DeputyDave

I couldn't find a recent post about this Sci-Fi channel miniseries. From the previews it looks like it will have spectacular production values, and of course I can never get too much of Lana from Smallvile. I know I read the books when I was in junior high, even though I remember nothing about them (22 or 23 years ago) I do remember liking them.
From my on-screen guide it looks like there are two, 2 hour episodes (repeated several times) on Monday and Tuesday.

Chew

Will be checking it out, but the reviews have been pretty mediocre.

Strafe

I'll definately be watching, but the commercials have been so different than what I had pictured in my head (I've read the entire series) I'm concerned.

Ranger

I'll give it a chance but don't expect much.

Eric F

Any plans for a DVD? I can't watch fuzzy TV anymore.

croaker24

Reviews have been very negative. I'm a big fan of the books, but the guy (Halmi) in charge is such a hack, even LeGuin herself has distanced herself from this production. I think I'll just DVR this and watch later, if it sucks as bad as I'm afraid it does, I can just zap the thing.

Ranger

OK. I watched the first part, not great but not terrible either. I'll watch the second part tomorrow.

jscme

Ok, so I read the first two books (of which this miniseries is based) about 6 months ago and found them difficult to get through, but rewarding once I had managed to get my head around Leguin's very formal writing style. I just saw the first part of the miniseries and can only say to fans of the book to stay as far away from this crap as you can.

DeputyDave

Definitely not on par with Jackson's LOTR (and the comparison's inevitable considering I just finished watching the first two EEs in prep for tomorrows release) but fairly good considering it is made for TV fantasy. I couldn't help thinking "Dragonslayer" meets "Harry Potter" though.
The evil king is a bit silly, and his whole plot to take over the world a bit stupid. My 12 year old seemed to like it though.

mike1977

I hear ya! Darn popup promos over programming and end credit cuts so the soundtrack can't be heard.

Ranger

All right, thank goondess that's over with now.

Strafe

I watched this because I am a fan of the Earthsea books. After the first night I thought, ok they are taking some GREAT liberties with the story. After the second night I now feel that the story got F'ed in the A. On it's own, I definately could have skipped it.

Adam Tyner

It should be airing on Universal-HD, although a date hasn't been scheduled yet, as far as I know.

RoQuEr

zing!

http://www.ursulakleguin.com/UKL_info.html

adamblast

I imagine this will grow old and moldy on my TiVo, then eventually get erased sometime this spring without having been watched.

das Monkey

I don't say this to troll, but did anyone really expect different? Seriously, when is the last time a Sci-Fi (sic) Channel mini-series (not based on something already high quality) didn't suck hardcore? These things are always terrible. I learned long ago not to fall for the promising promos.

das

Terrell

I don't know if this applies, but the original Battlestar Galactica TV series sucked tool. However, the mini-series was actually pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

Farscape: Peacekeeper War was a fantastic mini-series, although the TV show was very good. So it doesn't apply to your question.

I would have to agree that Earthsea was not good at all. It was slow and boring, and didn't engage me one bit. Neither did the characters.

That's a silly comparison don't you think? This is an inexpensive made for TV mini-series. LOTR is a very expensive film trilogy with state of the art filmmaking tools available. Of course it doesn't compare. It wouldn't compare to Van Helsing for that matter, at least technically.