His Dark Materials ~ (Not Quite) Lost in Adaptation
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2022
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The Golden Compass (aka the Northern Lights) got a second shot at a halfway decent adaptation. Did it pay off?
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something strangely endearing about Dom's spoiler warning coming after he's already casually spoiled the identity of Lyra's parents
Ooooops
Lmao
Luckily I already know who Lyra's parents are
@@maldon3659 oh same, and the TV show doesn't make it hard to guess but I suspect that if you are someone who cares about spoilers this detail is supposed to be something you don't know at the start
Ok anyone who read the book or watched the 2007 movie knows that "spoiler" is just small potatoes.
Not going to lie, I spent a good chunk of the series lusting after Mrs. Coulter's fabulous wardrobe. They definitely did a good job capturing her glamorous adventurer vibe that attracted Lyra in the books.
Yes definitely!!
Still giving her magic kung fu is a strange choice
Nothing of that was essential to the story and neither did help establish her as a character, so what is the point?
@@gustaf3811 costume design is a form of storytelling, often outfits can say things about a character that their words and actions do not.
@@gustaf3811 outfits are absolutely essential to storytelling in a visual medium like TV
What I felt was missing in the series was the intense, almost brutally intimate bond between person and daemon. That was what drew me into the books most. The way this bond was depicted, described, in the books was visceral. In the series, the bond is too sterile - it mostly looks like the relationship between a person and their beloved pet. It doesn't get across its stark physical reality, its life-and-death-importance. I think they would have needed to show more physical and emotional interaction between people and their deamons, a bit like between people who are deeply in love with each other, so much that they seek each others touch, each others eyes, constantly, and immediately feel relief when they touch, look at each other etc., because in a way they are each other, they are one. But in the series, instead of BEING each other we just see them being closely next to each other.
Completely agree. I think this is exemplified in the Bolvangar scene when Lyra and Pan get put under the knife and their bond is almost severed. You can feel Lyra's panic throughout that entire scene, and the fact that, until this point, she had tried to act so strong and appear so brave just drives home the sheer horror of what is about to happen. I had to actually put the book down for a bit after reading that part because, like you said, it was so visceral. The same scene in the show just doesn't ring the same and I think Lyra barely acknowledges Pan when Mrs. Coulter stops the device. In the book, she clings to Pan as she cries, not even caring that Mrs. Coulter is there or that other people are seeing her act so "weak," while in the show, she just stares defiantly at Mrs. Coulter and completely ignores Pan.
I do wonder how failure to demonstrate just how profound the bond between humans and their deamons are will affect events in the third series.
idk how the god damn pokemon anime made me feel more emotional over a human and their animal companion than this show oftentimes, but here we go I guess. makes me wonder if the use of cgi made things more difficult.
@@bebel9 Yep, that scene is my least favourite part of the entire show for that very reason.
@@bebel9 I think they did better with Roger and Salcillia in the final episode. There is clearly panic and fear in both of them. Especially Salcillia.
My biggest problem with the whole series was the scene in which Lyra and Pan are nearly severed. Because before they are put into the machine, Lyra tries to run away without him! She would never in a million years attempt this in the book. Pantalaimon is, literally, everything to her. In the book, she was actually too preoccupied with the distress of someone else touching him and keeping him away from her to do anything else. It also just doesn't make sense that she would try to "save herself" and leave Pan when Pan *is* herself.
Edit: And if my memory serves me correctly, they neglected to show how relieved the two of them were in being rescued and not seperated. The amount of times in the book that Lyra and her dæmon show intense physical affection for one another, especially in times of distress, was hardly ever touched on in the show. I still love the show and think it did a great job, but they did that bond a little dirty imo.
I agree that Lyra was just off. There’s a point in the show where she describes Roger as her best friend…her only friend 😢And that’s just not Lyra. She is very charismatic in the book, has lots of friends, and can talk to anyone. I did absolutely adore the production design of the show though. It is just enough different from our world and looks totally unique.
Yeah, Lyra is that sort of hyper-social girl who can make friend with everyone.Like she befriend almost everyone during her trip, including a grumpy bear, a mercenary aviator that would literally go in suicide mission later just for that girl he saw during two weeks, and all the different children of Oxford.
Roger is a special friend for Lyra, but her only friend is very far from the truth....
I thought it was really weird how much time and effort they put into building up Lyra's relationship with Roger when really the one relationship we really needed to understand from Northern Lights is Lyra and Pan - which they didn't get right at all
@@krankarvolund7771 but it is weird, she is not really hyper social, she treats them all terrible, she should only have that one friend. her being beloved by everyone is the same creepy bs that her mother pulls of to have the kids follow her like the piper from hameln
I think it is just stronger for her not to be such extrovert and lose her only friend, while at the same time being such open hearted and altruistic person
I agree that they could have been bolder on characters arcs. After finishing S3 i think that a more cruel Asriel/Marisa duo with Lyra realizing their sacrifice to save her would have felt so much stronger. Even thought it was by far the most heartbreaking moment (even more than the botanic garden scene)
"Scholastic sanctuary" may be an idea they pulled from Philip Pullman's later books in this universe, The Book Of Dust. It turns out to be a key reason Lyra was allowed to live at Jordan college relatively un-messed-with by the Magisterium all that time.
If I recall, they actually had a scene at some point that was taken from La Belle Sauvage, showing Asriel bringing Lyra to the college
Scholastic Sanctuary is mentioned in Northern Lights when Asriel is talking in private, when he asked about Lyra
@@Alodsin yep, show starts at the end of La Belle Sauvage, with Lord Asrile caring baby Lyra across a flooded Jordan Collage.
I had forgotten the B.o.D.... I wonder how much my appreciation for the show was boosted by my disappointment in the rough-draft quality of The Belle Sauvage (despite it containing some excellent worldbuilding that didn't seem to be efficiently put to use).
@@Soilfood365 I was really disappointed by the Secret Commonwealth, to the point that it made me lose pretty much all my interest in the series
I only watched the first season, but my biggest problem with the show was the relationships between the humans and their dæmons - they felt very lacking, especially from how rarely they physically interacted. Obviously, this is really difficult to do with cg, but it just made the dæmons feel less like they're truly part of their humans.
I agree. I'm one of the rare people who enjoyed the movie (had not read the books), but I think the movie did a better job showing the bond between the people and their daemons, especially Lyra and Pan).
One of the behind-the-scenes vids showed that on-set they had a fleet of puppeteers to perform the daemons, which would then be "dubbed" in CG. I found that the actors warmed to interating with their daemons better as S1 progressed, and then even more so in S2.
Yeah, it makes the dried fish hit less hard...
The second season has whole scenes with dæmons interacting with each other, so...
I think they really nailed that during Roger and Salcillia's death. You can see the fear in both of them. They both know what's coming and are terrified. Especially hearing Salcillia yell "Roger, I don't want to leave you!" show that they have a super close bond.
In my opinion, Dafne Keen is a once in a generation child actor talent. On par with Christina Ricci and Jodi Foster. She is amazing in both Logan and His Dark Materials. I'm looking forward to the rest of her career.
Indeed, agreed. IMHO the less than stellar performances from her in season 1 is largely as a result of the script and the directors, both of which IMHO were largely a little substandard. When you've got really talented and experienced adult actors, they can work with bad directing because of their wealth of experience, and they can even make bad dialogue work. Child actors can't - not because they're bad actors, but just because they inherently have less experience on how these things "should" look. When you've got child actors involved, you need to make sure your scripts and direction are top notch to allow them to really shine where they're good at - acting, rather than expecting them to do as good a job as really experienced adults at fixing your shitty script and your directors who don't understand what they want from the actors. Season 2 was a big improvement on both of these fronts and I think it really shows through in the performances.
how's her english? apparently it was very minimal when she shot logan. but that was a long time ago
@@DeaconTaylor Perfect. Her dad is English and her mom is Spanish. She speaks both. I think she grew up in Spain, so it wouldn't be surprising if her Spanish is better, but no problem with her English now. Slight accent, but to my American ears, I'm hearing that on top of her British accent so its barely noticeable.
@@Muzer0 I agree, I remember at least once hearing a clunker of a line and instantly blaming the script because it wasn't set up
Personally, I think she was the best actress (including actors) on the show, even tho the whole cast was incredible
Also, one thing you didn't mention: Lyra is a storyteller and sometimes - she lies. It's why Mrs Coulter accused her of lying during the bathscene. It is also clear in the movie adaptation... But in the TV show - AFAIK - she hadn't lied a single time, so Mrs Coulter's reaction was really confusing. It's a subtle change but it stood out to me.
It stood out because it was one of the things that in the movie made it feel, when it became clear who her parents were it made sense, while in the series, it doesn't quite work that well for me indeed.
Pretty sure she lies before the Bear fight, maybe not to Yorick, I can't remember, but that was my recollection.
In the novels she is often quite early portrayed as "Lyra the Liar" to the reader and also for characters describing her. I honestly didn't miss that part of Dafne Keen's performance, although her adaptation of Lyra was juuuust a little short, the fact the story followed so closely to Pullman's work on screen is still insane to me
Dom: “If you want me to cover these other seasons at one point, you have to convince me to in the comments. Be compelling and flattering.”
* six days later *
Satan on the phone with Dom: “Once again, be careful what you ask of your fans. This is the third time their adoration of you has put my entire Envy department into paralysis!”
XD!!!
“This is the third month straight that souls were offered to me in exchange for your pumping out more content! Consider me a fulltime sponsor!”
If you do end up so inclined as to review the rest, I would most certainly be ecstatic. The third book is one of my favorite books ever
Same, Amber Spyglass is just amazing, and I read it first time as an adult!
Make sure you read lyra's oxford novella
Ahem: "You simply must review the rest of the series, for it must needs be done, sir, and who but you could do it justice?"
The characters are not the same, that's why even though it's such a good adaptation plotwise, it still feels like something is missing. It's literally because they got everything correct except certain bits of the characters- and really, when you read a story, it's the characters you fall in love with.
I liked a lot of the characters in the show, and a few of them were even an improvement from the books, in my humble opinion (Lee Scoresby comes to mind). But yeah, I don't wholly disagree with you. Especially Lyra felt a bit more bland than she was before. I don't blame Dafne Keen for even a milisecond (she did a pretty great job with what she had). But Lyra was just a bit too passive and emotionally vulnerable in my eyes. She was very emotional in the books, sure, but not quite in the same way. The best word I have for all her big emotions of happiness, love, compassion, rage, sadness, and determination is "fierce", something I just didn't get from BBC-Lyra.
Yep, the characters are the most crucial part of any book. You can have a boring plot, if you have well-developped characters, it just works.
the casting was awful , so bad . only Mrs Coulter and Will were greatly cast . it's funny to watch the will actor next to dafne keen , poor girl can't act he had to carry the dialogue
My main problem (alright my only problem) was that they aged Lyra up. Not just physically- though they do that too- but mentally an emotionally. It is mentioned a bit in the video how Lyra has less childish adoration for her parents, and that really sums it up. She is more mature, and it takes away some of the feeling you get from her as she matures, because she already is mature.
I haven't watched the adaptation, but just seeing the clips in the review I was thinking that she looked too adult for the character. It's not just that the actress looks too old, but even things like her body language and facial expressions don't look childish enough.
Not to mention Aging her up makes logistic troubles from the later books.
I haven't watched the adaptation so I am an not sure what they did to work around that change.
His Dark Materials feels to me like one of the best adaptations out there honestly... Please do season 2, I loved it.
Ditto. This was gorgeous and I do not understand perceptions that it was lacking in any way. You couldn't ask for a better cast or a more dedicated adaptation.
@@paramitch it is a really great adaptation and I love it (specially now that it is finished) but I agree with other people that they didn't get the human-daimon connection that well on screen. I would not hate the whole thing only for that, but I am sure other people would and that's why we never get proper adaptations with proper money to do everything perfect because fans are almost always too tough wiht the critics
As a massive fan of the His Dark Materials books, I can't explain how much I love the show. I know that some things were changed and shifted around, but I think the changes benefited the story and helped it flow much better thematically.
I also love how the show really doesn't hold back when it comes to the dark topics, themes and events that were so prevalent and important in the books. They treat the audience maturely and with a lot of respect.
And not to mention the casting. Casting Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter was a genius move. I was surprised to see how much Dafne Keen crushed the role. Absolutely incredible, she perfectly embodied Lyra in my eyes. And when it comes to Lin Manuel Miranda, while I like his music and think he's a good singer and songwriter, I was a little worried to see him cast. But after seeing him in the role, I think he did wonderfully as Lee.
I can't wait to see the final series because it's coming really soon. I'm interested to see how they adapt some things and the eldritch concepts in The Amber Spyglass (for example: them having to create a language/way to communicate with eldritch beings that have no concept of language).
Wasn't that Mary Malone?
I agree that the slight offness of the characters made this adaptation (so close in plot) a different story to the books. The daemons seem more like a utilitarian asset to forward internal monologue or do things for the characters than an integral, integrated part of who they are. Without that profound sense of union between the characters and their daemons, I'm not sure Lyra's Betrayal in The Amber Spyglass will have the same meaning. Please review season 2 (& 3 when it comes out)!
Portraying daemons as they were in the books would be extremely difficult for any adaptation, because our understanding of that comes from us experiencing it through Lyra's thoughts which is a difficult thing to do in a visual instead of literary medium.
@@markmittelbach7975 They could still have done more to show the strength of the connection between human & daemon. My least favourite scene in the entire show is when Mrs Coulter stops the people at Bolvanger from severing Lyra and Pan, because, in direct contrast to the book, where she goes straight to Pan and is too traumatised to register anyting else that's happening, in the show Lyra walks away from him towards Mrs Coulter. Also, they needed to establish the taboo against touching another person's daemon before that doctor picks Pan up when they're taking Lyra for the procedure, rather then in one off-handed line halfway through series 2.
On the whole, I do like the show, but I really love the daemons, both as a concept and how they're portrayed in the books, so the extent to which the show fails to do them justice has been really disappointing.
I mean. The movies portrayed the connection really well. It's the one thing they did well.@@markmittelbach7975
Amir, the actor who plays Will is honestly fabulous- I’m very impressed with his acting skills
Agreed. Not once did I remember that he was an actor and not Will himself
Absolutely agree, I think his character traits had been watered down a lot for the show though sadly. If Lyra is fierce and Will terrifies witches and they talk about how the look in his eyes terrifies him it's just not there for me sadly.
I thought it was really odd how they began with him learning boxing instead of having a piano teacher and still not quite having that association with fighting and general "street smarts" that the book built up for him. I'd honestly really love some flashbacks to build up his character with his mum more, but it might feel like recovering ground of series 1 I think didn't go far enough
He's wonderful, but so are all the cast for me, honestly. I was very puzzled by Dom's reaction here.
The season 2 has some elements that I never imagined would make it to an adaptation like the shadow monsters and the angels
While I liked both adaptations, I feel that "Northern Lights" is more faithful to the source material, particularly Ruth Wilson's portrayal of Mrs Coulter.
Ruth Wilson's Coulter is FUCKING terrifying! Jesus christ, the amount of times that character has dragged me to the pits of anxiety and made my hairs stand on end. What an incredible villain!
The HBO adaptation is maybe not perfect, but imo it is what it needs to be and I've been at the edge of my seat for the entire ride.
I had the exact opposite reaction to Wilson's Mrs Coulter. Her emotional outbursts made her a lot less terrifying and I barely took her seriously. For me, the scary thing about Mrs Coulter is her duplicity of being incredibly charming as well as cold and always in control (of herself and of the situation). And Nicole Kidman encapsulated that imo.
@@EleiyaUmei TV series added more to her struggle to surviving in a world ruled by men. To have the "fully in control" effect, it means the people in power around her would need to be a lot less forgiving of the fact that she is a woman, give her power, or adore her. I like how in the TV series it's made clear how her status is not on as stable ground as she would hope, and it makes it so satisfying when she gets the others to back off or show she has a reason to be where she is. That cruelling climb I think did not do anything good, for both of Lyra's parents honestly lol
@@EleiyaUmei I agree with this. And the whole "is she s*icidal?" bit really took all her mystery and terror away from her. (Not intended to sound insensitive towards people with such struggles. I just really did not enjoy the way Wilson's Coulter was written so flimsy even though I love Ruth Wilson as an actor)
I think the series Mrs Coulter is interesting in many ways, in particular in exploring the world. But I personally prefer Kidman's version, since she captured the charisma better.
I would love to see Dom cover the subsequent seasons, even with all the death and despair. They do a good job of giving the sad scenes an appropriate emotional weight, in my opinion.
Il Neige has to be, hands down, one of the best additions you've made to your already pretty great series. Like....you just absolutely have to wait for the song every episode (Though I've long been in the habit of letting an episode play all the way through when I found out how much it can matter)
The Gummy Bears riff was pretty good, but my all time favorite so far is "Slag Ass Dragon" based on WAP.
@@michaelmiller3012 Slag Ass Dragon was pure genius
I really loved the Discworld (we didn't start the fire) cover
“The printer is not your motal enemy, no matter what you belive.” - has to be one of the best lines ever, even reading it for the fourth time I’m still snickering.
Also your taste in blades is great. The fact that you have the love of two cats shows what kind of person you are.
This show does tend to fall into the BBC thinking "shouting = drama > characterisation", which kind of flatlines the emotional payoff the characterisation is supposed to bring. Haven't read the books, but the same problems cropped up in the "Around the world in 80 days" adaptation I've been watching and in Dr. Who. Glad people enjoyed this show regardless.
Your first sentence both encapsulates the observation, and is simultaneously a direct negative, of Eddie Izzard's "British Cinema" routine.
It's really rather interesting when applied together.
----
"You can't eat popcorn to that. You just... but no."
Season 3 definitely isn't on hiatus! They wrapped filming in November, and it's still expected to be out this year.
I know I'm so not ready yet. I cried actual tears for book 3.
December!
Dom, love your channel and everything you do! That being said, the "with James MacAvoy and Ruth Wilson filling the roles of her terrible parents" a minute before giving a "spoiler warning" was a bit reckless! 😂
I proudly identify as a die-hard His dark materials fan, both the novels and the tv show. The production values are terrific, the costumes look marvellous and so does everything else. To me this series is the perfect example of adaptation: it is made with a clear respect for the source material and its author, the themes are totally intact and definitely not subtle. The actors fit perfectly in their roles, even the younger performers are more than capable of carrying the necessary emotional weight of the story. The success of the first season is immaculately recreated in the second one, everything is utterly flawless on an adaptation standpoint. Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter continues to be series' most successful element so I highly recommend it
Absolutely genius to have a gummy bears parody at the end, totally forgot that show existed but as soon as the tune came up i knew exactly what the joke was 10/10
I like the show, but my biggest problem with this version is Lyra. It feels like a big part of her arc is gone. She doesn't start insecure about herself and she doesn't have to really work towards understanding the alethiometer, she just kinds of does it right away. Also I get the idea of wanting to portrait her more like a leader now, but it looks like a group of adults follow a bossy little girl for no reason except for her being the protagonist. The actress is great, but the character feels off.
Also, the song made my day :)
Somehow I'm more forgiving of those flaws because of the charisma Dafne Keen brings to the role.
Funnily enough, Lyra's reading the aletheiometer in a book was a gift so she was not learning much (at first) but jumped into a well of divination, so to speak.
Dominic you magnificent powerhouse of a man. Surely a consummate professional such as yourself will find the challenge of the uncomfortable aspects of the later books to only increase the glory of your successful completion of a review. It's hardly E.L. James after all.
As there almost infinitely better written,I felt rubbish for a few days after finishing Amber Spyglass so it may be harder to get through. Also I've sat on the bench in the Oxford Botanic Gardens. 😀
You put my feelings towards this adaption perfectly : great adaptation of the plot, but not quite of the characters. Which is a shame, because I'm afraid some events of the last book won't have the same impact because some personality traits haven't been handled all that well. (I'm mostly worried about how Pan and Lyra seem much less close than in the books, for instance.)
I read an interview where Dafne Keen was asking to cuddle the ermine puppet Pan to show their close relationship but apparently somehow it wouldn’t work with having to apply the CGI to the puppet. She was very disappointed. There’s also a vocal fanbase on Reddit for more red panda Pan.
I could mostly understand some of the characterisation changes because Lyra and Will are now thirteen and fifteen instead of eleven/twelve. But Sam Elliot will always be Scoresby to me.
@@hannahquinn7934 How could that be a problem for the series when the movie could make Lyra and Pan cuddle just fine? (Honest question because I can't fathom a reason^^') I know the series had less budget but CGI technology has improved over the last years and become cheaper if I'm correct.
@@EleiyaUmei I don’t know either. If there’s a TV adaptation of “Serpentine” and The Secret Commonwealth” Lyra and Pan’s strained relationship will be harder to make convincing. In the books Pan curls at Lyra’s neck to sleep but I don’t recall that being in the TV series (yet).
@@EleiyaUmei I thought that too, but it was either of the heads of Bad Wolf talking about how the budget needed them to cut daemons from children because they just couldn't afford it.
If you look at the CGI reels from the show, they're obviously very high budget and they later admitted that before HBO was on board they didn't know how they'd be able to afford the whole show at all.
I think less expensive models and more of them / using the budget for that closeness would have been better, but there are also time constraints. With a film you'd have a lot more time for post production needed for that. Actually having realistic hair movements on top of human interaction with the greenscreen puppet would be incredibly hard to do effectively anyway and I've seen in other behind the scenes that this is maybe one of the hardest things to pull off well. I'd actually like to go back to some of the films scenes and see when they have used that and if they have scenes they've held back on having direct contact.
Seeing the reels the CGI team model from the skeleton to the muscles too, so maybe it's also easier having a mouse as it means less to model. At least terms of a living and breathing ermine vs a still puppet as they'd have more muscles and movements to add and gravity of a wiggly ermine
@@Char10tti3 Thank you for the explanation!
It probably also made a difference that the movie was able to put in these scenes of closeness because of the length of the movie. To have the same effect as the movie, the series would have had to add more scenes which would have been more expensive and time-consuming.
It's just extremely unfortunate and disappointing that there were only so few scenes of people's (espec. Lyra's) bond with their daemons because I personally loved the daemon concept the most about Lyra's world.
Please let me know if/when you managed to analyze the movie's daemon scenes! (But don't feel obligated to analyze them.)
Just want to note that the audible reading of his dark materials is genuinely one of the best audio adaptations I've ever listened to and I really hope as audio books continue to rise in popularity more of them get the budget to have that level of production value and casting
Is it the one where Phillip Pullman himself reads the narrator?
@@katsurakureha998 that's the one
@@jacobr501 It's great! I had it on CD as a kid and listend to it over and over
@@jacobr501 I love those audiobooks so much - getting a full voice cast was a brilliant choice (even if Will is noticeably recast between Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass).
Another "proof" this show was meant to fill the gap of GOT was also the opening. Which is awesome, but have the same style of abstract display of everything the story will bring to us with a stunning orchestral theme and what I can call "strings porn" music.
You say that like it's a bad thing - the trailer is part of the marketing these days. I was so hesitant about this adaptation after having been so hyped with the movie (I was fresh to the books then), but when they released the OP, I was 80% sold.
Same deal with GoT - there were a lot of folks who saw that OP and said, "oh, I've gotta check this out".
the opening of game of thrones was a stroke of genius in that it displayed the sheer sense of scale that george r r martin set out to create. you see how isolated the wall is from the rest of westeros and you understand how lonely it is ... you witness the journey dany makes across the narrow sea ... and more! i personally don't consider the show complicated, but (especially if you're watching week by week and especially if a new plot thread is introduced) it is nice to have a reminder of the world at large.
probably explains why everyone noticed the instant teleportation fast travel in the later seasons lol
i wouldn't say that this style is "necessary" for every piece of dramatic television out there, but as someone who likes the style, i can't complain.
Also adding scenes of characters who never meet in the books
I like how they added Will already in season 1. I remember asking my mother to get the second book (as an audiobook) as an eleven year old and I was convinced for two whole days that she got me the wrong book. The jump from Lyra's magical world without any explanation to basic real world England was JARRING.
I found season 2 quite engaging largely because I think Will Parry is the character who’s been best translated. Remains to be seen if they’ll pull off his stronger mettle in book 3. Also Season 2 is worth examining solely on the basis of that scene between Coulter and Scoresby.
Oh, I was screaming during that scene. So emotionally raw and I have to admit, I love good looking dudes in distress
The bear taking off their armour is so dumb, especially as it makes the fight almost impossible to follow. They're two nigh-identical polar bears, gave them something to distinguish them, like I don't know, AN ARMOUR!
And now we're getting a Percy Jackson TV series with Rick Riordan involved to make up for his non-involvement with the Fox movies.
Here's hoping a certain someone comes back to cover the new version.
Terrence: "Hello, mortals!"
Hopefully there will be no need for the "calm filter"
I guess I'm gonna have the unpopular opinion here and say: I actually really liked the movie! I've read the books multiple times, and still feel like the movie nailed the casting and the - for lack of a better word atm - "vibe" of the first book better than the show. Dakota Blue Richard's portrayal of Lyra felt closer to the boastful, confident liar that book Lyra was (and she felt more true to age than Dafne who was already 14 during filming) ... Daniel Craig I fully bought as this weather-hardened, headstrong asshole ... Nicole Kidman's Marisa Coulter felt absolutely ethereal (and terrifying).
When the show went ahead and gave away the bigger scope of the story (multiple worlds to explore) I was super disappointed. For me, part of the enjoyment of the story is the progression of the stakes. To go from local missing children, to a global institutional conspiracy, to the discovery of inter-world teleportation, to a multi-reality war on God/Death/Entropy ... it's breathtaking! I'm guessing the showrunners wanted to ensure that any new viewers wouldn't get bored by a high fantasy story, and so injected some of the "real world" to keep people's attention. Big mistake overall, in my opinion. Teasing that aspect at the end of the first season would've been my play, but I'm not paid to make TV shows so what do I know, eh?
An unpopular opinion we share. The movie's characters just felt more accurate than the show's.
Seems like it’s a problem of good characters =movie, good plot=show 🧐
I was feeling alone thinking I was the only one here who actually liked the movie version... I tried but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters in the series, especially Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala and yes, Lyra herself.
Firstly, yeah, I sort of agree with most of what you are saying. Though to me still the series probably captures more of what I loved about the books so far, as I wrote above, the intensity that the main characters have, and definitely the parents, with their strong will, charm and drive was better caught in the movie - you can see how they got together and were lightning together, until thunder and a crash, all or nothing persons, including Lyra, who learns more empathy and care over the adventure as her world widens and understanding of others increased, reading her growing into a complete person at the end, which I am not sure the series so far is able to do convincing enough.
I watched the film before reading the books (or knowing of their existence) which is a huge plus (otherwise I would probably hate it.) So. You're not alone. I really like it and still watch it sometimes.
Compelling and flattering, eh? The power of Christ compels you! Also, your hair looks nice.
The purple nail polish!! It’s so pretty
I'd love to see you cover the Subtle Knife. Season 2 was great :D
I absolutely NEED you to continue to cover this show or I'm going to die horribly & painfully. And your nail polish was a beautiful color.
Lord Boreal's sexual attraction to Lyra?! I think I missed that way back and now I'm more concerned about a re-read.
So did I.
I just finished book 3 and didn't pick up on that at all either
That surprised me too! I'm hoping it's just a minor script error and the Dom meant 'Marisa Coulter' there. Otherwise my brain must have also blanked that out in self defence and i'm glad that they toned it down in the series if it was a thing in the book D:
In the Suble Knife, the first time the two of them meet was intensely uncomfortable to read. It starts from Boreal's point of view, where his reaction to seeing Lyra in the museum is...suggestive. And when he goes up to talk with her, it very much feels predatory: he's being overly friendly and talkative, brushing her hand with his etc. When he tried to get her to come with him someplace else, I really got the impression that Mr. Pullman was trying to convey that young girls reading this should watch out for strange men like this. Making him explicitly evil and conniving is another tip-off to that. It's a pretty good and subtle detail in that book.
@@sindrevangenrobberstad2889 Thank you for clarifying that, I definitely didn't pick up on it, and that makes me feel pretty gross.
"Fit the runtime" is a phrase that streaming should have banished. There are no commercials. No fixed schedules. Creators should be able to tailor each episode to its perfect length. Some episodes might be 30 minutes. Other episodes 60 minutes. Whatever fits the needs of the story being told.
Some shows have been doing that, like Squid Game, which has more varied episode length (which I thought worked well). But it could be used more I agree. If you manage to get every episode the same length, fine, that’s not necessarily bad in itself, but creators could be more free with that as a form of expression with streaming.
HDM isn't just for streaming, though - it airs on the BBC here in the UK.
As purple polish wearer of about 10 years or so, am glad to see that you finally got to a decent color instead of your usual boring blue 😘, great content as always!!
Although I haven't yet gotten around to reading the book I really liked the series. And I will never complain about Lin being in anything, he is just too likable and actually blew me away with his acting in season 2. Also have to agree on the soundtrack. The main theme music is brilliant.
The title sequence is so good, they could have made that alone and I'd have been satisfied.
"A true genius never leaves his work unfinished, nor allows a chellenge to hinder his greatness".
Words my grandfather gave me once when I half assed learning to paint.
You finished the twilight abortion, I believe you can overcome this book series too. :)
The Dom lookin good as usual and rocking the nail bling! And let's not forget Sir Terry fighting the epic war against the EVIL PRINTER!
Although, yes, the series is a more faithful adaptation and don’t get me wrong I do love it however the film will always have a special place in my heart and no one will ever measure up to Ian McKellen as Iorek, Eva Green as Serafina and Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby 😌
There were definitely a few more expected characterizations in the movie, but I have to admit I'm fairly impressed by the show, though that will depend on how s3 goes
bella blue definitely, I’m very intrigued to see how they fare with the mulefa!
The show added a few things from the prequel book "The Book of Dust"
I haven't read that yet, but the bit about the extra details about Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison sounded like it might have borrowed from _Once Upon a Time in the North_ . I've only read that once so it's not as ingrained in my brain as the original trilogy...
Edit: just looked at my library listings - I've read book one of _The Book of Dust_ , _La Belle Sauvage_ but not _The Secret Commonwealth_ yet. Just checked it out! Next, _The Serpentine_ because I've somehow missed that one.
Hey, Dom! Magnificent video. Not sure how much compulsion or flattery you need, but I sincerely hope Season Three comes out and you cover it. Dr Malone on the show has been exquisite so far, and I can't wait till I get to see her interacting with the mulefa. Also I really hope to see you leading up to the grand climax when Asriel and Mrs. Coulter grapple with the Metatron. Love your channel as always, sir. Hope you're doing well. :-)
I find Dafne as Lyra and Amir as Will very compelling, too. I want to see Will meet Kirjava at the end and Pan and Kirjava’s journey through the worlds. And Mary seeing her dæmon. I imagine that a really good epilogue would address whether Kirjava is visible in Will’s world when he goes back and how they cope with that, and show the people of his/our world having “invisibly visible” dæmons.
I totally agree!
These are some of my favorite books of all times and you should definitely finish them the conclusion is amazing. I read them when I was in middle school when I was very religious and was using my faith as an excuse to hate myself and these books put the initial hooks of thought that maybe religion isn't for me. They are critical on organized religion without being overbearing and they really struck a cord with me in a difficult time in my life.
HDM is my favorite fantasy series, full stop. But I have sort of resigned to the fact that we will (probably) never have a perfect adaptation of it. In my opinion, it's just a very hard story to adapt to a visual medium. I still have really enjoyed the miniseries, though. It definitely checks off a lot of boxes that the film did not.
Please, if you give season 2 a watch you won't regret it. Lee is an absolute treasure and hero in that season and his interactions with Hester really showcase his bravery and huge heart. Thank you for at least making this one, I appreciate it.
I only watched the first episode of the show. Ironically, considering it was expensive so they could have more daemons, I was too put out by the fact that there weren't daemons everywhere and that there were whole crowd scenes where no one has any.
My goodness, Dom, you beautiful, intelligent man! How shall we ever know the adaptation strength of seasons 2 and 3 without your wit and insight? Surely no other reviewer is up to the task! You are too magnanimous to leave your poor beautiful watchers languishing without episodes for the rest of the adaptation!
I hope that was compelling and flattering enough.
Dom, sweetie, I cannot stress how much you must finish this series! The books shaped my perspective on life as a kid, in the 90s when challenging authority wasn't cool yet. And the ending, that freaking ending will break your heart and leave a hole inside for years. Its not so terribly cruel (its worse), but its so unexpected. And maybe as an adult you can see the ending coming, but it was such a shock all the little hints thru out were leading to a fate that was fabricated by Fate itself to protect itself. ..Then the show comes along creates a balm over that wounded heart that you never thought would close.. please fill your channel with more Lyra and Will and Pan content!
I second this statement. I listened to the series as audio books while I was at work....got to the end of the series and I was full out sobbing at my desk.
I just finished the series and remembered this video. I'm glad I wasn't spoiled and got to be shocked by all the plot twists. Now I have returned to finish the video. 👍
Ooh, this seems like it’ll be fun. Though the introduction is... something. Maybe I shouldn’t be quite this enthusiastic for child murder.
I'm just glad that it has an actual Ending unlike the movie.
The end of the movie was absolutely baffling.
Yeah I can't imagine if we had gotten a sequel, they would have needed to start with THAT scene. That kind of turn you have in the middle of a story, or at the end, gosh.
@@Haikaraa Yeah imagine starting your PG-13 film with the murder of a child
I wasn't sure I would give this serie a try, now I will !
And I would really like you to do the next seasons, as a fan of the books I am really curious to see your takes on it !
Please dearest Dominic- please cover the 2nd and 3rd series now that we have them all!
Lorne Balfe also wrote the soundtrack to the recently released TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time! 😊 it was a pretty baller soundtrack 💗
WoT is something we'll definitely never see a LIA for. 😅
@@whatername528 It would be fun watching him try though :)
Yes, please make a video for His Dark Materials, season 2. You can do it, you, gorgeous, eternally beautiful, incredibly intelligent, cat-loving, fantastically funny, sensitive and sexy man, you! 🥰 I watched the second season, and it does great justice to The Subtle Knife. It is a truly worthy successor.
Also, much love to Il Neige for using Disney's animated TV show Gummi Bears (September 14, 1985 - February 22, 1991) theme song. You made my '80's / '90's inner-child extremely happy. 😁🎶
the show has pieces of Book of Dust and once upon a time in the north to build back story
Scholastic sanctuary is in the books- or at least in the prequel, the Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, which is slightly shown in the first episode of the show
Could well be Pullman's suggestion then.
Seems like a good tweak.
The adaptation has more scope since it isn't obliged to restrict itself to Lyra's pov.
As flawed as the adaptation might be, it rekindled my interest in reading the books and I count that as a win
Haven't been able to hear Dominic's magnificent voice in a while so hopefully he'll cover the other seasons too
Here is shouting out for coverage on the rest of the books! The series is excellent, and the real kickers are in the second and third books. Plus it was really the content of the third book that got the undies of all the Religious Right folks in a twist.
Delighted to hear the reprise of "Armoured Bear". I think that's been my favorite credits song so far and sometimes I still sing it to myself.
this channel and you're lovely videos honestly bring me such joy, thank you
much appreciated as always, even when the book/movie isn't my thing I love your efforts in being fair to the source and the movies
You definitely should watch season 2 of his dark materials. The pacing did feel better to me in season 2. The plot also darkens. You really should give it a try.
I need to finish season 2
I actually find series 2 better paced than the Sublte Knife book - re-read it after series 1 came out, and it felt like things were happening a little too fast.
@@maldon3659 Please do, but be ready for tears.
Thank you for another amazing video! It's always a delight watching your works
Your reviews are awesome and I have no intention of reading or watching them but I love your voice, wit and talent. Also the outtakes featuring Sir Terry make my day.
The two main and pretty much only complains I have with this show are, as the Dom said, that they had the armoured bears fighting _without_ their armors and the other is the relationships with the deamons. Spoilers:
Lyra and Pan are almost separated for ever but when being freed they seems to only care about Mrs Coulter. In the book they crawl to reunite before fainting. The weight of the link between human and deamons is very very much undermined.
Did Lin-Manuel have a great Texas accent? Nope.
Did he have the charisma and sharp wit that Lee needs? YUP!
really appreciated the notif for this one! it didn't show up in my feed at all and id been looking forward to it
Now that the show is complete I sure would love to hear your thoughts on the overall adaptation. A little late I know but you have a way of revisiting things like no other.
I finally got my mom to watch the first episode of the show a few weeks ago. She barely paid attention and at the end of it said "I still think the movie was better." 🤦♀
Dom, you are strong and capable and we have complete faith in your abilities to do great and astound us all.
This was great! Thank you Dom!
Your nails are phenomenal! Great colour on you!
I honestly loved this series. It's probably one of my favourite adaptations of what's considered a young adult novel, along with Shadow and Bone (ooh, Dom, do you think you can review that book/show as well at some point?)
Edit: Fun fact, Lin-Manuel is also a fan of the books. One of his songs from In the Heights, "When the Sun Goes Down", is apparently inspired by a scene from The Amber Spyglass.
"They held the theocracy in the books was a presentation of the catholic church" - it was. So?
The BBC ordered a TWO season series, not three. The third season was an addition, and yet to be finished.
I feel everything you said will be true to the 2nd season, but given the different medium, I don't hold the changes against the show.
I just wish someone had the balls to finally kill God on the screen. That's the whole point of the trilogy.
It also mixes in elements of Calvinism. It's based in Geneva and the sequels reveal it was actually founded by Calvin.
I just wish someone had the balls to finally kill God on the screen. That's the whole point of the trilogy.
NO! IT ISN'T! AT ALL!
I always hate when people say that. Reread the books again, you missed a lot (including the main point) but for short,
-----------------------------*SPOILER*--------------------------
GOD DOSN'T GET KILLED!!!
You could argue he dies of old age, but mostly he NEVER EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE!
The first being (or one of the first beings) that existed in all the universes CLAIMED to be god and that he/she/it created all others.
But he/she/it didn't, wasn't all powerfull and not immortal by any span of the imagination.
They lied about it and then got used by another powerhungry being of the same species as a figurehead for world domination. Against his/her/its will!!!
And that was all a rather small, unimportant thing (in the grand scheme of everything) for our main characters.
@@AkiyukiKitten that is absolutely true, but that's not how the Christian fundamentalists are going to see it.
(SPOILERS BELOW)
The fundamentalists are going to see a figure, identified as God by (some) characters in the story, depicted as an impotent, deceitful tyrant who meets a pathetic end. And then there's Metatron, the other God pretender, who does actually get killed. So yeah, "God" dies in this series, twice, once by violence. Christian fundamentalists have gotten mad at shows for much, much less... but I should hope that now, especially after the success of Good Omens, producers have learned not to fear such reactions.
Late to the party but I was completely obsessed with your nail polish the entire time and HAD to comment. Beautiful!
yes please finish the series! I love your insights on dark fantasy pieces! thanks for all ya do, dom!
Dominic you smart and beautiful creature. You absolutely _have_ to get to the other 2 books as well. They are phenomenal and you absolutely cannot leave them out while reviewing all of fucking Narnia. There has to be some justice in the world.
Balance out concetrated Furry Jesus with some chad "um actually Organized Religion and the idea of a hierarchichal god is cringe" juice
also twilight and 50 shades of grey lol so this would be a treat for Dominic
to me one of the main problems with the show is: In the books Lyra is delighted when she finds out she is going to live with Mrs. Coulter, but here in the show, she doesn't seem.. disappointed, but she also wasn't ecstatic like she was in the books. The entire time it seems like she is already starting to despise Mrs. Coulter. My other big problem is that it didn't show any of her time playing with the gyptian kids and throwing rocks at boats and having little "wars", It didn't show any of that childish spirit.
Oh Dom, it's great to have you take on this adaptation, which my wife loves, but I, who read the books way before the film came out, which we saw because of my urging then - my wife after that started reading the books, loving them - I liked the energy of a lot of the movie, as I wrote as answers to other comments: the main 'family' had this intense charm and drive that made it hard to really dislike them, which well explained how they got so far, including Lyra (to the point that we did sort of hope for an improved 2nd and 3rd part, but well); this video captures my feeling about this series first season well: a lot is done well, but yeah, the characters are a bit off, emotionally toned down I guess (and the demons are more like pets than an integral part of peoples identity and, well soul I suppose). But, since my wife loved season 1, we watched the 2nd season together and for me that did a lot right, including the dr. who was great, and will and lyra's interation too. I would love for you to bring your great talent at analysis and dissection as well as your very pleasant voice to bear on it, as I personally was looking forward to the 3rd season after it, and I'd hope that rather than a bit disappointed as I think we both felt at the end of the 1st on, I'd much rather see you ending a season with such a positive feel, you deserve it as much as I! Regards, and hopefully soon, thanks already it is very much appreciated
You are an emotionally and physically beautiful person and a real treasure, please do season 2 :)
I was looking forward to this so much and sadly i just don't think it really lived up. Most scenes without Lyra are really boring and feel like filler because they're not the emotional core of the story. Lyra also feels like she's been hugely flattened as a character from the scrappy, lying, wildcat backed into a corner girl from the books into just a nice girl who things sort of happen to. It also definitely has a problem where everything is overexplained, to the point where its emotional impact is diminished. Its not terrible, it just doesn't really work on an emotional level, i can't really imagine many people being deeply invested in the character of Lyra from the show
I get the impression that the creators of this show loved Lyra so much, they didn't want to portray her in any way that could be perceived as her having a negative character trait. Notice how her penchant for dishonesty is severely underplayed in this (I don't think it was mentioned at all in the first episode), which is quite a step down from how well it was established in the movie.
As bad as the movie may be, the scene in question was amazing for how it established 1) Lyra's friendly rivalry with the Gyptian kids, 2) her talent for lying, and that 3) humans cannot touch each other's dæmons - all in like 30 seconds screen time without the need for narration.
I'd have to re-watch Season 2 to find out what parts I think didn't work, but I found her less interesting in that too. Maybe it speaks volumes that I can't remember the specifics. Bit one thing I recall - which I really think was missing in the adaptation - was the feeling of bewilderment she gets when she comes to our world for the first time and realising as a reader how strange it must look to her.
Another thing I think says a lot about how Lyra is portrayed in this series is the way Dafne or any other actors talk about the character in interviews. It's mainly just to describe her as this perfect little heroine, never seeming to acknowledge that Lyra has realistically human foibles.
"Boreal’s sexual attraction to Lyra"
....
I guess my brain was kind enough to completely erase that from my memory. If only it'd done the same for one particular scene in book 3.
I'm down to see you tackle the other two books, or at least up to season 2 of the series. There's so much to unpack there, and I'd love to hear your take on it. Either way, amazing video!
My brain has erased that as well as the scene you're talking about ^^' Could you tell me what it is?
@@EleiyaUmei Lemme put a mild spoiler alert just to be safe
----
It was that scene where Will meets a priest (I think it was a priest??) right before meeting Iorek near the beginning of the book. The dude was super creepy and I think he even offered Will alcohol at one point. It's been years since I read it, so honestly I mostly remember just how icky it made me feel.
@@cami12172 Thanks! Okay, I just looked it up in my copy of the book.
It certainly is creepy! Otjez Semjon is his name. He talks much and touches Will's hands and strokes his knees, allegedly to feel if he's cold. He also warns him of the witches, saying that they will take his seed and drain him once he's of age. And yes, he tells Will to drink vodka (which he does). Then he gets close to Will, grabs his shoulders, mutters sth religious and kisses him on the cheeks.
This priest's behavior surely is a reference to the CA in the Catholic Church...
Yeah I didn't pick that up with Lord Boreal, but with I can sorta see where Dom's coming from with the "come into my car little girl" stuff. Yikes. I do remember Will's encounter with the priest- even as a 10 year old reading that it felt so... wrong. When I reread it as a teenager or adult I immediately got the implications... as well as being a dig at the catholic Church, I think there's something about how pullman doesn't pull punches in just how awful the world can be to children, told from the perspective of those children that is unlike any other writer. It's always horrifying.
Personally, I agree the whole scene is uncomfortable, but I saw it less as commentary on CA in Catholic Church, and more that even the Orthodox Church is full of religious sexually repressing whackos, due to Otezs term (Russian for Father) and whole witches stealing seed from men. Pullman loves potraying everyone religious as some type of creepy. Seriously, the only normal sort of religious person you get in the series is that science lady, and even she ends up being an atheist because she fell in love with a man.
Yeah... I disagree with Dom's stance that the books are simply a criticism on organized religion. The author clearly thinks that the only good religious people are the former ones. Speaking as an atheist myself here, btw.
Also, it is another reinforcement of negative Russian stereotypes. An adult priest giving vodka to a child, really? Also kissing on both cheeks is a common tradition in Russia when greeting and saying goodbye, so that one thing shouldn't come across as creepy, and yet here we are.
I probably read this series way too young and the only impression I remember was that they were incredibly intense and odd. You explain the whole series so well… it’s kind of inspired me to revisit them when I have a chance next. So thanks
I would love to see the rest of the series. Your summaries are always so wonderful, and I enjoy the passion you put into each of your videos. Please do the rest! 🙏😊
Hooray! Oh... I typed that before I heard child murder.
Now that I've finished the video, I don't want to push you to cover things that will be painful, I'll be happy with whatever you decide to cover.
A few thing you got wrong: the alethiometer isn’t a magical device, it’s a scientific instrument designed by scholars at some point in the past. Also scholastic sanctuary IS mentioned in the books.
I also have to disagree about the child acting in here. Particularly the kid who plays Rodger is a fantastic actor. And the way that final scene of Lyra talking to Pam while cradling Rodger’s dead body was superbly acted and fantastically adapted from the books.
I've probably only read or watched half of the stuff you cover, but I still watch every episode because you're super enjoyable.
I'm happy for any content. I'd watch recaps of every episode if it meant hearing Il Neige sing "Armoured Bear" over the credits every time.
He’s right about the character differences throwing it off, I couldn’t help feeling all the way throughout that everybody was miscast more so than anybody being a bad actor. It’s more like they’re all the wrong character type.
Thank you for bringing up the panserbjorne... I really loved this adaptation except for the Svalbard treatment. The battle between Iofur and Iorek is supposed to be such a big deal and it was so underwhelming in the series.... Such a big description is made of everything! (Visual things that would not have taken extra time in the show) The enormous contrast between Iofur and Iorek! Iofur bigger, well-fed, manucured, the best most complete most beautiful armor a bear could have.... Iorek thin and exhausted from running without rest for days, his battered armor scraped together but intensely him. Not to mention the actual battle is textually more impressive, ending with the ripped jaw... Idk, it's just... why? (Also the whole "can't lie to a bear" thing... That always seemed so capital to me in the book? In this case yes it would mean extra scenes/screen time but it was always one of the most impactful bits of the book to me).
Agree on all points. Bear fight was so underwhelming in this. Bad choreography and camerawork and you didn’t even see the end of it properly.
Always happy for more Dom!
I really love your show. Thank you for what you do