Earthsea

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Originally broadcast as Legend of Earthsea in December 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel's four-hour miniseries of Earthsea rides the coattails of the Lord of the Rings trilogy with its quest-driven story of humble blacksmith Ged (Shawn Ashmore), a wizard-to-be who is mentored by the magical Ogion (Danny Glover) as he seeks to preserve the realm of Earthsea from the evil King Tygath (Sebastian Roché). Ged's adventures lead him to the priestess Tenar (Kristen Kreuk, from Smallville) and with secrets shared by High Priestess Thar (Isabella Rossellini), they gain the power to prevail over Tygath. As presented by Robert Halmi Sr. (producer of Merlin, Gulliver's Travels and several other fantasy miniseries), this skeletal rendering of Earthsea boasts a wealth of digital effects and semi-lavish set design, but Ashmore's lack of charisma hampers a production already fraught with problems. It provoked the wrath of fantasy fans and a firm rejection by author Ursula K. Le Guin, who had watched helplessly (she wasn't involved or consulted) as her classic novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan were racially "whitewashed" (in Le Guin's words) nearly beyond recognition. As TV fantasy goes, Earthsea is admirably ambitious, but best enjoyed by those with no awareness of the classic books it is very loosely based on. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Based on Ursula K. Le Guin's multiple award-winning classic tale comes this richly imagined epic mini-series. In the magical world of EarthSea, the Amulet of Peace has ensured harmony between humans and dragons for centuries. But when the Amulet is broken and a piece of it disappears, it's up to a neophyte wizard to restore balance and stop a nefarious king from conquering EarthSea's islands.

Customer Reviews:

not as bad as everyone wrote.......2007-08-14

ok its no lord of the rings... but no one expected it to be. to be honest i liked it. it has ok acting and ok special effects.. so it was ok overall.... it drifted from the book alot.. and thats where they kinda did wrong... but over all it was a decent try. lol.. i cant belive that DANNY GLOVER plays Ogion! haha ... they story is about a young weizard that releases a terrible evil... in the magical land of earthsea... but it for something to do yes... get any oscars... NO

Are you kidding me?.......2007-07-27

Did the film makers even read the Earthsea books? I really had my hopes up because of the SciFi Channel Dune movies. This movie was pure torture. Even Ursella LeGuin disowned it after she saw what her story had become.

Not that bad for a Sci-Fi Channel movie.......2007-05-30

Maybe I've just learned to keep very low expectations for anything the Sci-Fi Channel produces and I did expect to loathe this movie. Instead it had moments of charm, a few small laughs (not always intentional) and some good acting. It has been a very long time since I read the books but I did recognize that several key things were omitted, glossed over or barely touched on. But that was also true of Lord of the Rings when they omitted one of my favorite characters, Tom Bombadil.

Comparing this film to the Lord of the Rings is very unfair since almost nothing does compare to those epics. I'd rather compare it to the David Lynch version of Dune - so different as to hardly resemble the book other than place and character names and events. If you can manage to overcome those differences you can enjoy either movie, though I'd have to say Lynch's Dune is immensely better than the Earthsea movie.

If they did take liberties with the souce material, that's hardly new, no matter how regrettable it is. Every author has experienced this when their material goes to celluloid. I can't imagine how Heinlein would have reacted to the way they mangled Starship Troopers, yet that movie was entertaining enough despite that.

Overall, for a rainy day movie when there was nothing else on tv I found this to be adequate. Just don't expect anything like the books and remember, it's a Sci-Fi Channel production and they're responsible for some monumentally bad films. This isn't one of them fortunately, at least in my opinion and it has forced me to dig out my dog-eared copies of the original Earthsea books again.

Extremely dissapointing.......2007-05-08

If you are a fan of the books and expecting anything even remotely resembling the source material, step away from the keyboard now. Do not buy this DVD. It will anger you beyond words.

If you are looking for a rainy day, made for TV time killer, it's probably worth the $10...barely. In a nutshell the acting is serviceable (at least by the leads), the effects passable, the plot predictable and familiar, but the dialog is painful and the casting is absolutely horrible.

I am a huge fan of the books and bought this without reading the reviews first. Suffice to say that I wanted to throw my TV out the window within a half hour. But I was determined to watch it end to end, and once I was able to emotionally separate the original story from what I was watching, it became ... bearable.

All things considered, I can't recommend that anyone shell out their hard earned money for this product when so many vastly superior alternatives exist. If I didn't love the Earthsea books, it might have warranted two stars. As is, I can barely give it one.

Abomination.......2007-04-26

Imagine if Uwe Boll had made the Lord of the Rings trilogy instead of Peter Jackson. That's about the quality of film you get here. This pathetic effort to bring Ursula Le Guin's first two Earthsea books (A Wizard of Earthsea / The Tombs of Atuan) to the small screen is an abomination, a disgrace, and in insult to the author in every way. Any thinking person who has respect for the original works will have nothing to do with this production. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books rank among the greatest works of fantasy ever written. They are also among the most unique and intellectual. The Sci-Fi production turned those books into generic fantasy that any hack could have written. There may be one compelling reason to see this production: It will show you exactly how not to adapt a book to film. It also might tell you something about how dumbed down American culture has become, that the people behind this production thought an eviscerated version of Le Guin's books were all the public could handle.

Why do I react so negatively to this production? Here are the major reasons in outline form:

1. Race is a central theme of LeGuin's Earthsea books. That theme was totally removed from the movie for no apparent reason. It would be like removing languages from Tolkien's work. In the books, the only white people in Earthsea are the Kargs. Everyone else is non-white, which is how Le Guin constructed her world for very specific reasons. She has called this production a "whitewashing" of Earthsea, and I personally think it was a gutless decision on the producers' part to do so.

2. The stories have been altered arbitrarily to create a generic adventure / fantasy movie at the expense of the book's main themes. Gender is also an issue in Le Guin's writing, and it not to be found here. Ged's entire maturation experience (a huge theme of the first book) is made meaningless by the plot changes in this movie. He never has to pay the price for what he does. The lesson that there is a price or a reaction for everything you do is largely forgotten. The producers show now respect for the book by rearranging seemingly small details at will. They even get Ged's name wrong! His true name is Ged, not Sparrowhawk.

3. Even in technical terms this is a bad film. The acting, with maybe the exception of Danny Glover, is wooden. The dialog is unnatural. The settings are generic. The effects are substandard (the dragon is nearly laughable). The characters (not Le Guin's...the film's) are not believable and give the audience little reason to care about them.

I could go on, but you probably get the idea by now. Look up Ursula Le Guin's personal website, and read what she has to say on the subject. She says it far better than I can.

Average customer rating:

Tales From Earthsea

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Features:

Tales From Earthsea

ASIN: B000UVL3XC

Product Description

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Enter a dark, magical world of dragons and sorcery in Studio Ghibli's blockbuster animated epic Tales from Earthsea. Adapted from Ursula K. Le Guin's beloved children's fantasy book series, Tales from Earthsea marks the phenomenal directorial debut of Miyazaki Goro, the son of the legendary Miyazaki Hayao. Complex and compelling, Tales from Earthsea presents a sweeping, fantastical story about a young prince's journey through darkness and redemption. A mysterious force is disturbing the natural balance in the land of Earthsea. Dragons are feuding, magic is dying, and the whole of humanity is falling into chaos. Haunted by inner demons, Prince Arren (voiced by Okada Junichi) stabs his father and runs away with the king's sword. He finds friendship and protection with kind-hearted master wizard Ged and a strange young girl named Therru. A shadow, however, continues to haunt Arren, drawing him to the evil sorcerer Cob whose quest for immortality is destroying the balance between the realm of the living and dead. To save Earthsea, Arren must stop Cob, but he himself is falling into darkness. More overtly dark in theme than previous Ghibli works, Tales from Earthsea is certainly equally amazing in terms of animation and design. Grand castles, medieval towns, stretching deserts, raging oceans, and idyllic countrysides vibrantly come alive on screen in rich strokes and seas of aqua and crimson. The release of a Studio Ghibli film is always a big event in Japan, and Tales of Earthsea was no exception. The film topped the box office for four weeks and earned over $60 million overall, proving that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Average customer rating:

Not memorable
Not quite up to dad's work, but striking nonetheless
Not a perfect Tale, but still worth being told

Tales from Earthsea [Region 2]
Starring: Tales from Earthsea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000OPPTN4
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Customer Reviews:

Not memorable.......2007-09-03

This Studio Ghibli production (the same that produced Totoro, Howl's moving castle, Nausicaa etc etc) is the first movie by Goro Miyazaki, the son of the great Hayao Miyazaki.

"Tales" is an OK movie, but Goro is still far from achieving his father's greatness. That will be a tough legacy to match. The artwork is very good, but not as amazingly detailed and fun to watch as the father's. The storyline is confused, with a lot of untied ends which remain untied. The ending is far from satisfactory, and you are left wondering about the many events and personal relationship which are left largely unexplained.

This said, the movie is still a promising start for Goro. Some of the sequences with the bad "guy" of the story are especially dark and compelling. If you liked Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, chances are you will also like Tales from Earthsea, with all the caveats listed above.

The DVD is still not easy to find, but you should be able to purchase an original, copyrighted import DVD on ebay or other web sites. The import DVD is in Japanese, but it has (excellent) English subtitles. This in indeed the best way to enjoy all of Studio Ghibli's productions. In most cases, the Japanese actors used to voice the characters are much better than the amateurish English voices you can find in the Region 1 DVDs.

Not quite up to dad's work, but striking nonetheless.......2007-07-22

Tales from Earthsea is done by Goro Miyazaki, the son of well known animator, Hayao Miyazaki. For the most part, it seems like Goro is intent to follow in dads footsteps in creating animation almost identical to his fathers...which, is astoundingly beautiful.

While the animation is topnotch the story starts to fall a bit flat halfway through and leaves the audience with quite a few questions that just don't seem to add up.

The story follows Aarren, a young but confused Prince who has fits of rage. One of his "fits" causes him to kill his father for no apparent reason and flee his home. He then meets up with a wizard who is searching for the reason why the world is "out of balance" and why bad things seem to be happening everywhere. The wizard however suspects he knows the reason why...an arch nemisis wizard who is intent on living forever. Somehow the fate of Aaren, the wizard and a troubled young girl are all tied together in trying to defeat evil.

Earthsea is fun to watch but in the end you will probably scratch your head wondering why the story ended as it did and just what sort of backstory your missing.

I'd give this movie 5 stars for the animation but that alone wont gloss over the plot holes.

Not a perfect Tale, but still worth being told.......2007-07-21

Following in the footsteps of Howl's Moving Castle, Studio Ghibli has once again turned to the works of other literary writers as inspiration for yet another animated feature. This time around, they have gone to the world of Ursula K. Le Guin's Tales from Earthsea series, loosely adapted from the third and fourth installments of the Earthsea saga (The Farthest Shore and Tehanu, respectively). What is interesting is that the movie was helmed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki, and this is his directorial debut. Although far from great, this movie is still a good indication of hopefully even better works in the future from this director. Better known by the title Gedo Senki, the story revolves around a wise old wizard, a young prince with an accompanying dark side, and an evil witch who plans to use him for her own reasons.

The first thing you will notice upon watching is definitely the visuals. The details are very graphically striking and vivid. You will see everything from great-looking towns and markets to dank dungeons and castles to open seas and grassy meadows. There are quite a few beautiful overview and panning shots very reminiscent and much inspired by previous Ghibli films that fans will feel right at home. The only problem is with the washed out appearance and drab simplicity of the character designs, which clash and don't blend very well with the backgrounds and environments. This is vaguely awkward considering the amount of care that was put into the animation of the last few Ghibli features. But if there is one thing to complement this movie for, it would be the music. This is one of those rare cases in which the soundtrack, done by the legendary Tamiya Terashima, surpasses the movie itself. It may very well be of the one best yet heard in an animated movie this decade.

Unfortunately, not as many good things could be said for the actual story. There were times when the film's plot felt as though it was not developing properly enough as it progressed, nor was it unfolding very clearly to get a good idea of how to react to the events. The characters would find themselves in situations or engaging in pieces of dialogue that don't quite hold your interest very well either. Some scenes were too prolonged than what they should be while others end too quickly or abruptly without much reason or thought behind why. You want to be concerned about what is happening or what is going to happen next, but the movie often doesn't allow you to do so. This annoyingly erratic and unbalanced method of story-telling, along with the rather disappointing animation scheme, gives the entire movie a rushed and incomplete feeling that greatly hampers the enjoyable factor. Luckily, the story isn't so convoluted which makes it not too difficult to follow along. Also, there were a couple unforgettable moments in the film that make it worth seeing, including one scene which literally had me crying.

So do I recommend this film? I suppose it depends. I would probably break down the target audiences into three broad categories: those who are Studio Ghibli fans, those who are fans of the Earthsea series, and those who are not exactly familiar with either one but would just want to watch something worthwhile. In any case, that would still be a lot of viewers nonetheless. Being able to enjoy it stands on where exactly your expectations lie. It could disappoint Earthsea fans since this is only loosely based off the books. For me, this is the kind of film you would want to watch after seeing a streak of very good films and you don't really want something overly spectacular for a change. I can only hope that this review, despite the negative feedback I have given, will further spark and enhance your interest in seeing this movie so you can make up your own mind, instead of discouraging you to not see it at all. And hey, who knows. You may end up liking Tales from Earthsea more than I did. So just go ahead and see it!

Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea: Double Disc Edition

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Miyazaki's Tales From Earthsea: Double Disc Edition
Director: Goro Miyazuki
Manufacturer: Inter Continental Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video
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Product Features:

2 disc package (region 3 NTSC)

ASIN: B000U3MHCQ

Product Description

Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strange... What's even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn't enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause. During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a young distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessness and has no mercy, especially when it comes to protecting Teru. For the witch Kumo this is a perfect opportunity. She can use the boy's "fears" against the very one who would help him, Ged. The world is gripped in terror as plants are drying up, livestock are going to waste, and the human brain begins to corrupt. Natural disasters are punishing the kingdom of Enlad and the light which should be bringing balance to the world is weakening. Meanwhile the sacred sword has been stolen from the king by an assassin. On the verge of passing out, the king mutters the name "Arren" . . . the name of his only son who is on a journey to find the source of the destruction in the world. When Arren comes across the powerfull sorcerer Haitaka, a man formerly known as Ged who is the root of the terror, the balance of the world begins to crumble and Arren's life itself is on the edge. However, when Haitaka witnesses Arren's inability to overcome the darkenss in his own heart, Haitaka sees elements of himself in the young prince. He spares his life and the two venture out into the world.

Average customer rating:

Tales from Earthsea [Region 2]
Starring: Tales from Earthsea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Average customer rating:

Tales from Earthsea
Starring: Tales from Earthsea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Average customer rating:

not as bad as everyone wrote
Are you kidding me?
Not that bad for a Sci-Fi Channel movie
Extremely dissapointing
Abomination

Earthsea
Starring: Shawn Ashmore , Kristin Kreuk , Isabella Rossellini , Danny Glover , and Sebastian Roché
Director: Robert Lieberman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000787YUE

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

not as bad as everyone wrote.......2007-08-14

Are you kidding me?.......2007-07-27

Not that bad for a Sci-Fi Channel movie.......2007-05-30

Extremely dissapointing.......2007-05-08

Abomination.......2007-04-26

[6 Movies on 4 DVDs] Captain Courageous / Voyage of the Unicorn "The Complete 3 Hour TV Mini-Series" / Beneath the 12 Mile Reef / Captain Kidd / Mutiny / Legend of Sea Wolf

Average customer rating:

[6 Movies on 4 DVDs] Captain Courageous / Voyage of the Unicorn "The Complete 3 Hour TV Mini-Series" / Beneath the 12 Mile Reef / Captain Kidd / Mutiny / Legend of Sea Wolf

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Miniseries | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000E5VFF0

Product Description

DIGITALLY MASTERED / INTERACTIVE MENUS / CHAPTER SELECTIONS

DVD:

DVD

DVD