The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance coming to Netflix

[Andrew NDB]

I don't think I've ever actually seen the original movie. Should I watch that first, or watch these episodes first since they're prequels anyway?

[newfan]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I don't think I've ever actually seen the original movie. Should I watch that first, or watch these episodes first since they're prequels anyway?

I hadnt seen it either, caught it last night after watching the series first, didnt realise the series was a prequel till then. Whichever you want to go with, I didn't feel that I should have watched the movie first.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I don't think I've ever actually seen the original movie. Should I watch that first, or watch these episodes first since they're prequels anyway?

I rewatched the movie before starting the series and was glad to have. But it’s not incredibly necessary. The movie is also conveniently on Netflix.

[Utrommaniac]

Absolutely watch the original first, I think. Just to get an idea of why the prequel series was made, at least from a production and tone standpoint.

[IndigoErth]

This series is surprisingly filled with death and rather intense, esp the final episode, compared to the film. The movie I'd show to a young kid like my nephew in a heartbeat, but not this series; at least not some portions of it. Which is cool though that it's defiantly intended for an older audience.

Spoiler:

Really liking Aughra in this and her amount of involvement, and the voice is perfect! Appreciate the prominence of the female cast and the interactions. Poor Deet. And sad about the loss of Tavra, she was a cool character. Maudra Fara too. Seladon is lucky she did not get what she deserved and end up being the sister who'd die.

The Hunter is pretty awesome, if quite vicious, as an interesting standout like the Heretic. But a little curious about the Hunter and the Arch dying while the Archer was still falling...? Along with those characters and their other halves, I really like how they emphasized the two halves concept in this that is a lot more subtle in the film.

But where did the Heretic and his Mystic half disappear to?

I'm glad they're clearly going to be continuing this.

The landstriders still creep me out though, since back in the day. lol

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

I'm pretty convinced that Deet and Rian are Kira's parents. Or at the very least, Deet is Kira's mother.

They look a lot alike and Kira has the healing powers that Deet gains. But most most importantly...the Podlings.
Now it's just not looking like a coincidence that the Podlings found a Gelfling baby plopped down in the woods. I'd go so far to say that because of Deet's friendship with Hup, she knew the Podlings would be able to protect her child, and knew exactly where to hide the baby so they could find her.

I was thinking the same about Deet, esp considering how light skinned Kira is. If Rian isn't her father -- gosh, he moves on fast -- he does however look a lot like Jen.

Good point on the Podlings. Perhaps they're even descendants or other relatives of Hup.

[Utrommaniac]

For sure, Jen is a Stonewood Gelfling . Kira isn't quite as green as Deet, so I'm going to guess that Rian's genes may just have done some color balancing.

[Roseangelo]

I definitely agree that Rian and Deet are Kira's parents. I had Rian pegged for her father based on the similarity to Mira's name, and it's clear that he and Deet have a connection going. Brea also has a crush on Rian, but I think that's more one sided.

[Egon1982]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

This series is surprisingly filled with death and rather intense, esp the final episode, compared to the film. The movie I'd show to a young kid like my nephew in a heartbeat, but not this series; at least not some portions of it. Which is cool though that it's defiantly intended for an older audience.

Spoiler:

Really liking Aughra in this and her amount of involvement, and the voice is perfect! Appreciate the prominence of the female cast and the interactions. Poor Deet. And sad about the loss of Tavra, she was a cool character. Maudra Fara too. Seladon is lucky she did not get what she deserved and end up being the sister who'd die.

The Hunter is pretty awesome, if quite vicious, as an interesting standout like the Heretic. But a little curious about the Hunter and the Arch dying while the Archer was still falling...? Along with those characters and their other halves, I really like how they emphasized the two halves concept in this that is a lot more subtle in the film.

But where did the Heretic and his Mystic half disappear to?

I'm glad they're clearly going to be continuing this.

The landstriders still creep me out though, since back in the day. lol


I was thinking the same about Deet, esp considering how light skinned Kira is. If Rian isn't her father -- gosh, he moves on fast -- he does however look a lot like Jen.

Good point on the Podlings. Perhaps they're even descendants or other relatives of Hup.

Yup, the hunter reminds me of Predator in aspects and i love those 2 guys the heretic and wanderer as they are like Cheech and Chong and Timon and Pumbaa.

Anyone likes my casting for the mystics and Skekung?

[Egon1982]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I don't think I've ever actually seen the original movie. Should I watch that first, or watch these episodes first since they're prequels anyway?

Have you seen the other more well known Henson film Labyrinth?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Egon1982

Have you seen the other more well known Henson film Labyrinth?

Yeah, I saw it a couple of times as a kid, never since. I don't think I was as enamored by it as others, for some reason.

[Utrommaniac]

Yeah, Dark Crystal is definitely better than Labyrinth in a lot of ways, I think.

[Andrew NDB]

[IndigoErth]

Stop it. That likeness in the photo overall is too creepy, as if it was staged. (Seriously, the mouths in particular...) How dare you ruin Kira and Jen. lol

[Leo656]

That picture of the Olsen Twins should have a gigantic tag line in big bold letters that just says "HEROIN. Not Even Once."

[Egon1982]

Who else loves episode 7? my favorite one and love the meta puppet show in joke it had in it.

Heretic and Wanderer are like Cheech and Chong and the Heavy Metal stoner aliens in one.

And did the Collector and new General (before Skekung) remind anyone of Dinosaurs (the Henson show) characters?

[Egon1982]

Who thinks this show and Blade Runner 2049 are the only 80s movie revivals that worked where some halfassed lazy attempts like Ghostbusters etc. failed miserably?

Both this series and Blade Runner 2049 were made by fine people who are skilled and has passion for the original source materials and projects they were working on, and that's why they succeeded in capturing the spirit of the originals while at the same time be their own animal as BR 2049 is a sequel and AOR is a prequel series. This show and BR 2049 are examples Hollywood should see of how to properly revive stuff from films from the past and i'm glad AOR is Netflix's number one show now as a hit and season 2 coming.

Both are definitely not cashgrabs done for the sake of a quick buck only to mess up things but have actual passion care and respect for the worlds and source.

Stuff like the Ghostbusters reboot for example aka Ballbusters 2016 (it's a term used by Youtube reviewer Ocpcommunications in his rant/review of Ghostbusters 2016 because it doesn't deserve to be called Ghostbusters because it shoots the logo of the franchise in the crotch within the movie and it's no joke there is actually a scene where the logo of the franchise is shot in the crotch) was a soulless corporation cash in with a gimmick and Paul Feig was never a fan of Ghostbusters or the franchise and he only did it for a paycheck and i can tell he was outside his comfort zone doing a PG-13 tentpole film than a smaller R rated film which he's better at than PG-13 and not to mention a horrible unfunny script with no sarcasm/intelligent humor that lacks the brilliance of the original's script or lacks the fun of the second movie, no chemistry between characters, unlikable characters, lousy CGI, sexism towards males even making all male characters assholes or idiots as the movie was a manbashing parade and all that.

Robocop 2014 remake was another one made for a paycheck by someone who was a gun for fire and made by inexperienced writers who had to turn Robocop into Robocrap and into another PG-13 watered down Robocop when they should had learned from the mistakes of Robocop 3 which that filmed killed the franchise and now they killed Robocop again by taking away his balls and his edge of the first 2 movies. Robocop is never meant to be a family friendly franchise as since 3 they keep watering him down with the tv show, miniseries and now remake which turning him into a joke and no respect for the character. Plus misses the point of the character. 3 was a another horrible attempt to pander Robocop to the family market when Robocop was established by he first 2 as an R rated character/franchise then neutered him with 3 as the TV show even watered him down. 3, the miniseries and remake also lacked the excellent satire of the first 2 and Robocop was not a badass like the first 2 movies. Attempts at emotion in the remake failed as the actors can't act their way out of a paper bag and flat direction where in the original Robocop i felt bad for Robocop for losing his family and Weller actually had emotion. Even Weller's replacement in 3 sucked as Robocop as well as the other actors who tried to fill in Weller's shoes over the years. Richard Eden was closet but still nowhere near Weller.

Alien hasn't had a great movie since Aliens, i felt Alien 3 was a joyless cold sequel that killed the franchise for me since i saw it in theaters at age 10 as i enjoyed the first 2 but saw they had no passion for the first 2 films when the original Alien 3 script was much better and it turned Ripley into a hollow drained out by essence shell of her former self and all that as every Alien sequel/spinoff keeps being hugged up by Fox and i'm tired of it, to me Aliens was when the franchise rose into the sun with the ending and i will ignore all hollow alien films like 3, Resurrection, AVP 1 and 2, Prometehus and Alien Covenenant's existence.

The Predaturd 2018 was a horrible horrible sequel that was done for a paycheck and turned the character into a complete joke, while Predators was disappointing but it tired but The Predator was a godawful insult to the franchise. Predator 2 was the last worthwhile film. Critters a New Binge was purely garbage that turned the franchise into a joke, just when i thought Critters 4 was bad and Critters Attack was mediocre Binge was crappy as hell and Critters 2 was the last good Critters movie.

Elm Street remake was a piece of crap made by inexperienced writers and an inexperienced director who showed he was never a fan of the original film or franchise and it proved with a horrid script, unlikable characters, poor direction, lousy attempts to be scary and all. While Jackie is a good actor, his Freddy sucked as soulless, vacuous imitation, devoid of all charisma. robert englund IS freddy krueger, accept no substitutes.


Last Jedi is the worst Star Wars movie to date and has a lousy script, poor characterization and was very disrepectful to Luke Skywalker, as i will never forgive them for turning a beloved character who was a likable farmboy turned hero into a sad sack emo hermit who resents himself and the Jedi and died like a fart in the wind. Plus a director who was only a a fan of Star Wars and not of Empire and Return of Jedi but only did it for a paycheck and had no experience doing a tentpole film when he did smaller films.

All hollow soulless failed bastardnization garbage attempts made by people who don't care or understand about the movies or franchises they were hired for, having a clue or inexperienced writers or poor writers or executives who greenlighted crap scripts only to get money and not care about properties.


Blade Runner 2049 and AOR are examples how you properly revive an older manner. Take Denise Villanue who is an excellent director and he made some quality films and is a passionate fan of Blade Runner since the beginning and influenced him to make movies, so he made the film because he was passionate about the project even hired some good writers being one of them one of the writers for the original and expand upon the classic film. Louis is a servicable director despite he's no Luc Besson but still servicable as he did well on the first 2 Transporter films, Unleashed and Incredible Hulk 2008 and he has been a fan of Dark Crystal since he saw it in 1983 in his country as a kid at the movies and one of the films that influenced him to become a filmmaker. Plus he heard about a prequel series project he was in and even the writers and some of the stars are fans of the original film even the guy who played Elton John in Rocketman grew up with Henson's works and so was Simon Pegg who saw it at the movies growing up when he was 12.


The key ingredient is fine directors who are fans of originals even writers who are fans of the properties and actual passion, love and care for both the movies and projects they are doing even giving a damn. And i'm happy AOR is the number one Netflix series now and a blockbuster and soon will get season 2.



This show's success plus Child's Play 2019, Shape of Water, Blade Runner 2049, Interstellar, Mission Impossible 6 and more should usher a new age of practical effects making a comeback in the mainstream.



Who else thought the eye sequence in episode 2 was terrifying but not as shocking as the broken wood scene in Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 aka Zombie aka Zombie Flesh-Eaters?

[Egon1982]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Actually, they are called Urs. The original race was called Ur-Skeks. Hence Skeksis and Urs. And yes, they were each half of one whole, which was why healing the Crystal was so important. It healed THEM, too! I spent a bit of time last week thumbing through a novel tie-in, and it seems it has to do with how the Skeksis began using gelflings life-essence to prolong their own lives, and a group of gelflings learns of it and tries to warn their people. And it has a lot of dream-fasting, and there are different gelfling clans, including one that can breath water, apparently. I'm intrigued by the entire concept, of how the gelflings became "extinct", because the Skeksis basically were committing genocide to make themselves young. I guess unlike the Pod-people, gelflings don't survive as soulless slaves, they just die. Unless the Skeksis learned to refine it so it just took most of the essence, but left just enough to make them easy to control.

Urru you mean

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Yeah, I saw it a couple of times as a kid, never since. I don't think I was as enamored by it as others, for some reason.

Puppet movies are morbid, lifeless strangeness on screen. I envision a layer of hell where creatures that look like Jim Henson's puppets (good guys and bad guys) are running around doing hell-like puppet things.

But honestly, truthfully, I don't begrudge anyone who likes puppet-stuff. It's a widely used medium, and I respect the work that goes into it. But most puppet stuff in the traditional sense is just not for me. It's not until we go past a fairly high threshold of puppet work that I can begin to suspend-disbelief.

[Egon1982]

Originally Posted by IMJ

Puppet movies are morbid, lifeless strangeness on screen. I envision a layer of hell where creatures that look like Jim Henson's puppets (good guys and bad guys) are running around doing hell-like puppet things.

But honestly, truthfully, I don't begrudge anyone who likes puppet-stuff. It's a widely used medium, and I respect the work that goes into it. But most puppet stuff in the traditional sense is just not for me. It's not until we go past a fairly high threshold of puppet work that I can begin to suspend-disbelief.

What makes CGI Mocap characters like the Na'Vi in Avatar better than Henson's puppets?

[IndigoErth]

To be fair, while mocap has less artistry to it (at least in the same sense), it does at least capture realistic movement and facial expressions which makes it less creepy (unnnnless there is an uncanny valley issue that bugs people). I assume that puppets risk having a bit of a "dead-eyed possessed doll come to life nightmare fuel" thing about them for some people who can't look past it.

Personally, I enjoy both and appreciate the artistry and effort put into the Jim Henson Studio's work as well as the ability for CGI and mocap to create enough realism to make fictional characters believable.



I keep looking for Netflix to note that a new season will be happening for this... Surely it will continue.