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Post by Von K on Jul 10, 2023 18:02:44 GMT -5
I have said this before.....IMO the show would be 100x better if the focus was "monster hunt/mystery of the week" format. Use The Witcher Season 2, Episode 1 as the example, X-Files meets Supernatural, but in a fantasy setting. Agreed, at least for the first season that would have given more space to introduce us to Geralt and the Witchers of Kaer Morhan and their gruesome backstory, before moving on to the more complex stuff. Like I said above I thought the strongest scenes are based around Geralt/Cavill, esp in his role as monster hunter. I thought the episode you mentioned was the best of season 2. Alps and bruxae are quite interesting opponents to fight in the game as well. Also thought the striga episode from season 1 was a good one.
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Post by Von K on Jul 10, 2023 18:21:55 GMT -5
Just finished S3E5....I swear if it wasn't for Cavill nobody would be watching this show. The writing isn't bad, you're right, Von K, but they seem to be hurrying the plot along and dropping scenes. For instance, we never saw Ciri leave Aretuza before she ran into Geralt and he ends up going back there with her. Just little stuff like that. I was thinking the scene where the Wild Hunt tried to get her was a dream or something, but it was real after all. I'll watch Part 2 of Season 3 for sure, but it will take a heavy lift for me to watch the Liam Hemsworth run. I think the only reason this show is watchable is Cavill in front of the camera and behind the scenes trying to keep as much of the original material intact as possible. Some of the problems stem from mistakes made in the second season which they had to spend time rolling back in season 3. For instance Yennefer's totally out of character season 2 betrayal meant they had to spend time re-building the trios relationship during season 3 when it should have been there from the get go, as it is in the books. Like you I will follow it through to the end of this season. I may dip into season 4 first episode to see how they handle the transition. Here's a good balanced overview from a fan who has the perspective of having read the books. He too shares your view about the Wild Hunt sequence: SPOILER ALERT for season 3 episodes 1-5! The Witcher: Season 3 - A Desperate Attempt for Redemption
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Post by irondavith on Jul 12, 2023 2:56:00 GMT -5
I have said this before.....IMO the show would be 100x better if the focus was "monster hunt/mystery of the week" format. Use The Witcher Season 2, Episode 1 as the example, X-Files meets Supernatural, but in a fantasy setting. I would love this too. All three games have some truly fantastic side quests...so many could be fleshed out into full length episodes that would be a lot of fun to watch.
I'm mostly enjoying season three, so far, though I don't feel particularly desperate to watch more. I also tend to start to forget who some of the characters are though and what they want as there are just so many. I've completed all the games and read most of the books, but that doesn't help. Or maybe even makes it worse!
I thought the spin-off at Christmas was awful. The anime film was good though.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 12, 2023 14:58:03 GMT -5
Just finished S3E5....I swear if it wasn't for Cavill nobody would be watching this show. The writing isn't bad, you're right, Von K, but they seem to be hurrying the plot along and dropping scenes. For instance, we never saw Ciri leave Aretuza before she ran into Geralt and he ends up going back there with her. Just little stuff like that. I was thinking the scene where the Wild Hunt tried to get her was a dream or something, but it was real after all. I'll watch Part 2 of Season 3 for sure, but it will take a heavy lift for me to watch the Liam Hemsworth run. I think the only reason this show is watchable is Cavill in front of the camera and behind the scenes trying to keep as much of the original material intact as possible. Some of the problems stem from mistakes made in the second season which they had to spend time rolling back in season 3. For instance Yennefer's totally out of character season 2 betrayal meant they had to spend time re-building the trios relationship during season 3 when it should have been there from the get go, as it is in the books. Like you I will follow it through to the end of this season. I may dip into season 4 first episode to see how they handle the transition. Here's a good balanced overview from a fan who has the perspective of having read the books. He too shares your view about the Wild Hunt sequence: SPOILER ALERT for season 3 episodes 1-5! The Witcher: Season 3 - A Desperate Attempt for RedemptionWow, it's like that guy's reading my mind. Thanks, I'll have to subscribe to that channel. He makes great points.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 12, 2023 14:59:38 GMT -5
I have said this before.....IMO the show would be 100x better if the focus was "monster hunt/mystery of the week" format. Use The Witcher Season 2, Episode 1 as the example, X-Files meets Supernatural, but in a fantasy setting. I would love this too. All three games have some truly fantastic side quests...so many could be fleshed out into full length episodes that would be a lot of fun to watch.
I'm mostly enjoying season three, so far, though I don't feel particularly desperate to watch more. I also tend to start to forget who some of the characters are though and what they want as there are just so many. I've completed all the games and read most of the books, but that doesn't help. Or maybe even makes it worse!
I thought the spin-off at Christmas was awful. The anime film was good though.
Agreed, I thought the animated film was pretty good. I need to read more of the source material once this season is finished. From the short stories I've read so far, I really dig it. Check this out, just think how dope it would have been if they surrounded Cavill with Eastern European actors. The tv show really only got Geralt, Chris, and Vesimir close to the books.
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Post by Von K on Jul 15, 2023 17:21:01 GMT -5
Some of the problems stem from mistakes made in the second season which they had to spend time rolling back in season 3. For instance Yennefer's totally out of character season 2 betrayal meant they had to spend time re-building the trios relationship during season 3 when it should have been there from the get go, as it is in the books. Like you I will follow it through to the end of this season. I may dip into season 4 first episode to see how they handle the transition. Here's a good balanced overview from a fan who has the perspective of having read the books. He too shares your view about the Wild Hunt sequence: SPOILER ALERT for season 3 episodes 1-5! The Witcher: Season 3 - A Desperate Attempt for RedemptionWow, it's like that guy's reading my mind. Thanks, I'll have to subscribe to that channel. He makes great points. He only started posting vids a year ago, focused mostly on the Witcher 3 game, and has built up an impressive channel in that time. His other older Witcher TV series vids are worth a watch as well.
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Post by Lonewolf on Jul 17, 2023 12:03:22 GMT -5
Episode 5 was a complete chore to get through, I assume "they" (writers/director/producers) were attempting a clever intrigue/misdirection/whodunit episode, but they failed on every level. Replaying the scenes from a different perspective so the viewer could be in on what was going on, just felt like I had to watch the same boring episode 3 times.......
And the same "they" (writers/director/producers) have really "ramped up" the #politics this season.......
Geralt/The Witcher has been regulated to a side character since season one, and everything else has gone downhill since.
Another property used to push #agendas while simultaneously treating the source material with contempt.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 17, 2023 14:11:14 GMT -5
Another property used to push #agendas while simultaneously treating the source material with contempt. The showrunner and her writer's room had the agenda since day one, sadly. Cavill can only do so much. Maybe we'll get a proper reboot in our lifetime, produced in Poland.
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Post by Von K on Jul 17, 2023 17:07:58 GMT -5
I agree with Lonewolf's Geralt as side character comment. Many viewers new to the material have thought that Yennefer was the Witcher ie that it was the Yennefer show. It's been noted that some of the changed and interpolated material, esp in season two after the first episode, seems like teenage fan fiction conceived by people who aren't even very familiar with the fantasy genre let alone the Witcher setting itself. Blood Origin was the living embodiment of that.
But the one who bears the largest share of the responsibility for this is Sapkowski himself for allowing the showrunners to go amok with his stuff, and not educating himself about (or caring?) what's happening in pop-culture or respect sufficiently the high regard his own people hold for his books, and be willing to defend them accordingly.
I agree with your comment Jason that proper re-boot (perhaps with Cavill back in the lead?) would be cool.
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Post by Von K on Jul 19, 2023 21:51:33 GMT -5
Jason already posted this in the Sword and Sorcery thread a few years back. I thought I'd re-post it here in the Witcher thread for reference:
The Witcher vs. Elric: Popular Plagiarism
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 20, 2023 6:28:09 GMT -5
Cavill and the Stunt Coordinator break down the best scene from Season 3:
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Post by Von K on Jul 20, 2023 15:51:11 GMT -5
Cavill and the Stunt Coordinator break down the best scene from Season 3: Great vid Jason, thanks! Get more of a glimpse here of the sheer amount of work, prep and talent it takes to co-ordinate scenes like this. Re the signs - missed the Igni when I first watched it and I thought the Heliotrope was a Quen, but at least I got the Aard right.
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Post by kemp on Jul 20, 2023 18:17:46 GMT -5
Cavill and the Stunt Coordinator break down the best scene from Season 3: Thanks for making us aware of this one Jason. Agree with Von K's assessment above. Worth the extra work for the one take fight sequence shot, just imagine the pain getting that timing right, aggression verse speed and so on. Pays dividends in the end of course. Fantastic choreography. This could have been included in the HEMA fight thread too. They also added a few snippets of the training.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 22, 2023 22:01:16 GMT -5
A Cavill video from better days:
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Post by Von K on Jul 22, 2023 23:22:05 GMT -5
A Cavill video from better days: Thanks Jason, great vid.
Got a bit of deja vu 'till I realized me and kemp were discussing this in the HEMA thread. This thread may well be a better home for it. Like I said back then - the symbolic use of Renfri's amulet was a nice character based/thematic touch - though I'm not sure if that idea came from HC, the show writers or the books. Not the sort of thing that Conan would do though.
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