Eragon - movie release Dec. 15th

[JEC]

Eragon is the first book of the Inheritance trilogy written by Paolini. The first two books (Eragon and Eldest) have been published and are pretty good.

These two links will get you to the trailer of the movie:

http://movies.aol.com/movie/eragon/22358/trailer

http://www.eragonmovie.com/

[mrbiggs]

I enjoyed Eragon, but I didn't read the second one. I thought that the naming was pretty crappy, however. (Eragon, dragon...come on)

I predict that the movie will be a dissapointment.

[Angwilwileth]

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with how the dragon looks. I might see this movie just to see that. (Angie likes dragons)

[Sabresque]

Actually looks like fun

[Gav]

I've not read the books. But, from viewing the trailer, it appears to be a film so laden with fantasy cliche that I can't see me going to see it. I guess I'll have to wait and see what people I know say. My guess it'll be a rental when I am bored. Which is a pity because I had hope that I would be a bit more excited about it.

[latenight]

Also noted, there will be an xbox360 game of this title.

[telkanuru]

Originally Posted by JEC

and are pretty good.

...
So all we do for a good book these days is rip the organs out of Lord of the Rings, slap on the limbs of Star Wars, add a few tidbits, and there you have it?

This, while about another thing, pretty much sums up my opinion on how the book was made..

[JEC]

In painting, there are only a few colors; in literature and movies, it has been argued that there are about just 40 original plots. The art is in the presentation of the ideas and the development of complex characters. The books of Lord of the Rings borrowed many themes from prior legends ranging from scandinavian and german mithology, greek mithology, to the Christian Bible. Just as in science, most of the true knowledge is incremental work.

I disagree with you regarding the value of the Inheritance first two books. I have read several thousands of "world literature" books, and these books are pretty good. They will be read in the future. The fox-bot cartoon was funny.

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by telkanuru

So all we do for a good book these days is rip the organs out of Lord of the Rings, slap on the limbs of Star Wars, add a few tidbits, and there you have it?

Hmmmm...sounds good to me!

[telkanuru]

Originally Posted by JEC

In painting, there are only a few colors; in literature and movies, it has been argued that there are about just 40 original plots. The art is in the presentation of the ideas and the development of complex characters. The books of Lord of the Rings borrowed many themes from prior legends ranging from scandinavian and german mithology, greek mithology, to the Christian Bible. Just as in science, most of the true knowledge is incremental work.

I disagree with you regarding the value of the Inheritance first two books. I have read several thousands of "world literature" books, and these books are pretty good. They will be read in the future. The fox-bot cartoon was funny.

The difference in my mind is that Tolkien waited a few hundred/thousand years to start ripping things off, not basically 2 years (movies, remember).

Also, Tolkien was not the son of the publisher who printed his book...

[JEC]

Originally Posted by telkanuru

Also, Tolkien was not the son of the publisher who printed his book...

True, but as compared to Tolkien, who only had a group of Literature and English professors (including C.S. Lewis - Narnia) to bounce back and polish his ideas, and a University Press (Oxford) to publish early works. If you use this as your litmus test, then out of the contemporary books-made-into-movie authors, J.K. Rowling is the real genius.

The best way to critique a book is to read first a book and only later the story behind the writing of the book.

[Gav]

If you use this as your litmus test, then out of the contemporary books-made-into-movie authors, J.K. Rowling is the real genius.

You what?

[JEC]

Originally Posted by Gav

You what?

Reductio ad absurdum!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

[Gav]

Jec,

I don't understand what it is that you are trying to communicate. Better?

[Zilverzmurfen]

Originally Posted by Gav

...it appears to be a film so laden with fantasy cliche that I can't see me going to see it.

Doh. I totally didn't get the 'fantasy' reference until I re-read the authors name.

At first I thought it said Pasolini...

[gtmac]

I tend to agree with Gav. It's true that Tolkien's stuff was not wholly original, but there's a diference between unoriginal work and cliche and that difference is volume of repetition. There's nothing new under the sun, but since Tolkien initially published The Lord Of The Rings the volume of fantasy works has exploded.

I haven't read Eregon or the others in the series, but the initial part of the trailer reminded me much of Dragonheart, not in quality or scope, but in the storyline of the dormant dragon/hero that is prophesised(sp?) to rise up against the evil king.

The cast looks excellent, but that seems like a glossy cover on a derivitive work. You know you're going to at least sort of like it because it's like other stuff you like, but you don't expect anything new from it. These days that doesn't get my $10 bucks.

I would like to read at least the first book, though, as the real difference between many fantasy novels is writing style.

[noodle]

Originally Posted by gtmac

I tend to agree with Gav. It's true that Tolkien's stuff was not wholly original, but there's a diference between unoriginal work and cliche and that difference is volume of repetition. There's nothing new under the sun, but since Tolkien initially published The Lord Of The Rings the volume of fantasy works has exploded.

“A good artist borrows, a great artist steals.” - Pablo Picasso

[JEC]

Unlike my slow moving fencing actions, here it goes again...

There are fantasy book writers who have had their books made into movies recently.... Tolkien's Lord of the Ring trilogy, Rowling's Harry Potter adventures, Lewis' chronicles of Narnia, and the upcoming Paolini's Eragon. Telkanuru suggested that the intrinsic value of some of these books (all written within the last 75 years) was diminished because they borrowed and pasted several of their themes. Furthermore, Telkanuru suggested that Paolini's work was not of high quality because it took his parents (owners of a small publishing house) to print the first edition of his book (later edited and published by Alfred Knopf).

Thus:
1. The fantasy writers who received help during publishing have less value in their work.
2. Out of the 4 writers described above, Rowling was the only one who struggled in getting her work published because she had no connections in the publishing world.

Therefore, if 1 is correct, then, Rowling's books have the most value. This conclusion is absurd! The logic method is known as reductio ad absurdum!. You could see the reference posted.

FYI: the Eragon and Eldest books were in the NY bestselling books list for several weeks, and Eragon is still like #540 and Eldest #230 in the Amazon most sold books this year.

[telkanuru]

Originally Posted by JEC

Unlike my slow moving fencing actions, here it goes again...

There are fantasy book writers who have had their books made into movies recently.... Tolkien's Lord of the Ring trilogy, Rowling's Harry Potter adventures, Lewis' chronicles of Narnia, and the upcoming Paolini's Eragon. Telkanuru suggested that the intrinsic value of some of these books (all written within the last 75 years) was diminished because they borrowed and pasted several of their themes. Furthermore, Telkanuru suggested that Paolini's work was not of high quality because it took his parents (owners of a small publishing house) to print the first edition of his book (later edited and published by Alfred Knopf).

Thus:
1. The fantasy writers who received help during publishing have less value in their work.
2. Out of the 4 writers described above, Rowling was the only one who struggled in getting her work published because she had no connections in the publishing world.

Therefore, if 1 is correct, then, Rowling's books have the most value. This conclusion is absurd! The logic method is known as reductio ad absurdum!. You could see the reference posted.

FYI: the Eragon and Eldest books were in the NY bestselling books list for several weeks, and Eragon is still like #540 and Eldest #230 in the Amazon most sold books this year.

Nice try. If you want to represent my arguments for refutation, do it right.

1) Several 'classics' of Fant/SciFi have been made into movies/brought back into the public view recently
2) All these books borrow names, concepts, and general tone from earlier mythologies
3) The E. series borrows directly from these works in terms of themes, plot lines, and characters
4) The series reads like it was written by a 16 year old boy, as in fact it was.
5) The 16 year old boy's mother was in charge of the company that got the book published.

From these I conclude
1) The book was published to ride the current wave of a. F/SiFi (LotR/Chon. movies) and b. getting our children interested in books (HP)

2) There were probly several other similar books out there that could have been used in the same fashion, but this one was chosen due to nepotisim and the novelty of the young author

LotR and CoN have stood for some time as great works of fiction (and HP will most likely stand the test of time and do the same) because while they took previous ideas and mythologies, they combined them into something entirely unique, new, thought provoking, and interesting. I would add to this list Ender's Game and The Wizard of Earthsea. The E. series, IMHO merely rehashes the greater works and combines them with a 10th grade D&D game plot to produce yet another work of utter medeocrady that is only noticed above the mass of uninteresting fantasy works due to its superior media coverage.

[telkanuru]

Oh, and I included starwars here because the plot of the first book is:

Luke/Eriagon finds out it his his destiny to be a jedi/dragonrider when droids/an egg crash land and ruin his quiet life on his moisture/vegetable farm. He then embarks on a quest to join the rebel alliance/rebellion against the empire/empire with an old tutor named Obi Wan/Brom who teaches him and gives him his father's light sabre/sword but does not reveal his father is actually a servant of the emperor. Obi Wan/Brom then dies protecting Luke/Eriagon and he sets off to find Yoda/Old Teacher Dude he saw in a dream. Also against all odds he single handedly destroys the Death Star/a Shade saving the rebel base/dwarf city. Etc. I mean, come on...