Review: The Lord of the Rings extended edition DVD

As A Game of Thrones finally gets its DVD release in a few weeks I thought I’d get myself in the mood for epic fantasy by buying LoTR.

It’s been quite a while since I last saw it, and whilst certain extra scenes were obviously new (the one with Denethor, Boromir and Faramir standing out) others were not.

I enjoyed the films a lot, although I had forgotten how irritatingly cheerful the hobbits could be. Although the first film was released over a decade ago the special effects stand up very well, and even when things are clearly CGI (Gollum, for example) it’s close enough to reality not to jar.

Eowyn seemed to have more airtime, and be the better for it. The portrayals of Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn were especially good, and the acting generally was well done.

I’m not especially into DVD extras, but I did have a quick look through some of them. For some reason the third DVD (each film has 4, 2 for the film itself and 2 for extras) always seemed of little interest whereas the fourth of each film had better offerings. I especially enjoyed watching one documentary about the stuntmen, and some of the cast documentaries.

Due to the time it would’ve taken I didn’t listen to any of the commentaries fully. However, I did see that there were a lot available, with four sets for each film, and I might go back and try them out.

£16 for around 11-12 hours of the extended film itself, plus four sets of commentary per film, with umpteen extras is pretty good value. The blu-ray is more than twice the price, but might be worth it if you’ve got a big telly.

Now, just over a month to go before I finally get to watch A Game of Thrones.

Thaddeus

Revisiting the past with an Angry Robot

A new author I know slightly (Anne Lyle) has helpfully pointed out that the publisher Angry Robot is set to have what’s described as an ‘open fortnight’ for classic fantasy.

What this means is that they’ll be accepting submissions from any Tom, Dick and Thaddeus, even if they have no agent.

I’ve got an old story I wrote a few years ago, the first part of a trilogy (I did the groundwork for part two but decided to write the stand-alone Bane of Souls instead). So, I’m going to dust it off, and redraft the first five chapters (for the initial submission) in time for the 16^th April submission date.

At the moment I’ve only looked through the first chapter (one of the best, I felt at the time of writing), and it’s already clear that there’s plenty of room for improvement. I’m not going to alter the character of the book (the dialogue is more contemporary and the mood grittier than Bane of Souls), but I am intent upon improving the quality of the writing.

Compared to the older book I’ve taken a more structured approach with Bane of Souls, doing the world-building first rather than making many things up and then trying to fit the pieces together. However, the nature of the trilogy format does allow for a grander tale to be told, and I’m looking forward to re-reading and redrafting it.

It’s a very welcome initiative of Angry Robot to hold another open period (they did one last year as well). The tidal wave of submissions (32 a day) almost certainly make it impractical as a permanent approach to submissions but doing it occasionally means the publisher might just pick up a gem and authors without agents stand a chance of getting their work chosen.

One chap from the Chrons came within a whisker of success last time, so let’s hope he does one better and gets published (as well as me, obviously).

Hurrah for Angry Robot!

Thaddeus

Review: The Serpent Tower (Volume Two of the Terrarch Chronicles) by William King

This story’s set a couple of months after the events of Death’s Angels. Not much has changed, except that Sardec’s now got a hook for a hand and (not unlike Sharpe’s success in…. Sharpe’s Rifles, I think) he now has the respect of the men.

The army’s marching through an allied state to attack the Dark Empire’s forces, when it comes across a problem. There’s a bloody enormous and impregnable tower held by a formerly friendly but now hostile chap. And he’s kidnapped the rightful queen and intends to marry her.

Also seeking to persuade the tower’s master to join their side is a loathsome pair of emissaries from the Dark Empire.

There are more of the strange monstrosities in this book than its predecessor, and I quite like that. However, the story itself feels like it should be a bit longer and perhaps have some more action. What’s there is enjoyable and easy to read, but it feels bit like a tasty meal with portions that are a bit too small. The fate of the Dark Empire emissaries would have been a nice dessert.

I like the start of the book, and the ending is surprisingly abrupt (almost as much as The Empire Strikes Back). There’s some more interesting history/lore of Gaiea revealed, and Sardec and Rik continue their development, the former becoming more sympathetic, the latter less so.

If you liked the previous book you’ll probably like this, although I wish it had been a shade longer.

Thaddeus

Tomb Raider Vs Uncharted

It’s quite a while ago now that Lara Croft and her improbable proportions bounded onto the screen. Game series seem to have difficulty enjoying a prolonged longevity. Sonic was really popular for the first 2-3 games, but he became outdated, and even the very long-lasting Final Fantasy seems to be doing its damnedest to shake off the last pesky fanboys (if I want something entirely linear I shall read a book).

The early success of Tomb Raider was due to a few factors. Firstly, Lara Croft. A lady protagonist was certainly not the norm in 1732, or whenever the first game was released, especially not one so well-endowed. Secondly, raiding tombs for treasure is cool. It was cool when Indiana Jones did it, it was cool when Lara Croft started doing so, and it remained delightful when her bête noire Nathan Drake appeared. Thirdly, there wasn’t really any rival (so far as I remember) so she had the entire antiquities thievery market to herself.

This year a rebooted version is to be released (unhelpfully entitled just Tomb Raider). This isn’t the first time such a thing has happened, but it will be the earliest Lara Croft we see (she’s not a veteran of theft and slaughtering endangered species, but a novice). Some say, and I agree, that this is make or break. The reboot, with a new, more realistic, Miss Croft design and voice actress, is an opportunity for a clean break. However, if it flounders she may well suffer terminal decline, not unlike the Roman army after the ill-conceived reforms of Marius which transformed the military into a more mercenary force with loyalty reserved for generals rather than the state. Ahem.

Uncharted is a new series, with three instalments thus far. I’ve played the first two (developed a habit of buying the inevitable platinum edition) and liked them both a lot, although I didn’t replay them much. The platforming is probably a shade better than Tomb Raider, but it’s in the gunfights that Uncharted really thrashes its older rival. Drake also seems a lot more likeable, and the graphics are fantastic (small and irrelevant anecdote: I played the first Uncharted game on a standard TV initially, and was really surprised just how big a difference the HD 720p definition made).

The individual treasures that can be found (and it’s hard not to find most of them) in Uncharted are a nice touch, although the generic treasures of Tomb Raider are actually more challenging and therefore rewarding to locate.

Apparently the new Tomb Raider will take Uncharted’s good points into account (which probably means copying them), and will have certain survival elements. I think this sounds pretty good, but, as usual, execution is what matters. If the survival elements are pathetic and tokenistic then there’s no point. If they’re all-encompassing and the mainstay of the game it might be enjoyable but wherefore art thou named Tomb Raider if that be so?

I hope the new game works well. I’ve played perhaps a third of the Tomb Raider series, and found it to be quite enjoyable, but not enthralling. Some extra realism, survival elements and a reboot, going back to Lara’s first adventure, might be the adrenaline shot the series needs.

There’s no solid release date, but it’s pencilled-in for Q3.

Thaddeus