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The Dark Crystal

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krtek a houby said:
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

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I was already too old for it when it came out but I got dragged along by friends and it was tedious as fuck. I can't imagine two more insipid protagonists than the Gelflings. Apart from the technical craftsmanship of the puppets, what else is there to this film ? The story telling is at the most basic level imaginable, there is nothing approaching decent characterisation or dialogue. And I say that as someone who has always loved The Muppets.

I already see old men shaking their walking sticks at CGI but this year I saw Paddington 2 which was roughly aimed at the same audience as The Dartk Crystal was back then. It wasn't just a good kids film, it was one of the best written, wittiest and most emontionally generous films of the year, which unlike a kiddy snooze fest like The Dark Crystal, is just as entertaining for adults as it is for kids.
 
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Reno said:
I was already too old for it when it came out but I got dragged along by friends and it was tedious as fuck. I can't imagine two more insipid protagonists than the Gelflings. Apart from the technical craftsmanship of the puppets, what else is there to this film ? The story telling and characteristic is at the most basic level imaginable, there is nothing approaching decent characterisation or dialogue. And I say that as someone who has always loved The Muppets.

I already see old men shaking their walking sticks at CGI but this year I saw Paddington 2 which was roughly aimed at the same audience as The Dartk Crystal was back then. It wasn't just a good kids film, it was one of the best written, wittiest and most emontionally generous films of the year, which unlike a kiddy snooze fest like The Dark Crystal, is just as entertaining for adults as it is for kids.
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I respect your opinion, but it's still poo on this one ;)
 
Reno said:
Slave to nostalgia ! :mad:
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Of course. Films played a big part in my life and still do. Yes, the Gelflings look well ropey and all that but that fondness, nay, love for the film can't be erased.

That said, some films don't age well - but I think this one holds up, at the very least on the visual scale as you hint.
 
Reno said:
I was already too old for it when it came out but I got dragged along by friends and it was tedious as fuck. I can't imagine two more insipid protagonists than the Gelflings. Apart from the technical craftsmanship of the puppets, what else is there to this film ? The story telling and characteristic is at the most basic level imaginable, there is no wit to the dialogue. And I say that as someone who has always loved and still loves The Muppets.

I already see old men shaking their walking sticks at CGI but this year I saw Paddington 2 which was roughly aimed at the same audience as The Dartk Crystal was back then. It wasn't just a good kids film, it was one of the best written, wittiest and most emontionally generous films of the year, which unlike a kiddy snooze fest like The Dark Crystal, is just as entertaining for adults as it is for kids.
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Yeah but in those days all you had was a tennis ball to play with and some grim distopian children's books to read. This was the pinnacle of escapism. I don't think I paid much attention to the story line but the world was cool, and the pace mellow.
I cant watch all the new US cgi kids films people say are good as they're too fast for me...a bit relentless with dialogue and facial expressions. Paddington might be an exception to that... Looks quite old fashioned from the trailer
 
ska invita said:
Yeah but in those days all you had was a tennis ball to play with and some grim distopian children's books to read. This was the pinnacle of escapism. I don't think I paid much attention to the story line but the world was cool, and the pace mellow.
I cant watch all the new US cgi kids films people say are good as they're too fast for me...a bit relentless with dialogue and facial expressions. Paddington might be an exception to that... Looks quite old fashioned from the trailer
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The gnarly looking puppets may keep a small child amused, I just don't think the film works if you discovered it at an age older than 12. I was in my late teens in 1982, that as the year when Blade Runner, The Thing, Poltergeist, E.T. and Star Trek II came out and all are films which I still love and watch regularly.

Apart from a few classic Disney films which I appreciate because I’m an animator, I don’t feel attached to films I liked before I was 12 or 13 and I don’t revisit those. Small children have crap taste in films.
 
I think we can be fairly sure that it will look gorgeous (it has a lot of legacy to live up to, more from the influence it had than just the original film itself, and people will be queuing up to work on it) and will have a bog standard fantasy quest plot. Because it’s a Netflix series it will also sag in the middle entirely avoidably and people will somehow be surprised by this.

Beyond that, its possible that it might do it all well, with sharp dialogue and good characters and well written scenes. It might also do it in a very pedestrian way. But I don’t think it will be worse than the original.
 
Reno said:
The gnarly looking puppets may keep a small child amused, I just don't think the film works if you discovered it at an age older than 12. I was in my late teens in 1982, that as the year when Blade Runner, The Thing, Poltergeist, E.T. and Star Trek II came out and all are films which I still love and watch regularly.

Apart from a few classic Disney films which I appreciate because I’m an animator, I don’t feel attached to films I liked before I was 12 or 13 and I don’t revisit those. Small children have crap taste in films.
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HAve you seen this Reno? :eek: xmas favourite...some cool animation in it too


I wonder how well ET holds up?
 
...actually I’ll take back that there are no children’s films which I liked back then and which I still like now. Karel Zeman’s fantasy films were on German TV all the times when I grew up. They were a mixture of animation and live action and they still are wonderful:



 
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