Review of Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight DVD

Review of Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight DVD

*Warning SPOILERS*

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight is an animated adaptation of the first novel in the Dragonlance series, made popular by the novels of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The feature runs around ninety minutes and was released directly to DVD by Paramount on January 15th, 2007.

The Good:
By far the strongest element in this movie was the voice acting. With names like Michael Rosenbaum, Kiefer Sutherland, and Lucy Lawless, you can’t go wrong. Each brought a level of vocal depth that was just a pleasure to listen to. In fact, no one voice was ever weak, except perhaps the dragons who sounded too human. Overall, these voice actors were a saving grace and helped keep dialogue interesting, even when the lines themselves are uninspired.

The music was also very well done. There was a great variety in instruments and vocals that fit the setting well. On a visit to the recording studio, Weis herself mentioned her pleasure and fascination with the whole recording process and the lengths at which the composer and his orchestra went to get the right sound. Having heard quite a range of animated movie scores, this held up well to its contemporaries, though I wish other aspects of this movie did…

The Bad:
The worst element of this movie was the animation, a fairly crucial element in an ANIMATED movie. Toonz, an animation studio based out of Korea, really dropped the ball on this one. Having been exposed to flawless eastern anime and very stylized and clean western animation the likes of Nickelodeon, I expected a certain bar to be met. Sadly it wasn't. The 2D was sloppy, at times poorly drawn, other times losing detail to the point where I couldn’t distinguish a goblin’s skin from his clothing. The color palette was entirely too bright and primary and lacked visual depth. For some reason, Toonz thought combining 2D and 3D elements would create depth, but instead created an eye sore. I watched in small horror as the 3D Draconians charged into battle with their flat foes. There was no continuity between the 2D and 3D, it simply looking tacked on and disjointed. If any 3D element might have worked, it would have been cell shading, but from the rather poorly rendered and animated 3D models (especially the dragon flybys, ugh) I don’t think Toonz has heard of cell shading. Honestly, the 2D and 3D elements screamed of early 90’s animated movies with tiny budgets and rudimentary knowledge of then fledgling CGI. I’m sorry, but having seen truly excellent animation across the global board, there is now a standard that must be met. However Toonz did manage to make Tika’s 2D breasts and rear jiggle for Caramon, so I can’t totally hate…

Had the feature been more visually pleasing, I might have been distracted from the linearity and clichés of the story. However, I won’t tear into this, seeing as the story is an adaptation of the novel. Any weak plot points are probably part of the original book and considered “classic”.

For what the movie offered, I think George Strayton did a good job in conveying the massive plot in a 90 minute format, but there were undeniable moments I couldn’t help but cringe at. The Street-Fighter-esque calling out of the spell names could have been done away with and some of the dialogue was circular and unnecessary.

A scene that jumps to mind as being written a little ridiculous is when Tanis dramatically denounces the gods before an idol, then finds the unconscious Goldmoon whom he thought dead, then he immediately praises the gods whole-heartedly all in a matter of thirty seconds. Wow, if that doesn’t show us true faith, what does? Not sure if this scene is a product of a condensed plot or if it was actually this rapid in the book, but yikes.


The Final Verdict:
I think Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a rental at best. If you are a generalist fan of fantasy, as I am, you’ll probably enjoy the movie for the few scenes it shines. However, I wouldn’t recommend shelling out 17 bucks (as it’s priced at Blockbuster) considering all the flaws. If you happen to be a big fan of the setting and own every Dragonlance novel, then you might want to purchase this and forgive the weak points. If you are just a fan of animation, then DO NOT spend money on this. You will regret it almost immediately when you see the clumsy 3D opening credits.

For more information, check out the DVD site: http://www.dragonlance-dvd.com