Posted by neilg
on 9/21/2008, 7:05 pm, in reply to "Brace Yourselves for the Accent! - Episode Rewatch #2 - The Eye of the Beholder!"
Ok... another late one.. I really wanted to watch this during the afternoon but it was sunny outside so I went for a bike ride instead... the afternoon feels like an altogether more appropriate time to rewatch these episodes...
Mini-Review - Spoilers - possible swearing - children under twelve be warned - what are you doing reading this, anyway, you've got homework to do - go on, go away...
These are all just my opinions...
The Eye of the Beholder.
Beauty is In.
Titles by Yoda.
Dungeon Master, through the Realm of Dungeons and Dragons, you're guide, I am...
Sheila is looking pouty this week. and the sun has bought out her freckles.
Four suns! Do we ever get to see four suns on Realm ever again?
Thinking about it, I'd be quite happy for Realm not to be a consistent universe, unlike, say, Star Wars. It seems more natural that things like suns and moons should shift according to which part of Realm you were in - more fantasy. I don't want to be able to draw a map of Realm's solar system - Realm is, I think, as much a state of mind, a moment-by-moment situation than a locale in which weird shit happens...
Were there four suns in the desert with Ramoud?
I don't like the scorpion because it has a face. It has cats eyes and a mouth with fangs. I just googled scorpion and checked them out - they do have mouths with fang-like parts but they have tiny dot eyes which, I think, makes them scarier. There's such a thing as a Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion which is much scarier than this one, though not as big - check it out - it's hairy!...
"Ye Gads!"
Now, actually I don't have a major problem with Sir John's accent - but I do find him odd as a character and it's just occurred to me that it's as much to do with his situation than anything else.
Scorpion, desert, heat, rocks, somehow doesn't fit, in my imagination, with a Medieval English Knight errant. I guess, though, it is in the nature of Knight's errant to end up in unexpected, far flung locations...
It was a desert last week, too, wasn't it? And there's one in the title sequence.
Blue Dragon. We get a Dragon this week, too.
The Beholder is classic D&D. There were loads of CGI ones in the Dungeons and Dragons movie starring Jeremy Irons who is great and has been in more Sword and Sorcery films than any one man has a right to... which character from the cartoon series could be played by Jeremy Irons? Discuss.
The village of Pendrake is odd, too - quasi-Medieval but with details that are all wrong - am I projecting onto it what I know of the production of the series, or is it more like something out of an Akira Kurosawa film - Medieval Japanese, not Medieval European? Those window frame lattices...
And now that the thought occurs - isn't Sir John more like a typical Samurai archetype than a Knight - is the hired protector of the village a properly Knightly role? I thought they were pretty much independent servants of the King or their 'Lady'? - I guess he could also be a classic Mid-West American Sheriff, too...
Pendrake has a Dentist.
Now, the snail creatures I like - a lot - they are just weird and nasty and there's something malevolent in the way they are relentless in their determination to capture the gang. And they carry sacks, too - which means they came prepared.
Maybe they were out hunting?
During the whole rescue from the snails, Uni is a lot less annoying than normal - is it because she is doing something basically heroic and smart, rather than just being 'cute'? And the pay-off with Sir John rescuing the team for a second time is funny.
Sir John's accent is starting to get annoying now...
Ah, now, this is the weak device in the whole plot isn't it because - "We don't have much" says Diana picking a flower that mysteriously grows in an otherwise flowerless forest of mushrooms - "We don't have much but, here, accept this flower as a sign of our thanks."
Which is the oddest thing in the world to say and do considering that the flower is certainly amongst the many things they actually do not have any of, up until the point that Diana picks one –unless Diana has suddenly claimed dominion over all flora in the region – and, in any case, why on earth would she consider it a gesture of thanks to hand a flower to a Knight? Surely the kiss is way more appropriate and enough?... It's not even a very beautiful flower now we come to it. It's just blue...
Moving on...
"Here, Sir John, here's some sacks you can have as a gesture of our gratitude - careful, they're a bit slimy..."
Presto's hat is proving quite productive this episode - what with the cake and the dustbin lid shield.
"Here, Sir John, is a shield you can have as a gesture of our gratitude..."
Y'know, I'd forgotten that Venger was in this one. Oo, he's so nasty...
Eric's cynicism makes him the best judge of character out of all the gang...
Venger keeps his word and returns Timothy to his father...
does he think it's a punishment of sorts?...
And so, to the denouement. Which is actually really great because of all the jeopardies and the moral decisions that have to be faced. I like Eric's about-face most of all, with his "I can't believe what I'm doing" summing up his whole character neatly - he's faced the same sort of test of character at the end as Sir John and shown the same deep-down fortitude.
Presto's horn frightens the horses...
All in all, then, there's lots to like in this - especially Sir John's character who really faces a proper redemption in the course of the story. Bits of it are clunky - Blueflower, ahem - but there are some great set pieces and the final battle is nicely done and, although I suppose we will get used to the nearly-home-but-not-quite final twist, this is the first time we've seen it and the sacrifice that it entails is keenly felt and genuinely touching.
8/10
--Previous Message--
: The weekend once more - time to enjoy "The Eye of the
: Beholder" in all it's glory
:
: *reminds, for fish*
: Sealgirl
:
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