Movie Review #16 - Earthsea
Dec. 30th, 2006 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Yeah, yeah, another miniseries - move along. Anyway, I am not at all familiar with any of Le Guin's Earthsea books so approached this no knowledge of the story. I do think that two of Le Guin's other books (The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness) are great books full of insight and wit which explore complex ideas with a great deal of imagination and skill.
First check of the watch - less than 10 minutes.
Whilst many people complained about how the story had been changed from the original, I had no issue with that since I didn't know the original any way. Instead, I approached this as a story, plain and simple. Sadly, that's what I got - a plain story with a simple plot. This was such a generic Thud and Blunder tale that I reckon my D&D DM from the 80's could have done better (*waves* Hi, Dave - you still owe me a box of Cheezels too!)
So ordinary was the tale that nothing really comes to mind - and no actor stood out - everybody just phoned it in (and phoned it in long-distance at that)! Not even Danny Glover or Isabella Rossellini added any interest and some of the other acting was so bad I think the term "acting" could only be used loosely.
Sadly, the this was awful at every level - I am not sure but I vaguely remember Le Guin publicly disowning this - and so she should have!
First check of the watch - less than 10 minutes.
Whilst many people complained about how the story had been changed from the original, I had no issue with that since I didn't know the original any way. Instead, I approached this as a story, plain and simple. Sadly, that's what I got - a plain story with a simple plot. This was such a generic Thud and Blunder tale that I reckon my D&D DM from the 80's could have done better (*waves* Hi, Dave - you still owe me a box of Cheezels too!)
So ordinary was the tale that nothing really comes to mind - and no actor stood out - everybody just phoned it in (and phoned it in long-distance at that)! Not even Danny Glover or Isabella Rossellini added any interest and some of the other acting was so bad I think the term "acting" could only be used loosely.
Sadly, the this was awful at every level - I am not sure but I vaguely remember Le Guin publicly disowning this - and so she should have!