Watch and Weep: DragonStrike's 1993 Video Tutorial

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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Watch and Weep: DragonStrike's 1993 Video Tutorial


If you thought Jeremy Irons chewed up the scenery in the Dungeons & Dragons movie, just wait until you see the actors in this video.

Dungeons & Dragons is somewhat notorious for having terrible movies associated with the franchise, but folks don't realize just how far back that legacy extends. Many people know of the so-bad-it's-good board game DragonStrike and it's so cheesy that it could probably feed a family for quite some time.

The video was designed to serve as an intro and tutorial to the game, which was based on a simplified version of D&D. It features some horrid dialogue, ridiculous costumes, cringe-worthy acting, and some hysterical 1990s CGI and animated backgrounds.

On top of all this, Wikipedia states that the video isn't even an accurate reflection of the game itself: "The method by which the players in the video play the game bears only a moderate resemblance to the actual game as described in the official rulebook."

The movie is just over a half hour long, which means that it's the perfect way to start your next Bad Movie Night. You can try to watch it all the way through on your own, but, honestly, it kind of hurts if you try to do so (due to all the times you smack your forehead).

Source: <a href=http://io9.com/5728994/watch-dragonstrike-the-most-awkward-dungeons--dragons-vhs-tutorial-ever>io9

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Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
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Heh, I actually played the game once, though we didn't watch this... gem.
 

SnootyEnglishman

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May 26, 2009
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Thanks to James Rolfe aka Board James aka AVGN i have seen that and laughed at it silliness. But i appreciate the cheap laugh again though.
 

Ensiferum

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Apr 24, 2010
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When I was a kid my friend had the game Dragonstrike. I'm embarrassed to say we watched the movie more than we actually played the game because we thought it was "cool." Ah the folly of youth.
 

Malgayne

New member
Oct 16, 2008
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I watched this video growing up and adored it, in all it's awfulness.

It was also written by Flint Dille, the same guy who wrote the original Transformers movie, and the first Uncharted game.
 

Therumancer

Citation Needed
Nov 28, 2007
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teh_Canape said:
seems like y'all forgot good old Mazes and Monsters, with the ever-lovely Tom Hanks
"Mazes and Monsters" actually has a somewhat legitimate excuse though, because it's very loosely based on real events.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dungeon_Master

The problem is that Gary Gygax was apparently questioned about those events and was extremely flippant about the answers he gave, and apparently wound up antagonizing a lot of people while thinking he was simply generating publicity. He didn't understand how many people's eyes were on the incident at the time. What he reportedly said though was supposed to have been taken well out of context though.

The real events inspired the BOOK "Mazes and Monsters" (A Novel)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazes_and_Monsters_(novel)

Which in turn lead to the development of the Tom Hanks movie, and a lot of misunderstandings based around some things from that book being taken seriously (and even saw things like entirely fictitious letters being used as evidence to support the connections).

I routinely caution people in the fandom communities to be VERY careful how they defend their hobbies, whether it be PnP RPGs, or Computer Games, because there are two sides to every story and the side your not on will almost invariably have some legitimate points or a grain of truth in what they are saying, especially if it's a big (ongoing) issue. By mocking the other side because you think your right, all you do is pour gas on the fire and actually make yourself look foolish, and your position as being unapprochable.

-

At any rate for those who (hopefully) read this far, the best BAD movie inspired by RPGs is actually not "Mazes and Monsters" which tended to be realistic. Oh no, let's not forget that we've seen an actual, bona-fide horror movie made out of the idea:

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/movie-reviews/skullduggery.php

Their review probably captures it best and gives a synopsis (Wiki only has a stub that I can find). I've watched this, and yes, it's as they say.

There was also an episode of "Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues" with people playing an ancient chinese RPG-type game (actually sort of like Talisman, for those familiar with it) which is actually a device through which a long-dead sorceror attempts to possess people and resurrect himself.

But really, if you ever have a bad movie night with a bunch of gamers, I whole heartedly recommend "Skullduggery", it's both awful and amusing. I think Rotten Tomatos gave it like 3%.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
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For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a wise and noble head floating in a dark oblivion.

I guess this video is the next best thing.
 

DJShire

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Sep 27, 2008
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I had this game....watching the vid for the first time was interesting, because I looked at the game, and the vid, then the game, and was like "this....the vid was made before final production wasn't it? Cause barely a damn thing matches up, especially not the miniatures". The miniatures in the vid were way more detailed than the production models.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Therumancer said:
"Mazes and Monsters" actually has a somewhat legitimate excuse though, because it's very loosely based on real events.
In the same way that The Philadelphia Experiment was based on true events...

Totally made-up excuse for something that never happened, and then over-dramatised in a horrible film that set out specifically to attack the demon of the time.

In fact, about as "true" as Faux News report on the "unbridled virtual sex" of Mass Effect.
 

VitusPrime

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Sep 26, 2008
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"Please cast your pause VCR spell now."

Priceless...I actually enjoyed that video somehow...perhaps slight memories of my DnD days...
 

Scars Unseen

^ ^ v v < > < > B A
May 7, 2009
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I had this when I was a teenager. It was pretty fun for what it was. We were already playing AD&D though, so it was a short lived novelty. Hero Quest was better.
 

The Great JT

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Oct 6, 2008
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Yes we know Spoony and Board James mocked these without mercy (Spoony's was far better, if only because he did it for the whole movie) but it's still cheesy fun.

And yes, it was written by a pair of stupid orcs (I checked, it's not racist!).
 

Space Spoons

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Aug 21, 2008
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I remember reading ads for this in my comic books. "It's a video! It's a game! It's DRAGONSTRIKE!"

Even when I was a little kid, and therefore kinda dumb, I thought it looked a little ridiculous.