Repost fr. Lounge: Are you excited/ dreading Sci Fi channel's Earthsea?

[Bossy Monkey]

The promos do not strike me as overly promising. I also think they retitled it since they started running them (from Earthsea to Legend of Earthsea) which is also less than a good sign. The books, or at least all of them but Tehanu, have great promise for cinematic treatment. Iiiiiii'm very nervous about this. You?

[ralps]

1. From what I've read in various magazines they are combining

a couple of the books.
:hi:

[Chovexani]

2. Dreading.

Dude, Kristen Kreuk aka Lana "The Pwetty Pink Pwinteth of Smallville Whose PARENTS DIED" Lang is in it.

That's all I need to know.

[Bossy Monkey]

3. Ok, I'm watching the damned thing, but I'll be carping and sniping

all the way (assuming I can make it through more than 10 minutes of it.) A solid month of promos entirely centered on the sets, the costumes, and how cool it is to be working with Isabella Rosselini, as I mentioned already, doesn't engender tons of confidence.

Hell, we're only 5 minutes in and they've already trashed the entire plot! Grrrrrr!

(First commercial break EDIT): AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE! WHY DO THEY DO THESE STUPID GODDAM THINGS?! How hard is it to keep his secret name Ged and his use name Sparrowhawk?

[YankeyMCC]

4. I've never read the books

I enjoy the Ursula LeGuin's short stories that have appeared in Asimov's but I've never read a novel.

I stick pretty much to science fiction subgenre of Fantasy. My fantasy reading pretty much begins and ends at LotR and for me to enjoy Fantasy it needs the deep foundation that LotR provides.

And I don't seem to be getting that in this mini-series. I have a feeling a skilled writer like Ursula LeGuin would've made this story a lot more satisfing and compelling than this mini-series has made it.

I don't mean to sound like a radical purest - well I can't be in this case since I've not read the books - but that isn't like me. I enjoyed the LotR movies even with the deviations the movie versions satisfied my need for a foundation and well put together consistant story. But in this case I'm afraid things are falling much to flat. I know this might be early to be giving up on this show but that's exactly what I'm going to do. Because I might someday want to read more Ursula LeGuin, and in particular Earthsea and I don't want this thing to discourage me by draining interest in the story right out of me.

[Bossy Monkey]

5. I suspect you'd love the books, or at least the original trilogy

Tehanu (the fourth one) is a little tough. The subsequent book of stories, including the bridge to the fifth volume (and said fifth volume) are much more cheerful. The miniseries cuts out a lot, connects two volumes that weren't connected, adds a gratuitous villain and gratuitous sexual intrigue, etc. etc. etc., and the casting, apart from Danny Glover, is disastrous. Other than that it's great.

The books are really very good indeed, not as strong as The Lord of the Rings, but what is? Give 'em a chance, and if you haven't read them yet, I'd agree that bailing on the miniseries is a good idea. Goodness knows they'll be replaying it endlessly through 2010; they spent a lot of money on it.

[NewJeffCT]

6. I watched almost the first hour last night, but I DVR'd the whole thing

The first hour seemed okay, but with a 21 month old baby running around intent on redecorating our XMas tree, it was hard to focus on the movie.

I'll try to watch the whole thing this weekend.

[Bossy Monkey]

7. I think watching the 21 month old would be a lot more fun

Earthsea wound up as a kind of glorious fiasco. They did a fine job of performing a really bad script with a really bad cast. If you haven't read the books, don't watch the show until you've done so. It'll spoil them for you. If reading just isn't possible with a baby running around, watch the show, but make a mental note to read the Earthsea books someday when you get the chance.