I certainly know that all of the major actors in this mini-series are capable so it maybe it is the directing and not the acting.
Characters over-emote in this movie and speak in portentous tones and melodrama. This isn't typical of fantasy movies, is it?
Christopher Lloyd is particularly bad, sad to say.
i noticed that too. i think it was the directing. and i don't believe its typical of fantasy movies to have acting that bad.
i have a job. its called being awesome. full time.
Because it's just a paycheck for those involved. I saw the first five minutes and it was so obvious that this was a ripoff of Lord of the Rings that I couldn't even watch anymore. No doubt just something to sell into cable sindication to networks like Cinemax Asia. Christopher Lloyd's house burned down in the California wildfires a bit back, the insurance payoff must have been on the cheap and he needed work. Most of these Sci-Fi movies seem little more than welfare checks to the Vancouver movie industry.
shareThe wildfires happened after the filming of this movie.
shareOn the contrary, I think it's entirely typical of low-grade fantasy movies - /Dungeons and Dragons/ comes to mind (the original, not the SciFi channel sequel). Not everything can be /The Lord of the Rings/, or even /Ladyhawke/.
Randy A Goldberg MD
Yeah, it's nearly impossible to think something so low-grade has Lord of the Rings-potential. I love fantasy, awesome or sh!tty. However, Knights of Bloodsteel falls into the latter category. The bad acting is a result of poor directing, given a poor and unoriginal script. Not to mention, everyone is nearly a miscast -- everyone here is definitely in it for the minuscule paycheck.
This is no where near as bad as 2007's Harpies. That film is minute-by-minute L.O.L-ness.
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I don't persuade... I enlighten.
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Loved Lord of the Rings and loved Ladyhawke. In the latter, Rutger Hauer, not known for his subtle acting did lovely job with a role that didn't require much of him. Not as good as Blade Runner, but then he had the role of a lifetime in that.
Sorry, I digressed.
I dissagree in part because Natassia Malthe and Kevin Blatch get the acting kudos it was the true veterans like Lloyd-miscast, Elliott-adequate, Jaycot-adequate. I felt the movie suffered more from poor script and editing and keep in mind when I review a Sci-Fi channel movie it is in comparison to the rather stale lackluster fodder they give us every Saturday night and by that standard this little Mini-Series was much better. Yes is a bad script, and yes direction could have been better but I did enjoy the watching...but no I would not buy the dvd.
shareYeah, ya got me there. The whole cast wasn't a miscast, rather Lloyd. The mini-series on Sci-Fi are generally superior -- using that term loosely -- than their nothing-but-waste-of-money productions. The visual effects were as deplorable as the script -- the dragons reminded me of the creature from the Sci-Fi flick Heatseeker (or something like that).
Script was too weak -- Dragon Eye? Oooo, scurry.
And what the f!ck was with the "RADAR" and technology in this?
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IMO, it was partially the acting and the script. You can only do so much with a poor script.
I didn't think the movie was that bad. The production qualities were better than some movies that have aired in the last few months. A nice usage of the Canadian background. (I had to wonder if it was filmed in Bulgaria, Romania or some other former Eastern European country were most of Sci-Fi's movies are made.)
It was mostly C- area. Silly, but not inept.
shareEh.. Lloyd overreached a bit.
It was Elliot's ever slipping accent that got to me.
its sad that when people think fantasy movies one of the first ones they DONT rememeber is Conan the Barbarian.
the lord of the rings books are my favoirite story of all time and i enjoy the movies (got all the extended editions)
but Conan the Barbarian is still the best fantasy movie of all time.
i would also put Dragonslayer above Ladyhawk. id probably put Flesh+Blood around the same level as ladyhawke although Ladyhawke is a much more 'feel good' movie. also Flesh+Blood has no supernatural elements so it might be classed more as a historical drama.
Name of the Rose is another good one (although may also be a historical drama)
the Cadfael series (again, a historical drama)
Robin of Sherwood (1984-86) UK's ITV series - has quite a few magic and Fay moments, also incorporates both origin legends of Robin seamlessly
the bbc series Merlin is watchable. its great as family fare that could also get the grandparents and the kids all together to enjoy it, but as you can imagine is on the bland side.
then you have the hokey crap like hercules, Xena, the seeker which i find unwatchable
the only good cheese fantasy factory movie is and always will be Beastmaster!
:)
It's not just you, the acting is high fantasy bad. The only way to pull off this sort of fantasy is to talk at least a little normally.
I forgive Lloyd tho, he apparently had to take a role for the money.