neuromancer
    2. Bridge of Birds
    3. Eon
    4. Permutation City
    5. The Shadow of the Torturer
    6. Childhood's End
    7. The Diamond Age
    8. Perdido Street Station
    9. Hyperion
    10. A Fire Upon the Deep

    What all these have in common is that they would be based on original novels, rather than, say, spinoff novels based on a particular campaign setting based on a particular Role Playing Game based loosely on The Lord of the Rings. Really, do we need a movie based on Dragonlance anymore than we need, say, a novelization of the video game Doom? (You've got to hand it to Linaweaver and ab Hugh for written four books based on a game who's actual description would be "He ran. He ran. He shot the monster. He ran. He shot the monster. He flipped a switch. He shot the monster. He got a bigger gun. He shot the monster...")

    How about making a movie based on the best speculative fiction has to offer? Sure, 9 times out of 10 Hollywood is going to screw it up. But that's true of anything Hollywood touches. Why not at least reach for greatness?

  • i've been a fan of the Chronicles since i first read them probably 10 years or so ago. they've been the favorite books for me and my group of friends, and I know there are others out there who are just as pumped about this as we are. plus, with 24 star Sutherland aboard, it's bound to get much needed publicity.

    i'm curious as to why they chose to do it in CG... perhaps they're going for a younger demographic? that would be unfortunate, as the Chronicles had a sinister tone to them. (closer to the LotR

    • i'm curious as to why they chose to do it in CG...

      I don't believe it is in CG. Unless I missed something on the site, the director's entire body of work is Saturday-morning style children's cheap TV animation. On the bright side, Larry Elmore, who did the book covers, is listed as Lead Artist on the project.

  • You know what I like about Slashdot? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Canthros (5769) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:38AM (#15730589)
    It's that, every so often, you guys make me feel like less of a dork, if only by comparison.
  • Chris Lambert should voice Raistlin. Just check out his Raiden in Mortal Combat.

  • Why use "actors"? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mungtor (306258) on Monday July 17 2006, @07:55AM (#15730676)
    Why bother with Keifer and Lucy at all? Why not hire some real voice actors to bring some personality to the characters? That way we could become involved in the story and the characters without having to think of Xena at all.

    Billy West is right... this is a strange trend of animating characters around who you want to do the voice rather than the other way round.
    • Sutherland's voice credits: The Wild, 24: The Game, The Flight That Fought Back, The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, Watership Down TV series, Armitage III: Poly Matrix (a dub, I presume), The Nutcracker Prince, NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience.

      He's not new to voice acting, so I don't see why his work in non-voice roles should disqualify him.
      • OK, but you have to admit that none of that is anything that people would remember. The Land Before Time X? Voice work in direct-to-video stuff? Video games? I know that Samuel L Jackson has voice credits in GTA: San Andreas, but I hardly think of his as a voice actor.

        I don't think that his non-voice acting should disqualify him simply because he does it. It should disqualify him because he does it poorly, IMO. There are people who are better qualified and will create a better quality product. Gettin
    • Because this is Hollywood, and the thought of making a movie without any stars whose names they can slap on the posters terrifies them. Why would anyone go to see an animated movie with a bunch of voice actors they've never heard of? Because it would be a better movie? Ridiculous!

      This isn't Japan, where voice acting is considered a career unto itself and there are celebrities known for nothing but their voice acting. Sadly.

      Still, there are actors in the States who can voice act well enough, and I think
  • I wonder if we'll see a ring of dwarves thrusting hauberks at the heroes.
    Or whether the 'good' priest will disappear for a while just like in the books, where even the authors found him so dull that they forgot to include him for several chapters.
  • I was just scrolling through /. this morning, and I was like "Oh.. Inflatable space station, huh? That sounds kind of interesting, future of mankind and all that.. I'll check that out.. OMG DRAGONLANCE MOVIE FTW!"

    I haven't even read Dragonlance for over a decade, but I'm stoked. Even if the movie is terrible, its like tasting some forgotten candy you haven't had since you were a kid, even if you found the candy in the couch.

    • Re:Priorities (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ultranova (717540) on Monday July 17 2006, @09:31AM (#15731226)

      I haven't even read Dragonlance for over a decade, but I'm stoked.

      I have, and I'm scared :(.

      The Chronicles were good, as were the Legends, but after that quality went down faster than a dragon that's been turned to stone mid-flight, and the ending of "War of Souls" had to set some kind of record in sheer stupidity. Constant retcons didn't help either. Or maybe it was because Dragonlance gods were turned into glorified janitors a la Forgotten Realms that it got a bit difficult to take the whole thing seriously. Takhisis, especially, became truly pathetic, in more ways than one... Oh well, another cash cow milked to death and beyond.

      So, this movie might be good, but more likely it's a thinly veiled commercial that sucks harder than the whirpool of the Blood Sea.

  • My name is Raistlin Majere, and this is the longest day of my life.

  • Keifer Sutherland? Great... (Score:3, Funny)

    by rob1980 (941751) on Monday July 17 2006, @08:23AM (#15730838)
    His lines are all going to be:

    1) Dammit!
    2) We are running out of time!
    3) Dammit, we are running out of time!
    4) DAMMIT!
  • If making this movie is anything like the books, I would half expect the recording studio to explode after the actors leave the building.

    It drove me nuts in Margaret Weiss' books. Every friggen place blows up the instant the heroes leave. Even if they win it blows up. "Yahoo, we just defeated the 'more baddest creature yet', for good measure, lets set it on fire, taking out everything in a 30 mile radius as well. Also, I peed in the well. Before we go, lets stab this guy trying to build a road."
  • he played Littlefoot's daddy in The Land Before Time X. Don't ask me how I know...
    • Magic the Gathering is hardly ready to be a movie given that it has such trouble even generating readable novels. The novels went through a brief period of being somewhat less dreadful, but unfortunately this translated predictably badly across to the actual card game.

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