Shannara coming to television - Page 16

Katsunami · 01-08-2016, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You've mentioned this before, and you were just as wrong then.

It has been perfectly clear from Sword of Shannara on that the setting was our world in the far distant future. It might not have been a huge part of the overall plot, but it was never in doubt. Fans have been trying to match up geographic features of The Four Lands with our own real geography since the early '80's.

In that case I might just be stupid. It was never perfectly clear to me in the first trilogy. I suspected it, but it only got officially 'canon' (at least for me) after Brooks wrote Word and Void and the connecting series.

Purple Lady · 01-08-2016, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batpuppy

A typo, they are still online but It maybe US only? They wanted me to log in by way of my cable provider but Comcast apparently is not set up for that. So I just created an email based account with MTV.com and that allowed me to watch the shows. I not sure if they checked my IP address or not.

Their android app doesn't work either since it doesn't have Comcast. Looking at the ratings they also don't have Dish.

DiapDealer · 01-08-2016, 05:27 PM

I can verify that the MTV Roku channel works for DirecTV subscribers. That's how I watched them all.

JSWolf · 01-08-2016, 05:41 PM

You can watch the first two episodes at MTV and if you have Comcast, go to comcast.com and watch the rest there. You don't have to go to MTV.

Conan46 · 01-08-2016, 05:58 PM

MTV Youtube channel has episodes 1&2 free, those aren't region specific are they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPrHybyCRzw

Purple Lady · 01-08-2016, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You can watch the first two episodes at MTV and if you have Comcast, go to comcast.com and watch the rest there. You don't have to go to MTV.

Thanks. I tried the xfinity tv android app but it's not there either. I do see it on comcast.net and that says it's on On Demand too. On Demand controls really suck though. If you're doing fast forward it takes five seconds or more for it to realize that you hit play. At that point you're past where you want to be.

Katsunami · 01-08-2016, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conan46

MTV Youtube channel has episodes 1&2 free, those aren't region specific are they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPrHybyCRzw

They are. It says I can't watch it in my country.

Conan46 · 01-08-2016, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

They are. It says I can't watch it in my country.

Sorry to hear that

Not sure why they feel the need to do that.

batpuppy · 01-08-2016, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Thanks. I tried the xfinity tv android app but it's not there either. I do see it on comcast.net and that says it's on On Demand too. On Demand controls really suck though. If you're doing fast forward it takes five seconds or more for it to realize that you hit play. At that point you're past where you want to be.

It let me watch the 3 and 4th episode after registering at mtv.com. Perhaps they checked that I was coming by way of comcast internet. I did have to do this on a PC.
I have never been able to get On Demand to work right so I gave up using it long ago.

Katsunami · 01-08-2016, 08:15 PM

Well... I jumped some regional restrictions and 'moved' to the US temporarily to be able to watch these episodes, so I've seen the first two.

Quite good. First impressions:

Spoiler:

- The Chosen Race: it's certainly more engaging to name the Chosen like that, than having the tree touch a few of the Elves on the shoulder. Also it gets people to root for Amberle from the start; at least, it worked for me.
- Huge mistake / bad change: Amberle says that she would be the first Chosen. That is impossible. The Ellcrys is always a female, and always part of the Chosen (except for the very first of course), so there have always been female Chosen. In the later books, the Ellcrys tells one of the Chosen of that time that she always picks a female to be a Chosen, whom she sees fit to become her successor, should the need arise.
- Elves: Humans with pointy ears. I expected them to be more like LoTR elves. Also, somehow they look to be too perfect/pretty. It looked like there are no non-pretty Elves except when very old.
- Amberle: I expected her to be blond. Didn't she have red hair in the book? I like the new portrayal of the character. Strong, able to put up a good fight, bit with a bit of weakness and self-esteem issues as well.
- Eritrea: Instant dislike. Too pretty for someone living in the wilderness, too arrogant, too over-confident, and a backstabbing b****. I loved it when Amberle turned the tables on her. My dislike lessened as soon as Cephelo was introduced, threathening to sell her/marry her off. I *really* dislike Cephelo (which was the case in the book as well) and I hope she gets to kill him. In the book Cephelo is killed by a demon.
- Allanon. DUDE, what's with the hair?! And the glowing markings? No... just no. He should have had shoulder-length hair, and he should have been bigger. Allanon in the books is around 7 feet tall. He's okayish, but I had expected him to be more imposing.
- Wil Ohmsford: He would be Amberle's protector? At some point, Eritrea will join the quest, and both women are stronger and better fighters than he is. I certainly hope he mans up, learns to fight and learns to use those Elfstones. At this point, he looks more like a comedy relief character than one of the protagonists. He almost gets killed, then gets seduced, robbed (which also happens to Wil in the book, but it's not Eritrea 'working' single-handedly), and does stupid things like slipping and falling down Gimli-style, all in the first 80 minutes. I certainly hope this changes. Otherwise just cut him out of the story, give the women some soldiers for protection, and leave them to their quest.
- Up until this point, there are no comedy relief characters. Yay! (Although I did like Wil's quote, which went something like this: "So.... I need to use Elfstones I don't have, to protect a princess who doesn't want to be found, from demons who want to rip is apart. And, in the doubtful event I succeed, my life could still be doomed because of the magic. I liked it better when we didn't talk.")
- The demons: well done, AFAICT. The Dagda Mor and Shapeshifter are what I expected. Evil. The Dagda Mor exudes power; more so than Allanon. The Shapeshifter portrays cunning and slyness very well.

At this point, I'm inclined to say that this series has a chance of being OK to good.

It's definitely 'based on' The Elfstones of Shannara. (It says so in the intro as well.) If you are expecting a 1 on 1 transcription of the book, you'd better not watch.

Conan46 · 01-08-2016, 09:27 PM

Slowly re-reading the book after many years. I thought Cephelo? the leader of the Rovers, was overly done with the anti-female stuff until I got to that part in the book and realized it wasn't. Also I have seen complaints about the fast pace of the series, but the book moves very quickly when Terry gets into action scenes, the slower parts of the book are mostly world-building which is not as necessary in video where the images speak for themselves.

Dulin's Books · 01-08-2016, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batpuppy

A typo, they are still online but It maybe US only? They wanted me to log in by way of my cable provider but Comcast

they are all available through the ON DEMAND content on Comcast as well. we watched 3 and 4 last night.well my wife watched them, i kept nodding off so i missed bits here and there but they did improve from the first episode, so that promising

rhadin · 01-09-2016, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I can verify that the MTV Roku channel works for DirecTV subscribers. That's how I watched them all.

The MTV Roku channel also works for Verizon FiOS, which is how I tried to watch the 4 episodes yesterday. Oh, I eventually got through them, but every 10 minutes -- like perfect clockwork -- the show was stopped for 90 seconds of commercials and not even particularly great commercials.

I doubt I will watch any more of the series until it hits something like Netflix, where it runs commercial-free. The story was so interrupted by the commercials that I no longer care whether the Ellcryss lives or dies (although having read the books, I know what is supposed to happen).

DiapDealer · 01-09-2016, 05:38 AM

The commercial breaks were ridiculously lengthy/frequent. And I'm not one who's typically that annoyed by commercial interruptions.

booklover6 · 01-09-2016, 07:16 AM

I watched them all last night. I thought they were great! It's been over 30 years since I read Elfstones. The show is a great way to revisit.

01-08-2016, 08:15 PM	#235
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	Well... I jumped some regional restrictions and 'moved' to the US temporarily to be able to watch these episodes, so I've seen the first two. Quite good. First impressions: Spoiler: - The Chosen Race: it's certainly more engaging to name the Chosen like that, than having the tree touch a few of the Elves on the shoulder. Also it gets people to root for Amberle from the start; at least, it worked for me. - Huge mistake / bad change: Amberle says that she would be the first Chosen. That is impossible. The Ellcrys is always a female, and always part of the Chosen (except for the very first of course), so there have always been female Chosen. In the later books, the Ellcrys tells one of the Chosen of that time that she always picks a female to be a Chosen, whom she sees fit to become her successor, should the need arise. - Elves: Humans with pointy ears. I expected them to be more like LoTR elves. Also, somehow they look to be too perfect/pretty. It looked like there are no non-pretty Elves except when very old. - Amberle: I expected her to be blond. Didn't she have red hair in the book? I like the new portrayal of the character. Strong, able to put up a good fight, bit with a bit of weakness and self-esteem issues as well. - Eritrea: Instant dislike. Too pretty for someone living in the wilderness, too arrogant, too over-confident, and a backstabbing b***. I loved it when Amberle turned the tables on her. My dislike lessened as soon as Cephelo was introduced, threathening to sell her/marry her off. I really* dislike Cephelo (which was the case in the book as well) and I hope she gets to kill him. In the book Cephelo is killed by a demon. - Allanon. DUDE, what's with the hair?! And the glowing markings? No... just no. He should have had shoulder-length hair, and he should have been bigger. Allanon in the books is around 7 feet tall. He's okayish, but I had expected him to be more imposing. - Wil Ohmsford: He would be Amberle's protector? At some point, Eritrea will join the quest, and both women are stronger and better fighters than he is. I certainly hope he mans up, learns to fight and learns to use those Elfstones. At this point, he looks more like a comedy relief character than one of the protagonists. He almost gets killed, then gets seduced, robbed (which also happens to Wil in the book, but it's not Eritrea 'working' single-handedly), and does stupid things like slipping and falling down Gimli-style, all in the first 80 minutes. I certainly hope this changes. Otherwise just cut him out of the story, give the women some soldiers for protection, and leave them to their quest. - Up until this point, there are no comedy relief characters. Yay! (Although I did like Wil's quote, which went something like this: "So.... I need to use Elfstones I don't have, to protect a princess who doesn't want to be found, from demons who want to rip is apart. And, in the doubtful event I succeed, my life could still be doomed because of the magic. I liked it better when we didn't talk.") - The demons: well done, AFAICT. The Dagda Mor and Shapeshifter are what I expected. Evil. The Dagda Mor exudes power; more so than Allanon. The Shapeshifter portrays cunning and slyness very well. At this point, I'm inclined to say that this series has a chance of being OK to good. It's definitely 'based on' The Elfstones of Shannara. (It says so in the intro as well.) If you are expecting a 1 on 1 transcription of the book, you'd better not watch. Last edited by Katsunami; 01-09-2016 at 07:23 PM.

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01-08-2016, 05:27 PM	#228
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,709 Karma: 205039118 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I can verify that the MTV Roku channel works for DirecTV subscribers. That's how I watched them all.

01-08-2016, 05:41 PM	#229
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,075 Karma: 147983159 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	You can watch the first two episodes at MTV and if you have Comcast, go to comcast.com and watch the rest there. You don't have to go to MTV.

01-08-2016, 05:58 PM	#230
Conan46 Fanatic Posts: 575 Karma: 3400000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Paperwhite 3	MTV Youtube channel has episodes 1&2 free, those aren't region specific are they? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPrHybyCRzw

01-08-2016, 09:27 PM	#236
Conan46 Fanatic Posts: 575 Karma: 3400000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Paperwhite 3	Slowly re-reading the book after many years. I thought Cephelo? the leader of the Rovers, was overly done with the anti-female stuff until I got to that part in the book and realized it wasn't. Also I have seen complaints about the fast pace of the series, but the book moves very quickly when Terry gets into action scenes, the slower parts of the book are mostly world-building which is not as necessary in video where the images speak for themselves.

01-09-2016, 05:38 AM	#239
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,709 Karma: 205039118 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	The commercial breaks were ridiculously lengthy/frequent. And I'm not one who's typically that annoyed by commercial interruptions.

01-09-2016, 07:16 AM	#240
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,545 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre 1, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle, Kobo Libre Colour	I watched them all last night. I thought they were great! It's been over 30 years since I read Elfstones. The show is a great way to revisit.

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