I’ve seen three episodes of The Witcher so far and i dunno… they claim they are following the books but so far they are not following anything really, just making their own version of things.
I cant say i dont like it but Geralt gets too little screen time and when he’s on he gets pretty wooden and disjointed dialogue.
There’s also too much jumping from character to character and everything feels very random so far. Just a tid bit of this story line and then it cuts to the next character to get him 5minutes of screen time and basically move his story arch nowhere. It feels like GoT which had so many characters it took entire seasons for something to actually happen.
They should have focused on Geralt and stick with him for the most time because that’s what is mostly interesting here. Because now he feels like side character .
They’re adding things to fill in a majority of screen time. Such as a majority of Yennefer’s backstory. We don’t actually get to read/see that in any of the books or games. I mean it is nice of them, to build off the implications and nuggets we were provided, and it wasn’t bad…at least not in my opinion. But as you said, it kinda takes away from the protagonist (Geralt) and Ciri quite a lot in the end. These such things could have easily been added in later seasons as flash backs for character building or relationship building between the characters, would have worked the same way and would have been just as powerful. At least, so I think.
Altering a few things that were present (which is typical of all adaptions sadly)
As for the jumping from character to character, it is actually rather impressive how it handled in the end. I won’t spoil it, but I hope you feel the same way by then. For all the information they had to give the view from the books, I think they went about the most creative and narratively powerful way to do it. A straight line from point A to B would have been a bit too boring.
I’ve seen a lot of things in the series (finished it) that are directly from the series, but I did notice a few things that seemed a bit different from their source, for some reason.
I’m glad that you are enjoying series and seeing a sense in it.
Me personally was hoping for a bit different approach. For me Witcher was always about Geralt while all rich lore and stories that surrounded him was a nice background. Here Geralt is just a part of the story and while in games whatever happened you would always experience it through Geralt , in tv series i just really felt alienated to what;s happening because it wasnt through him.
Well this is based on the books, not the games (visually Lauren tried to take infleunce from the games, and Geralt’s actor said he wanted to draw inspriation from them too, but the show itself is based on the books). And the books had a ton of characters, and important revolving story points on them. If they told it in the same fashion the books did or tried to tell it just through Geralt or even Geralt and Ciri, it would have confused a lot of people or wouldn’t be as good. The former is a format that should only be employed via literature and the later only works for the game because it had a rather stationary storyline with a singular protagonist on a singular quest.
They did cut some content (for example, reading The Last Wish and comparing it to the show, and I would have preferred a direct quoting of Geralt’s discussion with queen Calanthe rather than a re-imagining, but hey…), but that’s to be expected. It happens a lot. Even Lord of the Rings cut countless content, not even the Extended Editions could be called a shadow of the books, but they’re still remarkable.
I myself had a different vision for The Witcher as a show too. It would have involved a less talkative (or rather, emotionally revealing Geralt) to complete strangers for one thing, but I can’t say the show is bad by far. Of course the change to the Nilfgaardians seems way too drastic—using Cintra’s invasion as a means to alter them into pure barbarians is ridiculous, but I know why they made that change —and Jaskier/Dandelion seems a little off sometimes (I have more gripes like that) but the worry I had at first completely vanished. It is clear Lauren really did read the books and tried to represent the story the best she could in a format that would be coherent and still be enjoyable without losing what made it great.
If it isn’t for you though, I get it. For people who liked the series for the games, the show and the books would be a stark contrast, especially if they had made alterations.
Reeeeaally excited to watch The Witcher and get in on the discussions here, I’m just too addicted to Ru Paul’s Drag Race since I watched it with my brother for the first time on Thursday… heh
Regarding our favorite witcher, I’ve heard mixed things about the acting so far and I’m not too excited to maybe feel disappointed on that end. But hell’s yeah I’m hyped to watch the thing regardless.
Special thanks to your thoughtful additions to the discussion, @Rhyagelle!
No no no. Adam Levy? Loved his acting. Henry Cavill? Maybe you could say it isn’t jaw drop stunning, but it definitely isn’t bad. But there was one scene from Yen’s actor that was made me really sad simply because of how she delivered it (now I ain’t saying she did some Oscar crap just sayin’). I really think people are saying that because they didn’t like the casting from the start, especially Cavill as Geralt.
If/when you get time to watch it, I hope you like it!
Caught up on Joker…despite going into it thinking I’d hate it, I actually enjoyed it a lot more than the reviews rate it. Phoenix is great in the role (so much better than Leto) and it tells an origin story that is believable for the character (at least for me). Would actually recommend!
I was legit surprised that critics were somewhat split on this, given the awards and love given to it on social media. But yeah I loved it too, glad that WB and DC is allowing less conventional genres to tackle, but given that it is a series that is already known to be gothic and dramatic, it probably was a logical choice sooner or later.
As for The Witcher, I’ll be upfront by saying I haven’t experienced any of the games. I DO have the first game via GOG, but I didn’t really get hooked up on it. Maybe I’ll get to it one day, but I know for certain that I won’t be able to check it and other Netflix exclusives for a time because I don’t have a Netflix subscription. Yes, crazy I know, and yes piracy exists, but again that’s only when I’m desperate and I know I cannot get it legally and if it is not easily accessible, like new TV episodes and stuff. I’m curious, though, has anyone managed to catch Klaus? Because I’ve been hearing great stuff, heard its better than Frozen 2 and all that.
Neither can i but it’s not what i imagined it should be. That’s my personal opinion obviously but even though it doesnt really matter in the end , show is as it is now , i’m also not alone in thinking that it could have been handled in different, “better” way.
I remember giving the Polish movie (if that is the really old one? Keep mixing them up) a go and comparing it to the adaption quality of the Clan of the Cave Bear movie. so I definitely think the Netflix series is light years ahead of it.
Yes! I watched Klaus and it was absolutely wonderful, beautiful and fun. It was the best “down to earth” 2D film and film in general I had seen in a very long time. I’ve seen Frozen 2 as well. I don’t like the series. I actually hate it, but Frozen II was okay enough. Still, Klaus was 100000x better. I watched it 3 times in one week.
I’m watching Fire Force / Enen no Shouboutai. At this point, I’m really just watching for the visuals.
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I know my Witcher stuff too. And some of his complaints are exactly what I pointed out. The problem is people look at adaptions toward their source material with an extremely biased lens and they don’t even know it. They don’t know how to judge something without fanlove they’ve applied to the source it comes from. Is the Witcher show different than the books? Of course it is. I think anyone who watched episode 1 and read book 1 could have easily seen that. The show isn’t meant to be a complete retelling of the books. They never were.
The Yennefer comment for example? They aren’t changes necessarily like he said, they’ve simply built off of comments and backstories actually already present and overseen by the author himself. Now, I personally don’t find this as a fault that they wanted to get us to know Yen more, but I do acknowledge that trying to make Yen a tertius protagonist is a mistake and very distracting from the core story it comes from.
There are a lot of changes, I’ve admitted to that and will admit to it. The changes doesn’t mean the show is bad though, or even a bad adaption. Because it typically involves rewriting of some sort to better represent it on its new media (because, again, it is almost impossible to present the source as-in). For all of the changes they made, they still managed to get the core elements of the story down so they can tell the story from the books (just the route to the story diverted a bit), which is most crucial part.
For example, even though they made Nilfgaard (ugh, I know) heavily dependent on the Brotherhood’s/Lodge’s intervention of placing sorceresses (which obviously was only decided upon by the show creators because of book material taken to the extremes) to control kings (and therefore countries), the story still moves toward the same line of having Nilgaard attack Cintra. I’ll still complain about Nilfgaard though, because it is obvious by their disgusting armor design and their culture shift that the show designers imparted their political nonsense into “The Black Ones” because they wanted “really big bad guys” in the show to represent something they believe in now. That’s the only real big gripe anyone should have. The butchering of Nilfgaard.
Anyhow, back on point. They did the same thing that Game of Thrones did. They reworked some story to refit it for the screen. Would we (and I) prefer a more faithful storytelling? Of course, but that’s just not how adaptions (most of the time) work. If it were, I would probably never seen The Wheel of Time come to light on Amazon and we probably never would have seen Game of Thrones or anything else that was even remotely successful. It [WOT] would take them decades to complete the near 15 books faithfully, and all the actors would be old and tired and Amazon would grow tired of it.
In all, it is like saying that because the games don’t jive well with the books (and they don’t) or aren’t canon to them (and they aren’t), the games aren’t good (and we all know they are amazing(. The truth of the matter is, even when the show has taken the liberties it has (minus the horrible Nilfgaardian butchering) it is still a really good show.
People can have the opinions that they have for the show. They have the right to, especially since they are fans. I won’t argue with them, as it is clear they have their opinion set and nothing can change it. I for one, like it, even should it be different from the books.
I had to cleanse my soul after mentioning GOT. lol
@onLooSe
Not sure if you’ll like this, but it popped up whilst I was listening to some Carcass…
I enjoyed it…it was stupid fun, perfect for the holidays. Also, off topic, why did you make your Steam profile private? If you weren’t Danish I’d ask about trolls!
Just watched S2 of Lost in Space. Ms. Smith is still my favorite character of them all. She’s so interesting. Penny is good too, but Smith is such a stark contrast to the Robinson family (who are all almost too perfect it is corny) that how she throws a wrench in their dynamic is just completely entertaining to watch.
Some slight spoilers but mostly just my thoughts
I liked some parts of it more than I liked a lot of the parts of S1 but many moments felt like too much, like some God was purposely intervening to set up intelligence traps just for the family so that they look good to others. Well, except poor Penny.
Overall, it was corny, but it was supposed to be, so I can accept that.
To be honest, I don’t really listen to any metal that has any clean vocals at all…but was getting a little burned out on incredibly raw black metal. As a palate cleanser this one seemed ok but their album is probably forgettable.
—and Jaskier/Dandelion seems a little off sometimes (I have more gripes like that) but the worry I had at first completely vanished. It is clear Lauren really did read the books and tried to represent the story the best she could in a format that would be coherent and still be enjoyable without losing what made it great.
so I definitely think the Netflix series is light years ahead of it.
And some of his complaints are exactly what I pointed out. The problem is people look at adaptions toward their source material with an extremely biased lens and they don’t even know it. They don’t know how to judge something without fanlove they’ve applied to the source it comes from. Is the Witcher show different than the books? Of course it is. I think anyone who watched episode 1 and read book 1 could have easily seen that. The show isn’t meant to be a complete retelling of the books. They never were.
