Earthsea
- TV Mini Series
- 2004–2005
- 45m
A reckless young man is destined to become the greatest sorcerer the mystical land of Earthsea has ever known.A reckless young man is destined to become the greatest sorcerer the mystical land of Earthsea has ever known.A reckless young man is destined to become the greatest sorcerer the mystical land of Earthsea has ever known.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 7 wins & 8 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaUrsula K. Le Guin, author of the novels on which the production is based, was critical of the adaptation. Among her complaints was the "whitewashing" of her characters' races (in the novels, few of Le Guin's characters are white). Le Guin also resented a statement published by director Robert Lieberman intoning that she approved of his take on her story.
- GoofsShortly after Ged and Oigon turn their backs to the goat, the crystal from Oigon's staff falls to the ground. After the cut, the crystal is back.
- Quotes
The Dragon: Ask me two questions, wizard, and I will give you the answers.
Ged: Isn't it usually three?
The Dragon: Yes, but with that you're back to two.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Troldspejlet: Episode #33.9 (2005)
Featured review
I am a huge fan of the Earthsea books and have been since the 1970s. I was so excited to hear the books were being adapted into a mini-series, particularly now with the CGI possibilities out there. To say this was a huge disappointment is the understatement of my year. Unlike some, my dismay is not because they changed the story from the books - screen adaptations do that all the time, sometimes to an extreme degree like here. But for that kind of adaptation to be good, you still need good casting, good writing, good acting, and good direction. There was none of that here.
Even my husband, who is not a fan of the books, didn't want to keep watching it (we tuned out after about 45 minutes and then looked in twice more for about two minutes each), purely because the script was so wooden (oh, for the lyricism of Le Guin's original prose!) and the line reading by the actors was so poor - it was like watching a high school play without a breakout star. They took what was a subtle, UNIQUE (the operative word to the max) series of books and made it grotesquely derivative - heartbreaking, given how truly original Le Guin's world was. She had no Sauron or Voldemort equivalent in her books (think about it, you fans of the books) - her whole point was there is only the evil that men do. In her Earthsea, no one is completely evil but everyone is capable of evil acts (even Ged). But obviously Hollywood can only deal with external, black and white conflicts - and so it had to invent a big bad villain (with only a glancing association with an original Le Guin character). I started out very nervous about this, because Ged was cast with blond curly hair - but I couldn't have possibly imagined how profoundly awful it would be.
Please, everyone who is reading and writing these comments - don't blame Le Guin. This mini-series has virtually NOTHING to do with her books.
Even my husband, who is not a fan of the books, didn't want to keep watching it (we tuned out after about 45 minutes and then looked in twice more for about two minutes each), purely because the script was so wooden (oh, for the lyricism of Le Guin's original prose!) and the line reading by the actors was so poor - it was like watching a high school play without a breakout star. They took what was a subtle, UNIQUE (the operative word to the max) series of books and made it grotesquely derivative - heartbreaking, given how truly original Le Guin's world was. She had no Sauron or Voldemort equivalent in her books (think about it, you fans of the books) - her whole point was there is only the evil that men do. In her Earthsea, no one is completely evil but everyone is capable of evil acts (even Ged). But obviously Hollywood can only deal with external, black and white conflicts - and so it had to invent a big bad villain (with only a glancing association with an original Le Guin character). I started out very nervous about this, because Ged was cast with blond curly hair - but I couldn't have possibly imagined how profoundly awful it would be.
Please, everyone who is reading and writing these comments - don't blame Le Guin. This mini-series has virtually NOTHING to do with her books.
Details
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- Countries of origin
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- Also known as
- Legend of Earthsea
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
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