Of all the fucking networks to pick this up, MTV does. Depending on whom you talk to, it's either a complete LotR rip-off or a mix of post-apocalyptic and high fantasy. I remember reading the first eight or nine books back in the day and I want to say it premiered around the mid 1970s. Jon Favreau is helming this series, which might explain the sizable production value. For reasons unknown, they're beginning the TV show on book two of the original trilogy. A total of ten eps will be wrung out of what I recall as a 500ish page book. The first one ran 700+.
Differences immediately apparent:
1) Everyone looks angsty and in their early to mid 20s, except John Rhys-Davies and James Remar. Even the Gandalf analog looks surprisingly young.
2) The dialog has been dumbed down so much from the book that it's barely recognizable.
3) They've taken extreme liberties with the lead female protagonist character.
4) The post-apocalyptic element is being made blatant whereas the books left it thinly ambiguous.
They had a double ep 2-hour thing to kick off the series. I'm curious enough to DVR it. If they can afford it, there's plenty of literary fuel to keep it going for a few seasons.
On an impressive note, the Demons thus far are satisfactorily bloodthirsty, violent, and evil. I don't know what the plan for the last few chapters of the book is because it erupts into some epic Demon-Dragon-Army-Druid fighting.
Edited By Malcolm on 1452481361
Shannara Chronicles
So far, not bad. I've yet to see my favourite Demon, hope he's not written out. Also a bit violent and visceral for TV -14. People are plainly eviscerated and swords are graphically thrust through jaws and brains. Also features a naked Demon chick with nothing but body paint for a costume to boot.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
The bad-ass elf has made an appearance but his two red shirts are nowhere to be seen. Goddamn, if I didn't emphasize it earlier, the dialog is painfully bad. Terry Brooks must be getting some sweet executive producer money.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
WTF? They killed off the secondary antagonist Demon?
EDIT: Well shit, nm. Allanon's gotten lax and stupid in his TV age.
Edited By Malcolm on 1453359264
EDIT: Well shit, nm. Allanon's gotten lax and stupid in his TV age.
Edited By Malcolm on 1453359264
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Five eps in and this thing is off the fucking rails, including dragging in a character from the next book because ... fuck, I don't know. Way more 90210 shit than I recall, like characters specifically invented so you can see their angsty relationship drama.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Eh, given some of the other shows you can stand, this might still be worth your viewing. I'd recommend going from the beginning. Should be available online at MTV's site.GORDON wrote:You just made me glad I forgot to set my DVR.Malcolm wrote:...like characters specifically invented so you can see their angsty relationship drama.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
This series has as much to do with the books as ET the movie had to do with ET the game. Weird shit from last week, this week:
1. Some random cannibals show up out of nowhere.
2. They drag in the titular object from the first book, a sword. Now, this is doubly odd because the second book explicitly states why they don't break that thing out and how worthless it would be.
3. The sword is apparently run through a major character.
4. A couple of Elves (because Terry Brooks fucking capitalizes everything) along with the Gnome from the third book who also shouldn't be there blindly stumble into the massing Demon army.
5. The king Elf dude gets killed off way early.
6. One of the supporting book characters is now a part of the main plot sequence. He originally got killed off-page being a short-sighted, egotistical, thieving Judas.
7. I don't remember the gypsy chick being bi and trying to fuck the Elf princess in the bath.
If they're pulling in content from the books before and after, I'm at a loss for why they haven't imported the one family which serves as a veritable unending generator of Indiana Jones/Han Solo/Will Riker hybrids. Finally, I don't remember so much Dawson's Creek shit going on.
Edited By Malcolm on 1454649656
1. Some random cannibals show up out of nowhere.
2. They drag in the titular object from the first book, a sword. Now, this is doubly odd because the second book explicitly states why they don't break that thing out and how worthless it would be.
3. The sword is apparently run through a major character.
4. A couple of Elves (because Terry Brooks fucking capitalizes everything) along with the Gnome from the third book who also shouldn't be there blindly stumble into the massing Demon army.
5. The king Elf dude gets killed off way early.
6. One of the supporting book characters is now a part of the main plot sequence. He originally got killed off-page being a short-sighted, egotistical, thieving Judas.
7. I don't remember the gypsy chick being bi and trying to fuck the Elf princess in the bath.
If they're pulling in content from the books before and after, I'm at a loss for why they haven't imported the one family which serves as a veritable unending generator of Indiana Jones/Han Solo/Will Riker hybrids. Finally, I don't remember so much Dawson's Creek shit going on.
Edited By Malcolm on 1454649656
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Couple other things:
The Druid dude in the book is more or less a Jedi minus the warm personality. He makes Gandalf look like a social butterfly and is extremely brutal in his dealings with evil. His edge has been softened on TV, he's too complacent and lax. Example: he critically wounds a Demon but neglects to finish him off. The print version would have walked up to the corpse, shoved his fist down the bastard's throat, and incinerated him from the inside out.
The main hunter Demon has been reduced to a mindless killing machine.
That makes him look like a mindless tanked out Viking berserker in full armour on a permanent speed trip. You can't see it, but he walks around with a couple big-ass axes. The book portrays him a six footish tall predator who's a masterfully patient and clever tracker as well as a martial bad-ass. That incarnation was unarmed with a tendency to rip someone apart with brute strength or eviscerate them with claws. He walked around in a flowing, tattered robe and hood, and smoke sure as shit didn't radiate from his torso.
Edited By Malcolm on 1454696137
The Druid dude in the book is more or less a Jedi minus the warm personality. He makes Gandalf look like a social butterfly and is extremely brutal in his dealings with evil. His edge has been softened on TV, he's too complacent and lax. Example: he critically wounds a Demon but neglects to finish him off. The print version would have walked up to the corpse, shoved his fist down the bastard's throat, and incinerated him from the inside out.
The main hunter Demon has been reduced to a mindless killing machine.
That makes him look like a mindless tanked out Viking berserker in full armour on a permanent speed trip. You can't see it, but he walks around with a couple big-ass axes. The book portrays him a six footish tall predator who's a masterfully patient and clever tracker as well as a martial bad-ass. That incarnation was unarmed with a tendency to rip someone apart with brute strength or eviscerate them with claws. He walked around in a flowing, tattered robe and hood, and smoke sure as shit didn't radiate from his torso.
Edited By Malcolm on 1454696137
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Episode 7. Except for the intro of one supporting character and a couple deaths, 0% of anything was in the book. Even the deaths were off. All kinds of shit from nowhere. They have to be paying Terry Brooks a shitload for the privilege to butcher his source material like this.
Edited By Malcolm on 1455172170
Edited By Malcolm on 1455172170
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
100% nothing from the books this week, including two humongous plot points that derail the original heptilogy in ways I can't begin to describe.
Whoa: Star Trek:TOS and celebratory rave a bajillion percent not in the books.
Edited By Malcolm on 1455691914
Whoa: Star Trek:TOS and celebratory rave a bajillion percent not in the books.
Edited By Malcolm on 1455691914
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Main character investigated for defacing some rocks.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
First season is done. There's a chance it could be the only one. Show got ratings that could be kindly called "lukewarm," barely ever breaking 2M total viewers for one ep. I blame the drastic plot and character changes made to accommodate the adolescent audience. One scene in the finale with the male and female lead was beyond idiocy.
"Hey, we made it! We're finally at our destination after weeks of traveling and being hunted by Gnomes, Humans, Trolls, and Demons, and our companions have all potentially sacrificed their lives while the an army of innumerable, infernal creatures is waiting for the seconds to tick away before they kill every living thing in the world. All we have to do is go in the next room over there and it's over."
"Yeah, so?"
"This is the perfect time to expand on the love triangle we have going on, and we should totally have sex right now."
MTV was not the fucking network for this. Maybe AMC.
Edited By Malcolm on 1457637323
"Hey, we made it! We're finally at our destination after weeks of traveling and being hunted by Gnomes, Humans, Trolls, and Demons, and our companions have all potentially sacrificed their lives while the an army of innumerable, infernal creatures is waiting for the seconds to tick away before they kill every living thing in the world. All we have to do is go in the next room over there and it's over."
"Yeah, so?"
"This is the perfect time to expand on the love triangle we have going on, and we should totally have sex right now."
MTV was not the fucking network for this. Maybe AMC.
Edited By Malcolm on 1457637323
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Re: Shannara Chronicles
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Shannara Chronicles
Ended up on Nflix. Never read it. Watching 1st ep
It's not me, it's someone else.