ERAGON - What did you think?

[billd91]

I mean, for how few times dragons have been shown on screen, you'd think fantasy fans would embrace the well-done scenes of action in Eragon. But no - they'd rather nitpick the literary merits of the film and make themselves feel superior by dissing what they should be supporting - solid family-friendly fantasy movies.
This movie couldn't have been made without Lord of the Rings being so successful. I say bring on more fantasy (even kidfriendly fantasy)! It's much better than seeing yet another cop/crime movie or uninteresting drama movie.

I have no duty to support bad cinema, fantasy or not. I'd rather see a film stand on all of its merits - story, presentation, pacing, and so on rather than some single criteria like having good special effects or fitting into a particular subject matter.
It's not a question of feeling superior because I'm critical of the film. It's a question of wasting my ticket money to see a piece of work that is poorly made and not very engaging or satisfying. I'd rather let people know my opinion of it so they can direct their ticket-buying money toward more worthwhile films rather than reward Eragon's filmmakers for doing a poor job.
I'd rather see good fantasy films than bad fantasy films. And I'd rather see good cop/crime movies than bad fantasy as well.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Maybe I should watch the movie then before reading the book.

Bye
Thanee

That would definitely improve your opinion of the book.

And I don't think adult assessment of fantasy has anything to do with getting older and having a hard time suspending disbelief. I've really enjoyed the Harry Potter movies, which are aimed at a younger demographic and objectively probably aren't the finest cinema. Bad is just bad, whether it's Krull or Eragon.

 

[Elf Witch]

Most fantasy fans are simply unable to watch a film like Eragon anymore WITHOUT pointing out the cliches and guessing what comes next.

Adults, on the whole, are unable to see things thru the eyes of a child. Adults have too much mental baggage that comes from their constant exposure to the fantasy genre conventions.

Adult fantasy fans should see the movie with a child of less than 12 years old to see the movie the way it was intended.
This is NOT an adult movie.
And I truly have pity for any youngster that would pick apart the obvious cliches and hackneyed writing, instead of marvelling at the FREAKING DRAGON-RIDING in the film! :\

And there IS a big reason to see Eragon in the theaters, instead of waiting for it to come to TV - it's much cooler to see fireballs being launched at a streaking dragon w/rider on a 100 ft wide screen, then it is to see it on a few feet-wide screen.

I mean, for how few times dragons have been shown on screen, you'd think fantasy fans would embrace the well-done scenes of action in Eragon. But no - they'd rather nitpick the literary merits of the film and make themselves feel superior by dissing what they should be supporting - solid family-friendly fantasy movies.
This movie couldn't have been made without Lord of the Rings being so successful. I say bring on more fantasy (even kidfriendly fantasy)! It's much better than seeing yet another cop/crime movie or uninteresting drama movie.

I agree with a lot of what you said here. I saw the movie with three friends and the two who had not read the book enjoyed it. They thought it was choppy and should have been longer. My friend who read the book felt they left to much out but felt that she had an enjoyable mivie experience. I have not read the book but I enjoyed the movie.

I don't think it was great film I could see where it could have had better editing and it needed to be longer. But I don't think it was a bad film either. I am rather easy going about movies if they keep my interest and entertain me then I don't feel as if I wasted my money or time.

As for cliches they don't bother me at all. All genre's have cliches if they didn't we would not have movies like Scary Movie to make fun of them.

I hear people on this board complaining about this a lot in their books and movies and I just don't get it. Hald the movies abd books I have seen knocked are books and movies that I have enjoyed. So I sometimes wonder if some of you may be a little jaded in your outlook. Or maybe I am just not as discerning.

Don't get me wrong I can pick apart a book or movie and say how I think it could have been better, and I often do but that does not stop me from still enjoying the movie or book.

I wanted to get the DVD of this movie when it comes out because there were things about the movie I really enjoyed.



There were a lot of kids in the movie I went to and they seemed to love the movies I overheard some talking about how much they liked it.

 

[Klaus]

Why do people keep bashing Krull? :sad:

 

[Elf Witch]

Why do people keep bashing Krull? :sad:

I don't know. I love Krull I have had iton bought beta tape and then on VHS and laser disc. Since my laser disc still plays I have not gotten it on DVD but in time I know I will.

I love the story and the mythos they created for the movie. I enjoy it today as much as I did when it first came out.

 

[horacethegrey]

Why do people keep bashing Krull? :sad:

Because it's a bad movie? :\

Seriously, while I do appreciate what the makers were trying to do with the flick, especially since it was the 80's, that doesn't excuse the lame product they ended up with.

I first saw Krull when I was a kid, yet all I could remember of it was how cool the visuals and some of the characters were. So it was a blessing to find it on DVD so that I could relive those childish memories, or so I thought.

The acting was wooden, the pacing was excrutiatingly slow, and the plot was straightforward and contained very few surprises. I'm not gonna rag on the special effects, since this was the 80's, and the production design of the flick was pretty good for the most part.

But my main beef with Krull is that SPOILERS the Glaive, the bladed frisbee that appeared in all the movie's advertising, turns out to be completely and utterly useless. SPOILERS. Not. Cool. At. All.

Anyway, back to Eragon, while it's good that some of you found some worth in the film, I strongly disagree with the notion reapersaurus made that just because I'm not a kid, I can't enjoy the flick. PLEASE. I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was as kiddie as a fantasy film can get, yet was still an excellent movie. The last two Harry Potter flicks were also good (though in truth, those were more aimed at teens). Don't presume to think that I dislike a movie just because I happen to bring some "adult baggage" with me. I dislike a film because it's a bad film. End of story.

So I'm gonna have to agree with some of the posters here on their stance on not supporting bad fantasy on film. Why should we settle for stuff that's more likely to play on Cinemax or an MST3K marathon (Eragon, Krull, Hawk the Slayer, Star Wars prequel trilogy )? When we could have stuff that can enthrall us and stick with us for years to come (The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars original trilogy )?

 

[Klaus]

Next thing you know, you'll be bashing Beastmaster!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Nah, Beastmaster sits somewhere below Conan (good), but above Red Sonja (bad) and D&D (excruciating) ... in a category of almost-but-not-quite-bad fantasy movies. A movie with weasels can't be all bad.

 

[horacethegrey]

Next thing you know, you'll be bashing Beastmaster!

Can't bash what I haven't seen. Actually, not quite. I have seen Beastmaster, but I was a kid back then. So plot details and how the story went are sketchy in my memory at best. The only thing I can remember clearly was when Dar used the sight of one of his animal companions to find the assassin who was stalking him. That was a pretty cool sequence.

But aside from a couple of episodes of the TV series (which I thought was quite good), I've not seen much of the original Beastmaster or it's sequels. I do hope to find a DVD one day, and when do I sit down to watch it it won't be as bad a nostalgia shock as Krull was for me.

Nah, Beastmaster sits somewhere below Conan (good), but above Red Sonja (bad) and D&D (excruciating) ... in a category of almost-but-not-quite-bad fantasy movies. A movie with weasels can't be all bad.

Anything that's better than that horrid D&D movie can't be all bad. I honestly lost a lot of respect for Jeremy Irons for appearing in that turd.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Why do people keep bashing Krull? :sad:

Me sad too. I enjoyed Krull quite a lot at the time (nice novel on it too). FWIW I also thought Hawk the Slayer was an excellent, flavourful movie and Beastmaster was fun too