Wheel of Time pilot

[MetalDog]

Any one who knows my disdain and total lack of regard for the Wheel of Time books might find it odd that I am the one posting this.  But I do it as a service to the fine gentlemen who reside here who, for whatever reason, have left their senses and love these books.  Enjoy, gents!


http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/9/8008387/wheel-of-time-pilot-fxx

[undercovergeek]

wait, what - ive only just started part 1!!

[Staggerwing]

Interesting- Billy Zane and Max Ryan star in it and both also have Producer credit.

[JasonPratt]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Okay, this... I haven't watched it yet, but my expectation of this being any good at all is non-existent. It was crapped out to ensure Universal keeps the film and/or TV rights a while longer.

I am not kidding when I say that in my life I have had three or four nightmares about a cringe-inducing low-budget version of the first book of WoT shot like a 70s grindhouse film. That won't be this (surely?) but I'm a bit apprehensive to even watch it just because I legitimately have nightmares about sucky attempts to cash in on the series.

[JasonPratt]

Thoughts.

0.) It's just a dramatization of the Book 1 prologue. Made without any Bandersnatch participation (RJ's literary estate).

1.) They use the chapter icons from the books for no real reason. They certainly have nothing to do with the ages represented by the spokes of the Wheel. Not entirely sure the concept of the Wheel is really explained in the prologue.

2.) Music in the prologue is both generic and inappropriate.

3.) Weird cadences in the narration, including some evidently rushed dialogue to fit editing blocks. Really? Is that the take we're going with? Okay, move along.

4.) No, most of the enemy didn't channel the (so-called) True Power (more like the Dark Power though it's never called that in the books) compared to the One Power; and most of the armies weren't channelers. Peculiar to hear the TP brought up so early at all, though it's tacitly involved in Book 1's prologue (and often throughout the first three books whenever Ishamael is on scene.)

5.) "Millions perished until blood stained the shores and nearly all was lost." I was going to say 'not many shores in Randland/Westland', but during the Age of Legends that was probably different now that I think of it. Still, it almost sounds like the narrator's eyes accidentally skipped a line or two and fortunately found a phrase that kind of fit right after "until".

6.) The prologue sounds like an obvious callback to the opening narration of Fellowship, but to be fair it's the other way around: PJ and his cronies wrote Galadriel's prologue narration with RJ's WOT in mind. (Which is only fair since Book 1 features a ton of calls to LotR in superficially obvious ways though the meanings are often quite different.) I'm a little doubtful this much (or any) of backstory for the prologue had to be given -- the book doesn't bother and it lacks the advantages of direct visual references.

7.) The sexy-cheap-fantasy "Game of War" commercial looked SO MUCH like what I was expecting to come back to after the commercial, I didn't realize it was a commercial at first. You go, Lanfear.

8.) BILLY ZANE AS ISHAMAEL!! -- his line deliveries aren't always on point, but seeing a scraggly haired and bearded Billy Zane as the main scenery chewing villain of the first several books is at least amusing.

9.) Obviously they didn't have the budget to show the ruin of the palace (and they took a little too long to play with things from LTT's crazed perspective), but I appreciated them going for the 19th century European opulance -- since the main series takes place in a world that has worked its way back to around early Renaissance, under the budgetary circumstances the attempt makes sense (despite the prologue setting being more of a future-tech Flash Gordony world).

10.) Was that Snakes and Foxes the family was supposed to be playing?

11.) Illeyana Sunhair really ought to be blonde, not deep redhaired.

12.) It's a pretty faithfully produced fan-film up to the point where LTT is inferring the taint on the Source, whereupon the dialogue necessarily changes (to reflect narration in the book) and LTT sounds too sane and not at all horrified about what has happened. Though maybe that's supposed to be insanity manifesting another way.

13.) Could have been a lot worse. Could have been a lot better. The material shows promise as expected. Billy Zane is too uneven in talent to play Ishy, though he has some moments occasionally.

[JasonPratt]

If I may engage in a bit of friendly friend-promotion  O0 : Marie Brennan (finalist for last year's World Fantasy Awards with Neil Gaiman and some other people) didn't know this was coming (so far as I know) but she posted up an article a couple of weeks ago on the structural challenges of adapting WoT to TV.

http://swan-tower.livejournal.com/723478.html

[MetalDog]

A bit more clarity on the situation:


http://www.vox.com/2015/2/10/8014499/wheel-of-time-pilot-fxx

[JasonPratt]

Great link MD, thanks!

Incidentally, Marie confirms she hadn't heard this was coming when she wrote her article about (in theory) adapting for a series. Just a weird coincidence that she wrote it about the time the pseudo-pilot was being filmed a few weeks ago.

[Ubercat]

Well, if I were a male Aes Sedai in the AoL, or anyone anywhen else for that matter, I don't think that I'd want anything to do with the Dark Lords 'taint.

[Nefaro]

If they follow the books then half of it will consist of the main characters endlessly whining about how they miss home.  ::)

[JasonPratt]

At least the scenery and costume porn would be regulated to visuals.  8)

That would leave a lot more time for whining about missing home!  :))

[Martok]

Wow. 

That was bad.  Painfully bad.  Even skipping some of it, that was still 15+ minutes of my life I'm never getting back.  >:( 

[MetalDog]

The "official" Wheel Of Time television series is coming:


http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2016/04/29/The-Wheel-of-Time-will-be-adapted-for-TV/2401461941363/

[JasonPratt]

I'll be optimistic later maybe. Lots of things with potential end up being terrible or mediocre at best on TV (or films for that matter).

[MetalDog]

I think this is probably the one time I can think of that no matter what tv does to it, they can only make it better.