Kevin's Watch

Ok, if indeed someone out there is seriously considering making Chrons into a movie, I have some requests, no, demands. And I'm sure other fans do as well. I know we would all hate to see our beloved series ruined by Hollywood cliches, bad acting, ect.
So, here it is, Mr./Mrs. Screen Writer/Producers, if you want the chrons. into a movie, you're going to have to listen to us, after all, we DO know what is best.
I'll start.
#1: Don't sugar coat Covenent. Esp. in the first book TC is a wimp and a coward. He is basically a Pr***.
#2: Don't cast someone with hero quality to play Convenent. Physically, Convenent is weak, his surrival in the land depends entirely on other people. So don't leave this role to the ROCK, ok? Cast someone more realistic.
#3: Don't leave out the rape. I know this is hard to swallow and many people want to throw their books at the wall after reading this, but it is essential to everything that happens in subsequent books. (movies?)
#4: Please get some people that can actually ACT! (And can someone please explain to me why every single fantasy movie all characters must have a British, Scottish, Australian or Irish accent?) We need people that have depth and range and understand the psychological struggle of the characters. Please no Hillary Duff as Lena, ok?
#5: Please do your best to convey how wonderfully brillant the giants & the haruchai are.

Well, that is it for now. Feel free to add.......

I'd agree with all those points. I'd also like to reinforce points 2 and 3.

I think you covered everything pretty well.

On a side note I reckon Hugh Grant would make a good covenant.

While I agree with everything that is said, chances are they will change the books drastically. That's hollywood, folks.

And please for pity sake don't add what was never there or change the ending because you are arrogant enough to think it will make a better story. It rarely works!

I hope though, that they change Lord Foul's name to the Despiser - it sounds better that way.

Book One: Despiser's Bane???

Fangthane the Render sounds more EVIL.
Fangthane's Bane???

cheval wrote:Fangthane's Bane???

Nah... too rhymey...

Maybe just Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Book 1 and make Lord Foul's Bane really little so they go to see the movie before they find out his name is Lord Foul.

A yitto Lord Foul's Bane...wily

I reinforce all the above points, and would like to add: Covenant doesn't get the girl, ok?!

I think that if the filmmakers aren't careful, the Covenant project could suffer from an identity crisis, because there will be the temptation to copy the style of Jackson's LOTR films. Just like how nearly every sci-fi film in the immediate wake of Star Wars was influenced by its style. The LOTR/TCTC debate could very well sink to newer, nastier depths if the only impression a mass viewing audience gets is that of a Tolkien or a Jackson rip-off.

Giants: I think they should use a real actor for Foamfollower, not CGI. The last CG attempt at a really BIG guy was The Hulk, who looked more like The Incredible Green Jello-Man. Maybe by the time they get to doing the Second Chronicles, technology will have advanced enough that computers could render a totally realistic Giant. But it would still have to act, and I don't see how any conceivable CG creation could duplicate all the subtleties and nuances of a living, flesh-and-blood human being. This is one area where it's good to copy the LOTR films: use the same kind of perspective tricks that allowed Jackson to portray the Hobbits without resorting to gimmicky CGI.

Bloodguard: It will be interesting to see what ethnicity they will choose for the Haruchai, given the debate we've had on the subject here at the Watch. Whichever way they go, it should be cool to see them in action. I just wonder if the filmmakers will try to augment the Bloodguard with personal weapons. I hope that doesn't happen, but the temptation is there.


Forestal: Please, NO Treebeard! It would be easy and lazy to model the Forestals after the Ents in LOTR and be done with it. Anyone who understands TCTC will know that the Forestals bear no resemblance to Ents whatsoever. It would be unforgivable if Caerroil Wildwood were reduced to a cartoonish caricature like Treebeard, who looked more like he belonged in a Harry Potter kiddie film.

Woodhelvennin: Will we be seeing a carbon copy of Legolas leaping among the trees? It will be tricky to give a look to the Woodhelvennin that doesn't mirror Jackson's Elves too closely, since there are only so many ways to depict fair-skinned, slender and nimble people who live in trees. Also, a mass audience unfamiliar with TCTC will hear the "-elven" in Woodhelvennin and again will think it's all a rehash of LOTR, if the look of the Woodhelvennin isn't sufficiently distinct on its own.

Stonedownor: Maybe the most "normal" looking people in the movie? Aside from having a tall and big man play Trell. With the Stonedownors at least, there ought to be no confusion with any race from LOTR.

ur-viles: Let's hope they don't regurgitate the whole Orc thing from LOTR. The ur-viles are so different that I shouldn't even have to bring it up, if the filmmakers clearly understand the material. For the hell of it, one difference among many is in intelligence: Orcs and Uruk-hai are basically dumb warriors, while ur-viles are highly intelligent creatures--as befits their stature as masters of lore. Orcs have nothing to do with Cavewights, either. Both may share a lack of mental acumen, but they're built differently. (And I reckon Orcs would lose in a match against the earth-delving strength of Cavewights. The Uruk-hai might be a challenge. I digress...)

Drool Rockworm: Well, if audiences can accept "Grima Wormtongue," then why not Drool Rockworm?

The Lords: First of all, getting Mhoram all wrong will be a sin almost as great as getting Thomas Covenant all wrong. Mhoram and Foamfollower are probably the two most beloved characters in the Chronicles, so the filmmakers are asking for trouble if great care isn't taken with both. Still, it could be argued that Mhoram is the moral center of the story, the character who stands for the Land more than any other, so audiences must identify with him as much as they should identify with Covenant. Foamfollower, maybe to a lesser degree. The films may boil down to the Foamfollower-Mhoram-Covenant relationship. Oh, wait, there's Bannor. Hmmm...the Lords themselves are distinct from anything in LOTR. There shouldn't be any confusion. Anyone who actually confuses the Lords with the Wizards or Istari from LOTR are, in my opinion, out to lunch.

And that's my two-and-a-half cents, for now...

I absolutely agree with everything you wrote there, MM. Great post.

Thanks, LM!

Say, should this thread be moved to the TC forum?

Now you mention it...

What about the year in the Real World?
1977
2005

Good question, drew. Do we suddenly jump from rotary dial telephones to cell phones, and typewriters to word processors?

Are we going to have Covenant turn on his computer, to find his inbox flooded with hate mail? --->"The leper MUST DIE!"

Which would bring up another question: is TC a Windows person or a Mac person? Hmmm...

How about "Attack of the Despiser".

SRD said the title he would've chosen for the first book is Lord Foul's Ritual. Not a bad movie title, either.

How about 'The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Corruption Within?' for the title of the first film?

I have to say that I agree with most everything stated so far in this thread though I am concerned about a few other points. The visual depiction of the Land worries me. Conveying the beauty of Andelain, the Majesty of Revelstone, Seareach, Foul's Creche, the Phone Company. All of these locations are subject to the vision of the director and the art department. I shudder to think of what some "non fan" might come up with. I'm also worried about how Covenant's inner dialog will be handled. A voice over? Do we add conversational dialog to get the TC character to explain his thoughts out loud? What? I hope to be dazzled by the imagination and genius of the filmmakers. I badly want to be blown away. Here's hoping.

aTOMiC wrote:I shudder to think of what some "non fan" might come up with.

According to SRD, the people currently involved are fans; people who read and loved the books when they were younger.

I would rather have no inner dialog at all than a cheesey voice over. They just remind me of tacky day-time soaps like Days of our Lives or The Young and the Restless.

Sum sui generis
Vs