Eragon Anyone?

[Ragingblues]

So, who's going to see Eragon?

www.eragonmovie.com/

I have to admit that I know nothing about the story or characters, but the trailer looks awesome! It immediately makes me think of the worlds/settings of LOTR or Narnia, but it looks so well made.... and those are really cool to begin with that I don't care how similar it seems. I'm sure some of you must know of the books, but I actually like going into a movie like this, knowing nothing about it at all. If some wild turn happens in the plot, I can be completely taken by it as well.

Any thoughts or interested parties?

Ken

[pitfallharry]

I guess this is based off a series of books written by a 19 year old and it's fairly popular.

From what I'm hearing though the movie isn't that great. I thought it looked pretty cool from the trailer and video game tie-in that I've seen but apparently the movie strays to far from the books and it just not up there with Narnia, LOTR and Harry Potter.

I may rent it sometime. Heck, I still haven't seen the latest Harry Potter so I'm waay behind on my films.

I think if I get a chance to go to the movies I'm going to go see James Bond.

[Kt. Templar]

I'm really not sure about this one. The effects in the trailer look nice. But sword and sorcery is so hard to do well without looking cheap. LOTR is main exception. I liked Dragonheart but mainly for the Dragon, great performance by Connery though Quaid was pretty cheesy, never saw Reign of Fire.

But a lot of the storyline seems cliched, if you are going to do Fantasy please use one of the classics, want Dragon Riders use Anne McCaffery's Pern books. One series that has always cried out for a series of films is David Edding's Belgariad, it's funny, it has a huge quest, it even has a talking sword! (The scar on the boys hand is cribbed from the Belgariad).

The pretty boy in the posters also smacks of marketing to the 13 year old girls market, weird, weird angle to take for an action adventure movie... bit like what they did on First Knight with Heath Ledger (another actor that I have absolutely no interest in watching, far to pretty for his own good.) I have the same issue with Matthew McConnahey (sp?) .

[Deleted]

Ken, I'm definately going to see this movie! It looks awesome!


Oh and KT, Matthew was quite dreamy in Sahara.

[Ragingblues]

I have only seen parts of "Reign Of Fire", but the dragon scenes looked great! I actually like Matthew Mcconaughey, so I liked him in "Sahara" as well. I obviously don't like him the same way Canyon does , but thought he was a good combination of looks for the gals and toughness for the action.

The LOTR series is one of my favorites of all time, and incredibly well done. Narnia was a great movie that will only get better as the movies roll on, so I'm firmly in that camp as well. Since C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were great friends and used to talk story and setting ideas when writing both series, it's no wonder they have some similarities. The Harry Potter series wouldn't exist if it weren't for both of those writers either, so I'm certainly open to new fantasy stories.

Let's just hope it's as good as the trailer, right KT?

Ken

[Havana]

I think every such movie is going to be compared to LOTR just like every adventure movie gets compared to Indiana Jones. It's a tough act to follow. Sword and sorcery just isn't my thing but I'm fascinated by the fact that a teenager wrote this and is making serious money from it.

[indianatone]

I rarely get to a theater anymore. I would watch this on DVD, though.

I like the trailer and though I'm not expecting anything spectacular from it, I do like when these dragon films pop up. The work on the dragons gets a bit better each time it seems.
It does look like it'd be fun to watch, though there is that something in the way the trailer's set up that does make one expect it to be chalk full of cliche fantasy stuff. The one thing about this trailer that seems very appealling is that the nature of the dragons' characters are more involved. They don't seem to be 'as cutesy' so much as well developed traits. A nice change from the joke-telling, loveable, fluffy dragons, to the rigid, empty monsters who are there only to be defeated.
Yes, I guess I do have an interest in this film and will see it on DVD unless Mrs. Tone wants to go to the theater.

Now, that Christopher Paolini wrote and finished this book AND had it turn out to be a hit is awesome. He did what many of us have been saying we'd do since the age of 19 ourselves. A few stories that never quite got finished (I know I have a more than a few) or always on the horizon of "someday". I think it makes sense that a fantasy book written at that age would do well since the "rationalization" of adulthood experience doesn't get in the way of dreaming a world together.
I'm not saying that every five year old kid who picks their nose and smears a nicely designed booger on the fridge should be immediately recognized as an artist and catered to their self-expressional independence (we have a consistently growing population of self-indulgent, unskilled morons based on this type of parenting) but this guy not only wrote it at 19, he did it well enough to have the rights bought up for a film. There's obviously legitimate talent there. I say good for him!

[pitfallharry]

I have to agree with Tone and give kudos to the kid for dreaming up the story, writing it out, getting it published and then having a major studio make a film out of it and accomplishing it all at 19!

I haven't read the books so I can't say if they storyline is something I'd enjoy or not and I can't comment on how well it's written either.

With that being said it looks like some of this has to do with "timing" because this sword and sorcery stuff is the latest "hot" trend in Hollywood and I'm guessing the studios are grabbing anything then can find that resembles LOTR.

From the feedback I'm reading it looks like the hacks butchered the kids story and the movie is a best mildly entertaining.

CONSENSUS
Eragon presents nothing new to the "hero’s journey" story archetype. In movie terms, this movie looks and sounds like Lord of the Rings and plays out like a bad Star Wars rip-off.

That was pulled from a popular movie website. Most of the time their pretty spot on.

With a trip to the movies costing more than $20 anymore I have to be cautious about what I spend that money on. Most of the time I just wait for it to rent on DVD.....and most of the time the movies aren't even worth the money I spent to rent on them.

[Kt. Templar]

I had a little think about this one and it started to irritate me that this film been made and so many battlescarred writers have been passed over for this kid who is obviously a result of good marketing.

The books that should be made into films way before this got off the starting blocks IMO include:

David Eddings: The Belgariad

It has a compelling storyline and well rounded, with interesting and funny characters. I've been wanting them to make a series of films based on these books since the 80's when they first came out. I read Lord of the Rings at the same time, the Belgariad is LOTR's fun cousin!

Movie producers don't have the brains to pick up stuff like this, they are only going on the current best sellers list. Sheesh!

The Belgariad ticks all the right boxes, a young protagonist [great demographics!] must go on a quest through many interesting lands [Ohh, NZ!], finds a great weapon [just like Luke!] falls in love [which petite little starlet can we find for that one] and has great supporting characters. It is as they would like to say "a no brainer". Grrrrr!

Others that should be made before this and the current "fashionable fantasy" include Anne McCaffery's Pern books (didn't she TM Dragon Riders??), Katherine Kerr's Daggerspell (would blow Highlander out of the water). Even the Shannara Series has a better pedigree. Of the newer writers J V Jones' Barbed Coil and first three books are a excellent gritty read.

I have a little trouble with Harry Potter, I've not managed to sit through one of the films and gave up halfway through the first book, it is really too insubstantial and derrivative of all the great work that has gone before it. The Philip Pullman is better but I've not had time to finish one of his books either.

Back to eragon, Honestly how much life experience can a 15 year old homeschooled kid have!

I'm not rushing to the cinema for this one... can you tell!

[Ragingblues]

I don't know about home schooled kids in the UK, but in the US, they are consistently the highest scorers on national tests year after year. Instead of wasting alot of time getting to school and moving around between classes, the school day is over in half the time and with far better results. How do I know all of this? Because we home school our son now and plan to continue with the next one, and hopefully a daughter after that. There are over 51,000 homeschool kids in Florida this year alone, and thousands of activity, special subject, and field trip groups for them to get involved in.

I'm not saying any of this as a lash at your comments KT. I just didn't want people reading this to in some way assume that home school kids got less in the way of life experiences than group schooled ones. In almost every way, home school students get much more experience in the real world, meet more people, go more places, are more independant, and much better prepared to succeed in college or business. With all the free time on their hands after class is done, most either work ahead to have days off for trips, cruises, etc... or finish school early and graduate a couple of years ahead of kids their own age. It's this sort of atmosphere and one on one education that gives a home school student the free time to read more books and be more creative than many of their other friends.

I'm sure there are many other novels that should have been made into movies ahead of "Eragon". But, that's the way the world works and it's almost never fair. I sit here typing while some kid with 1/1000th of my musical abilities is making millions lipsynching to a vocal track in a concert somewhere, and that isn't fair either.

I think you should try watching the Harry Potter movies, as they are really entertaining. I always look forward to seeing what will happen next, and have never read any of the books. It took the success of movies like the Harry Potter series to bring one of it's inspirations to the screen in the Narnia series. To me, that's a winner for everyone. Who knows.... maybe "Eragon" will do the same for other stories like the ones you mentioned.

Ken

[Kt. Templar]

We don't really have homeschooling here. It happens occasionally but not a lot.

It's a great job you do if you do and it works. I wouldn't begin to know how to teach my own kids in subjects that I know little about or have no affinity for, maths, languages...

I'm concerned with the lack of day to day mixing with the child's peers. The diversity of viewpoints and the knowledge of different teachers. I feel working with a peergroup and striving to do well within that environment is important.

Homeschooling has a couple of advantages that kids in mainstream education do not have, you're teaching one to one and that will go a long way to upping the score averages, and you as the teacher are invested in your child.

Anyway this is not really a debate on homeschooling and it's pros and cons.

Back to Eragon.

Age is a major factor against him, he just cannot be mentally or emotionally developed enough to produce a novel that's a match to any of the ones I cited.

Is his book worthy of lavishing this much money and attention on.

I find it interesting that no one has come on and said: "Yes! Eragon is a brilliant book, bravo for them making a film!". Speaks volumes.

[Ragingblues]

I haven't read the "Eragon" books, so I honestly have no clue how good or bad they are. It's just like the music business though, what they push on you only represents what they think will sell. I have high hoped for this movie, based on the trailer alone. Since I haven't read the books, I can't be let down by their version of it either.

One quick note on home schooling again. There are two responses people give when they first find out about it.

1. Is that legal?
2. How do they socialize?

People don't realize that home education is the oldest form of education there is, and doesn't require you to be a teacher to do it. The curriculum's you choose lead you through each lesson, and there are online, PC, and DVD based classes as well, for more advanced courses... or just because. It was legal before there was public education or public anything for that matter.

As far as socializing goes, there are home school groups of kids that get together for physical education, art, music, or other classes. They take field trips together, do community service projects, and have holiday parties together as well. The only social aspects missing from their lives are the negative ones brought by other people's children to public school.

It isn't for everyone, as it requires the normal amount of patience associated with working with children or teaching a new idea to someone. But, there are literally a couple hundred thousand students in the US alone, that are taught this way every year. The results speak for themselves in this country anyway.

Ken

[Ragingblues]

Well, we finally got around to seeing Eragon. We missed it at the theater due to low fundage at the time, so we just rented it this evening. On a side note... we rented it for $1.00 using the DVD rental machines being advertised outside of McDonald's. If you haven't seen ads for them in you are yet, I'm sure you will. new release DVDs for $1.00.... works me for me.

Anyway, about Eragon. I enjoyed the movie for several reasons:

1. The effects were very well done
2. The story was well paced and moved quickly without bogging down. It wasn't too long either.
3. The themes within the story itself seemed to be drawn from Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings. Though not directly done so, a fan of either would spot them within the plot.
4. The story wasn't overly cliche' or full of itself with legends and strange names you can't remember in 15 seconds.

Here are a few screen caps I made of the dragon, since that would be a focal point for many interested viewers:








I give this movie a thumbs up and would recommend it for a fun fantasy based adventure movie to anyone. It was done with top shelf effects, had a unique cast that included some heavy names, and was a nice balance of dark and light medieval/fantasy imagery. Fans of movies like Lord Of The Rings, Narnia, or just dragons in general should enjoy this one.

Ken

[Tyrloch]

This is yet another unwatched movie I have at home...I want to give it a shot, but my wife's not really into fantasy-type movies. I think I'm going to try to watch it tonight while she's watching that American Idol crap...

~Jace

[agent5]

I watched this last week. Alot more entertaining than the previews showed it to be and a great family film. No gore or blood. Just some stylized violence as in the Star Wars tradition.