As a big fan of the books for many years I was looking forward to seeing this movie. I'd followed the production from time to time and I started to get a pit in my stomach as screen shots and other artwork were uploaded for fans to preview on the official website. But I held on to my optimism and hoped for something that wouldn't suck. To say that I'm disappointed in what I saw in that movie is a severe understatement. The only good thing that came out of it was that my children now are motivated to read the books because they were able to see that the story is a good one, even if the movie dropped the ball in reproducing the characters in a lively and enduring fashion.
They tripped and fell over themselves when it came to developing the relationships between the characters. There is just too much left out, which I understand because a movie is limited for time, but if you aren't going to try to put the stuff that makes the books so popular into the movie then why even make the movie? Unless all you care about is how much money you can bilk out of the fans, which seems to be the growing trend with Wizards of the Coast (the company that owns Dragonlance). I found the artwork in the movie to be too 80's style animation except where the cut in CGI for the Draconians, and me mixing the medias like that just put me right off and ruined the flow of continuity for me. I realize that everyone associates Larry Elmores brilliant artwork with the characters, so the bar was pretty high for an animated movie. But I think even if we weren't comparing the animation with the images we've already become so accustomed to, we would still have been disappointed. Unless we are around the age of 10, which perhaps the production crew was actually targeting that age group.
My other chief complaint is that some of the mysteries that aren't solved until later in the next two books ('Who is Fizban?' and 'Where is Kitiara?') are already solved laid out at your feet before you even start to wonder about them. If you love the Dragonlance Stories do not waste your time with this steaming pile of crap.
They tripped and fell over themselves when it came to developing the relationships between the characters. There is just too much left out, which I understand because a movie is limited for time, but if you aren't going to try to put the stuff that makes the books so popular into the movie then why even make the movie? Unless all you care about is how much money you can bilk out of the fans, which seems to be the growing trend with Wizards of the Coast (the company that owns Dragonlance). I found the artwork in the movie to be too 80's style animation except where the cut in CGI for the Draconians, and me mixing the medias like that just put me right off and ruined the flow of continuity for me. I realize that everyone associates Larry Elmores brilliant artwork with the characters, so the bar was pretty high for an animated movie. But I think even if we weren't comparing the animation with the images we've already become so accustomed to, we would still have been disappointed. Unless we are around the age of 10, which perhaps the production crew was actually targeting that age group.
My other chief complaint is that some of the mysteries that aren't solved until later in the next two books ('Who is Fizban?' and 'Where is Kitiara?') are already solved laid out at your feet before you even start to wonder about them. If you love the Dragonlance Stories do not waste your time with this steaming pile of crap.