Just found out The Dark Crystal will be getting a prequel tv series on Netflix.
What do ya make of that then...?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-1aaZgmNJM
Okay not much to go on there but glad they are trying.
One to watch out for perhaps...
Updates to follow as and when they're available...
It'll be 10 episodes long, and it will start shooting in the UK this autumn.
Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, The Incredible Hulk) will be executive producer and director.
Nobody reading the comic book sequel? (https://www.comixology.co.uk/Jim-Hensons-The-Power-of-the-Dark-Crystal-1-of-12/digital-comic/462747) :-)
I must be one of the few people who was never overly impressed with the original movie and am rather surprised that it has garnered classic status over the years. :o
I maybe only one that think this is perfect film that don't need sequels or prequels.
And it not same without Jim Henson as it was his project/personal film.
It will be made by the Jim Henson Company so I'm sure they will treat the project with respect.
Quote from: dweezil2 on 19 May, 2017, 10:13:26 AM
I must be one of the few people who was never overly impressed with the original movie and am rather surprised that it has garnered classic status over the years. :o
Like
Time Bandits,
Watership Down and
The Plague Dogs, it's fairly unique and atypical of what kids films generally look like. Even though it's been made a little more accessible than it originally was in its earlier cuts
- very little English dialogue - it's still rare to see that kind of eclectic and creepy vision get the big-screen treatment. It'd never get made for the multiplex these days so it's interesting to see didn't platforms developing more obscure content.
I think it's a great fantasy film and is technically unique and brilliant. Having said that, I've never understood the appeal of Labyrinth or The Goonies, so I can appreciate not everyone would like The Dark Crystal.
I mean different rather than didn't.
Quote from: Andy Lambert on 19 May, 2017, 11:44:53 AM
I think it's a great fantasy film and is technically unique and brilliant. Having said that, I've never understood the appeal of Labyrinth or The Goonies, so I can appreciate not everyone would like The Dark Crystal.
I was never much a fan of those and I think TDC has aged better than either.
Totally agree with you there, JOE...
I liked The Dark Crystal but the twist was so obvious that it ruined things a bit.
The Goonies is horrible shouty rubbish but it's well made and I can see why people appreciate its feel of adventure.
Labyrinth is an imaginative, fun film and I know for a fact that many young girls (at the time) were quite affected by David Bowie's performance and tight trousers (my girlfriend is one of them - you don't want to know what gets talked about on the Facebook group :-\)
As for dark kids films - the one that always sicks in my mind is The Secret of Nimh. I haven't seen it for years but it freaked me out a bit at the time.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 May, 2017, 10:02:10 AM
Nobody reading the comic book sequel? (https://www.comixology.co.uk/Jim-Hensons-The-Power-of-the-Dark-Crystal-1-of-12/digital-comic/462747) :-)
Wow - whow! What?
How did I miss that one. Is this available as a hard copy does anyone know? Si Spurrier, Dark Crystal, that's gotta be good.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2017, 08:32:30 PM
Si Spurrier, Dark Crystal, that's gotta be good.
Based on the unused screenplay for the sequel, I believe... and, yes, I'm sure I've had comps so it's definitely out in dead tree format...
Quote from: JamesC on 19 May, 2017, 12:57:29 PM
I liked The Dark Crystal but the twist was so obvious that it ruined things a bit.
I didn't realise it was supposed to be a 'twist' kind of film. I thought it's fairly obvious what's happening with the Skeksis and the urRu from the time that the Emperor / Master died simultaneously and even more so when the urRu Alchemist just vanishes at the same time that the Skeksis Scientist dies.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 May, 2017, 08:37:04 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2017, 08:32:30 PM
Si Spurrier, Dark Crystal, that's gotta be good.
Based on the unused screenplay for the sequel, I believe... and, yes, I'm sure I've had comps so it's definitely out in dead tree format...
Yep - I've seen copies in various comic shops. Annoyingly only from about the third issue onwards, otherwise I'd have snapped them up. I'm hoping for a collected edition (still got my so-far unread Marvel adaptation somewhere).
Quote from: sheridan on 19 May, 2017, 08:39:09 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 May, 2017, 08:37:04 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2017, 08:32:30 PM
Si Spurrier, Dark Crystal, that's gotta be good.
Based on the unused screenplay for the sequel, I believe... and, yes, I'm sure I've had comps so it's definitely out in dead tree format...
Yep - I've seen copies in various comic shops. Annoyingly only from about the third issue onwards, otherwise I'd have snapped them up. I'm hoping for a collected edition (still got my so-far unread Marvel adaptation somewhere).
Damn yeah. You can get issue 1 at reasonable price on eBay. 2 at ouch but not horrible money BUT no issue 3. I think this is a trade wait then!
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2017, 09:20:07 PM
Damn yeah. You can get issue 1 at reasonable price on eBay. 2 at ouch but not horrible money BUT no issue 3. I think this is a trade wait then!
At some point in the near future, I
will start flogging my excess comps. I'll drop you a PM when I find these.
Quote from: sheridan on 19 May, 2017, 08:37:50 PM
Quote from: JamesC on 19 May, 2017, 12:57:29 PM
I liked The Dark Crystal but the twist was so obvious that it ruined things a bit.
I didn't realise it was supposed to be a 'twist' kind of film. I thought it's fairly obvious what's happening with the Skeksis and the urRu from the time that the Emperor / Master died simultaneously and even more so when the urRu Alchemist just vanishes at the same time that the Skeksis Scientist dies.
I didn't take it as a 'twist' either. You're told within the first five minutes of the film that two new races were created when the crystal shattered and that the leaders of both races are now dying.
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 May, 2017, 10:11:40 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 19 May, 2017, 09:20:07 PM
Damn yeah. You can get issue 1 at reasonable price on eBay. 2 at ouch but not horrible money BUT no issue 3. I think this is a trade wait then!
At some point in the near future, I will start flogging my excess comps. I'll drop you a PM when I find these.
Defo do as I'll be more than happy to buy them. Thanks Jim.
Quote from: JamesC on 19 May, 2017, 12:57:29 PM
I liked The Dark Crystal but the twist was so obvious that it ruined things a bit.
The Goonies is horrible shouty rubbish but it's well made and I can see why people appreciate its feel of adventure.
Labyrinth is an imaginative, fun film and I know for a fact that many young girls (at the time) were quite affected by David Bowie's performance and tight trousers (my girlfriend is one of them - you don't want to know what gets talked about on the Facebook group :-\)
As for dark kids films - the one that always sicks in my mind is The Secret of Nimh. I haven't seen it for years but it freaked me out a bit at the time.
Personally it was Jennifer Connelly's heaving for me!
Design a New Creature for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
http://darkcrystal.com/design_contest.php (http://darkcrystal.com/design_contest.php)
Quote from: Goaty on 19 May, 2017, 10:24:07 AM
I maybe only one that think this is perfect film that don't need sequels or prequels.
And it not same without Jim Henson as it was his project/personal film.
There was always an intention to do a sequel, and many of the people who worked on the original are still around (and working for the Henson company). If you can get your hands on a copy, have a read of The Making of the Dark Crystal.
Having watched the first episode this has very auspicious beginnings and may turn out to be an example of an all too rare thing: a good prequel.
Quote from: sheridan on 07 September, 2017, 01:25:46 PM
There was always an intention to do a sequel, and many of the people who worked on the original are still around (and working for the Henson company). If you can get your hands on a copy, have a read of The Making of the Dark Crystal.
The Power of the Dark Crystal from BOOM, written by Si Spurrier, is based on the unproduced screenplay for the sequel — available as three TPBs and also as three rather lovely over-size hardbacks, if my comps pile is anything to go by.
(https://www.trbimg.com/img-58adbf99/turbine/la-1487781859-oyyzlofu5w-snap-photo)
I may just have to read this, Jim. I've left it too long.
binged it saturday / sunday - f@@king awesome
also, hats off to simon pegg - his chancellor / frank oz was spot on
must've been good - as i forgot i was watching puppets
PS. DON'T SKIP FORWARD - after the end of episode 10 if you don't skip there's a making of -
including the most amazing fact about [spoiler]the baby from labrynth[/spoiler] i did not know that
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 31 August, 2019, 02:37:30 PM
The Power of the Dark Crystal from BOOM, written by Si Spurrier, is based on the unproduced screenplay for the sequel — available as three TPBs and also as three rather lovely over-size hardbacks, if my comps pile is anything to go by.
And now I know what my girlfriend is getting for Christmas this year - (assuming I can track these down) nice one.
Only watched the first episode so far, but feck me it's marvellous. Gorgeous work backed by a great voice cast, and a captivating setup. It hardly seems possible that it exists.
I'm five episodes in. Really amazed at what they've pulled off. It could easily have been a CGI fest - but they've gone easy on that aspect.
Funnily enough, I only watched the original movie yesterday for the first time. It's a seamless progression from the movie to the series.
It's times like this I ponder my no streaming self restriction, but i've no doubt it'll hit Blu-ray in 6 to 18 months.
I DO love The Dark Crystal though....hhhmmm....
Just finished the series - damn, that was incredible!
Breathtaking visuals, brilliant character and creature designs, exciting storytelling, a fine voice cast and just an amazing production overall. This is a very fine companion to the original film that is now sure to enjoy a new lease of life.
Well worth checking out!
Quote from: zombemybabynow on 02 September, 2019, 04:56:24 PM
binged it saturday / sunday - f@@king awesome
also, hats off to simon pegg - his chancellor / frank oz was spot on
must've been good - as i forgot i was watching puppets
PS. DON'T SKIP FORWARD - after the end of episode 10 if you don't skip there's a making of -
including the most amazing fact about i did not know that
Is it that the concept artist, Brian Froud, drew images of [spoiler]Toby, and a year later he and Wendy had a child who looked exactly like the concept art?[/spoiler]?
It really is jawdroppingly good. 6 episodes in, and I am savouring the last 4. Haven't been this immediately hooked on a series in a long time - possibly since Game of Thrones season 1.
Tried to watch the first episode but couldn't get through it.
Never saw the original movie, though, so maybe the nostalgia and familiarity are a key ingredient?
Just wanted to mention the tie-in comic to the Netflix series, which rewinds to some years before the time the show is set and focusses on several characters' earlier lives. I mean, yes, I'm working on it, but it looks amazing. The art by Matias Basla (also artist on Sparrowhawk, which you should totally buy) and colours by Miquel Muerto are just gorgeous:
(https://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DarkCrystal_AgeofResistance_001_PRESS_6.jpg)
I had never seen the original film so I watched it t'other night. The story was pretty slight but, by thunder, a few dodgy bluescreen effects aside, it looked fantastic. World building at its best.
Then I watched the first two episodes of the series. Wow. They've notched the visuals up to eleven and deepened the story too. It's utterly sumptuous and I can't wait to see the rest.
What times we've reached that have such wonders in them.
Just downed the entire Age of Resistance mini in a few hours, by christ, thats some wonderful stuff.
And that cliffhanger! God thos wretched things gave me nightmares as a lad! Season 2 will be a test of will!
Quotemaybe the nostalgia and familiarity are a key ingredient
I don't have any nostalgia for the original movie (I can honestly barely remember anything about it) but I adored the series (going to rewatch the movie soon).
I can understand why it wouldn't grab people in the way it did me. I tried to get my girlfriend to watch it, but every time she fell asleep within 10 minutes. She also found the Skeksis and the overall tone really unpleasant to watch.
I don't really get on with much that's animated (unless it's along the lines of South Park), so it's probably me and not it. For some reason I can't lose myself in a world that I can't imagine myself in.
Glad everyone who loved the original loves it, though. Not often revivals are met with this much universal acclaim.
True! We're pacing ourselves through it on an episode-or-so-per-week basis at the moment, and the waits are driving me crazy: I find it totally gripping. The bit where everyone met up [spoiler]in the dreamworld, and the All-Maudra was killed* [/spoiler]was ridiculously emotional for a puppet show thats only a few episodes old! My main issue, if I have an issue at all, is that I keep being pulled out of the story to think "how did something this unlikely ever get made so beautifully".
I now crave a Dark Crystal TTRPG quite badly, and I can predict the Switch game is going to cost me a lot of hours..
*Didn't think I'd ever mourn a [spoiler]Helena Bonham-Carter[/spoiler] character!
I downed it the first weekend – so many great scenes: [spoiler]backstory related as puppet-show-within-a-puppet-show and SkekMal becoming a puppet, literally and spiritually, are up there.[/spoiler]
The scene of our heroes, in mourning, singing in a made up language around a campfire while one of them plays a flute should have been laughably silly, but I will freely admit that I almost choked up. So beautiful.
A lot of attention rightfully being paid to the visuals, but the music in this is also first rate.
The making of doc is a must watch.
"Does NOTHING stay dead anymore?!"
:lol: :lol:
Age of Resistance has officially been cancelled by Netflix after just one season.
Absolutely gutting - it was easily my favourite TV show of the last year.
Real kick in the teeth - a show that was better than the original on every level: plot, worldbuikding, acting, humour, and - grud help me - even modelwork and puppetry.
On the other fin, there's something to be said for quitting while you're ahead. Especially when you're that far ahead.
Damn, we just finished watching S1! Netflix really don't seem to care about sustainable shows, they're all about the new show buzz to get people talking and pull in subscribers and don't really care about shows beyond a season or two. I've stopped getting invested in anything they do at this point.
Was looking forward to catching up with this at some point. Does Season 1 stand up on its own?
Quote from: Keef Monkey on 23 September, 2020, 07:24:02 AM
Damn, we just finished watching S1! Netflix really don't seem to care about sustainable shows, they're all about the new show buzz to get people talking and pull in subscribers and don't really care about shows beyond a season or two. I've stopped getting invested in anything they do at this point.
That's literally the reason (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/netflix-originals-cancelled-oa-altered-carbon-sense8) (though there's one or two others in that article).
Netflix is in substantial debt and needs to keep subscribers hooked. It's discovered long-running series don't really achieve that, and that even short-run stuff quickly burns out because people lose interest. On that basis, I imagine we can surmise not enough people watched this show for the service to consider it a worthwhile investment for one or two more seasons. (Anything beyond three is very unlikely these days.)
With the amount of money this stuff costs, if people aren't watching it, it's going to go away. Frankly I'm pleased we even got a season 1 of this.
It's a vicious circle, though. Almost the first thing the missus asks every time we ponder a new series is 'does it have an ending?'. Verrry nervous about committing time to a show that is/will be cancelled mid-story. Often the trigger for us starting watching something is the notification of either at least a second series, or confirmation that it's a one-off (Godless is a good example). Not unlike trade-waiting, I suppose: burnt too many times by buying half a dozen issues of a wonderful comic only to see it cancelled, so reluctant to buy floppies at all now: with the result that we're the very reason new books/teams go under.
The disappointment with Dark Crystal is that it felt like an impossible thing even as we were watching it - if something so miraculous could get one season, why not a second? It really should have found an audience.
okay, I'm in! Haven't really paid attention to this, but given the reviews above....
Now dreading watching this, falling in love and knowing that that's that!
Ah well, here we go!
Quote from: Rately on 23 September, 2020, 11:49:29 AM
Now dreading watching this, falling in love and knowing that that's that!
Ah well, here we go!
The Firefly problem.
Quote from: CalHab on 23 September, 2020, 11:52:52 AM
Quote from: Rately on 23 September, 2020, 11:49:29 AM
Now dreading watching this, falling in love and knowing that that's that!
Ah well, here we go!
The Firefly problem.
Exactly.
And then you have your hopes constantly messed about with by rumoured new scripts, funding!
Another problem is the length of their seasons, they've often said something they look at when renewing shows is how many people who started a season actually finished it, and it's very rare I watch a Netflix season that isn't padded out by a few hours so it's no wonder the viewers drop off.
This is typical of Netflix. How many shows have been cancelled prematurely, by that I mean with a cliffhanger ending. Stop with the cliffhanger endings! Just give us a miniseries.
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 September, 2020, 08:07:11 AM
Was looking forward to catching up with this at some point. Does Season 1 stand up on its own?
I would say yes.
It does sort of set itself up for a second season, but you could definitely enjoy it as a one off too. I mean, you basically know how the Age of Resistance went from the original movie.
It also does have a very satisfying complete arc in and of itself I would say.
Quote from: radiator on 30 September, 2020, 07:46:13 PM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 23 September, 2020, 08:07:11 AM
Was looking forward to catching up with this at some point. Does Season 1 stand up on its own?
I would say yes.
It does sort of set itself up for a second season, but you could definitely enjoy it as a one off too. I mean, you basically know how the Age of Resistance went from the original movie.
That's good to hear. Back on my to watch list then... with sooo much...
Don't think I've been this gutted about a cancellation since the Dredd sequels... :'(
Quote from: radiator on 02 October, 2020, 12:07:39 AM
Don't think I've been this gutted about a cancellation since the Dredd sequels... :'(
Dredd sequels were cancelled? I thought they were only on the cards if Dredd made a certain amount at the box office.
Well, you know what I mean!
Quote from: sheridan on 23 September, 2020, 08:17:14 AM
That's literally the reason (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/netflix-originals-cancelled-oa-altered-carbon-sense8) (though there's one or two others in that article).
good article - the big point being the enormous rise in production costs if the first two seasons are successful - those cheap up and coming talents you took a chance on for your ensemble cast have now become established fan-favourites with agents who can demand massive fees to commit to season 3 onwards.