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March 28, 2024, 05:54:58 AM
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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  Christopher Lee in Goreghast « previous next »
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Author Topic: Christopher Lee in Goreghast  (Read 3461 times)
peter johnson
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« on: June 29, 2001, 07:00:24 PM »

Or something like that --
This was 4 hours that ran last night and the night before in Colorado on PBS channel 6.
While visually amazing, I couldn't escape the feeling that it had been cut down and patched together from something else at least twice as long -- maybe longer.
Spike Milligan & Stephen Fry were in it too, along with the usual suspects of British character-acting.
Sort of a violent fairy tale with filthy language & a few random nude shots.
Chris Lee played Fly, a sort of lower-order court appointee who ends up banished to a sort of straw igloo in the forest.  He meets a particularly nasty bloody end at the hand of the chief villain.
This was obviously made for BBC TV, and fairly recently too, judging by the CGI quality.
It ran with no buildup or fanfare & almost no advertizing that I saw.
Like I say, the editing was extremely choppy -- so choppy in fact, that I ended up not really enjoying it, even though it seemed to have everything I would like in a mini-series(?) like this.  Any insight anyone?  Do we know if there's a full-length version out anywhere in this country, or must we go bootleg,eg. Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhen".
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Stefan Robak
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« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2001, 08:43:51 PM »

I think you mean Gormenghast.  Also it's Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere"  And yes, I liked Gormenghast very much.
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Mofo Rising
Guest
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2001, 09:43:10 PM »

I saw a snippet about this in the newspaper the day it ran.  I was going to watch it, but decided I wanted to read the books before seeing the movie.  This may very well result in me never seeing the movie.
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FaerieOfDeath
Guest
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2001, 12:24:35 AM »

I taped the whole thing, but haven't been in the mood to watch it yet.  If anyone wants a bootleg, let me know, I'm a pirate!  Arrrgh!
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peter johnson
Guest
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2001, 01:38:57 AM »

Dear Stephan Robak --
Thankyou for correcting me.  I own the damn thing, enjoy it, and still am constantly calling it something other than "Neverwhere".
Re. the vid in question.  I finally downloaded/printed 10 pages from the PBS site, and according to them, this is it.  No edits or cuts or anything else.  
I don't believe it.
Surely what with all the Brits that visit this site there must be some definitive opinion as to the edits involved here.  I mean, if this is it, then the editor should be dragged to the nearest wall & done away with.
I understand from the pages printed that this is a very brave and honorable authour who helped liberate Bergen-Belsen, etc., but is this vid an actually good rendition of his written work?
Please, to those Europeans who visit here, enlighten us all --
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Steve.
Guest
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2001, 09:12:45 AM »

Mervyn Peake wrote The Gormenghast trilogy, I started reading them a long time ago, but I'm afraid I didn't get very far, because I discovered they were too "sword and sorcery" for me. The series was heavily advertised on the BBC, but it received a critical mauling (I didn't watch it myself, because I didn't like the novels) and there has never been a repeat showing (highly unusual for auntie Beeb!). Apparently most fans of the novels were disappointed with the TV adaptation.
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BoyScoutKevin
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« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2001, 10:59:23 AM »

I wondered when someone would get around to talking about this. Only saw the first two hours, as that is all our local PBS station showed. Maybe the rest next Wednesday. I can understand why the British critics would hate it, but, if they thought it was bad, they ought to see some of the miniseries foisted on us.
Can anyone say "Dune?" I think what saved it for me, was that wonderful British acting. At first glance, I wanted to slap all the characters for being so irritating. At second glance, I realized why they were all so irritating. They were all either bad, mad, sadly incompetent, or they talked too much. The doctor's assistant was bad. The cook, the duke, his sisters, and the doctor's sister were mad. The duchess, her daughter, the governess, and the secretary were sadly incompetent. And the doctor talked way too much. Less talk. More listen. Pity the poor baby. The only two who were not bad, mad, sadly incompetent, or talked too much were the duke's manservant (Christopher Lee) and the wet nurse. And they were both in exile. I knew Lee's character's name sounded like Fly, but for some reason, "TV Guide" spelled it as Flay. And it is good to see Lee play a good character for once. I doubt it will entice me to read the book though. Though I do enjoy a good "sword and sorcery" novel. Enjoy
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peter johnson
Guest
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2001, 11:58:25 PM »

I mean, I was so irritated:  One minute, everyone is chasing the bad-guy/Phantom of the Opera-type dude over the rooftops, and the next minute, everyone is digging themselves out of a massive flood -- No explanation/No reason/No story?
Oh, and this baby, upon which a lot of time has been spent in establishing and we are told that the young Titus will love  as a sister, etc. etc. and obviously this is a very PORTENTIOUS birth, as much screen time is spent upon her impending arrival, well, she's done away with -- zap! -- almost immediately upon their meeting via a lightning strike.  The End.  Absolutely no reason/meaning/purpose to her being born at all or any reason for her to be in the story.  Has no effect whatever on what Titus does and says before or after she dies.
That sucked!!!   Sucked sucked sucked . .. .  And I love everyone involved with this production.  Obviously, the books themselves have a reason to be so loved, but I am forced to conclude that this film is as pointless a reason to read them as the horrid horrid horrid film of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang would be a reason to read the Ian Fleming novel for children.

Still recovering from the terror,
I remain,
Your Most Obediant Servant
Frappington J. Wildebeast/aka peter johnson
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BoyScoutKevin
Guest
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2001, 06:28:32 PM »

If this was in part II, obviously, I have not seen it yet. If it was in part I, obviously, I was not paying that close of attention, or, what bothers Peter Johnson, does not bother me, which is okay. Having said that, I would like to know where Steerpike learned to handle a sword like that. Both as a character and as an actor. "He is good with a blade." And, I do not say that too often!
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