MovieChat Forums > Neverwhere (1996) Discussion > Neverwhere released in Australia!

Neverwhere released in Australia!

posted 18 years ago by coomacp
4 replies | jump to latest

Hi,

I am in Australia and have read the book neverwhere and loved it.
I thought it was fascinating and I loved the language and the way Neil wrote it, each character was brilliantly written (great humour - I particularly like the Marque). I cannot wait to read it again to get lost in it's world again. When I got to the end of the book I felt rather like Richard did and didn't want to go back to the real world, I wanted to stay there and follow him back to the Neverwhere.

Anyway, I just found out the dvd is just being released here in Australia and will probably buy it. Keeping in mind that it will probably not be as good as the book, as I have read from different reviews and the fact that it seems Neil was a bit disapointed in it too. But I am looking forward to it nonetheless. It will be interesting to see it, and it seems from some of the reviews that although the special effects might not have been that great the acting was quite good. Anyway I will make up my own mind when I see it, sometimes great acting can make up for lack of whatever else.

I have seen some of the actors listed in it in other shows/movies and will be interested to see them in this.

Eg:
Laura Fraser (Door) - as Kate the Farrier in a A Nights Tale.
Trevor Peacock (Bailey) - Jim (No,No,No,No, Yes) in The Vicar of Dibley
Hywel Bennett (Croup) - as the Character of 'Baxter' in the Bill (which was also a very creepy character)
and Tamsin Greig (Lamia) - Fran from Black Books (one of my favourite shows in the whole entire world, brilliant for some laughter therapy. I was quite surprised when I found out that Fran had played Lamia. That will be interesting to see)

My parents are both English (hence the mention of and interest in these previous shows) and i have been to London Once (2 years ago, and travelled in the underground) although I hadn't read the book at the time and I love the whole idea of the story this alternate world underneath London.

For any other Australians looking to buy Neverwhere It was advertised in JbHiFi's most recent dvd magazine, and I looked it up on their site and see it is available in store as of yesterday (the 8th June) www.jbhifi.com.au. It's also available at Ezydvd but doesn't seem to be in stock according to the site, www.ezydvd.com.au

Anyway I just thought I'd let any other Australians know.

And I just wanted to express how much I love this book, I wanted to share my interest with others. I tried to get my sister to read it as we usually like all the same kind of stuff, eg. fantasy type stories as this. But she only got as far as the part where Vandemaar bites the rats head off and was put of, (I mean thats quite understandable it is disgusting)even though we watched Underworld a few days after, which is quite gruesome in itself especially at the end, (the part with Viktor) if you know what I mean.

Anyway... Here's to hoping they make Neverwhere into a movie sometime in the near future.

Any thoughts / replies are most welcome.
Happy posting!

"A world beyond some peoples imaginations'
but not yours because your really smart." - Mirrormask

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] coomacp 18 years ago

Hi

Its great to hear from another Australian. I thought my post was going to be drifting about in the cosmos for ever.

Yes I have seen and now own a copy of Neverwhere. And I love it!
You are right some of the acting is nothing to rave about, but some is very good. I really like the Marque (he is one of my favourite characters in the book) and I thought he was played really well, the actor really had the right character and sarcasm like-humour. Door was good too and Richard. I also liked Croup and Vandemar. Oh and I like Old Bailey, and Tooley. Some of the other characters I thought were a bit over the top at times, or not quite the same as Neil describes them in the book.

Even though some of the special effects weren't that great (due to their budget obviously) I liked a lot of the scenery and costumes. If you listen to Neils commentary or interview on the disc he explains how they found this special type of material to use for the Angel Islington's gown which reflects light and gives of a sort of glow (a good low budget effect).

You could say it's pretty odd but that's Gaiman for you and its just the type of thing that I like.

You will see when you read the rest of the book that it is really detailed and explains things a lot better. I like the way he writes some of the historical context and background for london.

The part with Richard on the platform when he does the Challenge is explained much better in the book. You can really understand what's going on inside his head. It's good because you can use your imagination rather than just relying on the effects or lack thereof. For example Gary actually is described as moulding his face shape into Richard's rather than just passing his hands over it. - I bought my copy in Borders, if that helps.

No unfortunately I didn't get to see Neil when he came over. I heard about it before hand but it would have been difficult to get there as I live out of the city. But the tickets had sold out when I enquired. But I would have loved to get my copy of the Mirrormask script book signed, and just to have heard him talk would have been great. Maybe next time.

And yeah, I know how good is Mirrormask. I saw it when it was at the cinemas, and bought the DVD as soon as it came out. I love Mckean's artwork too. What a great team.

"A world beyond some peoples imaginations'
but not yours because your really smart." - Mirrormask

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ZOMBIE_REEFER_MADNESS 18 years ago

I was actually in the class below McKean at Reading College of art and design, he was a really top bloke...

Also Hewyl Bennett was also the actor who played Shelley (see my signature below).

A hilarious if short lived comedy, that sadly will probably never be released over here on DVD... or even in the UK for that matter.

"Hell is a place much like London"
Shelley