D+ WILLOW Show

[TauntaunScout]

Whoever wrote and directed this shoulda been in charge of the sequel trilogy. This is how you do a hand-off to a younger generation of heroes.

[Whill]

My wife and I re-watched the movie last night. We haven't started the TV series yet but hopefully soon.

[TauntaunScout]

[Whill]

[Darklighter79]

Three episodes watched. I liked flashbacks as they brought the magic of the original. I like the lore being expanded and new elements introduced.

On the other hand:
They put two Australian outback farmers in jeans into the fantasy setting? It felt strange and unfitting.

In few scenes some of the young actors seem to be modern teenagers. In one review it was described as "very modern and snarky."

Sometimes it does not have the "feel" the original movie but let's wait for the rest of the episodes.

In the second trailer there was a glimpse of a city:
https://youtu.be/t414qlzdXRA?t=81
Looked quite...star warsy?
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[Whill]

A character saying, "sh!t" threw me out of it. Profanity itself doesn't bother me, but it seemed out of place for the genre. I don't care for the pop and rock music either. Yeah, I guess there are some other modernisms in the show that the show doesn't really need. But I'm not holding these minor things against the show.

My wife and I really hated the dark scenes though. It sucks when there are action scenes and you can't tell what is happening. After the third episode we found the brightness setting and turned it up a bit to see if that will help in the future. I hope it doesn't brighten bright scenes too much.
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[KageRyu]

I did not like it at all. I did not even finish the first episode. I felt it did the legacy of the movie a great disservice with poor writing and creative choices, in some places over use of exposition, either some poor acting or poorly written dialogue, and some things that were clearly presented in an in-your-face manner to force controversy rather than being well written and feeling organic or natural.

I do not feel vulgarity, even the lesser expletives, fit in not only the genre but Willow. I did not really care for modern music in A Knights Tale either, and certainly not in willow.

The main character coming off as a super-shallow, angsty teen definitely did not help.

While the movie was definitely more of a campy family friendly fantasy adventure, it has a fond place in my memories as being among some of the more enjoyable fantasy to come out of the time (there was a lot of bad fantasy back then...some great...but lots of bad - have you seen Krull Yeah...?)

R.e. dark scenes - this an ongoing problem with lots of modern television and cinema. I am unsure how much of it is due to improper lighting choices and directorial choices, and how much of it is due to limits of digital equipment. When shooting with film, lighting was still important, but higher speed, chemically formulated film for use in darker situations was used to offset the issue. With Film, there were any number of ways to enhance the contrast and the depth with alterations to the developing and exposures. Digital does not have these advantages, and this needs to be done in post. There are a lot of varying schools of thought in digital editing on how to get good night scenes, and no one seems to agree. It may just be a lost art now - gone the way of the Supermax cameras and Panavision...
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[Whill]

The darkness was definitely a directorial choice. Even if a scene should take place at night for the sake of the plot, you can write some contrivance into it to cast some light on the action. The clouds move out from in front of a moon. A lamp gets knocked over and lights a bush on fire. Something. It's not like it was done for mood, like horror or for suspense. It was action! Action should not be in the dark. My wife and I were so annoyed.

In the old days, this never happened. For most movies they even used to film night scenes in the early morning. I could always suspend disbelief if a scene is brighter than it should be for the setting and time of day, for the sake of allowing me to see what is happening. But I've noticed a more recent trend of showing action in the dark. It is often done to give a break on the special effects budget because it is easier to hide things that look fake in the dark. But the dark action scene in the 3rd episode was mostly just sword fighting in the woods. There is no reason it had to be so dark, unless the fight choreography was so bad that they intentionally darkened it in post to hide how bad it was.
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[KageRyu]

[Darklighter79]

I hope that Willow character will not have the fate of Luke's in TLJ.

Seems some illogical / bad writing here:

1) Sorsha denies Willow training of Elora. Why? Being the daughter of a powerful magician she knew what danger a dark magic could be. Moreover, she was the witness of a key role Willow and Fin Raziel played in stopping Bavmorda. With no magic users as protectors, regular army posed a little danger to a sorcerer ---> polymorphic spell cast by Bavmorda in the movie. Yet, she said no, because of...plot.

2) Writers make Willow weak, Sorscha says he is not a great wizard. Seems the writers have forgotten that at the end of the movie he has received Fin Raziel's book of magic. My guess is there were spells far beyond the knowledge and skill of a regular High Aldwin. Armed also with Cherlindrea's wand, it's hard to believe that he spent no time on training and developing his talent.
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[TauntaunScout]

[Whill]

We finished Willow tonight. It wasn't that great. I'm disappointed with it.

I didn't care for all the modern/teen/20-something lingo, all the profanity, all the modern music. It's like they took a little bit of Lord of the Rings, a little bit of Harry Potter, and tried to make it more bussin'.

I didn't think the writing was that good. It suffered from some of the same problems as each of the DT films, but it was more meandering since they had to spread this story out over eight episodes instead of a movie.
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[TauntaunScout]

[Whill]

[Sutehp]

I'm actually liking the series more than the movie. But then, I hadn't ever seen the movie until a couple of months ago when I decided to watch the series. I figured I should watch the whole story in order.

Yeah, the movie was campy and silly, but that was part of its charm. As for the series, it's a similar but different story in terms of theme. The movie was a campy story about Willow learning to fulfill his dream of becoming a sorceror after being bored with his farmer's life. The series is about an older Willow who lost his wife while he was off on one of his adventures and being estranged from his son because of that. He has regrets now after becoming a sorceror forced him to endure loss. In one of his lowest points, he even says "I'm not a great sorceror. I'm just a farmer who got lucky."

Added to that is the wrinkle that he has responsibilities to train Elora, who never had a choice about fulfilling her destiny to defeat evil. Elora grew up thinking she was no one special and in a single day loses the man she loves and finds out that she is the only person who can save the world. That's a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. So we have a reluctant teacher and a less-than-willing student who has to learn magic before the world gets destroyed.

I never thought the series had to be as campy as the movie. In fact, I'm glad it's not. I don't hold the series to a lower standard than the movie, just a different standard. The movie was a fun, campy romp; the series is darker and edgier with more serious themes about the impending end of the world. And I have to admit, I thought the final scene showing the armies of darkness set to Dire Straits' Money for Nothing was awesome.

But that's just me.
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Only some of it is for D6 Star Wars.
Just repurchased the X-Wing and Tie Fighter flight sim games. I forgot how much I missed them.