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This article is from the Dragonlance Movie FAQ, by Benjamin Craig benc@toaster.globalnet.NoSpam!.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.

11 The Official Dragonlance® Dream Cast Poll.

Before we get into this I'd like to make the fact perfectly clear
that the results of this poll itself DO NOT contain my views on
casting. Please do not email me with suggestions/flames for the
choices listed below. The final list is compiled ENTIRELY of
responses from users of alt.fan.dragonlance.

For the last few months of 1995 and January 1996 a poll was
conducted on alt.fan.dragonlance regarding the best actors to
play the characters in a hypothetical DL live action movie. The
poll closed on 22 January 1996.

Before we get into it, a couple of points.

Firstly, this poll was compiled solely from Internet user's votes
(a total of 285 valid ballots). As mentioned before, the results
do not reflect Chris' or my point of view in any way.

Secondly, these results do not belong to any official casting
list whatsoever, nor are they being actively submitted to any
official parties - it's all for our interest and amusement only.
As a reward for administering the poll Chris has reserved the
right to publish his own list of choices with the results. I will
also take the liberty of putting my general views on the poll in
this FAQ because, hey - I wrote it! (see the end of this
section).

Live Characters

      CHARACTER  ACTOR                  CHRIS' CHOICE
  
      Tanis      Kevin Costner          Eric Stoltz
      Caramon    Arnold Schwarzenegger  Liam Neeson
      Raistlin   Brent Spiner           John Malkovich
      Sturm      Christopher Lambert    Patrick Bergin
      Laurana    Michelle Pfeiffer      Robin Wright
      Kitiara    Demi Moore             Michelle Forbes
      Goldmoon   Meg Ryan               Meg Ryan
      Riverwind  Lou Diamond Phillips   Wes Studi
      Flint      Danny De Vito          Malcolm Dixon
      Tasslehoff Elijah Wood            James Robinson
      Tika       Nicole Kidman          Helena Bonham Carter
      Gilthanas  Cary Elwes             Cary Elwes
      Verminaard Jeremy Irons           Clancy Brown
      Gunthar    Gene Hackman           James Cosmo
      Astinus    Patrick Stewart        Christopher Walken
      Eben       Duncan Regehr          Steve Buscemi
      Theros     Morgan Freeman         Morgan Freeman
      Toede      Wallace Shawn          Wallace Shawn
      Elistan    Charlton Heston        Charlton Heston
      Derek      Dennis Quaid           Harvey Keitel
      Ariakas    Rutger Hauer           Rutger Hauer
      Fizban     Christopher Lloyd      Richard Harris
      Berem      Brad Pitt              Willem Dafoe
      Silvara    Drew Barrymore         Drew Barrymore
      Bupu       Rhea Perlman           Carol Kane
      Solostaran Frank Langella         Frank Langella
      Alhana     Courtney Cox           Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
      Gnosh      Kenny Baker            Kenny Baker
      Bakaris    Sting                  Sting
      Maquesta   Angela Bassett         Angela Bassett
      Amothus    John Cleese            John Cleese
      Zebulah    Sean Connery           Robert Duvall
      Apoletta   Halle Berry            Halle Berry
      Takhisis   Teri Hatcher           Sigourney Weaver
      Otik       Bob Hoskins            Mike McShane
      Lorac      Donald Sutherland      Donald Sutherland
      Bertrem    David Hyde-Pierce      David Hyde-Pierce
      Hederick   Tommy Lee Jones        Robbie Coltrane
      Mishakal   Moira Kelly            Moira Kelly
      Highbulp   Jack Purvis            Jack Purvis
      Porthios   Kiefer Sutherland      Ian Hart
      Pyros      Sam Neill              Sam Neill
      Sestun     Mike Edmonds           Mike Edmonds
      Crysania   Sandra Bullock         Madeleine Stowe
      Dalamar    Daniel Day Lewis       Daniel Day Lewis
  
     Voice Characters
  
      CHARACTER         ACTOR
                                              CHRIS' CHOICE
  
      Soth              James Earl Jones      Jeremy Irons
      Gakhan            Robert Englund        Michael Wincott
      Skie              Jack Palance          Jack Palance
      Pyrite            John Rhys-Davies      John Rhys-Davies
      Forestmaster      Rene Russo            Rene Russo
      Khisanth          Linda Hamilton        Linda Hamilton
      Matafluer         Kathy Bates           Kathy Bates

Overall I think that the results of this poll show a general lack
of imagination possessed by many DL fans on the Net. Films like
Star Wars worked so well because they used unknown actors who had
the acting ability and look that the director considered suitable
for the relevant character. More importantly, their personality
and on/off-screen history did not interfere with the portrayal of
their character.

I believe the importance of the characters to DL cannot be
stressed enough - the skeleton story is the same as a million
other fantasy trilogies, but it is the unique, three-dimensional
characters that give it a life of its own. It would be a real
shame to see such a potentially brilliant story watered down (a
la Jurassic Park) and turned into mindless Hollywood garbage.

One thing that might work is to hand out minor roles as cameos to
stars who 1) can act, and 2) were right for the role.

Just my 2 steel pieces worth.

 

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