Just rented the miniseries. I read and reread the books as a youngster and I can tell you that this version is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. For reasons best known to themselves, the production team removed all interesting ideas from the books and replaced them with every bad sword and sorcery cliché. I think that most anyone on this forum could have written the script in an afternoon, and perhaps have produced a better piece. Stay away from it!!!
Here is Ursula K. Le Guin's reaction (http://www.slate.com/id/2111107/) to the series.
What may be some good news is that Goro Miyazaki, the son of acclaimed animation director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), is making an anime version (http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/earthsea/) of the story.
I have been interested in this as a big fan of the books (read them many times), but based on this...I don't think I'll be seeing this one.
trek_geezer Wrote:
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> Here is Ursula K. Le Guin's reaction to the
> series.
Very interesting stuff, and she brings up some really good points.
> What may be some good news is that Goro Miyazaki,
> the son of acclaimed animation director Hayao
> Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), is
> making an anime version of the story.
Awesome! Even though I've never read any of the 'Earthsea' stories, I'm just looking forward to it because that piece of garbage on SciFi just sucked.
I taped the miniseries, but never got around to watching it. Now I'm glad I didn't. The funny thing is, I'm one of those who never cared about the skin color of the people in her books.
I watched it when it broadcast. I've never read the books, but the miniseries was a pretty generic piece of fantasy.
I think I might buy an omnibus edition of the first three books, it's bound to be leagues above the rather pathetic mini series.
It's funny, I never read the books (been meaning to though, my "Things to Read Someday" is like a thousand books long..) so I didn't really have knowledge of those, but when I saw I couldn't help but think "Hmm.. bet this was better in book..." And not just all the cheesy FX.
One thing that did struck me was something I'd read years back, about how closely the world of Harry Potter resembles Earthsea, and yet the former is the one that gets all the credit. When they showed the scenes of the protantgonist going to a "wizards school" I couldn't help but think, "Damn, this sounds familiar!"
(shrugs)
> Just rented the miniseries. I read and reread the
> books as a youngster and I can tell you that this
> version is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. For reasons best