His Dark Materials

[Sane Max]

Watched this last night.

initial thoughts – can’t see anything wrong with it. When the title sequence started doing an awful lot of explication, I thought ‘uh-oh’ but ‘Dune’ it wasn’t. It’s less ‘steampunk Doctor who’ than I feared it would be, if anything a little too understated on how different Lyra’s Oxford is.

Compared to the movie it’s the greatest thing ever, but that’s not much of a starting line. It hasn’t bitten yet, but it was OK… what do others think?

 

[jeffers]

I think it’s up there with Gary Lineker and Jeremy Vine as a waste of licence money. Just my opinion, of course!

More nonsense on my blog: http://battle77.blogspot.com/

[willz]

I watched it last night, enjoyed it, looks promising.  Would not have minded a bit more explanation about the world we are watching, I was a bit confused  that everybody has a demon/familiar but I could not see any with the cooks or washer women or general servants / people?   Vaguely remember watching a film on a similar vane a few years back which was a bit pants.

Again watchable.

[Norm S]

I have just been reading the series and am on book 3 now. We both enjoyed the production, but I thought the first half was a bit weak and imagined it a bit confusing for anyone who has not read the books, plus is it just me, or was there a bit of hard to hear mumbling in the first ten minutes or so.

Having read the book of course fills in the gaps, but the second half picked up well and is in beat with the book. The characters fit with book descriptions. The trailer for what is to come looks good.

I think the only problem with and for the programme will be the audience it may have lost in the first 20 minutes.

I think it will get a following, certainly from those who have read the books and I imagine that world wide sales will bring in a goodly revenue.

 

[Sane Max]

willz wrote:

Vaguely remember watching a film on a similar vane a few years back which was a bit pants.

I am rather glad the series only vaguely reminds you of the Movie. It was  indeed pants. And so much potential, a good cast.

I suspect the BBC are saving CGI money on the daemons, so for minor characters it can be assumed their Daemon is under the table or some such.

The big jarring issue for me was the helicopter in the first scene. That’s the sort of thing only a fool would have included. A world with working helicopters will have zero use for military dirigibles!

 

[Steve Johnson]

It was OK, but didn’t really grab me, probably because I and my daughter thought that James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson were miscast. Looking forward to part 2 which should hopefully pick up the pace a bit.

[Grimheart]

I thought it was ok but as others have pointed out if you had no knowledge of the books or previous film various aspects would have been very confusing.

And what was with the helicopter in the first scene!

Did any one else think Lyra looked like Millie Bobby Brown from stranger things though……

 

Interest include 6mm WW2, 6mm SciFi, 30mm Old West, DropFleet, Warlords Exterminate and others!

[Prince Rhys]

I need to read the books. I sort of watched the first half but was just bemused and drifted away from it. Books ordered! Then I’ll watch it.

[Cerdic]

The missus had it on as she has read the books. She quite liked it.

I’ve not read the books, and fantasy-type stuff is not really my sort of thing. I was a bit bored and confused, but maybe I’m not the target audience anyway.

 

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[Devon Start]

why would it be Dr who? im curious what about it gave you the notion that there would genre over lap. its essentially the lion the witch and the wardrobe for atheists..  they made the not so good movie a few years ago, golden compass

as for world building and not understanding all about the world at once, yeah thats story telling. good shows use it

 

[Sane Max]

Devon Start wrote:

why would it be Dr who?

 

It was the BBC’s Jewel in the Crown, and they have been trying to re-create that success ever since.

Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for Atheists

No, it really isn’t. 🙂   This is not the place to start a religious discussion,so I will only say that I feel that’s the theme that seems to always get picked up on, but there is so much more to the book than that. For me the most powerful theme is the one about Parental responsibility. Lyra’s real parents are monsters. (One is a magnificent monster, but a monster all the same). She acquires a series of wonderful substitute parents as the books unfold. But there are a great many other themes, far more than you would expect in a book for kids, and it deserves good treatment at the hands of adaptors.

[Sane Max]

Very much better episode last night, and I am warming to this casting of Lyra. The pace has certainly picked up, and there were moments of real tension.

 

 

[Rhoderic]

Really been looking forward to this show. Now there are RL things preventing me from sinking my teeth into it

[Author]

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