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richard-bowers
Reviews
Legend of the Seeker (2008)
Enjoyable
My expectations were low - bringing the same quality entertainment of Xena to epic fantasy didn't sound like a great idea.
So far, the series has been pretty enjoyable. It isn't 100% faithful to the book, but I don't think that could have been done - you need a story arc for every show, not a story arc across the whole book.
The casting is great. I can't say that any of the characters looked like the picture I had in my head, but they all worked. Maybe Ted Raimi's appearance was unnecessary, but at least he didn't show up as a recurring comedy sidekick.
Cinematics-wise, I could do without the bullet-time (quarrel-time? sword-time?)
Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005)
Skip the first ten minutes, otherwise good
The first few minutes were the visual equivalent of a bad novel's prologue. Rathern than introducing the problem through the story, the bad guy tells you about himself and his plans, although not in enough specifics for it to make sense. Fortunately, the heroes don't watch the prologue, and they're reasonably good at explaining the plot to the viewers as the movie goes on.
The movie did a good job of using D&D terminology (arcane vs. divine magic, etc.) and had the feel of a typical D&D adventure. It was paced fairly well, and the acting was appropriate for an original Sci-Fi channel movie. The special effects were very well done, but some of them weren't too understandable unless you were a D&D player.
If you aren't a D&D fan, there's probably not much here for you. If you are, then it's worth watching, as long as you can avoid speculating on what color certain beasts are or complaining that certain things aren't the way they are in the manuals. Just assume their DM has house rules, OK?