
An evil drow-elf is displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A sanitation worker lures friends into a Sphere of Annihilation. A failed supervillain starts a cable access show involving ninjas, puppets, and a cooking segment. These are the characters, real and imagined, of The Dungeon Masters: Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, two men and one woman devote their lives to Dungeons and Dragons, the storied role-playing game, and its various descendants. As their baro... (Full plot summary below)
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An evil drow-elf is displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A sanitation worker lures friends into a Sphere of Annihilation. A failed supervillain starts a cable access show involving ninjas, puppets, and a cooking segment. These are the characters, real and imagined, of The Dungeon Masters: Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, two men and one woman devote their lives to Dungeons and Dragons, the storied role-playing game, and its various descendants. As their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives, the characters find it increasingly difficult to allay their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game's imaginary triumphs. Soon the true heroic act of each character's real life emerges, and the film follows each as he or she summons the courage to face it. Along the way, The Dungeon Masters reimagines the tropes of classic heroic cinema, creating an intimate portrait of minor struggles and triumphs writ large.
Leave your thoughts about The Dungeon Masters.
| Sarasota Herald-TribuneChristopher LloydThe Dungeon Masters fails as a journalistic exploration of gaming. But as a glimpse into the lives of the people behind the dungeon master's screen, it rolls high. |
| The Tyee (British Columbia)Dorothy WoodendThe silent language of resentment, yearning, frustration and love captured by famed cinematographer Lee Daniel (Slacker) is often so thick you can taste it, but is also terribly, ridiculously, and wonderfully human. |
| Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerIts ultimate message may be that, rather than gaming being a way for misfits to escape from reality, rolling the dice and spinning yarns may be what is finest and most creative about them. |
| MovieCrypt.comKevin A. RansonIn the end, the qualities that make a Dungeon Master also make for an interesting individual. |
| User ReviewDaniel QIt was more about the gamers' tragic lives than about their gaming. |
| User ReviewJames LAn amazing documentary about real people with imaginary lives, loved it! |
| User ReviewBradley PI believe those that really enjoy this movie are those who have lived the life. While I wasn't as fully immersed as those in the movie, I can see how it overtakes their lives. I think it was a great glimpse into the lives of gamers. |
| User ReviewMatthew BA sobering look into the sad lives of three troubled, lower middle class, obsessives, who mask the sadness in their lives through incessant immersion into roleplaying and self-delusion. I was cheering for the man who was supported by his wife as he attempted to translate his world creation skills to the world of novel writing, but I was disappointed after watching by the result of googling his name. |
| User ReviewMarc LPoorly edited. Which means that the narrative is weak. The three chosen for examination do not really illustrate the world of D&D instead the movie makers focus on the life that seems to swirl around them. Both compelling enough to expose, but neither fully explored. In the end, I was left with the selfish lives of adult children, self-involved and ignoring the relationships in their lives. In short, it makes the viewer feel like they are judging a freak show. |
| User ReviewJohnny SIt was fairly interesting but could have gone much further into the lives of these strange people. |