# The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - the movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203 "2010-02-08T23:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/21 "2010-02-10T18:33:15Z")
The hero being a passive asshole didn’t really keep the first five Harry Potter movies from finding success. These aspects of the story may be issues for getting it made, but I don’t see them as necessarily obstacles success if made. That depends on how well its made, written, etc. But I do think that’s why it would work better as a well executed TV series than a movie. The audience demands may be smaller, anti-heroes seem more acceptable, and the complexities can be explored rather than expunged to keep it under 3 hours. ---
**Author:** ![purple\_cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/22 "2010-02-10T19:16:51Z")
Seems to me that you could make a good movie out of Lord Foul’s bane by itself. Just stick on an ending where Foul gets it too and voila! The bloodguard would do all kinds of cool martial arts, the wights and Andelain would be beautiful, giants, ur-viles, and cavewight would make great monsters. Nice fun hollywood movie, except for the rape thing of course. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/23 "2010-02-10T19:32:34Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > The hero being a passive asshole didn’t really keep the first five Harry Potter movies from finding success. That’s certainly a … unique view. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/24 "2010-02-10T19:41:22Z")
Well, he was definitely passive. I personally don’t find him to be a very good person through the early movies but that’s more just my perception. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/25 "2010-02-10T19:46:38Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Well, he was definitely passive. I personally don’t find him to be a very good person through the early movies but that’s more just my perception. He’s _eleven_. How good do you expect him to be? He refuses to dump his new friend to hang out with the cool kids, he rescues another friend instead of leaving her to a troll, and he fights to keep the MacGuffin out of Voldemort’s hands even though he’s told he could get his parents back. How much more of a good person could an 11 year old be? ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/26 "2010-02-10T20:39:30Z")
People have always told me how great these books are, but I just don’t get it. I’ve tried to get into them three times in the last 25 years. My latest attempt, about a year ago, I got farther than ever before: halfway through the first book. Nevermind the fact that the “hero” is a whiny asshole; I just couldn’t take the dialog, it was so ridiculously stupid. It made the dialog in the Star Wars prequels look like Oscar-winning material. Gawd, I _hope_ they never make a movie out of this drek. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/27 "2010-02-11T01:59:33Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > People have always told me how great these books are, but I just don’t get it. Really? Internet-wise, in my experience the vitriol (vitriol… geddit?) hurled at little Tommy and co in this thread is more the norm. I just liked the universe, TC was a minor character to me. When he was whining about something or other, it was “yeah, yeah, whatever”, next bit please. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/28 "2010-02-11T03:41:37Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Granted, I read the first 3 and then gave up on the series about 25 years ago. Are you _me_? No, wait, I gave up on them thirty years ago. You must be someone else. I still remember the pain as I stubbornly hewed my way through the first set. I nearly opened a vein when I saw that Donaldson was coming back at us with more. Then I realized that I didn’t have to read them. I swear, that guy could have taken tighten-it-up lessons from Jim Theis. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/29 "2010-02-11T03:45:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I swear, that guy could have taken tighten-it-up lessons from Jim Theis. He may have. In the most recent books, the plot actually _advances_. And, mind you, I’m speaking as a fan of the books. Nonetheless, I contend that it’s best to just skip over the intro chapters of Lord Foul’s Bane. That was Donaldson’s first book, and it tells. The whole plot is a bit too formulaic, and handled Covenant’s character hamhandedly; both improved in later books. (Albeit, overladen with _argent puissance_ all the while.) ---
**Author:** ![donaldbrewster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@donaldbrewster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donaldbrewster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/30 "2011-08-26T00:39:23Z")
those who posted a comment against thomas covenant the movie have no imagination,they are just plain dull brained,I think it will be a great movie,far surpassing the "Rings"by far,a true success. ---
**Author:** ![donaldbrewster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@donaldbrewster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donaldbrewster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/31 "2011-08-26T00:48:55Z")
those who posted a comment against thomas covenant the movie have no imagination,they are just plain dull brained,I think it will be a great movie,far surpassing the "Rings"by far,a true success,and leave nothing out,especially the rape sequence,it’s a major factor of the story. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/32 "2011-08-26T00:54:37Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > I just liked the universe, TC was a minor character to me. When he was whining about something or other, it was “yeah, yeah, whatever”, next bit please. Agreed. Far better to just find an out-of-print copy of Karen Wynn Fonstad’s _Atlas of the Land_ and read that, frankly. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/33 "2011-08-26T00:58:18Z")
> [@donaldbrewster](#): > > those who posted a comment against thomas covenant the movie have no imagination,they are just plain dull brained,I think it will be a great movie,far surpassing the "Rings"by far,a true success,and leave nothing out,especially the rape sequence,it’s a major factor of the story. Well thanks for stopping by and resurrecting an old thread to be insulting. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![donaldbrewster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@donaldbrewster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donaldbrewster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/34 "2011-08-26T01:02:53Z")
those who posted a comment against thomas covenant the movie have no imagination, just plain dull brained,I think it will be a great success,far surpass the "Rings"a true success,and leave nothing out especially the rape sequence,it plays a major factor of the story. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/35 "2011-08-26T01:36:25Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > [The] hero the guy sucks. He rapes the girl and spends the rest of the series whining and sticking the problem on others to save him and the world. Thank you. I still don’t know why I finished the first trilogy, or why I was tempted to try the rest of them. I think it’s the same impulse that cause people to gape at car accidents - which I never do. However, I think it could be a good movie and a great series. All the boring whiny stuff could be pared down to a one soliloquy and a few anguished expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/36 "2011-08-26T01:51:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Elric sells out his own city and makes a habit of killing people he loves, plus, you know, the whole demon-worshipper angle. It’s a \*leeetle \*bit more anti- than most people want in their heroes, I think. Maybe if you have \*Moonglum \*as the POV character, it’d work better? Elric’s sells out his own city . . . of perfectly beautiful genetically amoral complete monsters. He makes a habit of killing people he loves . . . by accident, which he feels terrible about. He’s emo and booding . . . when he’s not flying dragons, sailing pirate ships between dimensions, and wading through swarms of opponents, yelling ‘Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!’ and swinging around arguably the coolest artifact in fantasy history. Plus he’s a sexy (anti)heroic albino. Thomas Covinant bitches about how awful it is to be a leper in the real world. Then he’s sucked into a fantasy world, where he’s not a leper . . . and bitches about being a leper. Right at the beginning of the story, to show us what a decent guy he is under all his self pity, he rapes a girl. Then he bitches about how awful it is to be a leaper in a different setting. And also there’s a giant. He gets a magic staff. Also, he’s a non-sexy jerk. Who’s a leper. And you think ELRIC is the one who can’t hold a movie together? 🙂 – Course, if Shinji can hold down a series, I suppose it’s possible . . . ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/37 "2011-08-26T02:11:35Z")
And Thomas is still a peach, compared to Angus Thermopyle. I think Stephen Donaldson’s entire writing career is based around a bet to take the most reprehensible character imaginable, and make him sympathetic. Scary thing is, he’s pretty good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/38 "2011-08-26T02:34:05Z")
> [@Remarkable](#): > > For those that have read the story (all six books of it), can you see it being a successful movie adaptation, epic fantasy LOTR style, or not? > > IMHO it has the prerequisites.. but how would you condense it into a film? Do you think given the success of LOTR it would have an audience base of sorts already, or is it unfair to compare the two stories? Oh, OG - the mind boggles. Those stories stank like rancid yak piss. I can’t see anyone wasting time or money making them into movies. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/39 "2011-08-26T03:16:37Z")
> [@donaldbrewster](#): > > those who posted a comment against thomas covenant the movie have no imagination,they are just plain dull brained,I think it will be a great movie,far surpassing the "Rings"by far,a true success. You read the lexically challenging Covenant books and _this_ is the extent of your English skills? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203/40 "2011-08-26T03:38:05Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > You read the lexically challenging Covenant books and _this_ is the extent of your English skills? I think that might actually be SRD, without the benefit of an editor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-the-movie/528203.md?page=3)