Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Dragonlance is a journey ... and was from the beginning. Dragons of Autumn Twilight was and remains a first in so many ways: it was the first novel together for Margaret and me, it was the first attempt at doing a classic fantasy story for a game setting, and the first book publication for TSR. Looking back on it now, after twenty years of polishing our writing, that first book looks rough and imperfect ... but it was the first step down a road that lead us to great wonders. Flawed as it appears now ... it is deservedly beloved. Since before the publication of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, we have seen Dragonlance in cinematic terms. We wrote the books visualizing them as movies and dreamed that one day, our visions would be realized on film. Now, thanks to Paramount Pictures and Epic Entertainment, that dream has been realized and with it, we take our first step down the new road of Dragonlance films. Recently, Paramount sent to Margaret and me a copy of the film on DVD so that we could preview the final cut. It is quite a thrill watching our characters come to life and hearing the familiar story begin anew. Michael Rosenbaum and Fred Tataciore bring life to the opening scene on their way to meet their friends in Solace. The voice casting in this film is phenomenal. Lucy Lawless gives Goldmoon wonderful depth and even newcomer Caroline Gelbert brings a freshness to Laurana that is breathtaking. The heart of Dragonlance has always been its characters, and the movie shines especially in two of the stories most intriguing personalities, Tasslehoff and Raistlin ... each brought vividly alive by the incredible talents of Jason Marsden and Keiffer Sutherland. Before our family started our little preview, I presented our audience with a little challenge: to find all the scenes where I can be found in the movie - kind of a personal `Where's Waldo'. As for finding me in the film ... well, you'll just have to see for yourself. Does this film have flaws -- absolutely. While the soundtrack is Oscar-worthy and the voice talent is unquestionably perfect, and Will Mineou's direction and art are beautiful, the animation itself is less than I would have hoped it to be. The style is unfortunately inconsistent from shot to shot. Interestingly, the mix of CGI with traditional cell animation worked quite well ... but it was the graphic inconsistencies between cell animation segments that I found problematic. Several sequences used post animation effects over still-motion in lieu of honest animation. My son, Curtis, is a professional After Effects artist as well as a professional magician. As he pointed out, there are only so many times in a piece you can use the same expedient short-cut before the audience begins to see the trick being played. The movie has a major picture sound to which the visuals struggle to keep up. Dragonlance fans will probably also be shocked to hear my second criticism: I believe including the entire first book in the movie was a mistake. Both the screenwriter and I argued against putting all of Dragons of Autumn Twilight in the first film ... believing that the film should portray essentially the first half of the book and finish with `Solace is burning.' But the `powers that be' adamantly required that the entire book be portrayed. George Strayton did a masterful job of accomplishing that goal and his script is undeniably brilliant - but I still believe the film's structure suffers from the enforced requirement of including the entire novel. That being said, I am delighted with Dragons of Autumn Twilight and find myself liking it even more with each subsequent viewing. It is the first dragonlance movie and, as such, shares the heritage of tentative first steps ... but in those steps opens up a new road of films before us. `Lord of the Rings' was, after all, first a Ralph Bakshi cartoon. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is not a destination ... it is the opening of a door and the beginning of a journey. Pop the popcorn, grab your hoopak and come with us down a new road with old friends.