Earthsea
Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on 24 November, 2005 - 02:42.
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| Lions Gate: Earthsea |
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| Made | Lions Gate | | Date | 2005-03-08 | | Media | DVD | | Catalog | DVD | | Sales Rank | 12045 | | Audience Rating | NR (Not Rated) | | Director | Robert Lieberman | | Theatrical Release Date | 2004-12-13 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | List Price | US$14.98 | | Our Price* | US$8.47 |
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Reviews:| Rating 2.0/5 from 103 reviews | | Disappointing... | | Rating: 2/5 2006-08-10 | | I had hoped for a good fantasy, but was seriously disappointed. The movie was low budget and even Danny Glover couldn't salvage that. The book may have been great, but if so, the movie certainly did not do it justice. | | Read the Books & am in Movie Industry | | Rating: 3/5 2006-07-26 | I in fact have read the books, while the most favorable reviews are from those who have not. Fans of the books are criticizing on the basis of how inaccurate it is according to the books. This reminds me of a purist friend of whom railed at Peter Jackson and the LOTR series. Movies will ALMOST NEVER match those of the book title being used. The minds imagination (along with UL's of course) are far more expansive and dramatic than any movie could ever be. It is a limited medium that was never meant to depict books accurately on the screen.
Realize that changes are made in the script as shooting the film occurs. Also, the movie isn't made from what is in the written script, isn't made from the vision of the Cinematographer, isn't made from a written book. It's made from the shots that reach the editing room when it's far to late for pick up shots and the budget runs out to reshoot. A movie will never behave or feel like a book as it is a different medium that only exists under the condition of compressed time, a disadvantage that a book need not deal with.
The acting in many places is not as high of performance level as one might like... but first and foremost, the movie is meant to entertain... most viewers are not experts on the books or the knowledge of the book(s) it was adapted from. Imagine how the audience would be limited if at first you had to read the book, or only enjoy it if you had.
I believe the production was average at best but I think that it also allowed a younger audience to enjoy... There was even a reviewer mentioning he enjoyed the movie till he read the books. He came to the books by way of the movie... Most will never read the books just by the public's nature and w/out the movie exposure never come to them. Allow people to enjoy the movie without the notes of all the things that the writer got wrong... He didn't get them wrong... that's why it's called an adaption... things happen in the process of making a movie... a movie not a book. If you expect a movie to follow the book religiously you will almost always be disappointed. The changes were meant to widen the audience as much a politician does... some for better, some for worse... in the long run... a movie is not a book. That said I give the film only an average review neither horrible nor a standout... but clearly watchable. And regardless of what is said here, dedicated fans will demand the purest of accuracy... remember that Anne Rice eventually gave her blessing to the "Interview" movie(not all that accurate a depiction itself). | | Sorry...but I loved it... | | Rating: 5/5 (3 out of 4 think this is helpful) 2006-07-04 | Well, it seems like pretty much everyone was disappointed in this movie but me. I have never read any of the books this was supposed to be based upon and maybe that is why I didn't feel the way others did. I had heard of Earthsea but didn't know a thing about it. I borrowed this from a friend and once I started watching it I just couldn't stop. It reminded me of Lord of the Rings in alot of ways but I felt more compelled while watching Earthsea than I did in LOTR.
Sorry to those who felt let down by this adaptation but I certainly loved this movie. | | It could have been worse, but not a great deal... | | Rating: 1/5 (2 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2006-07-02 | The writers of the screenplay should incarcerated to insure they never again commit such an reprehensible, odious, unforgivable insult to art.
To those who have read and loved the Earthsea series be informed that the resemblance of the movie to the book stops at the title. In an attempt to make this classic more palatable to a mainstream audience they have 1) dumbed it down excessively ; 2) added a wholly unnecessary love interest; 3) added a cardboard cutout "evil" king.
Aside from the failings of the plot, the use of modern vernacular in a fantasy setting and (aside from Danny Glover who did a reasonable job) they have added insult to injury by choosing actors whose performances, to be very kind, left much to be desired. Then again maybe it was the once again the fault of the screenwriters - "Take her away!" "Throw him in the dungeon." "That is how I reward failure!" Oh please. Its not that I mind kitsch or even cliché, as long as its well done.
While there are many questions I would put to the screenwriters and whoever okayed the script there is one that sticks in my mind... How did a homing pigeon find a ship at sea???
The are two good points to this film that make parts of it worth watching (mind you I said parts)- 1) the dragon is well done and the scene with the dragon is the best in the film, 2) Kristin Kreuk is lovely and a delight to lay eyes upon.
If you want a good sword and sorcery film there are a number of alternates - Lord of the Rings (of course), The Thief of Bagdad, Excalibur, Willow, Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts or (for a humorous take) The Princess Bride.
Or better yet, skip the movie and reread the books. | | A waste of time - read the books | | Rating: 1/5 (3 out of 4 think this is helpful) 2006-06-12 | Had I never read the two Earthsea novels upon which this movie was based, I would still have been disappointed by the movie.
The film won a number of Leo awards, including Best Visual Effects, but I must say that, even having seen it on a small screen, the effects were often dreadful. They looked to me as though someone were using state-of-the-art CGI to mimic the cheesiest special effects of thirty years ago.
None of the male leads stood out or had any kind of screen presence. I think Danny Glover is a perfectly able actor, but he was miscast here, although he was the only one who looked the part racially. The female roles were somewhat better cast, but many of the actors looked uncomfortable speaking some of the dreadful dialog.
LeGuin tells the Earthsea stories in a style that mimics, but not too closely, some of the great epics of the past, for instance the Odyssey and the Bible. This gives it a timeless and mysterious quality and atmosphere. The dialog writing of the movie makes the same mistake as many modern fantasy adaptions when it drops in lines that are in modern American vernacular, always painful to listen to in the context of something struggling to maintain a mythic quality.
Had it not been an adaptation of the wonderful books, I would have found it somewhat interesting, but too long. Having read the books, I must say that it managed to reduce the wonderfully complex psychology and far-Eastern philosophy of LeGuin to interminable psychobabbel.
A person's time would be much better spent reading the books. |
Editorials:Amazon.comOriginally broadcast as Legend of Earthsea in December 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel's four-hour miniseries of Earthsea rides the coattails of the Lord of the Rings trilogy with its quest-driven story of humble blacksmith Ged (Shawn Ashmore), a wizard-to-be who is mentored by the magical Ogion (Danny Glover) as he seeks to preserve the realm of Earthsea from the evil King Tygath (Sebastian Roché). Ged's adventures lead him to the priestess Tenar (Kristen Kreuk, from Smallville) and with secrets shared by High Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini), they gain the power to prevail over Tygath. As presented by Robert Halmi Sr. (producer of Merlin, Gulliver's Travels and several other fantasy miniseries), this skeletal rendering of Earthsea boasts a wealth of digital effects and semi-lavish set design, but Ashmore's lack of charisma hampers a production already fraught with problems. It provoked the wrath of fantasy fans and a firm rejection by author Ursula K. Le Guin, who had watched helplessly (she wasn't involved or consulted) as her classic novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan were racially "whitewashed" (in Le Guin's words) nearly beyond recognition. As TV fantasy goes, Earthsea is admirably ambitious, but best enjoyed by those with no awareness of the classic books it is very loosely based on. --Jeff Shannon
DescriptionBased on Ursula K. Le Guin's multiple award-winning classic tale comes this richly imagined epic mini-series. In the magical world of EarthSea, the Amulet of Peace has ensured harmony between humans and dragons for centuries. But when the Amulet is broken and a piece of it disappears, it's up to a neophyte wizard to restore balance and stop a nefarious king from conquering EarthSea's islands.
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