Sword of Truth TV Series

[eadaoin]

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

I'm not sure how I feel about this. :/

[Alexa [Bot]]

I'm not sure either.

However... I love the books. In my opinion, the Sword of Truth series is the best fantasy series ever written, hands-down. Because of that, I will definitely have to watch this, and I will likely enjoy it.

I say I'll likely enjoy it because it looks good, and I'll never stigmatize something for basing itself off of something I love. The mere fact that someone FINALLY put some time and effort to create a visual representation of the books I love is enough for me to appreciate it, and judge it on it's own merit.

If I end up thinking it sucks, it won't be because of it's relation to the book, it will just be because it sucks.

EDIT: Boy I sure would like to know what NETWORK it's going to freakin' be on. The blog and movie are all intent on showing the date it first airs, and seem to blatantly refuse to say what the hell channel I need to watch to see it.

[Ashval]

I'd rather see them try it than it never get done. I must say though...Richard looks too scrawny to me.

[Tarryk]

Yeah, first appraisal of the cast: Richard's a little "small", Kahlan looks about right (though given Richard's casted size, she should be shorter), and Zedd look all wrong... but he might be able to act his way out of that.

[Tarryk]

Don't have time to dig too deep, but I'm pretty excited about seeing this, so a quick googling showed that it's being produced by ABC-Disney, and being released to "95% of the country" on it's first air date.

So I'll be scanning the ABC channels.

(oh, and interesting trivia, Sam Raimi's one of the exec producers on it)

[Dithyramb]

abc disney?? it's going to be crap then.

There is no way they can stay faithful to the books with disney at the helm, not when you consider all the sex material in the series.

[Stiofain]

A little scrawny? Richard was supposed to be a big guy, I don't think this guy comes anywhere close to it, I'm trying not to laugh picturing that little shrimp trying to look impressive in war wizard gear Maybe if they give him a dagger and call it a sword it'll make him look bigger?

[Tarryk]

I'm up way too late tonight, but before final crashing I had to check on this thread, because I knew this would go down exactly as it's started to. The rabid fans come out with foamed mouths & gnashing teeth.

I've already pointed out that I'm a die-hard fan of SoT, especially the first 5 books. Every word of them utterly rocks.

But come on, this is the same thing that every fan of every book has done when a movie or series comes out based on that book. "The main character must be exactly six foot three with golden hair and size fourteen shoes and the show must be produced by this director and this studio and shot on this location in warm weather at 2pm and I better be able to see the leading lady's nipples in chapter fourteen otherwise this entire thing will be CRAP!" Seriously now.

First off, the book is great because it IS a book. The (often brutally misogynistic) sexual content and (seriously nasty) violence in the book help to tell the story because they deliver an extreme mental setting that grabs you by the throat for it's shock value and keeps you reading for the goodly triumphant follow-through. The near-giant size of Richard is portrayed that way in text because the vision it plants in your head is one of a massive and regal attitude combined with a good heart that helps make the character that much bigger and nobler in your mind. None of these details are integral to the plot, they are methods an author uses to keep you enthralled in the book, by manipulating your imagination. And Terry does it REALLY well.

But translating such a thing to cinema/tv with a point-for-point match would be a complete disaster. Without a cinema budget to rival that of 300, you'd have a relatively massive dude looking oafish and goofy half the time set against a back-drop of what could only be called to the average viewer as cheap and offensive shock-value techniques that only keep you from enjoying the story being told. SoT told with true-form-detail on a TV screen would visually look like a poor-man's 300 plus snuff porn minus decent script minus class, without intending to, and THAT would suck.

Changing the story is bad, but changing the details is required. You have to expect that. Wait for the actors to hit the dialog and the fight scenes to get choreographed before you leap into the clawing and scratching.

I can see why they did most of what they showed in the previews. They kept true to the effects of Kahlan's magic, which is cool, and they kept the hair and clothing relatively similar, but on the example of Richard, they changed the character approach. In order to pull off the sword-slinging badassery that is told in the book, you can't do it with Ahnold hefting around Cloud's sword from FF7. You need a slighter frame with the right dexterity. So they're basically changing Richard into the physical equivalent of what he was mentally in the book: Small in demeanor, but quick, strong, and angry. For the screen, the dude just needs the down-sizing to pull it off, especially on a TV budget.

And as for Disney, look on the bright side. They've had they're successes, and hey, it's not FOX.

(but I'm still worried about the actor they got for Zed)

[Samalicious]

omhfg.

Some one else that has read the Sword of Truth series!! I love those books! Terry Goodkind was brilliant in those books and I've read every one of them a few times. I agree that Richard looks a bit scrawnier than I've imagined and Kahlan should be a bit smaller but the translation between a book and what will be visually popular with the general public and those that haven't read the books are a bit different usually. I hope I'll be able to see it! *thinks she'll have to go to her sister's house because her sister has cable*

And no, I don't have cable, I only have antenna because I don't see paying for something I don't watch--the kids are fine with the cartoons on PBS

[Twisty]

Intresting trailer. One has to wonder how long can fantasy series be filmed in New Zealand. The first seven seconds seem all to be clips from Lord of the Rings trilogy with just new faces pasted on. Heck, I'm sure the fighting clips were filmed on the same location where the final battle of Fellowship of the Ring was shoot. It does brake the appeal of a fantasy serie a bit if you've seen the same scenery already.
Also Bruce Spence who played Sauron's Mouth on the trilogy, and is more known as the gyro captain in Mad Max trilogy, seems to be on cast. But that's not a bad thing.

[Acushla]

One the very cusp of it premiering, a 30minute preview is available on Itunes(free) and after having watched it ------. WARNING! the TV Series is not making the book Wizards First Rule (or the Sword of Truth series of books) into a TV series, rather it is taking the core of the story and telling it to a TV Audience.

The differences even in just the first 30 minutes are legion. This is not to say that the series is doomed to 'suck' (never liked that term) it just means you will enjoy the series more if you set to the side your preconceptions based on the book and judge the story as you Judged the books at first reading, On it's own merits.

[Ashval]

DVR set...trying to go into it with an open mind.

[promethial]

Hmmm, well hopefully the core of it is sound. A point for point match with books is an overtly expensive proposition. Film is a totally different medium to play with. Translation is harder than most people give it credit for.

Many movies rival their book counterparts as well. Never know until the credits how something like this turns out.

Though in true fanboy point of order some things just never make sense when done to film. Blond Paul? Its explicit he had black hair!!! (grins)

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3693320448/tt0142032

Having read these books and enjoyed them greatly, I too hope for more than could be expected.

Prom.

[eadaoin]

We got local channels just in time. Tomorrow is too far away for my patience/attention span/ability to amuse myself until then.

[Tarryk]

My expectations were very low, in regards to "closeness to the book". I knew it would deviate quite a bit, and it did.

My blogged review:

Quick Review
on the pilot double-episode "movie" of
Legend of the Seeker

This series is based off "Wizard's First Rule", a book by Terry Goodkind, who also helped write the series. Naturally, the series deviates from the book, many times in boggling ways.

The general consensus: I freakin' love it, and I'm probably the only fan of the book who will ever say that. I've already read many reviews on it, and they're almost all bad. Nearly everyone's spitting on it, much to my dismay, and this could mean that it will be canceled early. Some people hate it because they love the book and this show deviates from it so much, and some because they simply can't help but to compare it to Xena and Hercules (this series is being made by the same people who made those). Point about me: I understand exactly what is required in order to make a good show/movie and why it must often deviate dramatically from the book, so I can appreciate it, and I have never seen (nor do I intend to see) the Xena or Hercules shows. So whatever, right?

--------DEFENSE OF CONCEPT-----------

I could not possibly list all the ways this show deviates from the book. It's basically completely rewritten from the ground up, with a ton of MAJOR plot devices being dramatically altered. So dramatically, in fact, that after watching this double-episode, I honestly have no idea how this series/season is going to end, I only know a few of the things that MIGHT happen along the way. Yes, it's that different. Personally, I love that, since now there's an element of surprise for me.

Fact is, it needs to be this different. The book itself is very episodic in it's nature, wherein Richard and Kahlan go through many adventures, each with a definable beginning, middle, and ending before the first book is finished, so that much makes it good for translating to TV. But many of the concepts in the book are metaphoric and existential in nature. The show's producers needed to objectify many of the goals in a more physical (and chronological) nature to make it more tangible and understandable to a viewing audience in the limited air-time available.

If you can't deal with the book being completely rewritten, then you probably can't deal with this series. I'm one of the few Terry Goodkind fans who, in this case, agrees with Terry that even the most foundational plot devices need to change to make this a good show.

---------REASONS FOR INTRIGUE---------

Enough with the defense, I've effectively disregarded the book as nothing more than a tool for making the show, I can now say that, on it's own, this show is freakin' FUN. The pacing is brilliant, the dialog is well done (especially considering how much exposition was needed in such a short time), and did I mention the fight scenes? Hoooooly GODDESS, these scenes beat out many of the battles in recent top-budget productions.

The fighting is also, ironically, the one thing I saw dissed a TON in many online reviews. Apparently everyone on the planet hates the liberal use of slow motion but me. Well fudge y'all then, I totally dug it. It wasn't entirely in slow motion, it basically went in and out in paced heart-beats. Today's generation of film-watchers apparently want to see more of the same old crap, where a sword fight is just clang-clang-clang-death-clang-clang-clang-death. These fight scenes were all over the place, and constantly slowed down in on-and-off fashion to make the choreography tell a story all it's own. (compare to the insanely boring fight in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn fends off the ring wraiths, where the whole combat was in steady slow-motion and paced like crap-- THAT was poor use of slo-mo)

It's incredibly effective, and I can't wait to see more. Especially that opening sequence with Kahlan and her sister running from the D'Haran soldiers on horseback. By comparison again to LotR, Peter Jackson's trilogy had all boring horse-chase scenes that often had me falling asleep (much like the rest of that dismal trilogy), whereas the cinematography in this one was so well-produced I was practically falling out of my chair in excitement. Eat your heart out, Pete.

By the way, Bridget Regan (as Kahlan Amnell) is absolutely freakin' beautiful. She looks even better than she did in the previews, I'm blown away. She has a couple fan-service scenes that had me going "Helllooooo, NURSE!" -- especially with the hair billowing everywhere when she's on horseback. Imminant Droolage.

On the opposite coin, Craig Horner (as Richard Cypher) is quite the pretty-boy. Matching Kahlan pound-for-pound on the fan-service, he's got his requisite shirtless-and-sweating scene. I'm quite sure the ladies aren't complaining.

Also, contrary to reviews, the acting isn't bad at all. Kahlan and Richard are played by some relative unknowns who are a little green, sure, but considering that I've never seen either of these two actors before, I'm pretty damn impressed. I think that, if this were to go several seasons in, they could turn out to be natural greats.

I've watched the whole first double-episode three times now (the last one during the writing of this review). It has it's share of camp, sure, but it's more than made up for with it's fun storyline and blazingly good cinematography. I'm hooked on this show, totally fanboi-style. Phraze.

More later.

[Regidoc]

Now, I don't know if I'll be getting that series here or not (I haven't checked TBH) AND I also have not read the books YET but I've always been a fan of the fantasy setting TV series (like Roar) and this sounds like something I'd look forward to. Now, to clarify a comparison for me....when you say start and stop slow mo...you mean something similar to what they used in the Underworld movies? I felt that was a nice effect for that and because it wasn't entirely slow mo, it didn't make it drag on forever.

[Ashval]

I thought the sword fighting was amazingly well-done. I'm not as stoked about the series as Tarryk is, but I enjoyed the start of it well enough. The acting is okay. Kahlan is very nice eye candy. I'm still not sold on the actor for Zedd, and I found some the dialogue to be a bit stilted.

I love the "feel" of it, though. The cinematography is good. The series isn't as dark as I would have hoped for, but it would have needed to be on cable to pull that off. It is darker than I thought it would be when I heard who was making it, though.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the series (and hoping it doesn't become cancellation bait).

[Narcotic]

i enjoyed it enough i started rereading the series

[Metalynx]

Not Hot on it myself. Something feels....missing. Cant put my name on it (I guess im the only one thinking the actor for Zed was OK). Dont like RIchards actor...he's too damn small. Richard was a big man in the series, one of those rare large muscular men who were quick on theri feet. This guy...sure hes worked out.and is quick..but doesnt seem quite what I would have expected.

Kalahan...yeah shes decent enough looker...but still something seems "off" for me. Acting wasnt bad though.

Overall..so far as ive seen..im not terribbly geeked about it myself. Smacks too much of being produced by the same guys as Xena/hercules/insert a half dozen other New Zeland produced series (that campy "lets spend 10 mins fighting..yet not ever seeing allot of blood or people really dying" sort of thing. Nothing terribbly special in my mind (at least..nothing exactlly "new and cool" to me.

[Narcotic]

i don't think her hair was long enough.

and your right richard was kind of puny compared to the book.