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Thread: Wheel of Time

  1. #91
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    I watched the first episode. I know nothing about anything. Its not bad. But this is just an observation. When I watch Madalorian for example, the effects are up to par with a Star Wars movie. When I watch a fantasy like this I expect them to be up to par with a big fantasy movie. Right now I can't say that. But thats just me and my expectations. I think the story is pretty good.

  2. #92
    Incredible Member Wandering_Wand's Avatar
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    Started watching the first episode and made it about 10 mins. in.
    I thought the effects were awful, acting wasn't great, and it looked odd. Like the scene(s) I saw almost looked like a 90s fantasy show set with the lighting and everything.

    I'll give it all another go whenever I get done with the live action Cowboy Bebop on Netflix, but I'm in no rush.

  3. #93
    Ultimate Member Gray Lensman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by inisideguy View Post
    I watched the first episode. I know nothing about anything. Its not bad. But this is just an observation. When I watch Madalorian for example, the effects are up to par with a Star Wars movie. When I watch a fantasy like this I expect them to be up to par with a big fantasy movie. Right now I can't say that. But thats just me and my expectations. I think the story is pretty good.
    I don't know if anyone can manage the level of bang for the buck special effects that ILM is capable of. Those guys are the gold standard, and everyone else is basically competing for second place.
    Dark does not mean deep.

  4. #94
    Astonishing Member AndrewCrossett's Avatar
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    Seems like a rule that the first face you see onscreen in a show should not be some rando who's going to die two minutes later.

    I didn't think the acting was bad, per se. They just wasted too much time getting to the story. We shouldn't spend the first 20 minutes watching people flirt and take baths and chat in the tavern.

    The village set looked like a Ren Faire and most of the "peasant" characters looked like, well, they'd just spent three hours in makeup, hair and wardrobe.

    I guess this story just isn't for me, regardless of the format.

  5. #95
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray Lensman View Post
    I don't know if anyone can manage the level of bang for the buck special effects that ILM is capable of. Those guys are the gold standard, and everyone else is basically competing for second place.
    Bebop has been looking really nice FWIW.
    "Always listen to the crazy scientist with a weird van or armful of blueprints and diagrams." -- Vibranium

  6. #96
    Ultimate Member Gray Lensman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    Bebop has been looking really nice FWIW.
    I was never able to get that far into the anime - the inability of the crew to collect even one single bounty on screen broke my suspension of disbelief.
    Dark does not mean deep.

  7. #97
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    Watched the 2nd episode last night. I am enjoying the story even if its using a ton of tolken beats. The effects are just ok.

  8. #98
    Ultimate Member Jackalope89's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndrewCrossett View Post
    Seems like a rule that the first face you see onscreen in a show should not be some rando who's going to die two minutes later.

    I didn't think the acting was bad, per se. They just wasted too much time getting to the story. We shouldn't spend the first 20 minutes watching people flirt and take baths and chat in the tavern.

    The village set looked like a Ren Faire and most of the "peasant" characters looked like, well, they'd just spent three hours in makeup, hair and wardrobe.

    I guess this story just isn't for me, regardless of the format.
    Uh. Who wants to spoil them?

    Quote Originally Posted by inisideguy View Post
    Watched the 2nd episode last night. I am enjoying the story even if its using a ton of tolken beats. The effects are just ok.
    Robert Jordan was pretty heavily inspired by Tolkien for the first book, but WoT does split off more and more to become its own thing.

  9. #99
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by inisideguy View Post
    Watched the 2nd episode last night. I am enjoying the story even if its using a ton of tolken beats. The effects are just ok.
    The effects definitely aren't up to ILM standards (who is?), but they're better than I feared they'd be. I think the practical costuming looks quite good but you can clearly see when the trollocs are cgi.

    I was surprised by how they handled Shadar Logoth as well. The creeping shadows, or whatever it was spreading across the city, got the point across and it looked...fine, but in the books it's thick fog, like tentacles, and I feel like that could have been a better, creepier visual and likely cheaper to produce.

    A lot of the time, the story uses normal seeming things in ominous ways (sentient fog, flocks of ravens instead of big monsters, etc), and I always found that to be more sinister than something that's clearly otherworldly, like the shadow-mold stuff from Shadar Logoth.

    And a page or two back I was complaining about how Moiraine and Lan were so open with their identities in the Two Rivers. But I started the series again and that's exactly how they are; Lan is wearing his warder's cloak, Moiraine has her ring on. They don't announce themselves as Aes Sedai and warder, they don't talk openly about things they want kept secret, like they do on the show, so that complaint is still valid, but the show did indeed follow the source material by having these two not bothering hiding their identities. They didn't start using aliases and removing cloaks and rings until they got out of the mountains and reached Baerlon.

    Now that I'm reading the first novel again I'm gonna have to re-watch these episodes, maybe I'll be more forgiving of them with my memory of the books refreshed.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

    ~ Black Panther.

  10. #100
    Ultimate Member Jackalope89's Avatar
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    Also of note; there's some short animated episodes that further explain how things happened. Though one is a nod to a hopefully upcoming scene in the series.

  11. #101
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    Well I watched 3rd episode. Have to say I am really liking it.

  12. #102
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    Third episode is where I turned the corner. Hoping they continue to be that good.

  13. #103
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    I have to say I was a little down on the effects at first. And they still are not super duper. But as a novice who knows nothing about this world, I am loving it. Best current streaming show on tv for me.

  14. #104
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    I think the story is a bit all over the place, but the characters are very interesting. It still has a bit of the "LARPing" feel that often proves detrimental to so many of these kinds of series in a kind of "how are their clothes still so clean after being chased by monsters on a fifty-mile trek through the wilderness?" Nevertheless, it does have some terrific scenes and characters developing even if visually I'm not really drawn into this as a functioning believable world. However, there are few series that really get that perfectly right or close to in the first part of the first season. I'd say The Expanse, Boys and Game of Thrones are exceptional examples of that, while a lot of classic series were good enough in the first season to really keep you watching until they found the groove.

    However, whenever anyone uses the "one power" it does look kinda ridiculous. I have great sympathy for the actors who have to do that and then hope that the special effects don't make them look like spastic idiots.

  15. #105
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    I enjoyed episode 4 more today. I think the pacing was nice, we had some good interactions and setups. I liked the final battle scenes here as well.

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