To those claiming that Dark Sun was "always woke."
No. Not even close.
First of all, the entire setting was born out of the mandate to create a world where girls could adventure day and night in bikinis while using psionics left and right.
It could have just as easily been called "ESP Bikini Girls from Beyond Infinity" and doubled as a movie on USA Up All Night.
Secondly, wokeness is anti-Christian, anti-white, anti-male, anti-nuclear family, anti-Western society. Dark Sun absolutely did not have a baked in message promoting any of that.
Yes the very planet could be taken as a cautionary tale against abusing the environment but that certainly wasn't political or divisive. We had Earth Day and Captain Planet cartoons and recycling went mainstream and people on TV were freaking out about aerosol sprays destroying the ozone layer which would then cause UV rays to start burning people, destroying plants and all of that.
Dark Sun simply took some of those fears and cranked them up to 11 as a fun, pulpy, fantastical excuse to get those girls in bikinis casting defiler magic and dudes in speedos blasting monsters with their minds.
It was so politically INCORRECT in fact, that it released a 96 page accessory book on slaves that even took the time to explain the *benefits* of slavery on Athasian society, and it came out in 1992, the very same year as the Rodney King riots!
You think WOTC would have had the balls to put something like that out in 2020? Get out of here.
In my memoirs I am detailing how and why Gary and I designed the many dungeon levels we used during and after the play-tests of D&D. A master class is forthcoming.
@WeeWheaton I watched it last night. I loved the non-agenda story. Great action, cool and simple effects, great cast and the creatures and villains were rehashed from any blockbuster clone movie.
Was getting recommends from the Divers for the new "Deathstalker" and it did NOT disappoint!
A hero that makes no apologies for being a chad, not a kween in sight, and the closest thing to a girlboss comically gets her head ripped clean off. 😅
The only negatives were the presence of Patton "Don't Ever Accept a Starbucks From" Oswalt and a distinct lack of T&A. Still, those are fairly minor quibbles.
Overall, a great tribute to the sword & sorcery movies of the past. Its heart is definitely in the right place.
B+
Purchased on Prime.