User Reviews

1) To every single person who complained about the "bad CGI", there is very little CGI used at all. It was used merely to remove puppeteers and to help on green screen. This is an amazing achievement for the Jim Henson Company and the puppeteers involved should be so very proud of how it's turned out.

2) People talking about official lore and the changes that were made. Sometimes, lore needs to be modified. However, as I sit watching the last gut-wrenching episode, I find myself completely absorbed in the world and mythology of Thra. It took 2 episodes for me to fully acclimate to the story and get past the nostalgic rose colored glasses. It was a journey well fought. You can see 2 halves of a circle coming together to create a full and immersive story.

3) The voice work. The voice work is COMPLETELY stunning. Anyone who says otherwise is a troll. If I wasn't already a fan of these actors, I would be now and I will forever be in their debt for bringing their considerable talents to this enjoyable epic. Truly a Netflix masterpiece. Watch out Emmy season, The Dark Crystal is here.

4) To anyone that compares this to the modern day blockbusters like Harry Potter, go suck an egg. As a Potterhead, I appreciate it as much as the next person, but this movie in the 80s was unlike anything seen before it. This series is not like anything that's being seen now.

5) Somebody complained about the puppets being so old fashioned and not moving their mouths "properly". Umm, if you're complaining about it, you're not a fan. The puppets in the series were created in the images of Gen and Kira from the original movie. Is it Gen or Jen? I always thought Gen but whatever, no matter.

6) To anyone who brought politics into it, or feminism, or any other bs, can't a story just be a story? Leave politics at the door. This was the happiest (politics free) 10 hours of my week,

Basically, this series is amazing and I know a dozen people that I've introduced this series to that are already obsessed. I need a season 2. I need a season 2 immediately.

And don't trust a single review if they say they stopped halfway through the first episode... #Eyeroll. It took me an episode to get fully involved, and I'm a fan. If youcan't dedicate 50 minutes to figure out something, I pity your sad little world.

RIP the Gruenaks... Rest now, you superstars. Not all heroes wear capes.

BTW, am I the only one who though Rian + Brea = Kira? I actually was pulling for Rian and Deet because they were actually a better match but I'll take what I can get. HOWEVER. If Gen and Kira (Jen and Kira?) are brother/sister, I'mma riot.

And may we all find someone who looks at us the way Hup looks at Deet. #TruePalladin

I loved the movie when I was a young adult, so I really wanted to like this prequel series. Sadly I didn't like it at all, though I finished watching it out of a sense of loyalty. The good things: visually it's beautiful, the puppets, costumes, props, the puppeteering, as are the music and the sound effects (slightly overdone maybe) and the voice acting. I liked the new characters, the new creatures, the new landscapes. Plot-wise they made some changes so that this story cannot fully coexist als a prequel with the original story only if you forgot what that was all about and only remembered the vaguest gist from it. These changes were probably needed to fill out 10 episodes but I do feel it was kinda lazy and maybe should have had more thought into it. Now it ended up in a classic good versus bad sword battle that seemed like it didn't belong in this world. However, the tone of the series is off from the beginning to the very end and that is my biggest complaint. This was extremely explain-y, there was no mystery and certainly nothing for the viewer to figure out for themselves. From the mysterious Ogra to the nefarious plans of the Skeksis - everything is explained immediately and in detail. It felt dumbed-down, like an overzealous fanfic. Also the Skeksis were much more talkative and loud - yes we get it, they're evil and disgusting, this was repeated and emphasized beyond any subtlety taking away any seriousness of their characters. The humour is also very different: more language based humour and things between characters, like them getting dirty things in their face, less original visual jokes like the original. The magic of nostalgia is broken when the tone is so completely off. Just like many franchises expanding on their original work they all seem to focus on visuals and invest huge amounts on that while the story and plot are last priority while those should be FIRST priority and it would cost nothing more to give it a little more thought. Please stop ruining beloved classics with vapid fanficcy new work.