The Witcher |OT| Something More (Dec. 20th Netflix) - TAG SPOILERS WITH EPISODE
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And I think they actually did change the costume designer lol
The Witcher adds Doctor Who costume designer for Season 2, Tim Aslam no longer attached - Redanian Intelligence
We have previously reported that Doctor Who and Henry VIII costume designer Lucinda Wright will be joining the crew of Netflix’s The Witcher, but it was unclear what position exactly would she have in the future of the Henry Cavill series. Now we know. We’ve been able to confirm with Netflix...redanianintelligence.com
I tried to come up with a clever answer to this by googling "shitty armour" and making a post with some shitty armour saying "Here's a sneak peek at the new and improved Nilfgaardian armour" but this is literally what came up:
So good news it's only up from here!
as someone who hasn't read the books, i'm curious. can you expand on this?
They've really outdone themselves. Can't wait to see what the new Nilfgaardian armor looks like if they think this is appropriate gear for a witcher. I legit thought that's a parody 'shop.
Books: Geralt doesn't wear armor, he basically minmaxes agility.
Netflix: Oh, so he's a bulky knight in manboob plate? Got it!
(they could have at least given him a nice pair of nipples)
Books: Geralt doesn't wear armor, he basically minmaxes agility.
Netflix: Oh, so he's a bulky knight in manboob plate? Got it!
(they could have at least given him a nice pair of nipples)
This is actually more or less disconnected from the books, I feel it just looks incredibly cheap on the whole.
I think they nailed the casting for the most important parts - the trio is perfect (and goddamn is Anya Chalotra beautiful), Jaskier is great, Cahir is alright, Calanthe is fantastic. Most mages and sorcerers are pretty hit and miss for me and I'm pretty disappointed in who they cast for next season's Francesca Findabair, but alright. Whatever.
What I really don't like is the very high fantasy approach they seem to be taking and how bad everything therefore looks. Imo Witcher is MOSTLY pretty low fantasy, despite all the fantastical creatures. All the beasts are pretty rare (it's not like the games where there are drowners around every corner) and the magic is somewhat rooted in reality (with the chaos system being similar to the law of conservation); the focus lies on the relationship and the politics.
The show however, in what I assume to be an attempt to differentiate it from GoT, takes a more high fantasy route in its design, but looks like Xena. Just look at Aretuza with its glowing walls. Or Urcheon's weird tornado thing? Or the entire battle of Sodden. Or the dragon episode.
Most things just look like shit tbh. Sure, some things you can argue is due to the budget, which, fine, but others just seem baffling. The most egregious example would be Brokilon, which played a vital part in Geralt and Ciri's story but was kinda glossed over. In the books it's described as this mythical, dangerous forest, inhabited by these elegant, Subbucus-like Dryads.
I always had something like Fangorn Forest from LOTR in mind:
Instead we got Amazons with this weird glow?
The entire appeal about the Dryads, at least how I remember it, that they were somewhat otherwordly - nobody DARES to enter Brokilon because the Dryads, as attractive as they might be in their green nakedness, will basically one shot you with their fancy bows if you even get close to the forest. And hell even if you do get close because they want you to, you wouldn't be able to see them, because they're more like Elves and just part of the forest.
The Dryads are one of the oldest and most revered races in the lore, and I feel like that aspect kinda got lost by making them into this warrior tribe. Which gets also confusing, as they now look like the actual Amazons of the world (the Zerrikanians accompanying Borch). And the forest just looks like every other forest.
Another notable example would be Nilfgaard. Nilfgaard is more like the Roman empire - huge, rich, and actually not aaall that bad? Sure, they'll make you part of their empire, but you could argue that quality of life in general is better down there than with the constantly squabbling Northern Realms. The show just made them like your generic evil empire and kinda forgot about them being fucking loaded (see ballsack armour). The visual aspect of them being vastly superior was basically just ignored.
I feel like, if we're only talking about the visuals, the show misses a lot of the beats from the books. Some are due to the casting (I'm particularly not fond of Vilgefortz, Francesca, and Tissaia), some due to the general production design (a general lack of grittiness imo, armour, beasts), and some just due to their creative choices (Brokilon, Nilfgaard).
...aaand this became a lot longer than expected.
This isn't a game adaptation (or at least it wasn't supposed to be). They're neither green, nor naked in the books.
True, they haven't been described in the books apart from looking very similar to humans. I was just going off the more common depiction of Dryads in the media, games or not, which are often quite scandily-clad and...coloured (god this sounds so wrong).
My main point isn't that they're not green or naked though, but I guess this is just Muphry's Law at play.
Honestly this is probably a perfect encapsulation of my issues with the show.This is actually more or less disconnected from the books, I feel it just looks incredibly cheap on the whole.
I think they nailed the casting for the most important parts - the trio is perfect (and goddamn is Anya Chalotra beautiful), Jaskier is great, Cahir is alright, Calanthe is fantastic. Most mages and sorcerers are pretty hit and miss for me and I'm pretty disappointed in who they cast for next season's Francesca Findabair, but alright. Whatever.
What I really don't like is the very high fantasy approach they seem to be taking and how bad everything therefore looks. Imo Witcher is MOSTLY pretty low fantasy, despite all the fantastical creatures. All the beasts are pretty rare (it's not like the games where there are drowners around every corner) and the magic is somewhat rooted in reality (with the chaos system being similar to the law of conservation); the focus lies on the relationship and the politics.
The show however, in what I assume to be an attempt to differentiate it from GoT, takes a more high fantasy route in its design, but looks like Xena. Just look at Aretuza with its glowing walls. Or Urcheon's weird tornado thing? Or the entire battle of Sodden. Or the dragon episode.
Most things just look like shit tbh. Sure, some things you can argue is due to the budget, which, fine, but others just seem baffling. The most egregious example would be Brokilon, which played a vital part in Geralt and Ciri's story but was kinda glossed over. In the books it's described as this mythical, dangerous forest, inhabited by these elegant, Subbucus-like Dryads.
I always had something like Fangorn Forest from LOTR in mind:
Instead we got Amazons with this weird glow?
The entire appeal about the Dryads, at least how I remember it, that they were somewhat otherwordly - nobody DARES to enter Brokilon because the Dryads, as attractive as they might be in their green nakedness, will basically one shot you with their fancy bows if you even get close to the forest. And hell even if you do get close because they want you to, you wouldn't be able to see them, because they're more like Elves and just part of the forest.
The Dryads are one of the oldest and most revered races in the lore, and I feel like that aspect kinda got lost by making them into this warrior tribe. Which gets also confusing, as they now look like the actual Amazons of the world (the Zerrikanians accompanying Borch). And the forest just looks like every other forest.
Another notable example would be Nilfgaard. Nilfgaard is more like the Roman empire - huge, rich, and actually not aaall that bad? Sure, they'll make you part of their empire, but you could argue that quality of life in general is better down there than with the constantly squabbling Northern Realms. The show just made them like your generic evil empire and kinda forgot about them being fucking loaded (see ballsack armour). The visual aspect of them being vastly superior was basically just ignored.
I feel like, if we're only talking about the visuals, the show misses a lot of the beats from the books. Some are due to the casting (I'm particularly not fond of Vilgefortz, Francesca, and Tissaia), some due to the general production design (a general lack of grittiness imo, armour, beasts), and some just due to their creative choices (Brokilon, Nilfgaard).
...aaand this became a lot longer than expected.
I am admittedly not a book reader but all the critiques of the show stand for me.
I hate the high fantasy approach and it makes it worse that there doesn't seem to be a purposed or cohesive production vision for building this world. I won't say GoT did it perfectly, because for instance I always hated the random choices they made for things like the Lannisters, but it at least attempted to have a lived in and culturally rooted design and identity.
it just doesn't feel like that has been attempted or executed very well here. And since other than the fight coordinator I haven't heard of much turnover, I'm guessing this is basically what the show will be for its run. Which I think is always going to hold it back from really being a top tier fantasy show.
Then I don't really get where you're going with this because they're not some magical tree people with tits in this setting. They're just a different kind people and most of them used to be humans. Netflix dryads look fine.
Like, it would be neat if they looked a little uncanny, but there's so much wrong with that episode, no makeup wizardy could have saved it.
Huh? I very much do think they're magical tree people, even in the books. And again, I'm not even talking about their actual looks (i.e. normal Black women), but more about their dress-up as a warrior tribe.
It'd be like making Rivendell a Steampunk setting and making the Elves look like mechanics. Sure, they'll look fine, Weta is incredibly talented, but that like kinda changes everything about the Elves' culture. Actually, the Elves seem like a fitting comparison. Just make the Dryads look more sophisticated or something. Make them actually look like one of the oldest races in the world. Here they look like the opposite.
They wear camo clothing made from scraps of fabrics, leaves and tree bark. They use war paint. They are a warrior tribe.
There's not much else they could be when their entire existence seems to revolve around protecting the forest.
This is actually more or less disconnected from the books, I feel it just looks incredibly cheap on the whole.
I think they nailed the casting for the most important parts - the trio is perfect (and goddamn is Anya Chalotra beautiful), Jaskier is great, Cahir is alright, Calanthe is fantastic. Most mages and sorcerers are pretty hit and miss for me and I'm pretty disappointed in who they cast for next season's Francesca Findabair, but alright. Whatever.
What I really don't like is the very high fantasy approach they seem to be taking and how bad everything therefore looks. Imo Witcher is MOSTLY pretty low fantasy, despite all the fantastical creatures. All the beasts are pretty rare (it's not like the games where there are drowners around every corner) and the magic is somewhat rooted in reality (with the chaos system being similar to the law of conservation); the focus lies on the relationship and the politics.
The show however, in what I assume to be an attempt to differentiate it from GoT, takes a more high fantasy route in its design, but looks like Xena. Just look at Aretuza with its glowing walls. Or Urcheon's weird tornado thing? Or the entire battle of Sodden. Or the dragon episode.
Most things just look like shit tbh. Sure, some things you can argue is due to the budget, which, fine, but others just seem baffling. The most egregious example would be Brokilon, which played a vital part in Geralt and Ciri's story but was kinda glossed over. In the books it's described as this mythical, dangerous forest, inhabited by these elegant, Subbucus-like Dryads.
I always had something like Fangorn Forest from LOTR in mind:
Instead we got Amazons with this weird glow?
The entire appeal about the Dryads, at least how I remember it, that they were somewhat otherwordly - nobody DARES to enter Brokilon because the Dryads, as attractive as they might be in their green nakedness, will basically one shot you with their fancy bows if you even get close to the forest. And hell even if you do get close because they want you to, you wouldn't be able to see them, because they're more like Elves and just part of the forest.
The Dryads are one of the oldest and most revered races in the lore, and I feel like that aspect kinda got lost by making them into this warrior tribe. Which gets also confusing, as they now look like the actual Amazons of the world (the Zerrikanians accompanying Borch). And the forest just looks like every other forest.
Another notable example would be Nilfgaard. Nilfgaard is more like the Roman empire - huge, rich, and actually not aaall that bad? Sure, they'll make you part of their empire, but you could argue that quality of life in general is better down there than with the constantly squabbling Northern Realms. The show just made them like your generic evil empire and kinda forgot about them being fucking loaded (see ballsack armour). The visual aspect of them being vastly superior was basically just ignored.
I feel like, if we're only talking about the visuals, the show misses a lot of the beats from the books. Some are due to the casting (I'm particularly not fond of Vilgefortz, Francesca, and Tissaia), some due to the general production design (a general lack of grittiness imo, armour, beasts), and some just due to their creative choices (Brokilon, Nilfgaard).
...aaand this became a lot longer than expected.
Pretty spot on regarding my thoughts on the show as well. I don't know, I wanted to love the show but everything around it just feels cheasy almost like a high budget Xena/Hercules. Yet it still feels and at times looks like a cheap show despite the high budget.
And I don't like that they made them a warrior tribe. I feel like you're really not getting this haha
Elves are a forest people too, and they don't look like something you'd see on National Geographic or History Channel.
I'm talking about the books. Sapkowski made them a warrior tribe.
I'd argue that it's open to interpretation, no? Yes, they do wear tree barks, leaves, and war paint, but they look like "people living in the forest" rather than "forest people", you know what I'm saying? I feel like the show's depiction misses that, as they look so rustic like the Zerrikanians.
I got the sense the show tried to depict Nilfgaard as being on the come-up. Most of the show, particularly Yennifer's timeline, seems to be set before they became a big empire, or when they were in a state of decline. The sense they went for seems to be that everybody initially underestimated Nilfgaard, then Emhyr cleaned the place up and started gobbling up neighboring kingdoms and became a real threat before the Northern Realms could react. As I remember it, the general sense of Nilfgaard being the big empire came from the later books. I haven't read those early books in some time though so I could be wrong.
Timelime-wise that would contradict the books a bit. In the books, Nilfgaard, as you said, really wasn't that empire it later became, but that was before Emhyr came to power and cleant up the place, yes.
However, Emhyr came into power shortly after him and Pavetta disappeared. So by the time Nilfgaard attacked the Northern Realms for the first and burnt down Cintra, they were already in pretty good shape. After all, Ciri was only a little kid when Nilfgaard attacked - they didn't have their glow up in that short of a time span.
However, Emhyr came into power shortly after him and Pavetta disappeared. So by the time Nilfgaard attacked the Northern Realms for the first and burnt down Cintra, they were already in pretty good shape. After all, Ciri was only a little kid when Nilfgaard attacked - they didn't have their glow up in that short of a time span.
oh cool. Maybe they will release some photos of the new cast members next.
I'd say Yen is next, they confirmed more tomorrow so. Since the show is about the main trio so much she kinda has to be next haha. Dunno how far they will go but maybe Dandelion (fuck Jaskier) as well since he was so popular.
oh yeah, of course, Yen next.
I want to see Vesemir and Nivellen mainly.
He said he was interested based on the fan campaign to cast him.
Kim Bodnia was cast for the role.
I had no idea who that was. Turns out he was in "In China They Eat Dogs". I recognized his face but not his name.
I guess the guys at CDPR really like her because she's much more prominent in the games than in the books.
Probably a result of them not wanting/being able to use Ciri and Yennefer in the first two games. Triss, especially in Witcher 1, was literally just Yennefer with a different name.
I still don't understand some of the decisions made for Witcher 1, especially Alvin, who was literally just Ciri with a different name.
I can forgive Alvin because of the great twist at the end, but yeah, he was basically just not-Ciri.
In the end, what they did with Triss had a far bigger impact on the overall story though. It's really jarring to see how game Triss is pretty much just a completely different character than book Triss.
Are all these little ditties theyre doing in tweets, are they from the books?
No. Cavill's armor reveal on insta on previous page has an excerpt though.
Well I mean Nilfgaard in the books has problems with racism - if you are not born right in the "heart" of Nilfgaard, you are not a true Nilfgaardian and aren't worthy - there is racism against other races that are not human, slavery is a normal practicing thing in there, they like starting wars without any reason than just to conquer the whole world and not because to help other countries, they burn villages and cities to the ground, they rape and kill innocent people, they plunder, take "worthy" prisoners to be their slaves, they bring destruction with them and all in all they are ruthless..
The Northern countries have their share number of problems but Nilfgaard is on a whole nother level
New story.
I think at this point, especially with these first 2 books, everything will be a remix. They have cast several Time of Contempt characters but they've also introduced Grain of Truth and I think expanded Ciri's stay in Kaer Morhen. So I don't think they're gonna power through the story milestones of both books but we might get introduced to some elements of Time of Contempt. Also might get another short story or two wedged in there, we don't know for sure outside of Grain of Truth.
Of course this could be proven totally wrong by the time they wrap up filming in February.
This doesn't happen in the books. Yennefer's arc is going to be mostly original material and I expect the show to increasingly diverge from the source material as it goes on as a result of all the changes made in season one.
I just finished 103 and the horror elements of this Striga fight was so good. Odd how some effects look really cheap and others well done, or not so odd if it's different VFX studios and time that they have. Best episode so far.
The whole Witcher universe is starting to click for me and I'm starting to get it. I could never get into the book nor the games but I'm liking the world building here.
The whole Witcher universe is starting to click for me and I'm starting to get it. I could never get into the book nor the games but I'm liking the world building here.
I'm on Episode 6 during my binge.
They are rushing this like crazy and need to calm the fuck down. The writing is often very bad, the humor doesn't hit in many cases, and the show looks cheap in many instances due to lighting, visual effects and cinematography.
Best stuff have been Renfri's stuff in Episode 1 and the sword fight at the end, and Episode 3 and it's horror elements. Most everything else have been weak.
They are rushing this like crazy and need to calm the fuck down. The writing is often very bad, the humor doesn't hit in many cases, and the show looks cheap in many instances due to lighting, visual effects and cinematography.
Best stuff have been Renfri's stuff in Episode 1 and the sword fight at the end, and Episode 3 and it's horror elements. Most everything else have been weak.
