DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS
Year: 2000
USA: New Line Cinema
UK: Entertainment
Cast: Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayans, Thora Birch, Zoe McLellan, Kristen Wilson, Lee Arenberg, Bruce Payne, Jeremy Irons, Richard O'Brien, Dave Arneson, Tom Baker, Edward Jewesbury, Robert Miano
Director: Courtney Solomon
Countries: USA / Czech Republic
UK: 108 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for fantasy action violence
UK Certificate: 12 contains moderate violence and horror. Distribution company chose to make sound cuts in order to reduce the impact of violence in three scenes for a 12 certificate. A 15 uncut was made available to them.
USA Release Date: 8 December 2000
UK Release Date: 16 February 2001
Synopsis
There are many orbs throughout the multiverse… glittering like jewels across the prime material plane. Many are like our own, but there are others, worlds of mythic beauty and ancient mystery, of vast wilderness and untamed danger… worlds where legendary creatures walk the earth and fill the sky - here be Dragons. In such worlds nature itself pulses with powerful energies beyond our comprehension. In some of these worlds, man has learned to shape and focus this natural weave of elemental forces. On these worlds, it is known as magic.
It is magic that dominates the Empire of Izmer, and only 'Mages', those elite few born with the ability to harness its power, have the right to rule. All others are consigned to a life of lower station. In the principal city of Sumdall the Emperor rules from his royal palace, in conjunction with the Council of Mages. The standing imperial army, the Crimson Guard, and their commander, Damodar (Bruce Payne), enforce the law of the mages throughout the empire. But it is by the incredible might of the Royal Scepter and its ability to command the immensely powerful Gold Dragons, that the Emperor and his ancestors have forged a mighty empire in the aftermath of the Great War. They have brought stability and prosperity to Izmer for many centuries... until now.
A thousand years of peace is about be shattered when the emperor is felled by an assassin's poison. His only heir, the child-princess Savina (Thora Birch), quickly discovers that the greatest threat the Empire has ever faced will come from within. The respected Archmage Profion (Jeremy Irons) has set in motion his dark plans to turn the Council against her rule. If he succeeds, the Council will order the young empress to surrender her crown and the scepter, an action she must refuse at all costs. Profion will stop at nothing to secure the Scepter and the power of the Gold Dragons for himself, and his schemes threaten to plunge the nation into civil war!
The Empress sends her most trusted scout, Norda (Kristen Wilson), on a suicide mission to find an ancient artifact, the Rod of Savrille. Its fabled ability to summon and enslave the wills of Red Dragons may tip the balance of power back in their direction and allow her to expose Profion's treasonous plans. Profion, through magical means, discovers her plans to thwart him and a deadly race for the weapon begins.
But destiny, it would seem, selects her own champions… and soon, the fate of the entire realm will rest not with Norda or the mages, but in the hands of those who the Empire has forsaken… And time is not on their side…