His Dark Materials

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by rjp, Nov 5, 2019.

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  1. rjp

    rjp Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ohio
    interested in opinions of this new show.

    mine.....meh......a bit boring, but it was the set-up....i'll give it another week or so.
     
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  2. Rufus McDufus

    Rufus McDufus Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I love the books (even though it's a long time since I read them). Some elements of the TV show are good, some maybe not so. I feel like they're not doing a great job in explaining some of the background, for instance on daemons (and why do only key characters seem to have them?). I'm finding the script a little weak too. I'm just hoping that it's such a strong story that some of my gripes will fade away. It is quite oriented for the younger audience which I'm definitely not, so I'm being a bit unfair. I also prefer books 2 & 3 to the first one so there's a while to go for that!
    It already seems to be better than the film though.
     
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  3. Just like with Watchmen I have not read the original and am mostly scratching my head at this point but I'm intrigued enough to keep watching.
     
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  4. DreadPikathulhu

    DreadPikathulhu Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I enjoyed it. Unlike my partner, I haven’t read the books and only vaguely remember the movie. I already prefer it over Watchmen because I need to do less thinking. Series with children as the protagonists are always easier to get into as more is explained as you go so you can learn along with them, at least in my experience.
     
  5. You have to,give it a little time for the set up but be warned that other TV shows, novels and series have ripped off the original novel.

    Loved the novels.
     
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  6. give it a bit of time it unfolds with some really cool results.
     
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  7. It's Felix

    It's Felix It's not really me

    Just started to watch it. The books are brilliant - you should stick with it...
     
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  8. What questions do you have that you want answered? If you PM me I will give you some background without spoilers.
     
    Chris DeVoe likes this.
  9. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I wanted to like it because I love Ruth Wilson, but I bailed.
     
  10. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I watched for Ruth Wilson, but than saw Wolverine's daughter (!), who is an amazing bad-ass, is the principal player. Is this character action-oriented in the books?
     
  11. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    I hated that at the end of the first episode they showed clips from every other upcoming episode of the series. Kind of ruins any anticipation.
    Other than that, enjoyed the adaption. Done by someone very familiar with the books - thankfully!
     
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  12. Rufus McDufus

    Rufus McDufus Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    This drives me nuts and I always reach for the remote if they're showing what's upcoming. Worse for me is the trend with documentaries to show a preview of all the sections at the start. I just want it to be a surprise!
     
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  13. APH

    APH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, England
    They clearly didn't trust their audience to stick with it.
    The book has a good structure, it stays with Lyra, and we see the world get larger as she does.
    The adaptation cut away from Lyra, to show stuff from later in the story, as if they thought we'd be bored. Then they had an extended preview at the end, as if they really weren't confident their first episode was interesting enough, even with the bits from later on in the story added in. Ironically, the parts when they cut away from Lyra were the worst bits.
     
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  14. APH

    APH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, England
    Or just read the comic?
     
  15. rjp

    rjp Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Ohio
    i don't know, HBO was touting this as their next GOT, i highly doubt it. it just really wasn't very good.
     
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  16. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    My early thoughts are the same. Seemed to be a bit of a mess and too rushed.
     
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  17. Yes one could look at the graphic novel or read the three novels it’s based on as well.
     
  18. I don’t know that structure wise, it would have worked dramatically in that fashion. It’s not unusual to restructure a story to make the narrative flow better. I suspect that’s also the case here. It’s hard to judge how this will turn out from one hour but I do think a better presentari0n would have been to combine the first two or three hours or air them back to back.

    Unfortunately, we have a world of viewers who are too easily distracted (I could myself among that group sometimes as well) with the net result that if we don’t have immediate satisfaction with a story or film, we develop something akin to audience ADHD.
     
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  19. zombiemodernist

    zombiemodernist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeastern USA
    Loved the books growing up and never really liked the tone or look of the Hollywood adaptation. I think the gestation period on this was actually quite long, and they brought in a decently heavy hitter director in Tom Hooper to helm the pilot. Keep in mind it's a BBC production so the narrative around it being a GOT replacement rush job is a little off. One thing that worried me is Jack Thorne is writing every episode, as I wasn't into Cursed Child at all.

    First episode felt good but not great to me. Obviously we're losing that great innocent opening tone of the book but a TV show needs to establish conflict and worldbuilding in the first episode. I have strong faith it can settle into a good pace. I think that TV is just a far more natural medium for adapting books, especially YA books which are already a bit lighter. Much like Series of Unfortunate Events was much better on Netflix than in cinemas, I think this will feel more natural. I just hope they are able to adapt the whole trilogy.
     
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  20. APH

    APH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, England
    They obviously thought it wouldn't work.
    I think they are wrong. Lyra is the best thing about both book and show, but the show is cutting away from her, just when it should be tying us tighter to her.
    My view.
     
  21. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I don't know. Comments from the book lovers about how so much detail's being overlooked are understandable, the books are very well-loved BUT....I haven't read a single page and thought the 1st episode was good, although straying dangerously close to being a bore. I was thinking about reading the books so went thru some reviews and they're very positive. Based on that, and the actors, I'll stick around for a few more. But I get the feeling the tale may be aimed at a younger mindset, we'll see!
     
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  22. Antmanbee

    Antmanbee Mental Toss Flycoon

    Location:
    Leicester, UK
    As a 60-year-old, who was a mere adult 16 years ago when I first read THE BOOK His Dark Materials (it's not novels, it's A novel, one novel entitled His Dark Materials, just as Lord of the Rings is one book although it was published in three separate parts over a number of years), and has since read it twice more, I can only hope it's better than that dreadful film!
    It's among my favourite books, as is Paradise Lost...
    I'm recording the whole series to watch entire.
     
  23. FVDnz

    FVDnz Forum Resident

    I bought the book shortly after the announcement of the BBC/HBO series and still, I haven't gotten round to reading it. Now that the show is out, I am enjoying it for the moment. And I do think it's off to a good start too. Now I've just finished the second episode. Ruth Wilson's version of Mrs Coulter is already blowing Nicole Kidman's portrayal out of the water, IMHO. She was easily the star of this episode. And the cliffhanger at the end - I can't wait for the next episode!!!! :D

    Love the opening credits though. As for the Golden Compass film. I did like it originally but learning how much was cut not to mention studio meddling, these bigwigs should have learned by now that all these stories of executive interference don't usually help to ensure a film will succeed. I am glad the books have been given a second chance. Dakota Blue Richards from the movie may look pretty but Daphne Keen's Lyra is still doing a great job so far. :)
     
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  24. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Seen episode 2 now and I have to say I'm not a big fan. It has a 'childrens BBC' feel about it, which is odd given the budget they obviously have. I'm sure the book is a lot better than this as if it was this average it would never be as well regarded as it is.

    Will give it one more episode to see.
     
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  25. Holerbot6000

    Holerbot6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Sounds like it is getting good reviews. Is it just the first book they are doing? The second and third books get so weird, I always wondered how they would pull them off in a movie, not to mention the whole death of God thing. I know these are referred to as children's books but I've never been completely convinced...
     
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