eragon

[necron lord]

what does everyone think of eragon? the book is Awesome, and the secound is a good folow up. do you think that the movie will be any good. i persoly don't think so. because the vedio game for it came out first. secound eragon in the trailers looks different than what i would have expected.

[McDeath]

Video game? I didn't know there was one. Link?

[Crazy_Uncle_Doug]

As for the movie? Well, I dunno. It kinda looks good on commercials and trailers.

On the other hand, there's bad precedent for films that have both dragons and Jeremy Irons.

[necron lord]

here is a site that shows the eragon game. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/eragon/index.html

[Leon]

I saw the game in EB on the discount table - via the pictures on the box and the text for it i decied to stay away from it with a 10ft pole.

its a ok book but its not something i'd sing praise for and i'll just have to see what the forthcoming movie brings for it

[necron lord]

The moive just came out tonight, wondering if anyone has seen it?
Doesn't look like book at all from the trailers.

[BR4life]

Im going to see it with my friends, as for the game avoid it. Camera angles are weak, gameplay is boring and repetetive, graphics arn't good, and its an all around bad game. And all of this is just from the demo, if you buy the game im guessing it will be even worse.

[Reinforcements]

Hopefully I'll be able to see the movie in the next few days. I'm very interested to see how it turns out - few book-to-movie conversions have such a potential for improvement in the process. I'll be even more interested, in the semi-distant future, to see how an Eldest movie turns out, because I can't imagine how they could possibly make a good movie out of it.

[Sammo21]

Going to see it today at 12 w/a friend. Will post how it is later.

[Sailacela]

I saw the movie yesterday. It was a decent enough fantasy movie but I found it generic. Not too bad for a matinee or rental.

I've not read it so I have to ask, did the dragon have an "insta-growth" moment in the book, too?

[Reinforcements]

I saw the movie yesterday. I was a decent enough fantasy movie but I found it generic. Not too bad for a matinee or rental.

I've not read it so I have to ask, did the dragon have an "insta-growth" moment in the book, too?
No, I guess they just figured that magic insta-growth was better than watching Eragon putter around Carvahall for several weeks while nothing happened.

[Tom_Violence]

On the other hand, there's bad precedent for films that have both dragons and Jeremy Irons.

Haha, exactly what I thought when I first saw the trailer for it. Clearly someone wasn't thinking this through.

As for the game, what type of game is it? Ads for it really didn't give anything away. Is it just straight action/adventure hack'n'slash stuff, or something more involved with RPG elements tacked on?

[BR4life]

As for the game, what type of game is it? Ads for it really didn't give anything away. Is it just straight action/adventure hack'n'slash stuff, or something more involved with RPG elements tacked on?
Action Adventure im pretty sure but im guessing they added somthing like the lord of the rings games were you can upgrade your guy. But like I said its not a very good game from what i got a tast of from the demo.

[The Prince of Cats]

I played the demo and it was one of the worst I have ever played. Really... There is this combo move they kept telling you to try and it just didn't work no matter how many times I tried and then kicked in once or twice by accident.

Imagine one of the last two Lord of the Rings games (not Fellowship, that was a different company) and then make the graphics even harder to see. Everything blended into one mass of beige and attacking was more button-mashing than skill.

[necron lord]

I saw the movie yesterday. It was a decent enough fantasy movie but I found it generic. Not too bad for a matinee or rental.

I've not read it so I have to ask, did the dragon have an "insta-growth" moment in the book, too?

No the book has Eragon wait while Saphire gets older. She does grow extreamly quickly but not overnight. They did this just to speed up the plot line.

In the movie did have the back story for Eragon's brother, about how he wants to marry and everything? Or is it completly centered on Eragon. Becasue if it is then Eldest as a movie is going to be hard to pull off.

[The Prince of Cats]

In the movie did have the back story for Eragon's brotherSince the thread is not marked "spoiler", I will add tags.
In the film, his cousin basically decides to leave the village and is never heard from again. They added a plot-line where the empire is taking soldiers from the village, so he left to avoid that. (random anti-draft message?)

They also turn Brom into a completely different character and cut out most of his past. You learn that he was a dragon-rider much earlier and that is about all you ever really learn about him.

To be fair, the film is okay but it lacks a lot of the book's best points. They cut out or moved around so much from the book that it is unreal. To be fair, it is more 'generic' but I found Eragon strongly reminded my of a few other books. Not that I have anything against being strongly influenced, just that the film does seem to remove a few of the worst offenders.

[Dragor]

I'm a big fan of the books and I'm a bit saddened to hear about some of the press reviews on it. The Times gave it two stars, which has put me off greatly. I was expecting at least three to make me go watch it.

Some authors never learn: don't give out your film rights, let them take it over your dead body.

(Literally, with Tolkien :D)

[The Prince of Cats]

I thought it was worth watching, to be fair. It is not Lord of the Rings but at least it is not Dungeons and Dragons...

[urodivoi]

I recently saw Eragon...
Ouch. It was a bad movie I'm afraid, but as long as you know that you could have fun watching it with a friend and poking holes in it. I like the genre enough that I don't regret having seen it.

[Dragor]

I recently saw Eragon...
Ouch. It was a bad movie I'm afraid, but as long as you know that you could have fun watching it with a friend and poking holes in it. I like the genre enough that I don't regret having seen it.

Hmm :smallconfused:

The trailers do look good, but then again, most trailers are misleading..... The fights and magic do look spot on though. And for the part of Angela (the herbalist/mage) I was expecting someone like Helena Bonham Carter. She was just how I pictured her in my mind :smallbiggrin:

Also, Saphira does look gob-smacking, but the papers say they spent too much of the movie showing off that fact.

Probably ruined a perfectly good book, but hey, thats not going to stop me watching the movie, I guess.

[Arbitrarity]

They screwed the book. Again.

I hate it when this happens. You have a perfectly good book, maybe cinematic, maybe not, and someone gets the rights, and makes a movie. And they totally wreck it.

[The Prince of Cats]

Look...

Name one case where the film was better than the book, not counting novelisations. Lord of the Rings, perhaps...

It doesn't live up to the book, they never do and never will. If you go to the cinema expecting an epic tale on par with the depth and scope of Eragon, another Lord of the Rings, you will be disappointed. If you just go to see a film and leave your preconceived notions at home, you could do much worse.

This has been a year of disappointments for me. X-Men 3 and Da Vinci Code really let me down, so Eragon does not seem so bad. Actually, after X-Men 3, even The Covenant seemed okay...

[Bookman]

Name one case where the film was better than the book, not counting novelisations. Lord of the Rings, perhaps...


Princess Bride!

And even then the book was almost better. Or on the same level :wink:

Also I'd like to invite all of ya'll to the Media section where the movie has it's own thread :wink:

[Reinforcements]

Look...

Name one case where the film was better than the book, not counting novelisations. Lord of the Rings, perhaps...

It doesn't live up to the book, they never do and never will. If you go to the cinema expecting an epic tale on par with the depth and scope of Eragon, another Lord of the Rings, you will be disappointed. If you just go to see a film and leave your preconceived notions at home, you could do much worse.
I dunno... I didn't expect the movie to mirror the book all that closely, and I certainly wasn't inclined to get upset over changes (since I think Eragon is generic, derivative, shallow and poorly written) and I still think the movie is terrible. Most of the acting is bad (Speelers in particular doesn't have a clue), the dialog ranged from pointless platitudes to overt plot exposition, and the pacing was awful - even worse than the book, and that's amazing. I could certainly enjoy it as a movie to laugh at , but past that it really isn't much (and it certainly isn't a comedic masterpiece like, say, the Core).

[Zafuel]

I read the two books, but I don't intend to read the third when it comes out. Instead, I'll just read LOTR and then watch Star Wars, which will have the same effect. I just get really annoyed that the plot is ripped off Star Wars, its badly written, it uses overdone fantasy naming conventions and the characters are dry Tolkein-esqe cliches. It's as bad as Harry Potter, and to be honest, if his parents hadn't have published it, I can't imagine I would ever have had the misfortune to have it land on my shelf.
The game is fairly rubbish to, a friend has it and I can't imagine wanted to get it. Haven't seen the movie, don't really want to.

[the_tick_rules]

On the other hand, there's bad precedent for films that have both dragons and Jeremy Irons.

that heretical movie is not to be spoken off, it never existed.

[Neo]

Like Macbeth, but with worse implications.

[danielf]

don't read the book, and don't like the movie

[Bookman]

don't read the book, and don't like the movie
Then why bother making a post?

Seriously.

Ok now that the game has came out. Has anyone got the PC version and is it worth while?

[Vindemiatrix]

Although it was fairly apparent that it was deriative, the book was, in my opinion, still enjoyable. However, I have not yet heard one good review of the movie, whereas I have heard multiple abysmal ones. I had planned to see it, but I figure that it's probably not worth my time.

[Dire Penguin]

I've read the book, and it was good. This was published when the kid was 19, so I think he had pretty good writing skills. The movie was terrible! They left out so many important things! I know you leave out parts of books in movies, but they added much more that the eragon book. I haven't read game reviews yet...

[RandomNPC]

from a friend of mine the movie is like someone who read the book, kept it in mind, and a few years later tried to make a similar movie. If a big part for the dragon was breaking the giant gem the dwarves loved, and learning to breathe fire at the same time, and its not in the movie, im not going.

[Seraph]

game adaptations of movies tend not to fare well. game adaptations of movie adaptations of books, fare worse.

and game adaptations of movie adaptations of books that take most of their elements from a movie series from the 70s tend to scrape the barrel bottom.

[the_tick_rules]

I saw it a few days ago, was ok. Not a blockbuster hit but ok.

[Celitholar]

I've heard horror stories about the movie.

[Tussy the Druid]

Book= Good
Movie=Bad

I was very annoyed that the movie was so bad when i like the book so much. But hey, that's what i get for believing a surfer boy can act as a dragon rider/peasant.

[zeratul]

i saw the movei. it was pretty bad. as for the game, should rock. even if it was a bad movie it shold make a great game

[Closet_Skeleton]

I've read the book, and it was good. This was published when the kid was 19, so I think he had pretty good writing skills. The movie was terrible! They left out so many important things! I know you leave out parts of books in movies, but they added much more that the eragon book. I haven't read game reviews yet...

So? Frankenstein was written when its author was 19 and that's a nearing on 200 year old classic.

Age is no exscuse for not being Shakespear!

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Strangely enough I don't read much fantasy, so Eragon to me was just a fun little bit of swords and sorcery, standard themes, but all in all I fairly enjoyed it.


The movie... well, over in the media channel I did my spiel, so if you want to see my opinion go there. To put it in a nutshell, I got to see it free because my sister works at the theatre, and I still felt I needed my money back.

The game, beats me, I rarely buy computer games (except for the entire MYST series. Those I'm obscessed with), and if I did have the free cash, I'd look for something else.

[ampcptlogic]

So? Frankenstein was written when its author was 19 and that's a nearing on 200 year old classic.

Age is no excuse for not being Shakespeare!

At the time Mary Wollstonecraft was writing, however, a 19 year-old of sufficient means and standing, with egalitarian, activist parents could acquire an absolutely amazing education, at least in terms of Classical languages, literature, and music. Also, she was hanging out with the likes of Percy Byshe Shelley, Gordon, Lord Byron, and that guy who tried to write The Vampyre but gave up.

She may have been young, but she was running around with the greatest poetic minds of her time. It's no wonder she wrote her own classic.

[Reinforcements]

At the time Mary Wollstonecraft was writing, however, a 19 year-old of sufficient means and standing, with egalitarian, activist parents could acquire an absolutely amazing education, at least in terms of Classical languages, literature, and music. Also, she was hanging out with the likes of Percy Byshe Shelley, Gordon, Lord Byron, and that guy who tried to write The Vampyre but gave up.

She may have been young, but she was running around with the greatest poetic minds of her time. It's no wonder she wrote her own classic.
That still isn't the point. Age may serve as an excuse for poor writing... if you're not professionally published. Eragon is hardly the worst thing ever, but it shows up fairly poorly in about every aspect, from plot to character to prose. I often cite the blatantly obviously stolen from Star Wars plot as a reason I dislike Eragon, and the fact is that I might forgive it if anything else about the book had merit, but it doesn't. Paolini should neither be able to hide behind his age nor be praised for it - both because he just SHOULDN'T, and because his writing isn't that good anyway.

[Kelmon]

Actually, Christopher Paolini (the author) was 17 when the book was published and was 15 when he started writing it - not 19!

At the beginning of the book Eragon is 15, too.

I have avoided the movie after i read so many bad reviews...