Re: The Witcher TV series

by BarrileteCosmico Thu Dec 26, 2019 2:35 pm

It generally falls on the one making outlandish comments to provide the evidence. I've read my fair share of fan reactions and while I agree it's very mixed I haven't seen anyone call it or imply it is disrespectful.

by Thimmy Thu Dec 26, 2019 3:40 pm

If you haven’t seen any book-readers saying the TV serie’s interpretation of the books is disrespectful, then I imagine you’ve hardly scoured the internet for comments and feedback. Off the top of my head, I believe some of the mixed or negative reviews on Metacritic mentioned it, several people in Youtube comment sections mention it, and the public forums for particularly interested people go as far as to describe their complaints of the creator’s interpretation. This is typically what happens when books are adapted to screen. Lauren Hissrich said the show would be more based off the books than the video games, and I imagine that’s where most of the complaints stem from.

by Myesyats Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:26 pm

M99 wrote:
Myesyats wrote:The only way I'm comparing them is pacing and entertainment value.

There's a great deal of things I could criticise GoT for too. The fact that it would bore the fuck out of you is just one of many. No show is perfect.

It bored you, not the majority of fans or critics. Its pacing and entertainment I disagree strongly with you on it. It great and miles ahead of Witcher for me. Then again, I never expected this to be as good as GOT and that is setting a real unfair and high bar, it was an ok show for me so far. I never said it was terrible, I feel a lot of the criticism from critics are absolutely warranted. With the backstories out of the way, I am optimistic for the later seasons. The main cast is incredible and with them, the show can be something special down the line.

Now that I think about its a lot like comparing Skyrim and Witcher 3, both are great in their own way. But Rotten Tomatoes critics' are dumb.

Most of the criticism is in relation to the timelines and admittedly they are confusing for the 1st three episodes but then you can easily connect most of it given you have average iq and then it all falls into place in ep 7 and 8.

It's an interesting method of storytelling and definitely doesnt deserve as much criticism as it did from these supposed critics.

Another criticism is giving too much exposition to Ciri and Yen "who are supposed to be important later"... The writer clearly stated she wants all of Geralt, Yen and Ciri to be equally important from the get-go. She wants to tell the story in her own way.

The fans on rotten have it at 93% now which is more accurate.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Fri Dec 27, 2019 5:37 pm

I spoke to my brother today who has no prior experience with Witcher in general and he said he had no trouble following the timelines.

Which tells me most people are idiots hmm

i didn't feel comfortable saying as much before but now someone with no experience of the franchise says so makes it a lot easier to confirm my suspicions. hmm

by Freeza Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:37 pm

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:I spoke to my brother today who has no prior experience with Witcher in general and he said he had no trouble following the timelines.

Which tells me most people are idiots i didn't feel comfortable saying as much before but now someone with no experience of the franchise says so makes it a lot easier to confirm my suspicions.

People have issues following plots in all movies. I literally have to narrate every single movie for parents because they can’t follow anything.

by Firenze Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:34 pm

I'm only halfway through and while I think it could be far, far better and question the approach it's taken early on with with the story format, I'm finding it more enjoyable than I expected. I actually think Cavill's a pretty good Geralt. WTF did they do to Triss though. Cmon now.

by BarrileteCosmico Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:40 pm

Thimmy wrote:If you haven’t seen any book-readers saying the TV serie’s interpretation of the books is disrespectful, then I imagine you’ve hardly scoured the internet for comments and feedback. Off the top of my head, I believe some of the mixed or negative reviews on Metacritic mentioned it, several people in Youtube comment sections mention it, and the public forums for particularly interested people go as far as to describe their complaints of the creator’s interpretation. This is typically what happens when books are adapted to screen. Lauren Hissrich said the show would be more based off the books than the video games, and I imagine that’s where most of the complaints stem from.

I've read maybe the top 200 comments in this thread and while many complain about the writing, the pacing, the dialogue, etc not many complain about "disrespecting". Granted not all are book readers but there's a lot in there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/ed6wvb/postseason_1_discussion/

Then again if youtube comments are your bar then that would explain a lot, not a community known for measured opinions.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sat Dec 28, 2019 12:24 am

My main criticism as a book reader would be Ciri's arc, the rest is very minimal.

Spoiler:

The rest i personally think is good.

by Thimmy Sat Dec 28, 2019 1:02 am

BarrileteCosmico wrote:
Thimmy wrote:If you haven’t seen any book-readers saying the TV serie’s interpretation of the books is disrespectful, then I imagine you’ve hardly scoured the internet for comments and feedback. Off the top of my head, I believe some of the mixed or negative reviews on Metacritic mentioned it, several people in Youtube comment sections mention it, and the public forums for particularly interested people go as far as to describe their complaints of the creator’s interpretation. This is typically what happens when books are adapted to screen. Lauren Hissrich said the show would be more based off the books than the video games, and I imagine that’s where most of the complaints stem from.

I've read maybe the top 200 comments in this thread and while many complain about the writing, the pacing, the dialogue, etc not many complain about "disrespecting". Granted not all are book readers but there's a lot in there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/ed6wvb/postseason_1_discussion/

Then again if youtube comments are your bar then that would explain a lot, not a community known for measured opinions.

I don’t know why you’re persisting with this topic. I only mentioned Youtube off the top of my head because I figured that would be the most accessible place for anyone to look- assuming you cared so much that you’d be willing to search the internet to find someone complaining about the TV show interpretation being disrespectful, which you seemed to do. How about we both agree that it was a lie and move on with our lives? Alternatively, you can google «Witcher TV shows reviews/comments» and we can hopefully conclude this pointless discussion Thumbs up

by Myesyats Sat Dec 28, 2019 9:52 am

Was Triss so bland in the books too? I mean i know she wasnt a love interest like in the games but it sure does seem like they did her dirty either way.

by Freeza Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:14 am

Myesyats wrote:Was Triss so bland in the books too? I mean i know she wasnt a love interest like in the games but it sure does seem like they did her dirty either way.

She’s a psychopathic rapist in the game. So you can’t call her bland at least

by Thimmy Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:31 am

Myesyats wrote:Was Triss so bland in the books too? I mean i know she wasnt a love interest like in the games but it sure does seem like they did her dirty either way.

She’s described differently from her video game version in the books, but both versions of her ultimately end up making similar decisions. Her personality is quite different, and not necessarily in a good way. Red hair. This has been debated a lot on the internet, due to Sapkowski’s translated description of her hair as chestnut in Time of Contempt, when he supposedly meant auburn. Either way, she’s specifically referred to as ‘red hair’ in the English version of the books a few times. I don’t know whether Sapkowski meant red, brown or something inbetween.

I’ve always had a mental image of her as a redhead, but that might be because of how distinctively red it is in the games. Blue eyes, young, immature, manipulative and egocentric. I could describe her more, but I would risk spoiling her future actions in the TV series. As you may have already guessed,

Spoiler:

I never got the impression that she was all that powerful in the books, to be honest. She’s generally more appealing and less obnoxious in the games.

by Myesyats Sat Dec 28, 2019 8:42 pm

For those who have seen Parks and Rec rofl

The Witcher TV series - Page 9 80720107_10157327645606633_5145327029121449984_o.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=AQmqQdfSHVPjTMqzqkIEQnjONDnWbNoXQp2gnj7AQEc0L7W5ODx-ab9WwXAZjrUc9E4&_nc_ht=scontent.fktw1-1

by Thimmy Sat Dec 28, 2019 11:19 pm

Nick Oferman would be a hilarious looking Vesemir Laughing

by Arquitecto Sun Dec 29, 2019 2:43 pm

So finally got around to watching a series I endlessly spoke and asked about but yet to watch.

Episode 1 was about what I expected. Clearly the budget is top notch and deservedly so for such a rich world. Of course Hissrich's woke political views made its way in there in the most ham-fisted way but nothing that took away from the the episode.

First and foremost Cavill succeeded my expectations of Geralt beyond even what I thought. His mere presence, direction of i to his expressions, delivery and own adaptation of Doug Cockle's voice is perfect without it seeming dull and monotonous and carries surprising amount of accuracy and you can tell his hours of playing Witcher games helped him develop it.

Ciri I read above here did not interest many and given I have only played Witcher 3 to place my love for the universe, I cannot say much on what should have been but she is an interesting actress and her saga so far has not turned out to be dull as some said but rather well edited and intriguing.

I do understand how the writers desired to flesh out Geralt's Butcher of Blaviken past and Ciri's fall of Cintra all in one go even if the timeline separation is too wide of a gap.

But coming to acting from both I am very satisfied so far. With Cavill you cannot help that he does not have the hardened world weary face that a very penetrative Geralt is supposed to have and some flashes of things Cavill does in his usual roles do show up but I genuinely think he has turned out to be a very immersive White Wolf and only will be better as he further settles into the role.

The set-pieces are wonderful, the score thankfully did satisfy me with its slavic tones and dark off-nature C notes that were not inappropriately placed and the overall CGI design and cinematogrophy was impressive even if overlooking some clear opportunities that could have been used.

My problem with it so far despite one episode is that something is off. Almost as if the team themselves are not truly experienced in bring such eras to life let alone series themselves as I do hope the rest of the episodes will have me more immersed into the universe and atmosphere itself rather than handing out narration from characters to explain the gaps. I have a feeling it will turn out to be an amalgamation of perfect pieces that do not quite just fit but only one episode so far after all yet I do want to feel suspended in my disbelief and did have the feeling somehow I am watching what is a very well designed and cultured tv show with lights camera and action behind it all. Just me I suppose.

Oh and by the way the battle choreography is the best I have seen in any series so far. I feared it would be all too practiced and convenient moves but Cavill as Geralt is utterly brutal, movements purposeful and the score and balance between the score and more raw sound effects is perfect and scene where he takes on assailants at the end was combat masterclass. Clearly the show at its best.

Onto the next one by next week.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:25 pm

Most of the Ciri complaints won't be obvious until later on and even then you won't realise what they are unless you've read the books.

But the shows producer explained herself with that and i found the reasoning acceptable. But they need to back up those words in season 2.

by Myesyats Mon Dec 30, 2019 7:17 pm

I LOVING #TheWitcher dialogue this morning. As a treat for all the respectful debate, here is the original final scene of Ep 108, "Much More." This is what was shot. It was edited down later, because -- as pointed out -- didn't feel earned after we'd cut the Brokilon meeting. pic.twitter.com/wyBEFV1F9b
— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) December 29, 2019

Glad they cut it. One "destiny" less. Laughing

by urbaNRoots Thu Jan 02, 2020 9:14 am

Absolutely loved the first season, my one complaint - and that's more a Netflix business model critique than the show - is that the seasons are too short and binging new shows makes quite a lot of great scenes be forgettable.

by Thimmy Sat Jan 04, 2020 7:09 pm

I always assumed this guy was italian. Turns out, he’s Norwegian hmm

by Myesyats Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:16 pm

contains spoilers

After re=watching I gotta say the writing is better than I initially thought. It's great how it all comes back around in the end and how the events are shown from different perspectives. When Calanthe tells Mousesack and the other guard to let "him" out in the 1st episode and he's not there, I didnt know it was Geralt and then when they showed it from the other perspective in ep 7 I was like daaaaamn when he was right there where Ciri played in the street, it was executed perfectly imo and enhanced the story very much towards the end. There were many more moments like these. I also liked how in the 3rd ep they simultaneously showed Yen's and the Striga's transformation, a paralell of them both turning from monsters into beauties etc.

IMO the writing is better than what Lauren is given credit for. And BTW does anyone if they plan to release the soundtrack? It's so good

by McLewis Sun Jan 12, 2020 10:12 pm

Binged it last night. Really well done.

Looking forward to season 2.

by M99 Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:05 pm

The rumors are true, a new Witcher story is in the works! The anime film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, will take us back to a new threat facing the Continent. Brought to you by the Witcher team @LHissrich and @BeauDeMayo, and Studio Mir the studio behind Legend of Korra.
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) January 22, 2020

by Firenze Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:27 pm

question is, cavill or game geralt as voice actor?

by RealGunner Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:28 pm

Cavill might cost a lot more but he is the future so preferably him. But game geralt is perfect too.

not sure why there is a need for the film at all though

by Arquitecto Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:58 pm

In the anime one they will have more creative control over it with less of a budget. Similar to those CGI shorts of Witcher that feel more Witcher than the TV series certainly does.

Cockle most definitely should play the voice in the anime as despite Cavill's superb job so far in my eyes, he is the man and no point not using the voice actor for an animation.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:19 pm

RealGunner wrote:Cavill might cost a lot more but he is the future so preferably him. But game geralt is perfect too.

not sure why there is a need for the film at all though

I imagine it's just capitalising on success tbh. Wouldn't be surprised if we see more stuff built on the franchise if the live action series continues to be popular.

The success of it has been pretty insane, Witcher 3 had more concurrent players after the show than it did at launch.

Pretty sure i read more books have been published too.

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