2008's D&D Docu-drama opened to little or no fanfare, and I only became aware of it this last month. I sit here typing this review in the second sweltering day of September, 2008, wondering how a gamer like myself missed this one. At last week's game, when I mentioned to my fellow players that I had discovered this film, they too, all avid players, had missed it. Somehow even in the society of gamers, this film flew completely under the radar.
The Dungeon Masters follows the lives of three dungeon masters, none of any celebrity, but if you're in the community, you know them. The cosplay drow, the conniving DM, and the aspiring author. The community has all of these in spades. They each have their own smaller stories that do not intertwine much, except for the backdrop of fantasy. They do not actually interact with each other, but the world they each live in does feel very interconnected, more so than the physical world. There is a sort of impossible whimsy attached to them. Truth be told, you could take almost any three people from the community and produce a similar film.
If there's one thing this film got spot on, it was the cinematography. The director of this film took 3 individuals, and without any special effects, transformed their landscapes into fantastical locales. The gravity of the situations and places they were in were filmed in an epic kind of realistic Lord of the Rings style, but utilized no exotic places at all.
There are some films that, when evaluated by a devoted fan base, are utterly beyond reproach. Do not speak ill of The Man With No Name trilogy to western buffs, do not challenge the themes of 2001: A Space Odyssey to sci-fi fans, and certainly don't talk smack about Debbie Does Dallas to pornography enthusiasts. As a GM, DM, and overall friend of the fantasy and role playing game universe, this film really hit me in a strong, emotional way that I can't use at all in a professional evaluation. I have a real problem evaluating this because I feel like I know these people. The odds are very good that through d6 degrees of separation, I do.
On a human emotional level, this film rolls a natural 20, that is to say, you will feel for these people, and care about their problems, in real life surely, if not within their games. Great direction, interesting concept, but with a long run time and forgettable score. If you're a fan, yes, absolutely, go out and rent this one. If you're not, well, this one may not be for you.
*** out of *****
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