![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I read the books back in the early 1980s and were of two minds about them. I'm the kind of fangirl who likes her genres unmixed. So, sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic stuff, all in their own places. Shannara is fantasy built on a post-apocalyptic background, and in the places when that becomes obvious, I was always alienated. But aside from that, it was an enjoyable read.
Now, when the TV-series came to Hungarian TV, I gave it a try. It took about 20 or 30 minutes - the horrible dubbing certainly didn't help. Finally, today it started on German TV, too, so I thought why not give it a second try? Perhaps I'd like it better for the second time.
Well... I didn't. The scenery is pleasant, and the young actor who plays Wil Ohmsford I could easily accept, but that's basically it. I found the rest of the casting as horrible as for the first time. I remember Amberle Elessedil being a dignified character from the books - in this, she isn't. Neither is anyone else in the elvish court, for that matter. And John Rhys-Davies as an Elf, even as an old Elf, is ridiculous. Especially in the role of Eventine Elessedil. Granted, the first book I read was The Sword of Shannara, in which Eventine was a young, heroic and dynamic Elf King, so the contrast was probably too great, but still...
Now, when the TV-series came to Hungarian TV, I gave it a try. It took about 20 or 30 minutes - the horrible dubbing certainly didn't help. Finally, today it started on German TV, too, so I thought why not give it a second try? Perhaps I'd like it better for the second time.
Well... I didn't. The scenery is pleasant, and the young actor who plays Wil Ohmsford I could easily accept, but that's basically it. I found the rest of the casting as horrible as for the first time. I remember Amberle Elessedil being a dignified character from the books - in this, she isn't. Neither is anyone else in the elvish court, for that matter. And John Rhys-Davies as an Elf, even as an old Elf, is ridiculous. Especially in the role of Eventine Elessedil. Granted, the first book I read was The Sword of Shannara, in which Eventine was a young, heroic and dynamic Elf King, so the contrast was probably too great, but still...
