Earthsea on SciFi (1 Viewer)

[Bill Catherall]

Agreed on the terrible dialog. And while the main actors are pretty good, the supporting cast is horrible. They're stiff and are terrible at delivering their lines. Of course, it's hard to tell if it's them or the writing.

The effects are okay for a TV show. Some of the CGI shots are impressive, but most look a little too fake.

Will somebody explain to me why SciFi is making a fantasy movie anyway? Sure, there's often a crossover of fans, but let's not confuse the genre.

 

[TheLongshot]

Who said the Sci-Fi channel had much to do with Science Fiction anyways? Remember this is the channel that shows Braveheart as well. (While I think that movie is a Fantasy as well, it isn't supposed to be.)

Jason

 

[Andy Sheets]

It's always been more of a sci-fi/fantasy/horror channel than strictly sci-fi (playing Braveheart is definitely weird, though).

 

[Jason Walstrom]

xena production values. that's not a knock that show looked great.

Braveheart makes sense if you think of William Wallace as a time traveler. He didn't bring any weapons from the future because 'nothing dead will go.'

 

[Vlad D]

Agreed. I thought that the guy who played Ged's dad was particularly horrible.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I thought it was ok, or a little better than that. If this show was based on 2 books, what happened in the 3rd one? They sort of put a finality in the show that makes me wonder.

Glenn

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I missed the first run of this. I wasn't all that excited about it, having not read the books and not been particularly excited by the commercials. I was going to catch the marathon on Sunday but reading these comments has me second guessing.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Glenn,
"The Legend of EarthSea" mini-series had about as much in common with the two books as a "Law and Order ripped from the headlines" story does with the headline it ripped off, ie. very little. The whole ending was made up in the mini-series as was most of the story. Only a few scenes were close to a scene from the first book. Effectively nothing was from the second book except the concept that there were priestesses on an island that contained "The Tombs of Atuan".

"A Wizard of EarthSea" : Ged's life from about 8 to 21 or so.
"Tombs of Atuan" : I got the impression Ged was late 30's early 40's.
"The Farthest Shore" : Ged is an old man and the head wizard at Roake.

Each book is very self-contained so you can read the third without reading the first two now that you have seen the mini-series, but I would recommend reading them all in order.

Chuck Anstey

 

[David Forbes]

Apparently Ursula LeGuin hates it too:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2111107/

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

It's nice to see the author speak out. I always had a similar problem with the Dune adaptations. The Fremen, clearly based on Arabian/Berber/Desert peoples are always played by white actors who clearly do not pass for any sort of desert dweller.

I guess I'll give the SciFi mini a pass.

 

[derek]

I've never read the books, but enjoyed the miniseries as a nice way to pass 3 hrs (30 second commercial skip rules!) Not up to all the advertising hype but better than the Epoch:Evolution or Boa v. Python junk that SciFi calls original programming. Casting for major characters was good and liked Glover's screen prescence. Enjoyed the humor and the portrayal of Ged and Vetch's friendship. Production values good but nothing to yell about. CG dragon pretty cool but many of the landscape/city CG shots poor. However the last 10 mins was just...dreadful. The Peace amulet bringing forth this 'otherworldly light' across Earthsea that somehow makes everyone nice, warm and fuzzy. Kargish warriors hugging each other, gleeful blank faces on villagers UGH! And what happend to the Nameless Ones? I didn't get a clear reason on why they were released(???) Based on what happend to Ged I'm concluding that each Nameless One is the 'other self/darkside' embodiment of every individual in Earthsea. Ged/Tenar released them in hopes of making 'whole' Earthsea inhabitants by reuniting with their 'Nameless One' probably with the influence of the amulet of peace. Then again Tener ends with mentioning the amulet would 'banish' the Nameless Ones from Earthsea.
Also never got a feel for what 'faith' the Sisterhood was founded upon? They talk about prayer and faith but no mention of a higher being or such. Oh well...questions probably brought up by a miniseries lacking in good exposition...and proving that in this case the books are probably far better.

 

[BridgetJZ]

I think that they were talking about faith in the nameless ones. That would make sense to me.

My take on it -- thought it was good -- I have to agree with most of you here, Danny Glover had an amazing presence.

Shawn Ashmore was pretty good as Ged, though there were times i wanted to yell at him for being so cockey.

 

[Phil Dally]

I have both parts on Tivo but haven't watched it yet. Out of respect to the author I think I'll just delete them. It doesn't sound like I'll be missing out on anything.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I just read the author's article. Wow, I guess I completely misunderstood the EarthSea trilogy. I thought it was about youthful arrogance, humility, responsibilty, and growth as a person, independent of race. From her article it was really about race more than everything else put together. There definitely was some class and cultural warfare in the books but I never noticed any character caring about race.

Chuck Anstey

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Chuck,

I didn't take her comments to mean that the books were about race but that the race of the protagonist was important because it was a conscious choice on her part - to create a non-white protagonist in a genre dominated by Anglo/Nordic hero figures. That the filmmakers abandonned this out of hand and without any of her input disappointed and upset her.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Todd Terwilliger wrote (post #55):


We're not there yet.

 

[LanieParker]

Will this air again? I missed it all! :frowning:

 

[johnbr]

It wil be on scifi on sunday all day.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Todd and Rexx,
I must respectfully completely disagree with you on LeGuinn's point of the race of Ged. Where in the books did Ged's race ever matter? He was out to prove himself because he was the son of a blacksmith and from an island that was "lower class" / behind the times / third world (take your pick). I guess I am just one of those "white people who can afford to be colorblind".

When I read the story I could relate quite well to Ged's arrogance and wanting to be the absolute best as a youth. Should I have ignored the books and not related myself to Ged because he and I are not of the same race? Should everyone who is copper-skinned be forced to read and identify with Ged because they have the same skin color? I found the author's claim that Ged's race was an important factor in the books to be hogwash. She may have specifically chosen his race but it never came into the story so why did it really matter? Plus this was a fantasy world with no direct connection to our world so it matters even less.

I guess I am also one of tiniest fraction of people to fit her statement:
and I don't think not caring in this type of story is a bad thing.

If you want to read SciFi where race is front, center, and matters then read Heinlien's "Farnham's Freehold". One that race was mentioned only once and was irrelevant would be Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".

Chuck Anstey

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Chuck,

I think you're missing LeGuin's point: it is precisely the fact that Ged is non-white and the fact that race isn't an issue that matters to her.

She created a multi-ethnic tapestry that is completely negated when the races are shuffled around or nullified by the casting choices.