The Shannara Chronicles - TV Show - Looks ruddy excellent! (Manu Bennett, John Rhys-Davies)

As i remember there was mention of the 'Old World' and the 'Great War' in the original series. These tie in with the later 'Word and the Void' trilogy set in modern times and the subsequent 'Genesis of Shannara' trilogy set around 2100 which covers the war.
 
I read the original trilogy (almost) about 15 years ago, all I remember was they all seemed to be the same story and I bailed halfway through the third.
 
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Just saw the first two episodes. High production quality, good acting and good VFX.

Few complaints, the pace was very fast - trying to cram a lot in. They really are not giving even the tiniest of nods to the distance they are travelling to push the story forward.

Finally - too many convenient encounters, it makes the world seem very very empty.
 
Hmm, trying to keep an open mind and stay positive about this, but some casting decisions makes me a little dubious... Elfstones was first ff book I read (30+ years ago) so guess I maybe have high expectations...

Still would have preferred Raymond E. Feist's Magician series or Robert Jordan's WoT series over Shannara...
 
Magician would be good until a certain point, then it all just gets a bit too much to make into a film / tv series I think. Borric and Arutha would be great characters to bring to life though.
 
Watched the first 3 episodes (3rd appeared early) and it was better than i thought it would be with it being on MTV. Still clearly aimed at their viewer age of probably under 20yrs old but wasn't terrible. I might be a bit biased though as i remember liking the books as a kid.
 
Agreed Phoenix211, after a while they did get quite repetitive, but such a wealth of world and characters to pick from, plus the rift war and Tsurani invasion. I would add Kulgan as another fav character to bring to life and of course, Nakor would be a lot of fun!
 
Luggs said:
Hmm, trying to keep an open mind and stay positive about this, but some casting decisions makes me a little dubious... Elfstones was first ff book I read (30+ years ago) so guess I maybe have high expectations...

Still would have preferred Raymond E. Feist's Magician series or Robert Jordan's WoT series over Shannara...
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Magician would be awesome to bring to life as a movie Trilogy. Then follow it up with a high quality TV show as Pug and Tomas only make guest apperances for many books before finishing it off with a movie (another trilogy?).
 
chroniclard said:
Every Shannara book is the same, all 300 of them. Similar to RA Salvatore.
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I will take your word for it, first Shannaa book was enough for me to want to hang myself to end the tedium. When I was warned it doesn't really get much better I decided to give up.
THat said, I do plan on watching the tv show, I figure with the tv's habit of butchering books they may well end up with an enjoyable show.
 
This looks okay so far.

The good – the special effects and make up is decent, better than some movies of late. The acting isn't tooo bad, passable. I like the post-apocalyptic world, interesting twist on how normally these kind of story is set thousands of years before humans, now is after and you see remanence of some manmade objects now and again. The cinematography looks good, like some of the location shots, they make the world seems grand and big.

The bad – someone said earlier the world does seem empty, it really does ! I guess it comes down to budget. Some of the indoor shots, especially the elf's castle looks very much like a set. I know they all are on stage sets but at least in Game of Thrones, the lighting in them through the windows make it look real, like in a real castle. Also it's aimed at a younger audience, not as dark and gritty as I would like.

I'll keep watching, mostly because I am intrigued in the journey, something to fill the void before GoT comes back.
 
Raymond Lin said:
This looks okay so far.

The good – the special effects and make up is decent, better than some movies of late. The acting isn't tooo bad, passable. I like the post-apocalyptic world, interesting twist on how normally these kind of story is set thousands of years before humans, now is after and you see remanence of some manmade objects now and again. The cinematography looks good, like some of the location shots, they make the world seems grand and big.

The bad – someone said earlier the world does seem empty, it really does ! I guess it comes down to budget. Some of the indoor shots, especially the elf's castle looks very much like a set. I know they all are on stage sets but at least in Game of Thrones, the lighting in them through the windows make it look real, like in a real castle. Also it's aimed at a younger audience, not as dark and gritty as I would like.

I'll keep watching, mostly because I am intrigued in the journey, something to fill the void before GoT comes back.
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Not only does it seem empty, it seems small. If it really is as devoid of human life as it seems how do they keep bumping into the same people!

Also everything seems to be a less than a days horse ride away, which also suggests it is a tiny world.
 
seems a shame if more and more fantasy stuff is being picked up off the back of the success of GoT, that they have not looked at Gemmels stuff. Not sure who I would cast as Druss the Legend though! or on a more offbeat tone...Waylander, or even jon shanow

maybe its because Gemmels stuff is ultimately about sacrifice..he nearly always kills off the heroes!! theres very few 'happy' endings
 
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If any one is still interested in this, UK residents anyway, it starts on 5* on 25 February at 9pm.

Willing to give it a go.
 
I cant believe how bad this show is The Elfstones is one of my favourite books and this show nothing like the book what so ever...
 
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