Having just watched this harmless, derivative, typically mediocre production, I was curious how others received it. After reading a few of the comments here, I'm adding mine.
First, I have never read an Earthsea book. Therefore, all I perceived was a rather middle-level "typical" fantasy story. I got a kick out of what I thought was a cheesy ripoff of Harry Potter at the wizard's school, it was so clearly a copy that it would have been laughable at any time.
The acting and production values were, simply, typical Hallmark. Not great, not awful, just bread-on-the-table pulp of the sort that keeps people employed.
If you look at the entire Fantasy/Science Fiction film industry, there are rarely any that are actually better, and many that are a LOT worse (notably better: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, notably worse: 2001's Planet of the Apes) Now that I've said that, if I had been an Earthsea fan, I probably would have been just as furious and felt just as betrayed as anyone commenting here. Clearly, only fans of a book or series should be involved in producing movie versions.
First, I have never read an Earthsea book. Therefore, all I perceived was a rather middle-level "typical" fantasy story. I got a kick out of what I thought was a cheesy ripoff of Harry Potter at the wizard's school, it was so clearly a copy that it would have been laughable at any time.
The acting and production values were, simply, typical Hallmark. Not great, not awful, just bread-on-the-table pulp of the sort that keeps people employed.
If you look at the entire Fantasy/Science Fiction film industry, there are rarely any that are actually better, and many that are a LOT worse (notably better: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, notably worse: 2001's Planet of the Apes) Now that I've said that, if I had been an Earthsea fan, I probably would have been just as furious and felt just as betrayed as anyone commenting here. Clearly, only fans of a book or series should be involved in producing movie versions.