The Legend of Earthsea

[Bevin]

Did anyone see this show? I heard about it only after it had been on. I don't even remember what channel it was on (I have TiVo, so I usually search for shows by name only). I heard it described as a cross between Harry Potter and LOTR. I could kick myself for missing it. Does anyone have a review to share??? :x

[Dragonfly]

It was on the Sci-Fi channel. And it's based on the novels by Ursula K. LeGuin.

Sorry, that's all I can tell you, I don't have cable to actually watch the Sci-Fi channel. :(

[Daelyn]

:hi: I saw it. I haven't read the books, but I thought the movie was pretty spiffy... long, though. There's a good portion of humor thrown into the serious parts to keep the mood from getting bogged down.
It's on SciFi... They showed part 1 w/o commercials last night (at about 2 in the morning or somesuch)... they'll probably show it again. They pumped the commercials for too long to let it fade too fast. Besides, it's one of their "SciFi in the Classroom" shows.
Or they'll sell DVD's, like they did with Dune & Children of Dune. http://www.scifi.com/earthsea/
They're showing part 2 again at 4 in the morning on the 9th?or 10th? the schedule's a little unclear...

[Lewen]

Dagnabit...I missed it!!!! I hope they run it again!
*pouts*

Lewen

[Branwen]

I had to read the first book for one of my Adolescent Reader classes whne I was in college. I enjoyed the book so much that I had to read the remaining series. Since I work evening I don't get teh chance to watch the show when it is on. I have a VCR, but it is in use taping CSI during the hours that Earthsea is on. I'm looking forward to any DVD's that may, hope, will come out. I really would like to see how they converted the books into a made for TV movie.

[Fiona Freckl'dbottom]

If you go to scifi.com, they run listings of the show. I taped it for my rogue one nite while he was out but he said they've been running it a lot lately.

[Lug Ironjaw]

Sci-Fi Channel ran ads for this mini-series until I refused to watch it just because I was innundated with the promos.

I spoke to someone in work that read the books and saw it and she said it was better to read the books. She didn't like the series that much.

[Gabrielle.Riley]

I watched it the second night they aired it so I watched the first part then the second part all in one sitting. It was far too drawn out and got boring. I wound up falling asleep and waking up in time to see the end.. I apparently didn't miss much in the time I slept either.

[Dedeley]

We watched it - have never read the books. I thought it was sort of corny - some of the acting was really bad. Books are probably much better.

[Molly]

i don't have cable, so a friend of mine taped it for me... unfortunately, every time i tried to watch it, i'd fall asleep. i finally gave up and gave him the tape back. it seemed good, though.

[*Gremco]

My rogue was really excited about it because he loved the book. I watched it with him, and I thought it was an okay movie. It helped having my rogue there to fill in details that weren't in the movie. I'd love to go back and read the book.

[Dmitri]

It was lame... acting poor... SFX lacking... A must miss....

[RichardMacHugely]

I am a huge fan of the Earthsea books, and was looking forward to the SciFi Channel's adaptation, but ten minutes into the films I had to shut them off because LeGuin's world seemed to have been altered beyond recognition.

As Inigo Montoya would say: Let me 'splain. No, is too much, let me sum up.

In Le Guin's books, the magic of Earthsea is based on knowing the "true names" of things. Every rock, tree, animal, etc, has it's "true name", and knowledge of that name gives a wizard power over that rock, tree, animal, etc. People have true names too, which they are given in early adolescence in a sort of private ceremony. They keep their true names secret from almost everyone, even close family and friends. Generally, only the namegiver and the named know. For general use, everyone uses nicknames.

Now, in the first book, "A Wizard of Earthsea" the hero is a boy called Duny who saves his village on the island of Gont from an invasion of Khargad Warriors (think Vikings) by using some simple spells he learned from a local "witch" to trick the invaders into running off a cliff into the sea. This attracts the attention a wizard called Ogion the Silent (who gained significant fame on Gont by stopping a major earthquake). Ogion comes to Duny's village of Ten Alders and names him "Ged". Meanwhile, Ged adopts the use-name of Sparrowhawk, the name by which he will be known to most people for the rest of his life.

Now, here's where my problem with the movie started: In the scene where Sparrowhawk tricks the Khargad Warriors into pulling a lemming act into the briny, most of the details were pretty much right out of the book. Sure, he was a much older in the movie (in the book he's just a kid at this point) but I could handle that, but the way in which he conjurs a fogbank and leads the Khargads to the brink, surprising everyone in his village, including his dad, was more or less faithful to the source. What bothered me was that he was already being called "Ged" by everybody, as if it is his nickname, and when Ogion comes, he gives Ged the name Sparrohawk, as if that were is TRUE name. That switch just didn't make sense to me, and it rankled.

I also didn't like way the movie presented the temple of Atuan and the relationship between the Priestesses there and the Nameless Ones. In the movie the Nameless Ones are dark, evil spirits who live in the labyrinth beneath the Temple, and the Priestesses are there to keep them imprisoned and to guard them. The girl Tenar is one of these priestesses, and she gets involved with Ged/Sparrowhawk in a quest to keep the evil king from learning the secret of immortality from the Nameless Ones.

But in the book, the Priestesses WORSHIPPED the Nameless Ones. The girl Tenar is the High Priestess, known as the Eaten One. Officially, she is the re-incarnation of all the other High Priestesses who have come before her and she is, nominally, in charge of the temple. In the book, the young girl Tenar is taken from her family at a very young age and her name is taken from her and eventually she forgets it. She grows up in the Temple worshipping the Nameless Ones, and it isn't until she discovers Ged wandering around in the labyrinth on a quest to find the lost half of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe that she learns the true evil nature of the Nameless Ones. The book "The Tombs of Atuan" is more about the redemption of Tenar than anything else, and the way in which she helps Ged restore the broken Ring of Erreth-Akbe. The alterations made to that story in bringing it to the small screen, bringing in the evil king, and changing the priestesses from worshippers to wardens, for example, weakened it I thought.

Anyway, I would highly recommend reading the original Earthsea books. The original trilogy consisted of "A Wizard of Earthsea", "The Tombs of Atuan", and "The Farthest Shore". In the last ten years or so, Le Guin has also publised two new Earthsea novels, "Tenar" and "The Other Wind", and a collection of short stories "Tales from Earthsea." I'm somewhat lukewarm on Tenar, but "The Other Wind" is okay. The collection of short stories was excellent.

[aspen]

LeGuin herself had a problem with the casting. In the original books, the world was multiracial. Most of the main characters had red or brown skin. In the miniseries, everybody except Ogion was lily-white.

I mean, really-- would it have been that much trouble to find some talented African-American, Native American or Pacific Islander actors?

Aspen

[Ilanah]

I watched it...and enjoyed it, probably because I never did read the books, but my brother just let me borrow those and I am really enjoying them. Honestly, I would watch the movies again...just because I liked them in the first place.

[Silverwind]

I have not seen the movies yet, but I still have them on my PVR (the Dish Network version of TiVo). So I can record it on a video tape for those who may have missed it.

[vanessa]

And now for something completely different.....

I had never read the books (I probably will now, though) as no one had particularly turned me on to Ursula Le Guin's books. Being as ignorant of the original storyline that I was, I enjoyed the movie. You had your classic bad guy (the King), classic hero (Ged/Sparrowhawk), classic heroine to counter and support the hero (Tenar), and classic "crafty" teacher (the ArchMage of the school) who helps to save the day with the classic twist in the storyline.

The special effects were kinda cheesy, but overall, I gave this a thumbs up. Maybe my opinion will change once I've read the books, but for now, my original-storyline-ignorant-opinion is a thumbs up.

Just think... if nothing else, the movie has gotten me to add ULG to my waiting list of books where they would not have been otherwise.. :aok:

[Phoenix McHeit]

Good for you Vanessa! I've always liked her short stories - first met her in the F&SF anthologies - but never read any of her novels - looks like I'm gonna have to now!

[Bonnie]

I wanted to see that! Damn! I forgot about it!
Never read the books, though. Thing I've learned about books made to movie... if you read the book first, you're almost doomed to be disappointed in the movies. The rare exception being the LotR. I thoroughly enjoyed both books and movies.

[ambar]

The movie slaughtered the books. Expect only vague similarities. It blended the first two books of the series into one miniseries. You will have to read the tombs of atuan to get to the catacombs.

[Bevin]

Hmmm...sounds like the only way I'll be able to make up my mind about it is to watch it myself. I was able to get it on TiVo, now I just need the time to watch it. I didn't realize the story was from books, and I agree with those who say that usually, the books are better. If it's too corny, I probably won't even watch the whole thing.

[Psyche]

I actually enjoyed the miniseries, and I have read the books. I am hoping it is released on DVD soon.

[Mairi Ulfsdottir]

I loved the Earthsea books...but I couldn't sit through the mini-series at all, it was way too dissapointing.