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John Rhys Davis and Manu Bennett in The Shannara Chronicles

Hobbity Hobbit
Lorien


Aug 31 2015, 10:57pm

Post #1 of 11 (819 views)
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John Rhys Davis and Manu Bennett in The Shannara Chronicles Can't Post

I was looking at clips from The Hobbit, and I noticed The Shannara Chronicles Trailer pop up, with a picture of Gimli, apparently it's on MTV. I picked up The Swords of Shannara one day, but I never read it. My friend says that the books are extremely like LOTR, but I don't know myself. They seem to have elves and other races and set in a Norse-based world though.

I don't think I'll be watching it, I have to be honest I'm a soft-hearted when it comes to these things, I almost got a heart attack watching some parts of the trailer. But LOTR seems to have a huge influence on it, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) and Manu Bennett (Azog) both star in the show, and it happens to be filmed in the one and only Middle-Earth (New Zealand)! Some of the locations look a lot like the ones in The Fellowship of the Ring, and the locations where the company traveled in The Hobbit. Though the scenery looks great, the CGI does too... but those creatures they just...they creep me out so much!

I don't have the link for the trailer (I'm not on my computer), but I'll try to find it (though it might be a little bit too intense for the forums), if you look it up it should show up.

"Obviously the idea of being human is a very human idea."
-Dominic Monaghan


Ilmatar
Rohan


Sep 1 2015, 8:08am

Post #2 of 11 (757 views)
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Here is the link [In reply to] Can't Post

The Shannara Chronicles | Official First Look | Comic-Con 2015

I was not aware of this project and it's been ages since I read anything Shannara-related - and apparently it didn't make a huge impression as a book/series because I can hardly recall anything Unimpressed while in general any movie in the fantasy genre I'd like to see at least once (thanks for posting).

If any book that a movie is based on has scenery like wide open plains, forest-covered hills, rocky mountains etc.- and most do, of course - then those places will probably look pretty similar from movie to movie and realm to realm (unless CGI enhanced etc.). But it might give some worlds a little more originality if, for example, the mountain & forest scenes were filmed in the Alps, or the Himalayas, or the High Tatras etc. for a change - there is beautiful, wondrous scenery still left on this Earth in other places too, in addition to New Zealand. Smile Although some parts show more traces of human influence, of course, so it might be a little harder to find mostly untouched locations.

But when they say in the trailer that "The talent that has been assembled, the variety of locations, the beautiful background of New Zealand - it really establishes the world of the Shannara Chronicles in a way that separates it from other genre tales" - seriously?!? I seem to have a vague recollection of some other tales that also combined a huge amount of talent with the NZ scenery... Tongue


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Sep 1 2015, 12:22pm

Post #3 of 11 (747 views)
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Originality [In reply to] Can't Post

Well, as far as the original book The Sword of Shannara is concerned, I think that the only element that really set it apart was the revelation (SPOILER) that the world of Shannara was set in our far future rather than our distant past or some alternate universe. Even so, Ralph Bakshi's film Wizards did the same thing while Anne McCaffrey's The Dragonriders of Pern was set in the future, but on another world (SPOILER ENDS). That was the only element of the book that I did not find hopelessly derivative.

"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock


Elanor of Rohan
Lorien


Sep 1 2015, 1:26pm

Post #4 of 11 (740 views)
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I think there is also Jed Brophy [In reply to] Can't Post

and the actor from the Almighty Johnsons, Jared Turner. If you have a vague idea of the show, he plays Ty.


Annael
Immortal


Sep 1 2015, 1:28pm

Post #5 of 11 (741 views)
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they're skipping over the first book? [In reply to] Can't Post

Good decision. After all we've already seen that movie.

I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.

-- Gaston Bachelard

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


zarabia
Tol Eressea


Sep 2 2015, 8:08am

Post #6 of 11 (706 views)
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I've never read The Shannara Chronicles [In reply to] Can't Post

But I have to say, this looks promising, at least in terms of production. The executive producer here, Jon Favreau, directed and produced Ironman. I've never seen it, but it seems I remember many people here writing positive things about it. And he directed Elf, which is one of my favorites. Yes, Elf is a comedy, but Favreau brilliantly captured the look of the and feel of the Rankin and Bass holiday specials that inspired it.

So Favreau, along with Davis, Bennett and New Zealand, could be a good combination even if, as some have indicated, the source material isn't that great.

You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round

~Do You Realize?, The Flaming Lips


(This post was edited by zarabia on Sep 2 2015, 8:15am)


zarabia
Tol Eressea


Sep 2 2015, 8:41am

Post #7 of 11 (700 views)
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I agree that it would be nice to see some other locations [In reply to] Can't Post

As gorgeous and varied as New Zealand is, there are so many untapped locations in the world that would make for wonderful and wondrous backdrops for fantasy and sf. The Tartras Mountains are spectacular and, I'd wager, rarely seen in film.

I suspect movie producers return to New Zealand for this and other projects because of the people and their know-how. New Zealand has developed the infrastructure needed for filming in remote locations because of LOTR and TH, etc. I don't necessarily mean permanent roads and bridges, just the tools and the knowledge of how to get there from here. [:D] Whatever needs doing gets done in New Zealand. That helps with time and budget.

And, well, yeah, it's beautiful. SmileHeart

You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round

~Do You Realize?, The Flaming Lips


(This post was edited by zarabia on Sep 2 2015, 8:43am)


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Sep 2 2015, 1:10pm

Post #8 of 11 (693 views)
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Jon Favreau [In reply to] Can't Post

Favreau's involvement is encouraging; I like his sensibility. I will try to keep an open mind.

"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock


Ilmatar
Rohan


Sep 3 2015, 7:16am

Post #9 of 11 (664 views)
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In that case... [In reply to] Can't Post

...It's maybe somehow fitting that if the book lacked in originality, the scenery seen in the series*) may also be lacking the same way... I might still give the book a chance some day, if only to see how those derivative ideas have been recycled. I have read some novels over the years that, while borrowing heavily from Tolkien and some other authors, still managed to maintain some personality through places, characters or customs depicted (or even the plot). And of course it's also possible that a series/movie may be better than the book(s) it is based on.

*) Somehow I missed that it's a series, not a movie.


(This post was edited by Ilmatar on Sep 3 2015, 7:25am)


Ilmatar
Rohan


Sep 3 2015, 7:29am

Post #10 of 11 (661 views)
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That makes sense [In reply to] Can't Post

That's a good point - it must be easier and cheaper to film in remote locations when there is already the necessary infrastructure in place.

But surely those ideas could somehow be utilized in other places as well - hopefully, in time - because otherwise most fantasy movies and series to be made in the foreseeable future would be filmed in New Zealand, and wonderful as that scenery is, at some point it would probably get too repetitive. Unimpressed


grammaboodawg
Immortal


Sep 3 2015, 4:52pm

Post #11 of 11 (632 views)
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ditto. [In reply to] Can't Post

He's done good things in directing AND acting
*Rudy & The Replacements come to mind*


"Who's the man!?!"




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