Anybody watching Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime?

[AndyS]

I'm past ep 3 and just not getting into it. Someone said it was Prime's response to Game Of Thrones but I'm not seeing any of the intrigue or political maneuvering. Just witches and goblins and magic oh my!

[ggma]

1. I have it on my watch list.

Sounds like "young adult" (if that is still a category). Something I'll start in the winter while the weather is bad. Is it awful?

gg

[AZSkiffyGeek]

2. Wheel of Time is more traditional "Chosen One" fantasy

What I've watched is okay, but apparently deviates quite a bit from the books (I've never read them, my wife has). Witcher on Netflix is probably closer to GoT, but still more magic and fantasy.

[ggma]

5. Witcher is awesome.

I never cared for Henry Caville until I watched it. Now I can't wait to get moved (selling my house) so I can order the books.

gg

[AZSkiffyGeek]

6. The books are okay

They're translated from Polish so the prose can be a bit stilted, but they are mostly collections of short stories and they translated them pretty well to the screen.
The video games (at least 2 and 3) are awesome and also follow the book plots mostly. I'd played the games before watching or reading, and I recognized a lot from the books.

[ggma]

8. Thank you!

I'm told that the games really follow the books; but I zero aptitude for video games. I have watched the player movies, where players have recorded their moves, and some of them play so well it's like watching a movie.

gg

[TexLaProgressive]

3. I am a fan of the WOT print series

I tried watching this Amazon attempt, but only for one episode. It was so far off that I couldn't find the plot, and the casting was all wrong. I hope Robert Jordan's wife gets some money out of it.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

4. Have you ever seen the b/s "save the rights" "pilot" from about 10 years ago?

It was essentially an infomercial monologue from Billy Zane loosely based on something from the books.
Absolutely awful.
Having not read the books, I didn't have a problem w/ the casting, but I've heard a lot of fans complaining about it. With a dozen 1000+ page novels, it has to condense somewhere, but I understand the first season condensed A LOT.

What I saw of the Netflix series was nowhere near as bad as the Shannara series from a few years ago, at least.

[TexLaProgressive]

9. I haven't seen that

As to stories, I know that I like characters who are believable, complex who drive a plot that is also believable and complex. I know this is asking a lot for an audio/visual medium, but it can be done. I think Amazon Prime and BBC (iirc) “Good Omens” was very well done. It did justice to Terry Prachett and the book. The characters were true and the plot wasn’t mangled.

There are some things left out of the LOTRs by Peter Jackson, which is understandable, but the one thing that Jackson did that never set well with me is in the Return of the King. Aragon always acted nobly, even when he had doubts in his leadership after the loss of Gandalf. Where Jackson lost it for me is having Aragon do this most ignoble thing possible, the killing of an envoy at the gates of Mordor. I don’t care how much a director wants to have a visual dramatic action - you don’t destroy who the character is.

Sorry for the long rant.

[Luciferous]

7. I tried twice to get through the first

episode but just couldn't get into it.