It’s been so long since I read The Dark Is Rising series that I can’t remember a single bit of it, except I thought it was set in Cornwall.
Anyways, here’s a tiny Flash version of the trailer. Looks suitably whizzbang, I think.
I got these for Christmas last year, but have not yet read them. I’ll have to give them a go.
Wait, who’s the love interest? Why is the bad guy riding the white mare? Where are the Signs Will is gathering? Why is Will American and not 11? This doesn’t look at all like The Dark Is Rising I remember… 
Weird. It looks like they kept the core plot, but Americanized and modernized the setting. That makes me a little uncomfortable. The books drew on a great deal of Arthurian mythology, and for that you need Britain.
Y’know, I usually hate “Disney Adolescent” movie treatments, but I think they’re doing the right thing this time. I read these books every year, and this past year I was struck with how…slow they are. I mean that in a good way, especially for the first book. The whole tone is frozen - it’s winter, the power’s out, there’s been a huge blizzard and everyone is waiting, waiting, waiting in the mansion while Will and Merriman go back in time to wait, wait, wait until the blacksmith drops the Signs in the wall. It’s all very liminal, and very hushed and anticipatory. Will doesn’t actually DO much of anything, except be in the right place at the right time to snatch up the Signs and carry them. At the end, the ice thaws, the roads flood, and everyone goes home.
Which, frankly, would make a very boring movie.
(The guy on the horse is The Rider. He was in the book. In fact he looks the most unchanged from the book.)
I know, but he had a coal-black stallion. The white mare was one of the Good Guys; John Wayland Smith shod her with the Sign shoes at one point.
The bad guy can’t be riding the good horse… whine
And I’m really interested in how they’re going to treat the later books in the series, which draw even more from Arthurian legend (the whole Pendragon thing etc.)
I am, too. But all the good stuff takes place in Wales, where Will Stanton is a fish-out-of-water visitor. (Remember his Welsh language lesson with Bran? Hysterical! “I expect all Welsh babies dribble a lot.”) I don’t see why their FOOW can’t be American instead. It’s not like Will is the Son of Arthur or anything.
Y’know, assuming they even make the others…
Gahh. Gaaaahhhh. Head asplode.
I don’t like it. I love the tone of the books, and it looks like they’re making a modern whizzbang (thanks GuanoLad) Typical Adventure Story out of it. There aren’t big explosions, none of Will’s family finds out anything in the first book, he’s supposed to be… completely different.
And all the Arthurian stuff will be messed up. And Merriman isn’t tall enough. And how in hell is Herne the Hunter going to turn up in the States? They made The Golden Compass English, why not TDIR, which is even more English?
How is he going to find Signs hidden several hundred years ago in flint walls, in a country that doesn’t have buildings from many hundred years ago hanging around? What about the Stanton’s farm? Will’s a small-town farm boy. This looks bigger city. How will Hawkin work in? The Manor? America doesn’t have Manors, or ladies like Miss Greythorne. Are the Drews going to be American, too?
As someone who has both prophecies firmly engraved on my brain, I’m vastly suspicious.
Did you watch the trailer? It looks like it starts out in America and then he somehow winds up in England. Most of the cast is British.
I did watch the trailer, but I didn’t notice any sudden let’s-take-a-trip-to-England bits. And if there are, it will make me sad, because part of the point of the books for me is that everything happens in Will’s little town, where he grew up, and thinks he knows everything about it, and suddenly, he changes, and his perspective shifts, and everything becomes strange.
Maybe it’ll be wonderful, but the changes worry me.
The castles and ancient chuches were a dead giveaway. I read the books when I was a kid. I remember liking them but it was 25 years ago or so. Nothing is going to be ruined for me as long as the movie is good. And it does have Christopher Eccleston so it can’t be all bad.
And for that matter, why are they starting with the weakest book of the series, instead of the (to my mind) much superior Over Sea, Under Stone?
Because it’s the book of the series?
I actually think Over Sea, Under Stone would make a better movie, since there’s more action, but I’d wager The Dark Is Rising is the more well-known book. Easier to hook an audience with the popular stuff than the good stuff when it comes to movies, and all. Not that I actually think The Dark Is Rising is weak at all, it’s still my favorite of the series.
But still, Over sea, under stone is where the story starts. I suppose you could make it second, and still have the story make sense, though.
I’m very dubious. I don’t like the way modern movies over-dramatize everything, I agree with Lissla, and Merriman doesn’t look like Merriman. I bet they won’t even have Will sing! But then I’m very cranky about movies. Now get out of my books!
I’m new to all of this. Is this teen-fantasy? Would an adult enjoy it? When were they written? I guess I’m a little interested in that I never heard of this book, and it’s right up my alley.
A good short summary from Wiki:
I think an adult would enjoy the book and maybe the movie. I read it when I was 10 or 11 for the first time. The series is very good.
Jim
I always thought so. Chronologically, yes, Over Sea, Under Stone came first, but Dark Is Rising doesn’t rely on one having read it first; they’re completely separate stories, with Merriman being the only common element. After those two, then the plotlines begin to intertwine and it becomes necessary to read the books in order.
Dark Is Rising introduces the fantasy world which Over Sea, Under Stone only hinted at, so it makes sense they’d want to start there.
I’m not gonna watch the trailer. I feel sick enough reading the thread. Man, I loved those books as a child! (I still love them, but the ending has always pissed me off.)
Me too! I read the books as an adult (mid-20s) and thought they were six kinds of awesome . . . until the end. I was waiting for a pay-off that never came, and that left me profoundly disappointed by the whole series.
BUT I loved the Arthurian nature of them, and being part of a line of quasi-Druidic defenders that stretches back through time. It’s hard to see how that could possibly be done well in America/ with Americans. Sigh.
You may want to look for some of the Charles DeLint books. They are classified as Urban Fantasy but have the feel of Susan Cooper books written for adults. I especially recommend Moonheart (1984), Greenmantle (1988) & Yarrow (1986).
He is fairly obscure but excellent.
Jim