Dragon Strike in not in any way the average sort of movie one would expect, as its not. Nore is it quite one of the few "VCR board games" that cropped up in the mid 1990s.
What Dragon Strike is though is a VCR tape packed with a simple RPG board game of the same name. The box comes with a batch of cheap plastic miniatures. None of these even a tenth as fine as what you'd see in games like Hero Quest or the like. The game plays like the middle ground between the actual Dungeons & Dragons game, and the entertaining board game simply called Dungeon. Dragon Strike has easy to learn rules and could have served as a stepping stone to more complex RPGs had it been produced better. But alas this was put out near the fall of TSR when they were vastly over-extending themselves.
Dragon Strike would have heralded a TV series using the same technology by the name of Wildspace had things gone better.
Now on to the "movie" itself. What this is, is a sort of live demonstration of how to play the game, which serves as the frame around the fantasy story that unfolds, showing the characters actions as if real. The Gamemaster narrates and explains rules as it plays out, the unseen players are heard to describe what they want to do against whatever peril is faced, and the "movie" part plays it out.
The SFX range from the interesting to the strange, and employs a sort of digital Chromograph technique instead of blue-screening. Costumes are good for the most part, though the Wizard looks more like a druid... There is one CG dragon tossed in, though unfortunately it is not the much more well designed one from the original promotional.
The movie itself plays out as follows. Some spoilers may pop up below.
We start with a figure fleeing a castle while someone gloats over the creation of a Sunstone which they promptly use to suck up all the light in the realm and create an extended night of terror.
We cut to a different castle and a party being held before King Halvor, along the way we meet the Warrior and the Thief. The figure first seen bursts in and all hell promptly breaks loose. Undead Skeletons rampage and things get hectic from there. Turns out that's not a dagger in the Wizards back. Its a tooth, a Dragon tooth no less. And an elf pops up just to add to the strangeness.
A group is formed comprising these 4 individuals, (Why the Cleric wasn't taken along is anyones guess,) and they set off for the tower of Keraptis where all this started.
Along the way they get strafed by a CG rendered Red Dragon.) Run into a rather goof-ball talking Owlbear, (A sort of bear-like creature with a owl or hawk's head. Kind of like a wingless griffon.) Some even more goof-ball Orcs. A Manscorpion, (a sort of human/scorpion centaur assembly.) and a cranky Dwarf. Add to this a dancing Fire Elemental and finally the showdown with Keraptis.
Quirky humor and the bizarre framing with the game rules and running commentary make this a really unusual viewing.
The boxed set game is now slightly hard to come by. Though oddly the VCR tape tends to show up at sales alone. We did warn you though that its strange...
What Dragon Strike is though is a VCR tape packed with a simple RPG board game of the same name. The box comes with a batch of cheap plastic miniatures. None of these even a tenth as fine as what you'd see in games like Hero Quest or the like. The game plays like the middle ground between the actual Dungeons & Dragons game, and the entertaining board game simply called Dungeon. Dragon Strike has easy to learn rules and could have served as a stepping stone to more complex RPGs had it been produced better. But alas this was put out near the fall of TSR when they were vastly over-extending themselves.
Dragon Strike would have heralded a TV series using the same technology by the name of Wildspace had things gone better.
Now on to the "movie" itself. What this is, is a sort of live demonstration of how to play the game, which serves as the frame around the fantasy story that unfolds, showing the characters actions as if real. The Gamemaster narrates and explains rules as it plays out, the unseen players are heard to describe what they want to do against whatever peril is faced, and the "movie" part plays it out.
The SFX range from the interesting to the strange, and employs a sort of digital Chromograph technique instead of blue-screening. Costumes are good for the most part, though the Wizard looks more like a druid... There is one CG dragon tossed in, though unfortunately it is not the much more well designed one from the original promotional.
The movie itself plays out as follows. Some spoilers may pop up below.
We start with a figure fleeing a castle while someone gloats over the creation of a Sunstone which they promptly use to suck up all the light in the realm and create an extended night of terror.
We cut to a different castle and a party being held before King Halvor, along the way we meet the Warrior and the Thief. The figure first seen bursts in and all hell promptly breaks loose. Undead Skeletons rampage and things get hectic from there. Turns out that's not a dagger in the Wizards back. Its a tooth, a Dragon tooth no less. And an elf pops up just to add to the strangeness.
A group is formed comprising these 4 individuals, (Why the Cleric wasn't taken along is anyones guess,) and they set off for the tower of Keraptis where all this started.
Along the way they get strafed by a CG rendered Red Dragon.) Run into a rather goof-ball talking Owlbear, (A sort of bear-like creature with a owl or hawk's head. Kind of like a wingless griffon.) Some even more goof-ball Orcs. A Manscorpion, (a sort of human/scorpion centaur assembly.) and a cranky Dwarf. Add to this a dancing Fire Elemental and finally the showdown with Keraptis.
Quirky humor and the bizarre framing with the game rules and running commentary make this a really unusual viewing.
The boxed set game is now slightly hard to come by. Though oddly the VCR tape tends to show up at sales alone. We did warn you though that its strange...
