It's a shame because I really like the new design of Saphira. Not just the bird wings but the more mammal-like head is also a nice touch that you'd think would work well with a more softer and intelligent type of dragon than many other universes.
I like the main design of Saphira but I wasn't a huge fan of the feathered wings (just personal preference though to be honest). But the design of the non-human races was where I think they really dropped the ball, also a lot of the casting choices (with the exception of Jeremy Irons as Brom).
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Yeah, they really weren't inspired that day. Hate the looks for the lethrblaka and ra'zac. The latter may be the most underdesigned creatures I've ever seen.
Haha I forgot about that. I like most of the series but I wasn't really a fan of the ending to be honest, especially how Galbatorix was eventually defeated.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt I think Paolini wrote himself into a bit of a corner with the ending, Galbatorix was too overpowered to defeat by conventional means so he had to come up with some other way. I thought that was fine, Arya becoming queen of the elves was the worst part of the ending for me, the Arya we knew would never have accepted that role.
@@mattnar3865 Yeah couldn't agree more with you. The dragon hearts were bad enough, but then Paolini for some reason gave him the name of the ancient language as well, making him completely unbeatable. It's a shame because he kind of foreshadowed a more interesting final conflict, only to throw it away. And yep agree with you on Arya as well. Also her being both a rider and the queen contradicted the whole philosophy of the riders.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2ptIn the first book, Eragon asks Brom what would happen if you found the name of The Ancient Language so I would say that the eventual climax was genuinely foreshadowed
10:59, they don’t look like the kind of people who would use “hornless” as a slur the way the Urgals in the books do. Do movie Urgals even have horned heads?
so the first time I saw Eragon I didn't know it was a book adaptation and I thought it was a good movie, then I read the books and realized how much they butchered the source material. Although the actors were great with what they had to work with I just never looked at the movie again.
This was a brilliant summary of many of the greatest flaws with the film. I love the books, flawed and simpler than many high fantasy worlds they’re compared to but it sometimes seems like people both forget and dismiss how old Christopher was when he started writing them. If you try to compare them with Tolkien who was over 20 years older, had a family and had fought in a war then of course they won’t have the same depth and maturity. Despite this the series shows a decently complex and developed world and off the top of my head I can’t think of any of the main characters especially the povs that don’t go through significant arcs and growth. There was so much that could have gone right with the film, decent budget and enough technological advancement to do justice to the world. I think the casting choices were terrible for the most part, majority are decent and in some cases excellent actors but the writing prevented pretty much any chance of them doing justice to their characters. Probably my least favourite depiction is Arya, book Arya is opaque, seemingly mercurial, guarded and stoic concealing an independent, passionate and importantly loving person. Unlike many female characters who are introduced as tough and cold who almost immediately drop this facade, whist far from the entirely these are inherent parts of her personality compounded by loss and conflict. She and the other elves are meant to be alien and unpredictable to the humans and the reader. This is part of eragons fascination with her and why her character adds so much to the story. None of this was present in the film and further to your point of Saphiras lack of autonomy and self, Aryas relationship and respect for saphira speaks to her individuality and agency. I saw recently that Disney are planning to reboot the series, can’t say I’m overly optimistic, their track record for straying off source material in recent years along with somehow diminishing quality and overuse of cgi doesn’t bode well. Similarly many of Disneys recent female protagonists have a tendency to be so fully developed it leaves little room for character development beyond a need to “believe in themselves” this is in contrast to Paolini’s protagonists that are flawed, make mistakes and grow as they meet challenges along the way. I’ll probably give it go though! Does it show I rarely have rarely have anyone to geek out about on this topic? 😅 Nice vid 👌😎
Thanks very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I ended up getting carried away and re-reading the series after making this and I agree with you on a lot of counts. Considering how old Christopher was when he wrote the series, he did a really great job, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed re-reading the story. Eragon is actually a really great main character. The movie is shockingly disappointing, and I feel for the author because I really think the series could have reached a whole new audience if it had been done well and treated with respect. Your point about the elves is bang on - Arya felt more like a teenage girl in the movie instead of a regal, immortal elf. I love the scenes in the books where the difference between elves and humans is emphasised, like for example when one of the Varden magicians delves into the mind of one of the spellcasters and pretty much breaks his mind as a result of it. I had no idea Disney were planning on rebooting the series, but I really doubt they'll be able to do it justice. As you said, they tend to borrow the name of a franchise without actually caring to pay homage to the source material. If there's enough interest in this video, I'd like to do a few more on the series, but we'll see how this goes.
God, it's been so long I saw this film. It was very close around the time I read the first book too, so the film really felt like some pretty bad fanfiction (though even Eragon the book wasn't exactly masterclass in writing, but Paolini was like 15 years old). I did like some of the actors in the film despite all the lore and character inconsistencies and I especially enjoyed Robert Carlyle as Durza. I should probably rewatch this actually just to see if it really is as bad as I recall. Great video, btw.
Thank you! Glad you liked it. Yeah considering Paolini was so young I think he did a pretty good job at the series. I do have some gripes but nothing major (except maybe the ending). Exactly as you said though, the movie felt like vaguely connected fan fiction. Durza was good casting, as was Brom, but everyone else was poorly done. I can't even recommend rewatching the movie honestly, unless you just want to watch it for a laugh and not take it too seriously. But it was pretty painful for me to rewatch it to make this video.
I have to highly disagree. I think that you are over thinking way too much the relationship that Eragon and Saphira have which is way more clearer and closer in the movie compared to the book which is over complicated, and actually not made all that clear; she comes off as being more of a mother hen to him and seemingly knows a lot more than he does, which is technically true because she’s a dragon, but also doesn’t make a lot of sense because he raised her, so does it not make more sense for her to already be smart enough to name herself and be how she is in the movie, which is a lot less annoying and way more caring, even if it is simplified? He also does show that he indeed cares about his home, and does have a stake in the adventure because he’s very interested in the dragon riders and all of the legends, you must’ve forgotten that when watching the movie, or are blinded by hatred. Besides, his cousin left, his uncles dad, he has no family and no other place/nowhere else really for him in his home, and again actually has a great interest in what is overall going on, so I actually with all due respect find it very naïve for you to overlook that. As well, the world building is actually fine and distinct enough, but I can’t tell the difference with different locations, it’s not that broad. I would also say that this is not a textbook example of how not to adapt something, when there are far far more Unloyal and worse things (The last Airbender movie etc.)
Hey man. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I haven't seen the Avatar adaptation, which I heard was absolutely awful so it could well be much worse than Eragon. A few thoughts from me: 1. Changing or simplifying their relationship isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think the problem for me is that it's done by basically removing Saphira as a character. She is pretty much there for Eragon and plot to direct her as needed, without having any agency of her own. 2. I'd say his interest is kind of surface level, and feels rushed and put upon him. The pacing in the movie doesn't really allow for much time to develop Eragon more as a character. 3. Similarly with his home, in the movie it comes across that he never really thinks about it again, or his brother and his father. If I'm forgetting something that's my mistake but I don't believe he ever talks about them again really for the remainder of the movie after he leaves. So, again, it feels kind of surface level and overlooked.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Well, the same to be said for a while this things with the original Star Wars, how many other movies that talk about things On The level that you are expecting?
It's a shame because I really like the new design of Saphira. Not just the bird wings but the more mammal-like head is also a nice touch that you'd think would work well with a more softer and intelligent type of dragon than many other universes.
I like the main design of Saphira but I wasn't a huge fan of the feathered wings (just personal preference though to be honest). But the design of the non-human races was where I think they really dropped the ball, also a lot of the casting choices (with the exception of Jeremy Irons as Brom).
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Yeah, they really weren't inspired that day. Hate the looks for the lethrblaka and ra'zac. The latter may be the most underdesigned creatures I've ever seen.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt It's been over a decade since I've seen the movie but the actor for Murtagh seemed fine to me too.
@@mattnar3865 Yeah he was fine to be honest. But he didn't really have enough screen time.
Rip at least we never got to see the joke that was Urgal dragon riders. Agree with pretty much every point though.
Haha I forgot about that. I like most of the series but I wasn't really a fan of the ending to be honest, especially how Galbatorix was eventually defeated.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt I think Paolini wrote himself into a bit of a corner with the ending, Galbatorix was too overpowered to defeat by conventional means so he had to come up with some other way. I thought that was fine, Arya becoming queen of the elves was the worst part of the ending for me, the Arya we knew would never have accepted that role.
@@mattnar3865 Yeah couldn't agree more with you. The dragon hearts were bad enough, but then Paolini for some reason gave him the name of the ancient language as well, making him completely unbeatable. It's a shame because he kind of foreshadowed a more interesting final conflict, only to throw it away.
And yep agree with you on Arya as well. Also her being both a rider and the queen contradicted the whole philosophy of the riders.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2ptIn the first book, Eragon asks Brom what would happen if you found the name of The Ancient Language so I would say that the eventual climax was genuinely foreshadowed
10:59, they don’t look like the kind of people who would use “hornless” as a slur the way the Urgals in the books do. Do movie Urgals even have horned heads?
Haha, they seriously look like a bunch of homeless raiders who the king dug up from somewhere.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Yeah. This was not a good adaptation
so the first time I saw Eragon I didn't know it was a book adaptation and I thought it was a good movie, then I read the books and realized how much they butchered the source material. Although the actors were great with what they had to work with I just never looked at the movie again.
Unlucky that you found the movie first but it's great you went on to read the books! Did you read the entire series or just the first book?
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt I read the entire series and loved them all the way up to Brisngr, although I haven't read the newest one Murtagh yet
@@native3606 Awesome, yeah I haven't read Murtagh either yet but I've heard good things. Hopefully I'll get around to it at some point.
This was a brilliant summary of many of the greatest flaws with the film.
I love the books, flawed and simpler than many high fantasy worlds they’re compared to but it sometimes seems like people both forget and dismiss how old Christopher was when he started writing them. If you try to compare them with Tolkien who was over 20 years older, had a family and had fought in a war then of course they won’t have the same depth and maturity. Despite this the series shows a decently complex and developed world and off the top of my head I can’t think of any of the main characters especially the povs that don’t go through significant arcs and growth.
There was so much that could have gone right with the film, decent budget and enough technological advancement to do justice to the world. I think the casting choices were terrible for the most part, majority are decent and in some cases excellent actors but the writing prevented pretty much any chance of them doing justice to their characters.
Probably my least favourite depiction is Arya, book Arya is opaque, seemingly mercurial, guarded and stoic concealing an independent, passionate and importantly loving person. Unlike many female characters who are introduced as tough and cold who almost immediately drop this facade, whist far from the entirely these are inherent parts of her personality compounded by loss and conflict. She and the other elves are meant to be alien and unpredictable to the humans and the reader. This is part of eragons fascination with her and why her character adds so much to the story. None of this was present in the film and further to your point of Saphiras lack of autonomy and self, Aryas relationship and respect for saphira speaks to her individuality and agency.
I saw recently that Disney are planning to reboot the series, can’t say I’m overly optimistic, their track record for straying off source material in recent years along with somehow diminishing quality and overuse of cgi doesn’t bode well.
Similarly many of Disneys recent female protagonists have a tendency to be so fully developed it leaves little room for character development beyond a need to “believe in themselves” this is in contrast to Paolini’s protagonists that are flawed, make mistakes and grow as they meet challenges along the way. I’ll probably give it go though!
Does it show I rarely have rarely have anyone to geek out about on this topic? 😅
Nice vid 👌😎
Thanks very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I ended up getting carried away and re-reading the series after making this and I agree with you on a lot of counts. Considering how old Christopher was when he wrote the series, he did a really great job, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed re-reading the story. Eragon is actually a really great main character.
The movie is shockingly disappointing, and I feel for the author because I really think the series could have reached a whole new audience if it had been done well and treated with respect. Your point about the elves is bang on - Arya felt more like a teenage girl in the movie instead of a regal, immortal elf. I love the scenes in the books where the difference between elves and humans is emphasised, like for example when one of the Varden magicians delves into the mind of one of the spellcasters and pretty much breaks his mind as a result of it.
I had no idea Disney were planning on rebooting the series, but I really doubt they'll be able to do it justice. As you said, they tend to borrow the name of a franchise without actually caring to pay homage to the source material.
If there's enough interest in this video, I'd like to do a few more on the series, but we'll see how this goes.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2ptAt least Paolini will be more involved in the creative process for the new adaptation
Lore of What Went Wrong with the Eragon Adaptation - Books vs Films momentum 100
theres no eragon movie in ba sing se....
not sure what to expect of the upcoming adaptation, tho its probably still a few years away
To be honest I don't have high hopes, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.
At least Paolini will be more heavily involved in this one
@@matityaloran9157 true but disneys recent run with marvel & star wars has my hopes down
@@LS-tk7hp Fair
God, it's been so long I saw this film. It was very close around the time I read the first book too, so the film really felt like some pretty bad fanfiction (though even Eragon the book wasn't exactly masterclass in writing, but Paolini was like 15 years old). I did like some of the actors in the film despite all the lore and character inconsistencies and I especially enjoyed Robert Carlyle as Durza.
I should probably rewatch this actually just to see if it really is as bad as I recall.
Great video, btw.
Thank you! Glad you liked it. Yeah considering Paolini was so young I think he did a pretty good job at the series. I do have some gripes but nothing major (except maybe the ending). Exactly as you said though, the movie felt like vaguely connected fan fiction. Durza was good casting, as was Brom, but everyone else was poorly done.
I can't even recommend rewatching the movie honestly, unless you just want to watch it for a laugh and not take it too seriously. But it was pretty painful for me to rewatch it to make this video.
What went wrong with the Eragon adaptation? everything
Lol too true, such a waste of potential.
I have to highly disagree. I think that you are over thinking way too much the relationship that Eragon and Saphira have which is way more clearer and closer in the movie compared to the book which is over complicated, and actually not made all that clear; she comes off as being more of a mother hen to him and seemingly knows a lot more than he does, which is technically true because she’s a dragon, but also doesn’t make a lot of sense because he raised her, so does it not make more sense for her to already be smart enough to name herself and be how she is in the movie, which is a lot less annoying and way more caring, even if it is simplified? He also does show that he indeed cares about his home, and does have a stake in the adventure because he’s very interested in the dragon riders and all of the legends, you must’ve forgotten that when watching the movie, or are blinded by hatred. Besides, his cousin left, his uncles dad, he has no family and no other place/nowhere else really for him in his home, and again actually has a great interest in what is overall going on, so I actually with all due respect find it very naïve for you to overlook that. As well, the world building is actually fine and distinct enough, but I can’t tell the difference with different locations, it’s not that broad. I would also say that this is not a textbook example of how not to adapt something, when there are far far more Unloyal and worse things (The last Airbender movie etc.)
Hey man. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I haven't seen the Avatar adaptation, which I heard was absolutely awful so it could well be much worse than Eragon. A few thoughts from me:
1. Changing or simplifying their relationship isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think the problem for me is that it's done by basically removing Saphira as a character. She is pretty much there for Eragon and plot to direct her as needed, without having any agency of her own.
2. I'd say his interest is kind of surface level, and feels rushed and put upon him. The pacing in the movie doesn't really allow for much time to develop Eragon more as a character.
3. Similarly with his home, in the movie it comes across that he never really thinks about it again, or his brother and his father. If I'm forgetting something that's my mistake but I don't believe he ever talks about them again really for the remainder of the movie after he leaves. So, again, it feels kind of surface level and overlooked.
@@MediaRetrospective-sb2pt Well, the same to be said for a while this things with the original Star Wars, how many other movies that talk about things On The level that you are expecting?