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V1LÆM
Gold Member
i'm torn. i want to keep watching and i'm looking forward to next weeks episode but yeah i am a bit disappointed. the visuals look cheap and the pacing is a bit weird. i'm probably only sticking with it cause i enjoyed the book but not sure how those who haven't read it will like it.
i know we're only 3 episodes in but reminds me of Witcher S1 which was all over the place but still quite enjoyable. i hope people don't completely shit on WoT cause these books deserve a good TV show. Season 1 might be a bit shakey but they might find their footing in S2 and beyond if we're that lucky. this show has huge potential. there are 14 books worth of content to cover so it could last 10+ seasons easily.
i know we're only 3 episodes in but reminds me of Witcher S1 which was all over the place but still quite enjoyable. i hope people don't completely shit on WoT cause these books deserve a good TV show. Season 1 might be a bit shakey but they might find their footing in S2 and beyond if we're that lucky. this show has huge potential. there are 14 books worth of content to cover so it could last 10+ seasons easily.
Pilgrimzero
Member
Loved it. Also love the books. Yeah its got changes but its still a fun and interesting watch.
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
Reserving this space for after I watch the episode.
first two episodes are weak in my opinion. I just haven’t found an interesting or likable character yet. I am going to watch the show because I like high fantasy and production values are good. Hopefully something interesting will happen. Or a chapter will develop some personality.
first two episodes are weak in my opinion. I just haven’t found an interesting or likable character yet. I am going to watch the show because I like high fantasy and production values are good. Hopefully something interesting will happen. Or a chapter will develop some personality.
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Hari Seldon
Member
Like I said in the other thread about this, the cinematogrophy is really bad, but this is fixable going forward. Everyone on the internet has this same criticism so hopefully Bezos whips the show runners for season 2. The actors are better than expected, especially Egwene and Nynaeve, which is not fixable so this is a very good sign. They are making a ton of changes to the books, making the show more adult. This may payoff or may not, but it is too early to see. As a fan of the books I consider this its own thing and like it for what it is enough to keep watching. Unsure if it is good enough to pull in all the GoT band-wagoners, but if you like Witcher this is about at that level of quality for now. Ultimately if the show lasts it gets waaaaay deeper than any other fantasy franchise so there is definitely a huge payoff for sticking with it.
Yoboman
Member
I havent read the books but its been really bad so far after 3 episodes
Story seems aimless and there has been no real hook.
The dialogue is really bad - nobody has a unique character. They are just interchanging emotions. One episode Mat is the upbeat guy ready to go on the mission and Rand is moaning and confronting everyone, then out of nowhere they flip. Its like they mixed up the script
And the direction is really poor. CG looks bad, pacing is all over the place. It all just feels like an extremely cliche fantasy show that wishes it was Game of Thrones. Down to the whole tapestry of the land intro being a rip off of Game of Thrones intro
Makes me appreciate actually how good Game of Thrones was especially early on
Story seems aimless and there has been no real hook.
The dialogue is really bad - nobody has a unique character. They are just interchanging emotions. One episode Mat is the upbeat guy ready to go on the mission and Rand is moaning and confronting everyone, then out of nowhere they flip. Its like they mixed up the script
And the direction is really poor. CG looks bad, pacing is all over the place. It all just feels like an extremely cliche fantasy show that wishes it was Game of Thrones. Down to the whole tapestry of the land intro being a rip off of Game of Thrones intro
Makes me appreciate actually how good Game of Thrones was especially early on
manfestival
Member
Should I watch it as a person who tends to enjoy action stuff more than melodrama?
V1LÆM
Gold Member
no.
the first book has a lot of "sitting around" and talking. the show will get through the content faster of course but still i'd say not a lot really happens. book1/season 1 is gonna be mostly about setting up the world and getting you ready for everything that happens in the next 12-13 books. the first book didn't really know what it wanted to be. at the time Robert Jordan (the author) was trying to make it more like LOTR because that's what sold. in book 2 and beyond after he had gained fans/following he started to find his own direction and that's when stuff starts to get really good.
it seems like S1 will be a bit shaky but S2 is confirmed and hopefully that will be better. if we get S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10.....well it'll have been worth giving it a shot cause there's A LOT of stuff to look forward to.
if you want mindless action then this isn't really for you. it's not quite all melodrama but it's just unfair to dismiss the story at the start (again, when it will be rough) because it gets better a while in (book2/3+ and hopefully S2/3). it's gonna be a show you'll need to invest your time into. i know you can't really ask that of people these days but unfortuantly i think that's what it is. too many people want instant action and drama but this world is slow and takes a bit to get going but is totally worth it if you stick with it. i think it will be the same for the show.
Madflavor
Member
Consensus so far is that it's not good.
Kinda goes to show that even though Weiss and Benoiff were abysmal fucking writers, they were phenomenal at adapting existing source material, and getting the right people in the right production roles. I kept hearing after GoT Season 8 whenever it was brought up that another fantasy book is being turned into a TV series that "Oh well unlike GoT, the books are finished." Yeah but how many times have we seen finished source material get butchered in a show/movie? It just happened to Cowboy Bebop as well. I loath GoT S7&8 but I'll give those guys credit for adapting the first 5 books so incredibly well.
One other thing I'll say is I'm so sick of the phrase "The next Game of Thrones" whenever a new fantasy show is about to be released. The truth is nobody can accurately predict what the next big Game of Thrones level show is going to be. It's very likely it won't even be a medieval fantasy show like GoT. But right now shortsighted studios are trying to chase after that pot of gold, without truly understanding that GoT worked because it was lightning in a bottle. It had the all the right people, in the right roles, given the right budget, all at the right time. It's very difficult to replicate that. Lightning doesn't strike the same spot twice. So as a result what we've been getting is a bunch of pale imitations.
Kinda goes to show that even though Weiss and Benoiff were abysmal fucking writers, they were phenomenal at adapting existing source material, and getting the right people in the right production roles. I kept hearing after GoT Season 8 whenever it was brought up that another fantasy book is being turned into a TV series that "Oh well unlike GoT, the books are finished." Yeah but how many times have we seen finished source material get butchered in a show/movie? It just happened to Cowboy Bebop as well. I loath GoT S7&8 but I'll give those guys credit for adapting the first 5 books so incredibly well.
One other thing I'll say is I'm so sick of the phrase "The next Game of Thrones" whenever a new fantasy show is about to be released. The truth is nobody can accurately predict what the next big Game of Thrones level show is going to be. It's very likely it won't even be a medieval fantasy show like GoT. But right now shortsighted studios are trying to chase after that pot of gold, without truly understanding that GoT worked because it was lightning in a bottle. It had the all the right people, in the right roles, given the right budget, all at the right time. It's very difficult to replicate that. Lightning doesn't strike the same spot twice. So as a result what we've been getting is a bunch of pale imitations.
Yoboman
Member
Honestly even s7-8 of Game of Thrones is better than most the crap on TV, especially in this genre. Its just comparing to the earlier seasons which are in the GOAT discussion that they dont compare well
Kenpachii
Member
GOT casting was on point, the actors where incredible. The visuals of the series where incredible. The story was well fitting and not riddled with current day politic bullshit and the idea of everybody can die the next day was a nice fresh shake up of the always plot armor main characters we saw everywhere. ( also the moment game of thrones died when they gave john snow plot armor )
Whenever i saw the trailer i just saw more of the same garbage we see everywhere else. Extremely generic, cast that don't convince, a story i don't understand etc etc.
Whenever i saw the trailer i just saw more of the same garbage we see everywhere else. Extremely generic, cast that don't convince, a story i don't understand etc etc.
Fools idol
Banned
there is and never will be another game of thrones. Say what we will about the shows final seasons its still above and away the greatest epic fantasy series adaption ever made, by a margin so wide it makes GRRM look skinny.
The book series imho actually has lower lows than the final seasons, the 4th book was an absolute slog to read. The Dorne chapters and the shit on the fucking iron islands, give me strength of the gods and I couldn't read through that pish ever again.
But as a whole they are magical. It's a series that has a real sense of place despite regurgitating many tropes and cliches. To see Westeros bought to life was a wonderful thing.
To this day even after reading literally thousands of books in lord knows how many series, I haven't found anything close to the immersion and storytelling of the AsoiaF books 1-3.
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Yoboman
Member
What GOT did so well is made deep characters you can both despise but who grow on you, and characters you like who are fatally flawed
Thats where the later seasons failed and every other show like it gets wrong
FunkMiller
Member
Watched episode one. Not sure I’ll bother with any more.
It looked so cheap throughout. Horrible art direction and cinematography. Really did look like Xena Warrior Princess in some places
The storyline is classic high fantasy silliness, but their desperate to be serious like GoT, and it fails miserably.
Somebody should just do The Belgariad… a fun fantasy romp with some cracking characters.
It looked so cheap throughout. Horrible art direction and cinematography. Really did look like Xena Warrior Princess in some places
The storyline is classic high fantasy silliness, but their desperate to be serious like GoT, and it fails miserably.
Somebody should just do The Belgariad… a fun fantasy romp with some cracking characters.
Fools idol
Banned
I would absolutely love to see Malazan book of the fallen adapted to tv but the budget would have to be so insane and I have no idea how they would ever make it work. Colossal world and series that is.
Kenpachii
Member
For sure.
Hari Seldon
Member
GoT works because it is ultimately about a few noble families doing mafia like shit. HBO knows how to do mob shows and the general audience can follow along with simple mob plots until it gets deeper in later seasons. The first episode of WoT went way too fast and didn't spend time establishing the characters better. But the source material for WoT is infinitely better than GoT so hopefully they fix the technical problems.
Wildebeest
Member
I don't need this show to be that great. I'm not that invested in the source material, and I didn't spend a chunk of Bezos' Billions making it. To me, it is just a watchable fantasy show that reminds me of the sort of pulp novels I enjoyed when I was a teenager. Always thought GoT had way too much dull or pointlessly nasty stuff in it to be worth the hype, to be honest.
Pallas
Member
Guess I’m in the minority here since I’ve enjoyed it so far, only watched the first two episodes and half. I feel like it gets better after the first episode.
I like how they did Shador Logoth but honestly wish they spent more time there like in the books. The white cloaks feel even more sinister in the show already and I actually think they nailed the white cloak uniforms.
I feel like a big mistake a lot of people do with that series is compare it to GoT. Only similarity IMO is the medieval setting. I don’t want this to be another GoT. WoT has a lot more similarity to LotR, coming of age story of a unlikely band of heroes from a small or isolated village, forced to go on a adventure against all odds to save the world against evil.
I like how they did Shador Logoth but honestly wish they spent more time there like in the books. The white cloaks feel even more sinister in the show already and I actually think they nailed the white cloak uniforms.
I feel like a big mistake a lot of people do with that series is compare it to GoT. Only similarity IMO is the medieval setting. I don’t want this to be another GoT. WoT has a lot more similarity to LotR, coming of age story of a unlikely band of heroes from a small or isolated village, forced to go on a adventure against all odds to save the world against evil.
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bitbydeath
Gold Member
Never say never.
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ymoc
Member
Its fantasy. You can say his seed is of many shapes and colors and voila, it all makes sense.
Well, by that (IL) logic you could say that he is 5 years old, his wife is an oak stump, and his kids are a dolphin, a pitchfork, a puff of smoke, and 2 albino saimese cats. Pretty fucking dumb, eh?
Internal consistency to the laws of biology, physics, and chemistry EXCEPT for the few that are key to the world is an essential component of good world building.
ymoc
Member
You are only limited by your imagination! Fantasy is fantastic.
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Pegasus Actual
Gold Member
Show seems to be kind of trash tier so far. I read some of the books like 15+ years ago. I'm not invested in WoT at all but some of the weird changes have thrown me off. Are the WoT audiobooks any good? Maybe I'll just do that and get some walking/hiking in.
FunkMiller
Member
And Amazon actually shit-canned The Dark Tower series for this…
BaneIsPain
Member
I drop it after the first episode. Start reading the novel again. I have a blast.
Jennings
Member
Probably a good thing. Otherwise we'd gave the same complaints about that.
Difference is we don't know how magic works or would work since there are no real life counterparts for it.You are only limited by your imagination! Fantasy is fantastic.
We do know how melanin works though, so when you pretend it's not a thing your world just seems kinda fake.
If you break from the things we inherently know they need an explanation. This is why most entertainment with magic actually devotes a little bit of time to explain thr basics.
It's called world building. Really important.
Toytown Assassin
Member
Watched the 1st 3 eps with the mrs and we were pretty much hate watching it from the start and laughing at how bad it is. Not only is the acting and writing terrible but the image quality is shocking. We watched it after foundation and the difference in quality is jarring. It has so much grain and seems to be at such a low bitrate it looks sub 720p at times. Fecking terrible.
As for the inexplicable multicultural casting all I can say as someone who watches a lot of UK tv advertising is it has FAR too many white people. They really need to up their game!
As for the inexplicable multicultural casting all I can say as someone who watches a lot of UK tv advertising is it has FAR too many white people. They really need to up their game!
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
I agree. Nothing interesting or characters of interest.
I_D
Member
I know the trend on GAF is to shit on this show right now, but I enjoyed what I've seen so far.
The trailer was horrible. I was not expecting the show to be worth anything at all.
Maybe going in with extra-low expectations was an advantage. It's a bit better than what I was anticipating.
The acting is decent. The fight scenes are decent. The writing is decent.
This feels about at the same level as recent Star Wars movies, or Marvel stuff, or something like that.
It's not great, but it's not bad.
The trailer was horrible. I was not expecting the show to be worth anything at all.
Maybe going in with extra-low expectations was an advantage. It's a bit better than what I was anticipating.
The acting is decent. The fight scenes are decent. The writing is decent.
This feels about at the same level as recent Star Wars movies, or Marvel stuff, or something like that.
It's not great, but it's not bad.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
I've been liking it so far... First 3 eps Drew me in. I found the LOTR style narration at the beginning and the magic (the One Power) interesting... As was the "only women should wield such power" thing.
I don't think it's set in the distant past. From some of the buildings with vines and moss on them in one shot, it seems it's set in the far off future where mankind no longer cares about your skin color. They have katanas, which wasn't a thing in medieval times. It's just a far flung future without technology which is now more... Shall we say... Simple.
I don't think it's set in the distant past. From some of the buildings with vines and moss on them in one shot, it seems it's set in the far off future where mankind no longer cares about your skin color. They have katanas, which wasn't a thing in medieval times. It's just a far flung future without technology which is now more... Shall we say... Simple.
V1LÆM
Gold Member
i've had a bit more time to let it sink it. i rewatched the 3 episodes and i'm desperate for the next episode. i kinda wish they had released all episodes at once (i understand why they didn't) or i had waited until all episodes were out. of course i don't know what the rest of the episodes are like but i didn't want it to end. i could probably binge the entire season.
it's a shame a lot of people seem to not like it. it's tough for TV shows especially one that is based on 14 books....if the viewer numbers fall then Amazon will shit can it. Hopefully S2 is better but even then if S1 doesn't grab peoples attention then it will likely struggle. Not many shows get popular in their 2nd or 3rd seasons. People these days aren't willing to give shows a chance. It needs to hook them from Episode 1 or it will be abandoned.
it's a shame a lot of people seem to not like it. it's tough for TV shows especially one that is based on 14 books....if the viewer numbers fall then Amazon will shit can it. Hopefully S2 is better but even then if S1 doesn't grab peoples attention then it will likely struggle. Not many shows get popular in their 2nd or 3rd seasons. People these days aren't willing to give shows a chance. It needs to hook them from Episode 1 or it will be abandoned.
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Batiman
Banned
Watched the first episode and thought it was pretty good.
Serious question though. If this is shit what’s the standard for tv fantasy? GOT is the goat to me but people still shit on it. If all these shows are trash what’s good? What shows am I missing? Or is every fantasy show trash?
Serious question though. If this is shit what’s the standard for tv fantasy? GOT is the goat to me but people still shit on it. If all these shows are trash what’s good? What shows am I missing? Or is every fantasy show trash?
Batiman
Banned
We’ll game of thrones wasn’t massive till about the third season.
Doom85
Member
I don’t think the books ever confirmed this (only read up to book 10), but IIRC there was minor hints that the world is Earth LONG into the future. But they never really dwelled on it.
Also, a few comments are driving me crazy. If people want to find certain elements SJW-ish, fine whatever to me it’s mostly overreacting, but just no to anyone trying to pin the “only women can wield magic without losing their minds” element as SJW. The first book was written in like 1990, so this has existed before a few of you were even born for gods sake, and secondly this happened due to a specific event in the past, it’s not implying men will always go mad with power naturally as the corruption did not occur naturally. And the Red Ajah (I think that was the color, it’s been a minute LOL) who are the most extreme about hunting down any man who can use it are portrayed in a very negative light for the most part.
Also the first book was written before the first GOT book, so no unless the show goes WAY darker than the books it’s not a GOT clone. Actually, WOT book 1 is heavily inspired by Fellowship of the Ring, but book 2 goes in a VERY different direction from LOTR so hopefully the show will get renewed as I imagine some viewers will be more invested once that happens.
I do hope to watch this soon, but holiday season makes my work hours longer and I want to watch Arcane and a few anime shows before I get to this.
Doesn't matter. A few generations in isolation and a tiny village like Two Rivers would lose it's diversity and close to everyone would be brown skinned.
I think some people just don't get the criticism here, and just aren't able to think further than it being anti sjw racism nonsense.
It's not. It's a reaction to poor world building. Isolated places like this where travel is by horse and carriage (just look at those perspective shots, Two Rivers is juts a few houses squeezed in between steep mountains, far from other people) don't have great diversity. The creators should just have picked a look. Go for middle eastern or indian if you like but stick to it and make it look like these isolated people actually come from the same place.
Don't get me wrong, casting is good on an individual level. I like the actors and their portrayal, but where they're from is all over the place.
Vlodril
Member
The only women should wield such power makes sense considering the worldbuilding.
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
I'll give it a shot. I love fantasy. It seems really difficult to adapt. Especially to tv. For every GOT we have a Seeker or young adult drivel.
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IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
The Katana was developed in the 14th century, which makes it a medieval sword.
Hari Seldon
Member
After watching all 3 I am back to liking it. Episode 2 is a huge step up from Episode 1, mostly because it slows down. Shadar Logoth was very nice. The White Cloak look amazing.
DeafTourette
Perpetually Offended
I'm talking about Europe. Not all over the world. I should have been more clear.
IDKFA
I am Become Bilbo Baggins
That's cool. However........
This isn't the real world or real medieval Europe. Neither is it a far future version of Earth where everyone is blind to race as you mentioned in your previous post. It's a fantasy world that has a diverse cast of actors to appeal to modern audiences.