To steal a phrase, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Was I on the right channel?
Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride and some names from the Earthsea trilogy.
Huh?
This isn’t coming on for another half-hour here, so I likely won’t watch it because I don’t want to start it and then not finish it. Sucks because I was really looking forward to it.
Does anyone know when they’re encoring it?
(Spoilers)
I would have been pretty dissappointed, were it not pretty much what I had expected. From previews and rumors, my expectations weren’t too high. The storyline’s rather jumbled, the special effects often clumsy and jarring (though if it were good enough otherwise this would be forgivable), and many things just felt
“wrong”. It was too light and happy where things should be dark…the priestessess seemed a bit more bubbly than I remembered, and the archmage less serene/myserious/wise but instead more jolly. Then we have to add in all this unneeded conflict with the king attacking Roke, ignoring much more interesting things in the source material. And why switch around Ged/Sparrowhawk as real name and use name? I could go on and on with many simlar annoyances like that, it’s mostly one big mess in that way.
Though, there were a few isolated good moments. I kinda liked Danny Glover as Ogion. Some little things ffrom the book were nice to see…Ged can’t get into the door without saying his name, the power over things requires knowing their true name, Jasper’s show-off tree. And I liked the sugar islands for no particular reason.
But mostly I was just bored.
I watched the first half hour and it ain’t looking good. In fact, I’m going to go right on and say that it couldn’t be shittier if its name was S. Shitty Shittenstein.
How could a show based on such beautifully written books have such shitty dialogue? What’s all this bullshit with the Nameless Ones and King Whosy who wants to rule the world? And Ogion talks too effing much. Bleech. I’m going to bed.
I’m gathering that this was not faithful to the book. I’ve never read it (them) so if someone could summarize the major differences I’d appreciate it. In particular was that note for note Harry Potter section, the one with a Ron Weasley stand in and a Draco Malfoy stand in, was that in the book. If it was LeGuin should sue Rowling. If it wasn’t Rowling should sue the Sci-fi channel. I mean I practically expected them to start playing Quidditch!
I was pretty disappointed, overall.
Granted, I had very high expectations. This was one of my all-time favorite series of books. I first read the series over 25 years ago, and have re-read them several times since.
The last time I read them was at least 10 years ago, though, so I may not get of the details exactly correct. Anyway, some thoughts:
I was extremely annoyed with the Ged/Sparrowhawk switch. (Though, I actually opened this thread just to confirm my memory of this.) From the opening lines, when he was being referred to by everyone as “Ged,” I was aghast. Why did everyone seem to know his true name?!
The pacing was awful. Stupid, unnecessary plot elements with no connection to the source material should have been eliminated.
There was no indication of the time Ged spent at Roke. In this movie, I got the impression he was just there for a few weeks. As I recall, in the book, he spent years at Roke, including a full year on another island just learning the true names of things. The movie could have indicated the extreme passage of time better than it did.
The Archmage was the polar opposite of the one in the book. He came across as a bumbling idiot. He blindly trusted Jasper, for example, in this movie (though he was no traitor in the book). He didn’t protect Ged from the shadow, nurture him, and allow him to complete his training so that he could confront it; instead he just told him to go hide. :rolleyes:
The mages aren’t very powerful in this movie version, if the most powerful of them couldn’t even stop a pitiful raiding party. In the book, IIRC, no other human could take the mages on; indeed, they were the center of human power in the Earthsea universe.
But mostly, the mini-series was just boring. I kept falling asleep.
Oh, and finally, who the hell is King Whatis? Who ordered that?
I never read these books, but I caught snippets over about an hour as I was working out and flipping channels.
All I can offer in the way of a review is it made me sad to watch Isabella Rossellini doing crap TV sci-fi.
Imagine how much sadder you would feel if you knew that the source material was as far from crap as it’s possible to get.
When I went to bed last night, I was thinking I may give the mini-series another shot tonight --part one replays at 7, then the second part comes on at 9. Then I decided to go ahead and take a wee peek at the books before I turned out the lights. I ended up reading the first 75 pages of A Wizard of Earthsea, and now I’m having a hard time thinking of facing the mini-series again… Out of curiosity, how was the standoff with the Dragon of Pendor? That’s my second favorite part of the first book (my first favorite is when Vetch tells Ged his name… I always cry. Was that in the mini-series?). Is the dragon worth sitting through the movie?
I didn’t last as far as the Roke bits of the miniseries, but is Jasper and Vetch in any way resembled Ron and Draco from the Potter books, then they were badly, BADLY mischaracterized in the mini-series.
Vetch was Sparrowhawk’s good friend, true; as Ron is Harry’s. But that’s about as far as the resemblance goes. First of all, Vetch is older than Sparrowhawk – they are not buddies in the same sense as Ron and Harry. And, while Ron is a nice guy, Vetch’s leitmotif is kindness: he is a kind and gentle man. From page 42: “[Vetch] would soon be made Sorcerer; he thought no more of performing the lesser arts of magic than a bird thinks of flying. Yet a greater, unlearned skill he possessed, which was the art of kindness. That night, and always from then on, he offered and gave Ged friendship, a sure and open friendship which Ged could not help but return.”
As for the book Jasper – he could not be further from Draco Malfoy. In the first place, like Vetch, he was older – not an equal. Jasper was stiff, proud and condescending, but not a villain, nor a bully. Their battle was as much Ged’s fault as it was Jasper’s – Jasper was haughty, true, but Ged was also proud, with a giant chip on his shoulder. And the release of the shadow was 100% Ged’s fault – that was the whole point.
Roke was nothing like Hogworts in any way, BTW, other than that both are schools of Wizardry. If the Roke scenes put you in mind of Harry Potter, they got it completely and utterly wrong.
Haven’t seen the dragon yet.
Yes, Vetch told Ged his name. One of the higher parts of the night.
What a shame. Of the 3 fantasy series I read when I was younger (Narnia, LOTR, Earthsea) Earthsea made far the biggest impression on me. In fact, the first Earthsea book is still my favourite book ever.
I liked the way it took Sparrowhawk from a callow youth to a wise man by using the trials and experiences he had, it just rang so true. If a miniseries showed that well, I’d forgive it any other lapses. If not, I wouldn’t forgive it anything else it got right!
I’m curious about this part… couldn’t watch the thing on television (no sci-fi channel up here in Canada, and nobody seems to be syndicating it.) I’m only vaguely familiar with the Harry Potter characters you mention, but there are a few characters in the Wizard’s school section from “Earthsea” that do seem similar. I’ll put details from the book in a spoiler box, or try to:
[spoiler]When young Sparrowhawk first gets to the school on Roke, after he meets with archmage Nemmerle he’s assigned an older prentice as guide to help him settle in. This is Jasper, an arrogant merchant’s son from Havnor who immediately rubs Sparrowhawk the wrong way. He introduces Sparrowhawk to Vetch, one of his friends, a gregarious east-reacher. After his orientation session, Sparrowhawk is lying awake in his room, terribly homesick, when Vetch comes to his door, and they talk late into the night and tell each other about their homes and families and teachers from back home, and the two of them are fast friends. But Sparrowhawk still kind of resents the fact that Vetch is friendly with Jasper, who continues to make fun of Sparrowhawk every chance he gets, and look down on him. Sparrowhawk is well behind Jasper and Vetch in their classes, but he’s a star pupil who learns everything quickly, and goes into advance tutoring sessions with the masters, learning some of the deeper secrets.
Fast forward a while, after Sparrowhawk has done his first session at the Isolate tower, after Vetch and Jasper have completed their apprentiseship and become sorcerors, an intermediate step before getting their wizard’s staff. After the long dance on midsummer’s day, all three of them are attending a wild, impromptu party of magic, (Vetch floating in the air as he eats chicken, kids zooming werelights around and playing games of illusion with the food scraps,) when Jasper IIRC throws a bit of a hissy fit, saying that he’s tired of the foolishness and he wants the company of his equals, and asks Vetch loudly, so everyone can hear, if he’s ready to leave.
Sparrowhawk takes issue with this, challenging Jasper to say out loud that he doesn’t have what it takes to make sorceror, and when Jasper does, SH changes, literally, into a hawk for a few moments – a trick that most prentices have not been taught. The argument between Jasper and SH continues to heat up, despite Vetch’s attempts to play peacemaker, and they agree to go out to Roke knoll and see who can cast the most impressive display of sorcery. (This despite the fact that it could be considered a duel of sorcery, which is against the law of Roke.)
Sparrowhawk has to go first, and he remembers a spell that he wasn’t supposed to have seen back on Gont, summoning a spirit from the dead, and he asks Jasper if that’ll be impressive enough. Jasper says that SH could never do it, which seems to be answer enough. He briefly conjures the spirit of the legendary beauty Elfarran, but also looses the shadow, which attacks him. Archmage Nemmerle arrives and drives the shadow off, but loses his power in the process, and students take both sparrowhawk and Nemmerle to the master healer. Nemmerle dies.
After many long months, Sparrowhawk recovers, meets the new archmage, and starts classes again, though he’s no longer a star and has fallen behind his class with the time he lost. He sees Vetch briefly, who has finished his final secluded studies to gain the wizard’s staff, and the two of them exchange true names in a scene that, as Jess said, is very moving. Later in his adventures, he meets Vetch again in the east reach, and finds out that Jasper ‘never got his wizard’s staff’ (Whether he was thrown out or dropped out is never entirely clear,) and went to the island of O to work in the court as a sorceror.[/spoiler]
On preview Jess has covered some of this more concisely, but I didn’t want to waste all of this typing. :]
Based on what Jess and Chrisk said, I guess the writers tweaked the book considerably to make Roke more like Hogwarts. What on earth (or sea) could have made them think that was a good idea?
I think I’ll skip the last half and put the books on my reading list instead.
Money.
[patty bouvier]The easiest way to be popular is to leech off of the popularity of others…[/patty]
It might not have been the best idea, but it seems perfectly consistent with the way network execs behave. Harry Potter is a worldwide phenomenon of incredible popularity. Earthsea is a relatively obscure fandom.
(sigh)
Have any UKLG books ever been made into good film versions? She sure can write interesting stories (the third book in this series in particular is a brilliant classic), but damn, she ain’t too good with managing her rights.
I’ve got no problem with anyone in the entertainment industry wanting to make money. But you’d think that they’d realize the way you make money is by putting out fresh, original, well made stories. Or, if you’re adapting a book, by treating that book respectfully while putting your own interpretation on it. I mean LotR made lots of money.
This series seems to aim at pissing off Earthsea fans and Harry Potter fans, and boring everyone else. I’m not sure if that’s a good money making scheme.
There was a pretty good PBS adaptation of The Lathe of Heaven that Le Guin was involved in. It didn’t have much of a budget, and it showed, but the story was handled well. There’s a later, flashier one A&E did that isn’t as good, but is still entertaining.
For those interested, here are some comments by Le Guin on the Sci Fi treatment. She doesn’t seem to be turning cartwheels. Neither am I.
It’s getting worse the second night.
No eyes on his boat; I’ve forgotten the significance of the eyes.
Didn’t the dragon pack it in when Ged said his true name?
I’m going to read them again.
Second night:
Note to evil overlords, when designing jail cells, make sure that one cannot simply reach the the bars on the door and open the door from the outside.
Also, when throwing self proclaimed magicians in the brig, search them for any magic items or Amulets of Peace they may have on them.
On the other hand, the commericals for Battlestar Galactica are making me look forward to that. The pilot was the only Sci-Fi channel produced TV show that I enjoyed.