Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Lifelong friends, they went their separate ways. Now they are together again, though each holds secrets from the others in his heart. They speak of a world shadowed with rumors of war. They speak of tales of strange monsters, creatures of myth, creatures of legend. They do not speak of their secrets. Not then. Not until a chance encounter with a beautiful, sorrowful woman, who bears a magical crystal staff, draws the companions deeper into the shadows, forever changing their lives and shaping the fate of the world.

No one expected them to be heroes.

Least of all, them.

Dragons Of Autumn Twilight

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are true Dungeons and Dragons players/developers and in my opinion should go down in the history books as one of the greatest duos of all time. It is said that all fantasy books are based on characters and concepts of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings which is of course true. But, if a copy of The Dragonlance Chronicles was sent back in time for Tolkien to read he could have created a 'Real' epic.

In true dungeons and dragons tradition Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman created characters for this story, each having its own traits, its own strength and weakness. Characters that could not have succeeded on their own, but together make a truely awesome team.

The story is full of swords and sorcery, dragons and dragonriders, wizards and magic, thieves and dwarves, in fact it has got everything that a true Dungeons and Dragons novel should have. In fact, Weis and Hickman created a world so full of magic that over 190 books have been written all set in the same world and all in just over 20 years, a feat that Tolkien will never accomplish.

I read the Dragonlance Chronicles well over 15 years ago, since then I have read many epic stories like Raymond E Feist's Riftwar saga, David Edding's Belgariad and most of the late great Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. All are classics in their own right and all should be made into either mini serieses or an epic trilogy much like Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately though, Dragonlance has manifested itself as a cartoon with rather questionable animation. But there is still hope for us die hard Dragonlance fans as didn't they first make Lord of the Rings into a cartoon and as I have said before Dragonlance is way better than Lord of the Rings.

I have just this minute finished watching Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight and after all the months of dread waiting for the animated film to be released I have got to say that I rather enjoyed it. This has to be mainly because the story it is based on is so very, very good and not even poor animation can kill a story as good as this. The animation blows hot and cold so to speak as the animation of the dragons and the fire is really good, but the animation on the people is rather tacky at times.

The transition from book length to film length of course leaves a lot missing out but for me I can't really remember what has been missed out as it is a very long time ago that I read the original series and since then I must have read well over 100 more books. The main thing that is missing from the books though is proper character introductions, people who haven't read the book will get confused over some of the characters. Since I have read the books I instantly know all the characters, their abilities, their traits, etc. People who don't know the characters will miss the subtleties, and for instance, not totally understand complex characters like Tasselhoff Burrfoot.

The musical score is very atmospheric at times and in my opinion does not detract from the film.

One of the things I didn't like, and I hate to admit this, is that Lucy Lawless does not make a good Goldmoon. To me her voice is just not right for that part.

Overall I have to say that the makers of Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight did the best job they could on the budget they had. If you are a die hard Dragonlance fan buying the film won't break the bank and you will probably watch it more than once. On the other hand if you are not a die hard Dragonlance fan watch someone elses copy before committing yourself to buy.

One last thing, Peter Jackson, if you are listening, pick up the Dragonlance franchise and do a Lord of the Rings on it. These books deserve a live action incarnation.

Even though the film is animated Margaret and Tracy are going to make cameo appearances in the Inn of the Last Home and then again in Pax Tharkas.

Margaret Weis - Inn Patron #1Tracy Hickman - Inn Patron #2

Below are three dragonlance related videos which I have added for your enjoyment. Hopefully I will be able to add the Real trailer once it has been released.

E N J O Y ! ! !