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3 Year Anniversary! Let's Discuss Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
198 Plays1 year ago
Three years ago, Satsunami and his friend Craigy C went live on Twitch to discuss their experiences with Dungeons and Dragons. Now, join them in a yearly tradition as they talk about the iconic game, this time focusing on the 2023 release D&D: Honour Among Thieves. But how well does this adaptation hold up? Could this be the best one yet?
As always, thank you all so much for the support over the last three years, it means the world to us!
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Transcript
Introduction and Anniversary Kickoff
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami.
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the three-year anniversary of Chatsunami. My name's Chatsunami and joining me today is none other than the Bardic Inspiration himself. He is the one and only person who helped me start this podcast.
Reflecting on the Podcast's Journey
00:00:32
Speaker
It is Gregacy. Gregacy, welcome back. Thank you. It is a pleasure to be here for what is now the fourth time, talking about Dungeons and Dragons related stuff, starting celebrating the three-year anniversary. It's an absolute thrill to be here.
00:00:45
Speaker
See, a couple of years ago when we started this podcast, did you think we were going to make it to the three-year mark?
00:00:52
Speaker
I'm gonna be real with you man. I only see like weeks at a time in my timeline. I'm really bad at imagining things so I didn't think you were ever gonna stop but I didn't know it would ever last this long. But I guess that way your perspective is more interesting because it's your show. What did you think was gonna happen? Honestly I have no idea because by the time this episode is out the Chats and Shorts episode will be out for this where I talk about my experience over the years, what I've learned about podcasting. Honestly after the first episode I was like you know that Napoleon
00:01:19
Speaker
mean bits going around where he's just sitting there and he's like there's nothing we can do. That was like me after the first episode. What now? After episode one it was like what am I going to do? Because obviously you were doing your podcast at the time and you had other things to do so you can come on every week and there was other friends who can come on so I was just like how do I keep it going?
Memorable Moments and Humorous Segments
00:01:37
Speaker
And then of course as well though fortunately Adam had stepped in to co-host and now Andrew's here, you keep coming back as well in the best way possible.
00:01:46
Speaker
at least up until the Minions episode. Surprisingly, I still can't believe that's the very first episode that you and I did in person. It really didn't get topped after that, but we never did another one in person because we didn't need to. I know, with a thousand plays and millions of plays. Gold plated by Spotify, if they do that. Do Spotify do something with that? I don't know. Pretty sure. Let's pretend. They've just got a gold minion just with our signatures on it. We gave it to them, actually. We
00:02:15
Speaker
I'm going to be honest, even you called me up to the A.M. asking for a couple hundred pounds for like a solid gold minion. I was like surely they're scamming it. Those prizes that leads us on to today's sponsor this episode.
Exploring Podcasting and D&D Origins
00:02:30
Speaker
Oh for legal reasons, that's a joke. We are not sponsored by elimination already. Affiliates who want to make, I don't know, what would you call it, effigy stuff?
00:02:41
Speaker
out of the gold. The golden god of minions. But yeah, it is hard to believe that it has been three whole years and we've gone through so many topics, haven't we? It's nice though because we're coming back to something around Dungeons and Dragons, which is kind of like the anniversary now, it's what we do every year. It's nice to kind of look back and reflect on it because there's been so much, so many things, so many like theme of the month, so many different topics. You've got the Patreon now, you've done Twitch streaming, there's a whole host of things to look back on. As you said, Dungeons and Dragons was the topic
00:03:09
Speaker
that kicked this all off. And as I said when I was writing that other episode for Chats of Shorts, I was basically talking about how I had a bit of an identity crisis with the podcast because, as I said, we did Dungeons and Dragons and then I was like, right, what now? Because I don't have nearly the knowledge to do a Dungeons and Dragons podcast. Just solely talking about it. I wasn't sure whether there was going to be a
00:03:31
Speaker
gaming podcast, I found my TV podcast, so I did what I do best. I became indecisive and just chose everything. They don't tell you that in podcasting school, but yeah, you don't need to pick one topic. It's crazy. Yeah, it's surprising the amount of people that do try to, and don't get me wrong, obviously if you're very passionate about one topic, then by all means go for it. Don't feel as if you don't have to go for one topic.
00:03:53
Speaker
But yeah, the amount of podcasters who are like, oh, you have to stick to one topic to be successful. You have to do this, you have to do that. And they are through the roof popular. You don't have to really have them advertising themselves. They've got their fans doing it for them kind of thing. And they talk about everything without naming any names or certain ones, but you know, they don't really need to hone in on one thing. So yeah, no, I wouldn't agree with people having to focus on one thing, which is ironic considering the one thing we are going to focus on for the third time is.
00:04:23
Speaker
The fourth time. What was the third time? First year anniversary, second year anniversary, third year anniversary in the first episode. Did we do it for the second year anniversary? I feel like we did. Oh no, we definitely mentioned
Dungeons & Dragons Movie Discussion
00:04:33
Speaker
it. There's no way. It's like, you know that meme art? Try not to mention Dungeons and Dragons.
00:04:41
Speaker
But yeah, of course, today because of this glorious anniversary for Living As Long with the podcast, today we are indeed going to be talking about a film that, before we actually came on, I was actually surprised it came out this year, and that of course is Dungeons and Dragons, owner amongst thieves.
00:04:59
Speaker
Honestly, I was actually really shocked by this film. Before we get into this film in depth, I remember seeing that advertised and let's face it, this particular genre kind of shares itself with the reputation of things like video game films, early superhero films. The first D&D film. The first D&D film.
00:05:21
Speaker
But you know that way it's like there's so many bad adaptations beforehand that you can't believe there's going to be a good one in the horizon. Yeah and I think especially when it comes to something like Dungeons and Dragons where it's like tonally so weird. I think Dungeons and Dragons is a really difficult thing to nail down because the concept of Dungeons and Dragons is pretty serious but anyone that's played D&D or
00:05:42
Speaker
watched it to do with D&D knows it is the opposite. No matter how serious you try to make a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, it's gonna go off the rails in some way. I think that's where the first D&D movie kinda went. It was fine for a movie but it never really captured the spirit of Dungeons and Dragons. I think that's a really difficult thing to do. I was thinking that it's unrelated to this but I think this film could only have been made post-Marvel movies because they needed that stupidity. The same like the Guardians of the Galaxy tone that only really been done post-Marvels. Yeah, shocking is a good way to describe it because I think it's brilliant.
00:06:11
Speaker
Yeah, because even this was getting advertised, is it right to say that a lot of people were feeling quite apprehensive about it? Yeah, the trailers definitely weren't funny particularly. I think they had a couple of jokes in them but they weren't hilariously funny. I think people were unsure of what line it would write. Would it be stupid or would it be serious? You know, I think people didn't really know what it was going to be. I think anything where it's got such a big fandom there's always going to be apprehension for any kind of movie adaptation.
00:06:34
Speaker
as you said it is weird looking back on see the first adaptation where they took a very serious approach. I don't know enough about the lore. I'm gonna be honest here and this is me putting my cards on the table but I do not know enough about the D&D lore to say oh this is so-and-so from that place or this place. This is probably gonna get my D&D card revoked here but I know the basics of it. I know what a beholder is. I know the
00:07:02
Speaker
class systems, I know, more or less the surface level stuff, owlbears and mimics and things like that. I know about those, but when I was looking up this film again, there's a lot of really cool Easter eggs and things for locations and such. And I'm going to be honest, and this is your fault, so apologies, but I've only played homebrew campaigns. I want to just interrupt your little team. I'm going to revoke my own D&D card here. Actually, it was Craig's fault.
00:07:31
Speaker
Oh, man. Well, I mean, it's both our faults. It was a different time, OK? None of us knew any bit. Good, well, hunting moment there was not your fault. It's not your fault. Yeah, and that's not a bad thing, as I spoke about in length, you know, in the past episodes, so please feel free to shake those out.
00:07:48
Speaker
As I said, there's no wrong way to
D&D Movie's Humor and Adaptation Challenges
00:07:51
Speaker
play D&D. If you want to play it as a min-max session or whatever, if you want to play more gameplay-oriented, feel free. If you want to roleplay more, feel free. But for us, it was a lot more homebrew. And I think for us, that gave it a very emotional connection. You know, it wasn't just X-Location from the books. It was Green Top Island or all of these places.
00:08:14
Speaker
it was just quite special in that way so I have to say when they had to relate in depth moments I have to admit I wasn't as clued up but were you the same? I'm a little more clued up but not massively so one of my first passes into D&D was Acquisitions Incorporated series and they use the actual official D&D law and settings and basically what they were typically the way their games would work is they were like an official Dungeons and Dragons podcast so Dungeons and Dragons release a module and they would play a bit of that
00:08:42
Speaker
So that was kind of where I knew most of the lore from, so like city name. I didn't like know the stories but like the locations and the various things like that was kind of more what I knew. So that was like these two levels I went to but things like characters and stuff I'm not that clear up on. If you were a Dungeons and Dragons fan and you heard name drops like is it Jonathan?
00:09:01
Speaker
and things like that. If you heard those, you'd be like, oh, I get that. But I think for me, because I went in completely blind, or not completely, but relatively blind, at least I could enjoy the twists and turns. You know, you could kind of expect bits and pieces, but I have to say it was a lovely, enjoyable one that way where I was like, oh my God, it's that location, or how are they going to get to this location? Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed there wasn't more chatter spells, to be quite frank. I was severely disappointed they didn't just crash the ball and then just walk through.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, what's quite cool though is like you mentioned easter eggs and stuff, every spell that she used in that movie is, like there's a dragon spell, like it's something that wizards of the sources and individuals can use, which is really cool. You didn't need to know everything, which is quite a nice balance, but like if things helped, you know what I mean? It was everything, that was really cool. Something I ain't missing quite a lot, cause I'm gonna be real. I've stopped watching Star Wars, because I get to that stage where I'm like, am I supposed to know everything here? I get myself confused about what I do and don't know.
00:09:55
Speaker
What I'm supposed to know watching everything so now I'm like nah I can't watch Star Wars anymore. There's too much going on. Every character's someone else. Something like this where it's just like oh there's a wee nod. Like that's fine and now that's a good level for me ain't. No I totally agree with you on that point. It is definitely a chore watching. I think it's more a Disney thing mind you but it's not isolated to them.
00:10:14
Speaker
you've got your MCU's, you've got your Star Wars where they have to have like a bigger universe to bring in together but with D&D and especially with this film there is so much lore but I have to say they do explain it in quite a good well-paced
00:10:29
Speaker
manner. I never really felt bored throughout the film. Do you remember the first film where they had this huge exposition scene in this council chamber or something? I don't remember word for word, I just remember nearly falling asleep and it was like Jeremy Irons and who have the Queen Princess, who have the other person was Queen Princess. Queen Princess? More or all of it. No, that's not a class in D&D before anybody else.
00:10:54
Speaker
but they are arguing about this or that and they're having the time and the lives of their act and then yeah I was like oh this is absolutely terrible the way they do it but I love how I mean this in the most complimentary way possible the fact this starts at a prison you know you've got your characters locked up you get your backstory see if they started at a tavern I feel as if that would be the more stereotypical manner to start off but
00:11:20
Speaker
I thought that was perfect the way they started it and the way that they explained the backstory of the characters.
Character Dynamics and Visual Storytelling
00:11:26
Speaker
Yeah and I think even the backstory is a great because it's like just enough trope. You know you're getting, but we've all got like little twists and turns in the characters as well to be like. And I mean as I said the Jonathan twist, I did not see that coming.
00:11:38
Speaker
I was absolutely in the aesthetics because I genuinely, I didn't realise this was a character, but I kept thinking, oh, Jonathan, he must know him and everything. That's why they make it such a big deal. And then with this, like, eagle-looking character.
00:11:53
Speaker
Oh, I get it now. The joke is that they were going to release them and then they had this madcap escape and they're like, as a dungeon master, that's such a D&D player thing to do. I think this is the thing they absolutely nailed was the tone. The amount of times where as a dungeon master that you're watching this game, you're like, no, this is exactly what my idiot players would do in the bit where they've concocted this scheme to escape the prison. They just get released anyway, but it's like, no, we're falling.
00:12:18
Speaker
Everyone's game is such a D&D game thing but there's not a D&D group I've been with that wouldn't do that same stupid mistake. Yeah I have to admit I was watching that and as someone who's only played a board extensively through D&D I was like that is 100% what I would do.
00:12:37
Speaker
That would honestly be the moment I would put my hand up and say, Craig, can I speak to you for a second? So you're telling me he's got wings, right? Mm, yeah. Right, did I write the... No, I was 100%. But yeah, I completely agree with you. I love the absolute mix of things.
00:12:56
Speaker
in this film, especially in terms of the plot points and the tones, because you've got your serious moments, you've got your comedic relief, you've got your drama, your emotional beats, as I said, you've got all of these things coming together and I feel as if they somehow blend perfectly. And going back to what we were talking about in our episode on our D&D experience,
00:13:18
Speaker
It was amazing how it was for us. We had some characters who went through really big character arcs and serious moments, but there was other times where someone would attempt to go through a serious moment, but then other people would... Well, like myself and Adam, of course, we would decide we were going to start an interior decorating business. We were going to blow up peasants by accident because we thought we had the right parcel. Long story, listen to my episode on Blum Row the Bard.
00:13:48
Speaker
Yeah, it was amazing to see that because he had the bard to us all, like I'm the comic relief, but then he also had the serious side to him of trying to rescue his daughter, he had the sleazy nobleman, he had the strong, I want to say barbarian. She was definitely barbarian.
00:14:03
Speaker
You had the wizard who was going through an identity crisis. You had the OP druids. You know, you had... Like all the best druids. Exactly, yeah. I mean, it's not a party until they break out the elevator. I mean, come on. That is the thing though. It just blended so perfectly. But what did you think about that?
00:14:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, I totally agree with that. I think that's the thing that they nailed the most. And I'll probably keep mentioning it because I just think they did such a fantastic job of it was that tone. I would have thought it was impossible to do, to be honest, before it. Because, yeah, Dungeons and Dragons is all of those things in that it is dramatic. It is emotional. It is stupid. It is scary. It is action. You know, that all is Dungeons and Dragons. It is a heist movie. They did a heist in it in the film. They had puzzles. They nailed it. They absolutely nailed all the different tones, all the different story beats, the betrayals, the different
00:14:50
Speaker
characters, they nailed it. I genuinely would have assumed it was impossible going in. Obviously I'm a big Dungeons & Dragons fan and that style of comedy and that style of what they come up with is very similar to I think the games that we played. I think that was very similar to ours and I guess if Dungeons & Dragons isn't that to you, it might have been a bit different but I just thought, I thought they nailed it. The tone is perfect for the film and all the emotional story beats. Everything was so reflective of the experiences that we've had. Because going back to the
00:15:16
Speaker
first attempt and granted there's probably loads of other attempts before the following I'm thinking of here but you know that was overly serious but then you had the moments where they tried to make it kind of comedic but the thing was it felt as if it was a serious story with comedic elements interjected
00:15:35
Speaker
It was also serious characters. The characters, I think that was one of the things they did really well in this film, was the characters. I don't want to use the word quirky because people don't like that word now, but I think it was quirky and each character has their own little failures and funnies and weirdness. I think that's what really builds the Dungeons & Dragons kind of thing as opposed to a serious studio with serious characters.
00:15:52
Speaker
No, absolutely, because I'm using all my brain power here to actually think back to those characters. But that's the thing though, it's like, you think back to them and you're like, oh yeah, you've got the stereotypical adventurer and his friend, you've got the dwarf, you've got the rogue.
00:16:07
Speaker
I can't even remember, but that actually brings me on to an interesting point. The fact that all of them are so distinctive in who they are. And although that sounds like a weird thing to say, but I don't think enough credit's given to this, especially for visual design. As we said, you've got the barbarian character, she is very muscular, she takes no nonsense.
00:16:27
Speaker
she does her own thing and gets annoyed when she's interrupted. You've got Chris Pratt's character, of course, who is the bard, obviously because he's holding the loop, but just the way he dresses quite powerfully. You've got the wizard,
Humor and Action in D&D Movie Scenes
00:16:40
Speaker
you've got the druid, as I said, the nobleman. You've got all of these people that dress in a particular way, look a particular way, and it's just, it's fantastically done because even if you're not a D&D fan, you can immediately go, right, I know what to expect,
00:17:10
Speaker
best costume in the world but when everyone else looks the same it makes these things very difficult to follow and the final fight of this film is super easy to follow and there's a bit of a joke at the end of the film of a easter egg where every attack is six seconds apart at the end of the film which is a reference to how long it takes attacks to hit Undini but that bit where they're all fighting the final big boss mage and every character is super distinctive you can tell everyone is instantly what their powers are you know what they're doing everyone's so unique
00:17:20
Speaker
from each character and I don't think that's really applauded enough.
00:17:34
Speaker
Yeah, they did an amazing job of just that costuming and that distinctive style that everyone has, well, they all move differently, they all fight differently. They did a really fantastic job of that. And yeah, it means idiots like me can follow along. Because I mean, I can't believe I'm bringing anime into this discussion, but that's one of the things that people make fun of, or not make fun of, but they do meme on it where they say, oh boy, who's the protagonist? And obviously it's the multi-coloured, spiky-haired person. And you're like, oh. Kind of find the JoJo villain in the crowd gimmick.
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Well, to be fair in JoJo, they all look like protagonists. Nobody in that universe skips leg day. I mean, come on. Yeah, that's the thing though. It's that idea of making your heroes distinctive, and you're completely right. It makes it so much easier to follow. Because I mean, even the best of series do that where it's like, oh, this is the hero. And you only know that initially because that's literally all you're told. They look down the camera and they're like, this is your hero. You better follow him to the ends of the earth.
00:18:29
Speaker
But going back to the comedy, I have to admit, one of the bits that I wasn't expecting to find this funny was the graveyard scene. Yes. That was just absolutely hysterical. And that's one of those ones that I think written down doesn't seem that funny. You know what I mean? They talk to dead people and they can't figure it out. But that's the Dungeons and Dragons experience. I think that's another great scene that's seen themselves. I was just like, the players are stupid. It's a really simple problem. They can't figure it out themselves.
00:18:54
Speaker
I mean, to be fair, we've done that before. Well, sorry. I say we. I mean, I've done that as a player with you, DMing, and you just shaking your head in the background like, no, no, sir. So why did you do this? It's something that I actually find quite interesting. It's not something I've really thought of when I was first watching it, but you know the scene where the two main characters, Hogan, Edwin, they get captured by Hugh Grant's character who, honestly, let's say he's just Hugh Grant. Yeah, yeah, he's not acting.
00:19:23
Speaker
Do you know the popularity of multiverses going on in the media just now? I like to think he's a variant of the villain out of Paddington, because I say so it won't spoil us but it both ends the same way and they both get into prison by the end. Right, I was wondering where you were going because I was like, I remember Paddington very differently.
00:19:42
Speaker
But he just grabs one of the officers and jumps out the window. I was like, I don't remember Paddington so differently. Oh come on, Paddington would definitely fit into this universe. Oh 100%, I mean that goes up. Paddington goes, have you ever done an episode of Paddington? I haven't actually. Doing his back here for the fourth year anniversary is me too. Paddington class system.
00:20:04
Speaker
Would he be a rogue? Would he be a bard? I have to add that onto the list because Paddington is absolutely a fantastic film. It's a masterpiece as Martin Scorsese would probably say.
00:20:17
Speaker
So it's the scene where they're caught by Hugh Grant and it's quite a funny scene of course where Hogas, the, I think it's one of the guards, like how he takes care of his axe, obviously with the intention to kill him or beat him up and steal his axe and everything, which again is another really nice touch, and she's beaten him up with ease and crisp
00:20:37
Speaker
rat's character, he's still tied up, he's still trying to get out. He's like, you've got this, you've got this. And someone says it's a bit like, see when you're in combat? And one person has got really good rules and they're punching everyone, but then the other person is still fumbling at the back and he's like, you've got this! Still getting ones and twos in the back. I thought that was a good touch.
00:20:58
Speaker
I don't know how much to add to that, but one thing in a similar note that I thought of is the scene where they're in the Underdark and the fat dragon starts trying to chase them and starts rolling.
Film's Visuals and Lore Integration
00:21:06
Speaker
My wife pointed out quite correctly that that was the DM rolling on one, so instead of it... The players could mess up, but the dungeon master could also mess up, and that was a prime example of the dungeon master messing up, was like, oh man, I've got this cool dragon, no, no, wait, I don't, he's an absolute...
00:21:20
Speaker
I actually didn't realise that dragon was a character as well. And again, this was a joy for me because I had no idea what half of these characters did. And when they turned up, I was like, oh man, that's cool. You know, a dragon spitting acid is like, oh yeah, I think it's black dragons can spit acid.
00:21:40
Speaker
I mean, I'm just going to trust the film. I'm just going to be like, yeah, you know what? If you say that, that's fine. And then they were talking about red wizards and things. And I was just like, OK, evil wizard, because again, the visual style of this film is really iconic, I have to say, because you've got the stereotypical, oh, fantasy city that you've seen a million times. But you did want to see more of this world. You didn't just want to cut your losses and just say, I don't know about this. Yeah. And I hope
00:22:06
Speaker
that the film did well enough that we can get
Reception and Industry Trends
00:22:10
Speaker
sequels. Now that's my hope for it, because the world is fantastic. All the work they put into it, I'd love more in that universe. Well, we love D&D, but the universe was so easily done, all the cities and stuff, I'd love to see more of it. Here's a question for you though. Do you think this film was accessible to a general audience, as opposed to just, you know, targeting the D&D audience?
00:22:30
Speaker
It's a hard one to say because obviously we're not the general audience. I think it was, like I heard about people going that enjoyed it that didn't necessarily know D&D but I do think it didn't do amazing numbers in the cinema and I think a lot of that is just to do with it was trying to be a blockbuster without the right brand. From all accounts I've heard people that went to go see it enjoyed it but yeah I don't think it made the money the studio were expecting because some people just didn't go see it. It's a hat.
00:22:50
Speaker
to say without going into it too much because I mean this could be an episode in itself but I remember seeing the online discourse just in the run-up to it and it seems to just be a thing about discourse over movies nowadays where you've always got someone who's just overly negative people who are saying oh I didn't like the fact that Chris Pratt wasn't like
00:23:11
Speaker
the muscular hero and all that rubbish, or oh, I don't like this character or that character. And I have to say, there are some people out there who probably heard the negativity or, you know, secondhand negativity, where it's like a friend of a friend said the D&D movie's bad, but you don't quite know. So, I mean, I don't know if maybe that affected it as well, but I mean, considering it came out relatively, not relatively quick, but it came out on
00:23:34
Speaker
Paramount Plus here, and I was actually really surprised they came out so soon on streaming services. Like, not overly soon, but... I think that's just the way a lot of things are now, though with both Covid, I think they rushed a lot of the films, especially the ones that were made in that era, to streaming. We'll see what happens in the future. I think they want to get their money back, so I'll sell it quickly. Aye.
00:23:52
Speaker
I suppose that is true though. And that is a thing now that's starting to correct itself because obviously during the lockdowns, during Covid, they were trying to market it to streaming services and nowadays they're like, oh no, cinemas are back open quick. Keep them away,
Memorable Film Moments and Future Hopes
00:24:07
Speaker
which...
00:24:07
Speaker
Yeah, good to see him, not a big fan of that model, but you know, they're not going to listen to this episode, let's face it, and be like, oh no, such is it! Reverse course. But before we wrap up though, is there any particular moment in this film that's stood out to you? Because I know we've talked about the different bits like Jonathan and Hugh Grant as a villain, which...
00:24:26
Speaker
The bit where we had the character that was a paladin, whose name I'm totally forgetting now, who turns up, helps him with a bunch of sessions, and then leaves by stepping over a rock in a funny way without breaking his stride. Oh, that was hilarious.
00:24:56
Speaker
for that session and then just leaving and never mentioned again and like all that stuff. That one in particular. The fight at the end thought I was fantastically done. The whole, we didn't even mention the stuff in the Colosseum but that's like a classic bit of D&D work and all the different mazes and stuff the way they built up that. I took a lot of ideas from it and I'm a little sad that everyone that I do play D&D with has probably watched this film now because I would have liked to have just stole a whole bunch of it.
00:25:19
Speaker
That's kind of all my highlights about you. Well just touching on that point about people you know watching this film, did Wizards of the Coast not release stats for each character? Like if you wanted to play as them? They did, they did character sheets. That was such a good move on their part. Amazing. Such a good way to get people into Dungeons and Dragons. Just wanted to point that out, I thought that was actually fantastic.
00:25:41
Speaker
that yeah, as I said, the Coliseum fight was great. I did like the wee easter egg where you saw in the background there was like another party that were dressed as, correct me if I'm wrong, but was it the characters from the cartoon? Yeah, which I thought was a nice nod. I thought the action overall was just fantastic. I was really surprised!
00:26:03
Speaker
I genuinely didn't know what to think because my girlfriend and I, we decided one day, oh, let's just put Dungeons and Dragons on and she's never played D&D before. So I was like, you know what, if you enjoy it, that's great. If you don't enjoy it, I'm not going to be like, oh my God, enjoy it.
00:26:18
Speaker
But I was just surprised between the action, between the comedy. I did get flashbacks at the very end to your session, your finale, when it's like all the people banding together in this hopeless situation. I was like, oh my gosh, we've been here before. It's literally me. Oh my god. But absolutely found that fantastic.
00:26:38
Speaker
as I said, all the actors I think did an incredible job in their roles. I don't think there's anybody that was necessarily weak. I mentioned it before but in the old film you got people who were either overacting or not acting enough whereas I feel as if
00:26:53
Speaker
everybody here had that perfect balance. And even with the villains, you know, they were evil, but that was the role they were supposed to play. They weren't comedy evil. They were so evil enough to take them seriously. But then you had the comedic relief villain Hugh Grant's character, of course. And again, I've said it before, but him playing the charismatic villain, I feel as if he does a good job in that role. I'm trying to think of who else. Bradley Cooper for one, two scenes. Was he? Right, can I ask something here?
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, because one of us were always surprised at that. I was like, is that Bradley Cooper? Am I getting flashbacks to a star this morning? Like, what is going on? Or interstellar as well, inserting your own jokes. Yeah, that was weird. Was he a gnome or was he a halfling? I have no idea, man. I think it was a gnome. I think they made a joke. I've seen the film in a while, so I can't remember the exact joke.
00:27:42
Speaker
Oh, because he was ridiculous. I don't know if it is just the scale or whatever, but he was ridiculously small in that. I played a gnome bard when I first played the game, and I was looking at him and I thought, there's no way he's a gnome, surely not. And then I tried to find it funny when his new partner came in and she was like a giant. I tried that funny, but I'm like, is that because she's there and it's the big chair? Because it's not like Lord of the Rings when the Hobbits are proportional. Oh yeah, that scene messed me up a wee bit.
00:28:12
Speaker
Not gonna lie, I was sitting there thinking, what is the height scaling in this universe? As I said, I thought the Paladin was absolutely fantastic as well, just the OPDM PC. I thought it was just fantastic. As I said, the finale as well was great. Honestly, there's just so much of this film, from its visuals to the choreography. I do honestly think that it deserves a sequel.
00:28:35
Speaker
But it'd be interesting to see what they did with it, given more time. Because for this one, this was the quintessential D&D campaign.
Cultural Impact of D&D Movie
00:28:43
Speaker
Start off in prison, you get broken out through the most ridiculous way possible, and then yeah, you go in a series of shinane cold quests. Is that a word for shinane?
00:28:53
Speaker
Yeah, why not? You end up defeating someone who's basically going to destroy the universe though. Or not universe, but you know, their universe. So I honestly think if you haven't seen this, and even if you're not a D&D fan but you're one of the fringes of being a fantasy fan, you would definitely love this film. A hundred percent. Yeah, great hang. It's a good time as well. It's a quick film. It's funny. Reminds me a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy's if you like that. You'll probably like this as well. Yeah, it's a good time. A good family friendly room.
00:29:19
Speaker
Okay, some scenes aren't family friendly, but you know. Watch with a culture. That's a 12-A. Ah, yeah, yeah. Family friendly fun. I mean, it's the same level as Spider-Man.
00:29:29
Speaker
by that I mean the Sam Raimi one where you get the skeletons. Family, friendly, fun. And again it's just a notch in the belt of Wizards of the Coast getting Dungeons and Dragons more mainstream because they're getting me wrong, they don't need help with things like Critical Role, with more people getting into it through mainstream media and then of course now they've got a film which by all means
00:29:51
Speaker
I think would encourage people. I mean, I think I would. If I was younger and I saw this film, I would at least be a wee bit curious about this one. Well yeah, 100%. Like you see, there's another notch and that's what they're looking for. I mean, the fact that this was even able to get made, I think nowadays shows how big D&D's got and yeah, it's only gonna make it bigger. So if you haven't seen this film, definitely go check it out because you won't regret it. You definitely won't regret it. And I was gonna make a joke about rolling the D20 but you know what? Go buy your own D20s.
Conclusion and Community Engagement
00:30:18
Speaker
But, saying that note, do you see, thank you so much for joining me on the third anniversary of Chatsanami, and what a journey it's been. What a journey. It's been a pleasure to be here once again. And I'll see you next year for our D&D Paddington Camping. Yes. Paddington Month coming soon. Four week old reasons. That's a joke, by the way.
00:30:38
Speaker
But yeah, on that note, thank you all so, so much for not only listening to this episode, but listening to us throughout the years. And yeah, keeping with us this long, honestly. I say it all the time, but I'm genuinely grateful to all of you out there if you actually listen to the show. We put in a lot of work into it. And you know, it's a lot of fun for us as well, whether I'm speaking on your behalf. Okay, Casey, sorry. I was going to say, I actually don't put a lot of work into this at all. It's actually mostly sex, so I just turn up and talk crap.
00:31:08
Speaker
You just break down my door and go, listen, minions. We need to talk about minions. About Godzilla. About puddle fish. Yeah. About puddle fish. You're the one that puts in the real work, I just turn up. And I'm glad for your service, so thank you. Otherwise this would be a very one-sided episode.
00:31:25
Speaker
But yeah, thank you all so so much for supporting the show. It really means a lot to us. And if you want to check out more of our episodes, long-term listeners might know where to find us, but in case any of you are first-time listeners today, you can find us on our website, chatsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. Just look for the red panda under the name Chatsunami.
00:31:44
Speaker
we'll see you there. I also want to give a huge shout out to our Pandalorian Patrons, RoboticMatoToaster and Sonya. Thank you so much for supporting the show and of course if you want to get exclusive content on Patreon, you can check us out on patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami. But until then, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated. Roll for hydration.
00:32:07
Speaker
That's actually not true! See, it's tap water but it's room temperature, not ice cold. What did you get for your hydration rule? Leave it in the comments!
00:32:19
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and journal interests. Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises.
00:32:38
Speaker
Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:33:00
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Zincaster. If you're a podcaster that records remotely like me, then you'll know how challenging it can be to create the podcast you've always wanted. That's where Zincaster comes in. Before I met Zincaster, I was put a naive podcaster, recording on low-quality, one-track audio waves.
00:33:35
Speaker
I want you to have the same easy experience I do for all my podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story.