Like most of the Sci Fi channel offerings, they hyped it with the impressive cast and interesting commercial spots. Intrigued and with a memory of the original version of Ursula LeGuine's TV movie The Lathe of Heaven I sat down to watch. I admit that I didn't read the books before sitting down to watch the mini-series. Perhaps this may have helped. As it is I will go with the plot the TV gave me. Ged, the young wizard, is head strong and full of pride. He knows he's destined to bigger and better things than a mere village black smith. Things happen, he goes off to learn how to become the great wizard everyone he meets tells him he's destined to be. Having grown up with a steady diet of fantasy and sci fi as a kid, the first thing that jarred me the main character didn't speak with an accent. Now, this doesn't matter to the overall story, but it was a bit disconcerting, and therefore led to a diminished suspension of disbelief. The other issue was the CGI graphics could have come out of a badly made video game, and lost the sense of wonder they should have had. Several years ago some of the same people who produced this produced Dune. Dune had a high budget, and was well realized, but the graphics in that were only slightly better than what Earthsea had to offer. What saved Dune, and held back Earthsea was the acting and directing. Both stories are great fantasies, but only one was well realized. Shawn Ashmore, the actor who played Ged in Earthsea, unfortunately seemed to be phoning in the beginning of the story. He didn't really want to be an impetuous youth, and wasn't truly believable until he managed to get away from the village. Everything was too muzzy when people were outside and every time somebody uttered the name of the planet they lived on, you felt as though they too were trying to convince themselves. This does not lead to a well told story. There are some nice parts and interesting ideas, but everything is told too quickly. It felt like there were missing plot points and time passed, but was rather invisible to the people living there. If the series had been better directed then my guess is there would have been far more believable and less loose ends. If it's a well directed and well acted sci fi yarn go for Dune, and if it's fantasy then Merlin, or better yet, read Earthsea and find the images in your own head. I know I will.
