Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

sychonic I'm sure there are folks who will be dismissive of the Darkon members, I don't think they understand it. I'm not one of them, I'm not of Darkon, nor anything like it. But there is something about it that connects. This is a documentary half way between "isn't this sort of cool" and "aren't these people weird?" It's probably too long, but that's a minor matter. I think the essential part of it is the point that some people in the modern world sort of miss our past. We live in a very high tech world, how many of us get angry as hell when the broad band goes out? And yet, fifteen years ago, there was no broad band.And as hard and as difficult life may be, things like broad swords rather than broad band, really aren't a part of it.I think this documentary, well, documents a part of our minds coming to surface -- that the cyber world doesn't necessarily satisfy all our instincts. These guys are kind of into Dungeons and Dragons, and Excalibur, and history, but also mythology.I think you can call them just big kids, refusing to grow up, but I do like the way the movie progresses, a kind of drama is accorded to some things that are obviously silly, to one outside the society. I'm not in it, so I can hardly say, but I can see why they do these things. I think it helps break out of every day life, and touch the past, and touch the myths.To answer why in the world these people do this is to answer why there is a mythology and stories of witches and fairies and goblins and on and on. I think these are folks who revel in mystery and history and alternate history, and maybe just plain old revel.My take on it anyway.

sc8031 Darkon is Live Action Role-Playing, where the characters in the game assume different personas of their own creation and partake of different warring nations and factions in the Darkon universe. Not entirely unlike traditional Dungeons & Dragons, except the focus is not upon the stat-sheets and one's imagination, but the actual grandiose foam-weapon battles between armies.The documentary focuses on a drawn-out Darkon campaign fought between two warring faction leaders: Skip Lipman/Bannor (he's Bannor in Darkon), and Kenyon Wells/Keldar. Of the two, Skip is the more likable character, a stay-at-home dad with the utmost exuberance for Darkon's potential as a fulfilling and self-empowering creative channel. Kenyon/Keldar seems to stand for similar things, but then he doesn't take the Darkon fantasy as seriously as the other members of the documentary. Instead he uses it as a medium for him to channel his expansive, greedy determination.What is revealed by all this, is that these Darkon characters are not necessarily escapes or pure projections in another universe, but simply extended, exaggerated branches of their respective personalities inside the world of Darkon.That isn't to say Darkon is a strange, negative or absurd enterprise by any means. In fact, the documentary is positive for making the viewer re-examine all the real Live Action Role-playing and fantasy elements that take place in our communities (American football and sports, martial arts and "Reality-Based Self-Defense", New Agers and "shamans", yoga, religion, etc.) because they have long since been accepted by mainstream society as normal. But when fantasies become vivid enough to the ones enacting them, those fantasies bleed into real life and how we develop as members of our daily communities.

deluxa This is a documentary about Live Action Role Players, a rather noble and delightful type of gaming, that some people may find a little too far out of their realm to understand. It is interesting and enjoyable for any nerd and is also a unique type of documentary. I recommend this to anyone who has every played d&d, enjoyed magic, or any other type of role-playing endeavors. :) It is fun and light-hearted. It is not sad at all. Afterwards you feel admiration and respect to the people who can stay "in character" for a weekend straight -certainly not an easy task to pull off. I would consider this film a great accomplishment for gamers out there. :)

hilarious-android I found Darkon fascinating, but the subject matter is limited. There is subtle humor that I believe only a gamer would understand, and whilst I have that advantage, I can see that it could be frustrating to an outsider. However, I believe the directors gave an extraordinary effort to open up a naturally reclusive niche of individuals. The film is divided much like the people are, in two genres and styles, documentary versus Hollywood action, a fictional world versus everyday life. The balance between the two belies the truth that LARPing is escapism. Every individual acknowledged that it was a game, but when they were in the game they made the most of the fiction, just like the cinematography makes the most of unconventional documentary shots, favoring angles that are closer to an action film. The close relationships between the subject matters duality and the films stylistic duality are, in my opinion, the most compelling. Frankly, the scenes of battle are both slightly frightening, because of the full on combat that is not staged but also, and probably intentionally, humorous when you catch a glance of a score board or mini-vans.I found the individuals endearing in there own mundane ways, it was a relief that they were not portrayed as particularly charismatic, or humorous. The intentional inclusion of daily routine, of personal insecurities, of reality places the people where one would expect them.For myself the most compelling subject touched upon was the insecurities of the individuals in the real life, because some might expect them to be bolstered, but seeing the differences of how they act in and out of game, down to how them carry themselves, show how profoundly fictional Darkon the game is. They can be bold and brash because it is not real, failure is unimportant, but success helps many of them build confidence. And although, the subject matter of LARPing is foreign to most, if you can just use that as a vehicle to get to these themes the film suddenly is not just a bad action movie, or an esoteric documentary. Anyone can relate to it. It is an honest film documenting a fictional story with real people.