Eragon

Hi. I went to the theater today and saw Eragon (well duh, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this comment) and came on here to read what other people thought of it. I was stunned to find not one good comment in a gigantic trash pile of supposedly witty remarks and reasons on how the movie "sucked". I have not read the book myself (I know I'm going to get bombed for this in a reply later), but I thought the movie was totally awesome, and deserves to be acknowledged as a piece of cinematic art, despite the fact it is merely one and a half hours long or so, but who cares? I certainly don't, and look forward eagerly to the sequel.

Maybe I shall read the book someday, just to see what you people are talking about. I look forward to your well-written protest messages in my in-box later, though I did not mean to offend anyone with this comment. Bye-bye.

When I first heard that a movie is going to be made by the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini, I must say I was very delighted, and I was even more delighted when I heard that Stefen Fangmeier will be the director. I have read the book, and thaught:"What a great movie this is going to be". Unfortunately, I was wrong. First of all, I would dare to say that half of the events that happened in the book weren't shown in the movie at all(reason: Lord of the Rings has less then 400 pages and the movie lasts around 3 hours; Eragon has around 500 pages and it lasts around hour and a half). As a result, instead of complexed, unpredictable fantasy plot you get simple, one-way heading fairy tale. Characters that play very significent role in book(like Murtagh, Ajihad and Angela) are hardly even mentioned in the movie, so that it becomes centered on pretty much only 3 characters-Eragon, Saphira and Brom. Villains and locations lack imagination, so they look cheap and ordinary. Choice of actors is, in my opinion, good, except Edward Speleers. There are way too much "memorable quotes" in the movie, so that movie becomes kind of too much theatrical.Everybody, from director to actors failed, but still, I personally bealive that the biggest failure is Peter Buchman, screenwriter. Although he had a fantastic material to work on, he managed to ruin it, and make a pathetic screenplay from a fantastic bestseller. Only bright side of the movie is always top-of-the-class John Malkovich(King Galbatorix), pretty solid performance by Jeremy Irons (Brom), but most of all dragon Saphira (voice by Rachel Weisz, whose vocal abilities are on very desirable level)

I finished reading Eragon the book on Tuesday, 2 days before the movie premiere in my country on 14 December. Excited I was to watch the movie, but just 15 minutes into the movie and I was sorely disappointed.

Here's what was wrong with the movie: 1. Horrible Story Pacing 2. A LOT of stuff was cut out from the book. Important characters having less than 10 minutes of screen time. Example:Murtaugh 3. Certain laughable dialog. 4. A 497 page book cut down to become a 1 and a half hour movie. 5. Complete Lack of character development. 6. The Story moves at too fast a pace which leads back to Point 2 and 5. 7. The Dwarfs are gone. 8. Lot's of important locations and events gone. 9. The Urgals do not look like what they are described in the book. They look more like big sized men with tattoos.

Take note that I am not bashing the storyline or the book. I read the book and like it as a fun and enjoyable fantasy adventure. It's just that my expectations for the movie was too great, expecting it to be like Harry Potter or LOTR and I ended up disappointed.

Perhaps I would have enjoy it better without reading the book.

How to describe a movie based on a lovely book, that could have had a wonderful franchise, but was so hurriedly done, and so poorly directed as to become a horrible flop? First lets say that while the book has some flaws, this movie is really a disservice to it; a more or less complex plot is reduced to its bare elements making it a very predictable ordeal (as any other story would), the photography doesn't reach the standard set by LOTR or HP, becoming quite bland, the casting -while good on the stronger characters (Brom, Durza, Galbatorix)- is really lacking, particularly on critical characters like Murtagh and Arya, and the music -so critical to convey the emotions of the movie- is so corny and clumsily placed that rather than enhance takes away from the experience. So little works on this movie and so many details are ruined using the cheapest tricks, that any sequel would never make it to the big screen (more so when critical plot points were stripped from the movie).

Having read and enjoyed the books with my 11 year old son, we had high hopes and were both devastated with this ... thing promoted as a movie.

It is indeed a sad, sad adaptation, a proof that some movie execs in its eagerness to make a quick buck have indeed killed what could have been a geese of golden eggs.

Hopefully Mr. Fangmeier will go back to do special effects and never return as a movie director. At least I know that I will never see a movie made by him again.

Say what you will, but Eragon can be a compelling story regardless of what you think it ripped off. With that in mind, I give you Edward Speelers...who probably wouldn't know something compelling if it hit him in the face. In fact, I doubt he would even flinch if something hit him in the face. The biggest problem with Eragon is who plays Eragon himself.

There's an innocence-turned-hard required for this role, but Speelers has one facial gesture: solemnity. When he laughs or smiles or cries (tries to, anyway), it is not believable. He is as wooden a leading actor that I have ever seen in a mainstream film. The fact that the story and the movie is carried upon his shoulders is a problem.

The rest of the performances are at least a little better; John Malkovich chews up the scenery like no other, and it works here. Carlyle's Durza is truly a menace, even though his most prominent scenes are often shrouded in special effects.

That is another thing: the special effects. Some are absolutely stunning (Saphira, the journey through the mountains), yet some are so shoddy that they make you roll your eyes. It's almost as if the filmmakers spent far too much time on Saphira and the accompanying flying scenes to be bothered to put much effort into the rest of them.

In summary, it can be thrilling and visually stimulating at times, but Speelers falls so flat that it ultimately is forgettable. It's a shame that this is a such a mediocre film.