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.

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.

I shaved during the movie but it seemed like a real movie so after I shaved I trimmed some unnecessary body hair, all in all I felt clean afterward. For some reason there must be at least 10 lines before you can submit a comment. So I thought about what else to write so here is what I purchased at Walmart yesterday: eggs, milk, various types of chips, bananas, oranges, apples, concentrated fruit drinks, triscuits, wheat thins, 2 loaves of bread, steaks x6, 2 40 oz bags of skinless/boneless chicken breasts, frozen peas large variety, frozen corn large variety, frozen mixed vegetables large variety, my wife's ridiculously overpriced bottled (probably tap) water, many types of frozen dinner family size for my complete lazy days, and random pizzas for the kids. Sad to say but this is all from memory (photographic) what waste of mind-space.

The subject is certainly compelling: a group of people take their love of gaming one step further by creating a fake medieval world full of warriors, kings, princes and castles. Wargaming is an interesting phenomena that delves into our collective need to "escape" from reality and the sometimes mundaneness of our existence -- something almost everyone can relate to. The characters are the predictable mix of Lord of the Rings nerds and Star Trek enthusiasts. That's enough to get most people to watch. However, very quickly the film turns into an insider's view of wargaming with an almost stereotypical thumbing of the nose to viewers who "don't get it". The filmmakers seem to take the subject of wargaming, and this particular one, waaaaay too seriously rather than once in awhile recognizing the humor and fun in making a film about adults drssing up in medieval gear and pounding each other with foam swords. It's pretty hard for anyone who doesn't sit on their computer for 7-10 hours a day playing games or desiging the latest star destroyer to understand what the characters are talking about and why we should even care. However, the filmmakers themselves seem not to care choosing to focus solely on the subject of the game itself rather than building a strong narrative with a clear story that anyone can understand. Moreover, the characters themselves are not that compelling and you quickly become bored of them: a big no-no when you're trying to keep people's attention for 90 minutes.