Expectations... so mixed...

[angelfromanotherpin]

When I see this, my first response is to shudder. It's not a good series! Why would anyone do this?

Then I remember: A Wizard of Earthsea is really cool and the adaptation was horrible. But original Battlestar Galactica was crap, and the new version is (mostly) awesome. So maybe there's some inverse quality adaptation principle they can hook into and come up with something good.

On a more serious note, it's been a while, but I recall most of what annoyed me about the series was the writing quality, and the amount of time the characters spent thinking about how bad their lives were; both of which can be readily dumped in a screen adaptation. The base plot and setting struck me as quite promising.

Unfortunately, it's Disney/ABC, so the amusing gratuitous nudity and sado-dom-play probably won't make the cut. Or do they have different standards than Disney proper?

[the_taken]

When I see this, my first response is to shudder. It's not a good series! Why would anyone do this?

Then I remember: A Wizard of Earthsea is really cool and the adaptation was horrible. But original Battlestar Galactica was crap, and the new version is (mostly) awesome. So maybe there's some inverse quality adaptation principle they can hook into and come up with something good.

On a more serious note, it's been a while, but I recall most of what annoyed me about the series was the writing quality, and the amount of time the characters spent thinking about how bad their lives were; both of which can be readily dumped in a screen adaptation. The base plot and setting struck me as quite promising.

Unfortunately, it's Disney/ABC, so the amusing gratuitous nudity and sado-dom-play probably won't make the cut. Or do they have different standards than Disney proper?

I like the first book, and have read most of the others. But I haven't read the last three, despite getting them as gifts. I found the first book to be great, but the I found the series to quickly degrade. (why did I read all those?)

I can dig the lead actress. She has a pretty, yet confident face.
But this Craig Horner as Richard Cypher, I'm pissed. This man doesn't look the role. He's missing a strong, manly face, and eyes of certainty.

I do agree that Disney will anally rape this project with its kid safe rules. This would've been much better as an HBO project.

[JonSetanta]

Picked a strange book to film-adapt there.
I'm still waiting for a So You Want To Be A Wizard (by Diane Duane) movie, really.

[Talisman]

Personally, I thought Wizard's First Rule rocked, and the next 4 books were decent...after that, it got extremely preachy and Goodkind's political views seeped through in thinly disguised metaphors (very thinly disguised). Also, some of the philosophy in the later books directly contradicted that in earlier books.

Richard made an interesting "thinking swordsman," and Goodkind made me believe his transformation into Greatest Swordsman Ever...but, yes, he spent inordinate amounts of time thinking/talking/preaching (like, six-page monologues!), and towards the end the series developed a very strong Gary Stu vibe, with virtually everyone gushing about how freaking awesome Richard was.

I'd be interested in a Sword of Truth movie/series...but the "Disney" label does make me shudder. And Craig Horner =/= Richard Cypher.

[Crissa]

I kinda thought the current Battlestar Galactica was crap. 'Oh no, people are scared of guys in suits! We need... Hot babes and CG menaces!'

-Crissa

[PhoneLobster]

Sam Rami hey. He has his moments but then he was also related to Cleopatra 2525...

He can put together a pulp fantasy series and even drag in some good talent (like the title character and lead villain from Cleopatra, Bruce Campbell and whatsername Xena's side kick from Xena/Hercules, even his younger brother Ted Rami, and others)

But somewhere along the line he just lets some waste of space airhead drag the entire series down, like Xena herself, or far more spectacularly the talentless co leads in Cleopatra.

And considering its just pulp to start with that's some pretty spectacular airhead facilitation required to pull it down. I mean god damn Kevin Sorbo could handle it...

Still its not like the series in question was high quality to start with. Though I do wonder how hell they intend to depict Richard's servile army of hot S&M leather clad mistresses with their magical leathery death dildos...

[JonSetanta]

Sam Rami hey. He has his moments but then he was also related to Cleopatra 2525...

WHY DO YOU REMIND ME.

And yet, the blonde wasn't such a bad looker. Somehow I watched 3 whole episodes of that shit. I really don't even know how.

[shau]

Did that series ever get finished? I read up to the one where Richard suddenly manifests advanced sculpting ability and makes such a kick ass statue that it single handedly defeats Communism. Also, he did it in his spare time after working two jobs.

If the series did not end with Richard beating the Emperor and his army singlehandedly armed only with his penis he must have been nerfed sometime after that,

[Jerry]

Did that series ever get finished? I read up to the one where Richard suddenly manifests advanced sculpting ability and makes such a kick ass statue that it single handedly defeats Communism. Also, he did it in his spare time after working two jobs.

Sounds like something from Encyclopedia Dramatica.

[PhoneLobster]

Though the statue vs wierd ass Ayn Rand view of communism was easily the downward slope for that series I think that pillars of creation came after that and really THAT was the end of anything good about it.

In the pillars of creation two things happened.

1) It was clear the author was sick of the stupid series, after all he chose to write a book with basically NONE of the regular characters introducing and revolving around entirely new additions to the universe and its rules.

2) The occasional hints of satirisation of the "epic fantasy" genre that were the only real charm to the series vanished (if they hadn't already by the statue book), and never ever returned.

I read the last few books after that to the end, and it does end.

But frankly I was never hot on the rather second rate series to start with and somewhat regret reading the last few books with him chasing forlornly after the ultimate S&M mistress, his wife, when she loses her memory and gets made into a gimp for what, the THIRD or is it fifth? flavour of super powered S&M mistress in the setting, until THEY get enslaved by the rival S&M master (well, final rival S&M master really) "dream walker" dude...

Oh and the statue vs communism is nothing. Later on Richard goes on to defeat a nation of dirty rotten Ghandi bastards (terrible threat and moral outrage that they were to him and his army of S&M bitches), this time he uses violence.

If the series did not end with Richard beating the Emperor and his army singlehandedly armed only with his penis he must have been nerfed sometime after that

Alone, armed with his penis, stripped half naked, enslaved, forced to play grid iron, painted bright red, dragging his slave/wife/mistress under one arm, trampling the dream walker personally and spouting philosophical gibberish all the while until the gibberish becomes a deus ex machina that splits all the people in the universe that he disagrees with off into a parallel universe with all the fun removed.

I make it sound much more exciting than it was to read it.

[Calibron]

I stopped reading at the fourth or so book, the one with the plague that came from a book or some such bullshit. You're telling me it gets even stupider after that?

By the way, during the third(?) book, when Richard finally finishes Darken Rahl, it was hinted at greater agents of the whatsisname netherworld leader were around. Did that ever come up again or was it just the emperor and a few evil flunkies that never accomplished anything?

[Maj]

I don't think I got past the first few chapters of the third book (it might have been the fourth - I don't remember). I got sick of the failure to progress when it came to the relationships between characters. It was just rehashed, stale garbage that made the story stink.

[Username17]

It's kind of like that.

-Username17

[SphereOfFeetMan]

When I see this, my first response is to shudder. It's not a good series! Why would anyone do this?

Then I remember: A Wizard of Earthsea is really cool and the adaptation was horrible. But original Battlestar Galactica was crap, and the new version is (mostly) awesome. So maybe there's some inverse quality adaptation principle they can hook into and come up with something good.

Heh. What do you think about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonball_%28film%29

[angelfromanotherpin]

My expectations for that are just low. Absurdly low. Based on the number of characters created just for the movie, and my general belief that almost no-one actually knows what made the series work.

[Talisman]

PhoneLobster wins the internet with that recap.

I stopped reading at the fourth or so book, the one with the plague that came from a book or some such bullshit. You're telling me it gets even stupider after that?

By the way, during the third(?) book, when Richard finally finishes Darken Rahl, it was hinted at greater agents of the whatsisname netherworld leader were around. Did that ever come up again or was it just the emperor and a few evil flunkies that never accomplished anything?

Plague from a book? This is HIGH FREAKIN" FANTASY; what's wrong with plague from a book? or a sentient temple that can turn the moon red?

Oh, as for the other agents of the Keeper (cool name, eh?)...umm...yeah. There was some blather that basically amounted to "all the bad guys are sort-of agents of the Keeper, even if they don't know it." And the Evil Emperor had, apparently, a literally infinite supply of flunkies. At one point, Zed, the badass wizard who almost never actually did anything, killed over ten million soldiers with one spell....all the while making sure to point out that this wouldn't even put a dent in the Emperor's forces.

Seriously, my problems with the SoT series had to do with the long-winded self-righteous Gary Stu "hero," not the pure fantasy elements. Those, I thought, were okay. It was at book 5, Soul of the Fire (aka, "I Hate the Clintons;" aka "Democracy is for Losers") that the series really started to go downhill IMO.

[Calibron]

After Dharken Rahl was defeated the books lost focus and started getting ridiculous. Book 4 wasn't so horrible to begin with, but sometime after Richard was abducted by that sister of the light(that's the name right?) things started being less story driven and more Richard driven. Also it was around that time that events in general started seeming to just get pulled out of the air instead of having a purpose and direction set out for them.

[Jerry]

I have a strange feeling that the atrocities Richard commits will cause him to become the next Darkan Rahl. I'd be surprised if Goodkind did not intend for that to happen.

[Talisman]

I doubt it. Richard struck me as being far too confident/self-righteous/egotistic/messiah-ish to end up as a villain. He was basically a mouthpiece for Goodkind's philosophical opinions.

[Jerry]

He was basically a mouthpiece for Goodkind's philosophical opinions.

That anybody who disagrees with you is wrong and evil?

[JonSetanta]

Heh. What do you think about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonball_%28film%29

I'm more shocked that James Marsters watches DBZ than the existence of a movie.
I mean, sure, back in high school friends and I predicted that eventually Hollywood could cash in on the fad, but it's coming years too late. Kids all love Naruto and Bleach these days, or whatever ninja/samurai/shrinemaiden/giant robot series floods over badly dubbed by Canadians these days.

If Marsters can come anywhere near the nihilistic emo rants that Piccolo had early on in DBZ, I'll be satisfied. With Piccolo it's less about the style of voice as much as pacing and keeping that somber attitude that suddenly jumps to absolute terror when things don't go as planned.

But for others like Vegeta, I'd much rather have the voice I've heard for years of DBZ, over Mr. I Only Do "It's Over 9000" At Conventions.

Compare (original Vegeta)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtfzsOYuZOE

with this style (obnoxious Vegeta):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWc_vRUp ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PI7VGIo ... re=related

Or compare old vs. new in both with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3YyL660 ... re=related

[Talisman]

He was basically a mouthpiece for Goodkind's philosophical opinions.

That anybody who disagrees with you is wrong and evil?

~That people who make bad decisions due to a lack of understanding of the situation should be left to their fate, no matter how horrific. (Soul of the Fire)

~That the Clintons are evil, horrible people who deserve to die horribly. (Soul of the Fire)

~That people will not be willing to fight their hardest until they've lost everything the have, so the best route to victory is to let the bad guys win, so the good guys see exactly what they're fighting for (Faith of the Fallen)

~That, if you're the leader of a large group of people (especially military), you shouldn't consider the greatest good for the greatest number. Instead, you should consider your own personal goals and opinions and do whatever it takes to achieve them (Faith of the Fallen).

~That, if you're at war, there is no weapon or tactic too foul, brutal, or inhuman to be used against the enemy. Whatever it is, they deserve it because they're the enemy. (Faith of the Fallen)

~That Communism and anything like it is inherently evil and corrupt, and Capitalism is inherently self-correcting and good. (Faith of the Fallen)

~That...umm...just because you've run out of good ideas is no reason not to write a book (Pillars of Creation)

~That, if someone is your enemy, you must beat the holy shit out of them by any means necessary! To hell with "understanding" or "empathy" or "rehabilitation." KILL! (Naked Empire)

~That, if you're not willing to beat the ever-lovin' hell out of those dirty bastards for whatever reason, you're no better than them, and you should have the ever-lovin' hell beaten out of you...you dirty bastard. (Naked Empire)

~That nothing makes readers happier than putting your hero through hell and making him wonder if he's gone completely batshit insane. (Chainfire)

~That anyone who supports your enemies, though food or supplies, no matter what their knowledge of the situation, or if they're coerced, or what, is evil, vile, corrupt and despicable, and should share in the holy-hell-beating-out-of. (Phantom).

~That bad people are irredeemable and can only be killed, never exiled, imprisoned, or rehabilitated. Also, anything you do to them is justified by their seething evilness. (all, but especially Confessor).

~That philosophies contrary to ones own are evil and corrupt, and it's not enough to kill the people who follow them - they must be expunged from existance, and their philosophies erased from all human knowledge. (Confessor)