Dark Crystal age of resistance on Netflix

[technoblue]

I guess I'm an odd one. I think the original film still holds up today, and I'm excited to see how this series will add to its mythos (especially with the Gelflings).

The practical effects are almost seamless. It's pretty amazing how close they are. 

Apart from that, the trailer is rooted with nostalgia:

• Aughra! 
• Could the fuzzball be Fizzgig?
• And ending it all with Chamberlain's creepy "whimper" is classic.

The end of August should be a treat. 

[Tking22]

11 hours ago, Duymon said:

All of Netflix'es budget went to Dark Crystal which is why the nilfgards in Witcher look like they're wearing trashbags

 

Lol I saw the leaked Nilf armor, yikes, I figured Witcher was too expensive a series for Netflix, HBO or some other big shot would've been better.

9 hours ago, Big s said:

I don’t know anything about milf guards in trash bags, but I cannot wait for August for Dark Crystal 

He's talking about the upcoming Witcher Netflix series, based on the video game and novel series, it features Superman in a bad silver/white wig.

 

On the topic of Dark Crystal, wow, that looks far, far more expensive then I ever imagined. As Duymon mentioned, did Netflix divert all money to series they think will actually be good? Witcher's leaks are looking dire to say the least, but this? This looks phenomenal, I'm totally on board.

[sh9000]

 

[TangledThorns]

Holy frak this looks good! Netflix should be doing Star Wars, not Disney IMHO.

[Bolt]

Wouldn’t THATt be something..

counting down now, and looking forward to this.  Rewatched the original with my 7 year old. Gotta catch the boy up 

[sh9000]

 

[sh9000]

 

[M'Kyuun]

My wife and I recently picked up a DVD set at Walmart containing Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Mirrormask, and I watched The Dark Crystal for the first time. I was really impressed how well Henson and Co. pulled off all the practical effects and puppetry throughout, and I agree with technoblue that it still holds up. Gotta say, the Netflix version looks like an awesome mix of CG and practical effects that really transcends the limitations of 80's effects, while maintaining the look and feel of the original.

On a side note, two years ago while attending a convention in Seattle, my wife and I paid a visit to the Sci-fi Museum where they had a Jim Henson exhibition. Among the many puppets were both Jen and Kira, as well as Aughra, and one of the Mystics.  Anyway, it was a little surreal to see all these Muppet and Sesame Street characters I grew up with just inches away within these glass cases. Up close, the craft and workmanship involved is just amazing.

 

[tekering]

While waiting for the new show to premiere, I decided my ReAction mystic could use a repaint:

Before and after.

I really should've sanded that seam off his face first.  

[TangledThorns]

First episode in. Looks great and way more deep than I expected.

[505thAirborne]

16 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

First episode in. Looks great and way more deep than I expected.

Nice!! Going to watch episode 1 in a bit. 

[Bolt]

It's really good. Very well done

The cgi and puppetry are seamless.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Bolt

[tekering]

It's damned miraculous that this got produced.  As a prequel to a half-forgotten film from 35 years ago, a complex and expensive epic that barely broke even, and a franchise that has languished in development hell for over a decade...  For it to finally get made, with this level of tonal fidelity, visual consistency, and with all the impenetrably dense mythology of the original, is truly incredible.  I never would've believed it would happen.

Of course, I never expected Linda Hamilton to make another Terminator film, after her character had been killed off...

Or Jamie Lee Curtis to make another Halloween film, after her character had been killed off... twice...!

And who would've expected a sequel to The Shining, 40 years later...?

What an amazing time we live in.  

 

I sure hope this manages to find an audience.  

[TangledThorns]

Second episode in... yeah, not for little ones. This is Game of Thrones lite which is a good thing.

[505thAirborne]

Some where out there Jim Henson is all smiles & full of pride. 

Kudos to everyone who put this series together. 

[tekering]

2 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Second episode in... yeah, not for little ones.

I assume you refer to the peeper beetle.  

[TangledThorns]

6 hours ago, tekering said:

I assume you refer to the peeper beetle.  

That plus the storyline is pretty deep, more so than the movie. My five year old daughter who likes the movie was bored with the series after five minutes.

[Sildani]

Gotta agree, the story is not for the wee ones. This place gets dark. 

Also, the voice cast is killer. It’s a who’s-who of Hollywood, and all of them are nailing their roles. 

[Hikuro]

I finished it, well struggled honestly. Lots of cheap visuals that ruined it for me and the gilfry with a lack of expressions for today’s animatronics and cgi was disappointing. I guess I expected a lot more but oh well.

[technoblue]

I binged the season over the long weekend too, but loved every minute. I was quite impressed with how the Henson company brought more variety to the Gelfling with the seven clans. It will be very interesting to see how much further they are able to take the story if we get another season.

Hint: I really hope we do get season 2. 

 

[Keith]

I'm going to assume season 2 is a lock considering how they ended it.

[Convectuoso]

Is it necessary to have watched the original Dark Mirror to understand this series? 

[technoblue]

25 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

Is it necessary to have watched the original Dark Mirror to understand this series? 

Not at all. This series works as a prequel to Henson’s original movie. You can save watching the movie to the very end, if you wish.

[Convectuoso]

Thanks 

[peter]

I never watched the original film.  I think I was 7 when it came out, so maybe I was too young for my parents to take me at the time.  Since then, I’ve only read snippets here and there on what it’s about, but I never got around to watching it.  

So, out of morbid curiosity, I started watching Age of Resistance on Netflix and ended up turning it off partway through episode 2. 

I’m totally fine with violence, gore and the concept of death, in fact, I may be a bit desensitized to it growing up with Faces of Death, Portal of Evil, now Liveleak, sprinkled with some mil training later in life.  No problems with horror movies/TV like Texas Chainsaw, Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, GOT all ok…….drew the line at The Serbian Film.  But mix all of that with Sesame Street and the Muppet Show, and end up with 

I knew going into it that it was probably going to be dark, but I guess I just wasn’t anticipating Muppets getting turned into juice and consumed.  The characters were…….unsettling.  The dead looking skin, those lifeless eyes, Jesus.  The other are visuals are great, but the characters are downright creepy.  They are clearly puppets, but I guess in my mind, there’s something very, very wrong with these puppets.

Maybe it was timing, my dad just had a heart attack the day before I started to watch it, so maybe that had something to do with it.  He’s going to be fine, but maybe my mind was telling me I needed some happy $hit in my life right now, lol!

I didn't have any nightmares, but I felt if I continued watching it, I would probably end up with some bad dreams.

Maybe I'll give it another chance later on, lol!

Edited September 3, 2019 by peter

[tekering]

6 hours ago, peter said:

I knew going into it that it was probably going to be dark, but I guess I just wasn’t anticipating Muppets getting turned into juice and consumed.  The characters were…….unsettling.  The dead looking skin, those lifeless eyes, Jesus.  The other are visuals are great, but the characters are downright creepy.

I'm sure you can understand why the original film was a hard sell for Jim Henson, back in '82, when nobody knew what to expect from The Dark Crystal...

...and nearly 40 years later, there's still nothing like it.

 

Except Age of Resistance, of course.  

Do you think it's more likely to find an audience in the 21st century?

[Bolt]

Dark crystal was ahead of it's time. It was pretty dark and deep way back then. So the new series isn't that far off. 

I expect it to be a hit.

[technoblue]

2 hours ago, tekering said:

I'm sure you can understand why the original film was a hard sell for Jim Henson, back in '82, when nobody knew what to expect from The Dark Crystal...

...and nearly 40 years later, there's still nothing like it.

 

Except Age of Resistance, of course.  

Do you think it's more likely to find an audience in the 21st century?

The original film wasn't so much a hard sell as it was up against serious competition from Steven Spielberg. E.T. hit theaters that same year and was a mega hit. The Dark Crystal pulled in a respectable $40 million US domestically and still stands as one of the most profitable puppet-based movies today.

Not bad, IMO.

Edited September 4, 2019 by technoblue
names

[peter]

15 hours ago, tekering said:

I'm sure you can understand why the original film was a hard sell for Jim Henson, back in '82, when nobody knew what to expect from The Dark Crystal...

...and nearly 40 years later, there's still nothing like it.

 

Except Age of Resistance, of course.  

Do you think it's more likely to find an audience in the 21st century?

Yeah, I could see it being a hard sell for sure, and without even seeing the original film, I'd agree that there's probably nothing else like it.  Apart from the Serbian Film, I don't think I've ever turned anything else off partway because I found it unsettling.  I read somewhere that Jim Henson said he wanted to scare kids with it, well I'm guessing mission accomplished. 

My job sometimes requires me to review very graphic images and my LE pals sometimes send me police/security cam footage of a gang member or other $hit rat getting his head blown off.  I can do that all day long and it doesn't even phase me, but there's something very unsettling about Dark Crystal, lol! 

Is it because the protagonists look like someone made puppets out of dead bodies, or because I associate the protagonists with the innocence of children and I can't stand to watch children suffer the way they do in Dark Crystal?

I'm probably overthinking it.  When I'm in a better state of mind, I'll probably give it another try.

[tekering]

2 minutes ago, peter said:

Is it because the protagonists look like someone made puppets out of dead bodies, or because I associate the protagonists with the innocence of children and I can't stand to watch children suffer the way they do in Dark Crystal?

After two decades of increasingly sophisticated and endearing CGI characters, the puppets do seem quaint and old-fashioned... and emote poorly, I must admit.

I don't know how much more expensive it would've been to computer-animate the characters, but I can't help but think the results would be much better-received by modern audiences than the comparatively limited puppetry.  I think of how awkward the Yoda puppet looked in The Phantom Menace, and how much more effective the CGI replacement for the Blu-ray turned out to be (and how comparatively poor the Yoda puppet in The Last Jedi looked as well).

Age of Resistance feels like a relic from the past, and despite the compelling story, strong characters and excellent cast, I just can't see the younger generation embracing it.  I have a great deal of respect for the original film, and I'm really enjoying the new series... but modern CGI would've undoubtedly been more effective, and attracted a wider audience.

[Bolt]

Overall, few puppet movies do phenomenally well. I really enjoyed The Happy time murders but i know it bombed at the box office (in a bad way). 

I haven't finished Age Of Resistance yet, I'm watching it with my 7 year old son, but i think it's going to be a classic already. Everyone that loves Jim Henson company productions , loves the fact they chose to stay with puppets. It's a lot of work to pull all that off!  

[TangledThorns]

8 minutes ago, Bolt said:

Overall, few puppet movies do phenomenally well. I really enjoyed The Happy time murders but i know it bombed at the box office (in a bad way). 

 

Best puppet movie evar IMHO! (NSFW)

 

[Bolt]

I still quote Team America in all it's non political correctness. Lol!

Edited September 4, 2019 by Bolt

[Tking22]

Just finished the whole series and wow, it was incredible. I've loved the original film since I was a kid, I wore out two different VHS tapes of the original movie, I feel this series delivered in every way I had hoped and expected.

Loved the gelflings, they looked fantastic, modern puppetry is quite incredible. I probably wouldn't have bothered with the series if they did CG gelflings, it just wouldn't be the same, the world was built on these tangible objects, jankiness and all.

As mentioned above the cast was fantastic, the only character I really worried about was Chamberlain, but Simon Pegg nailed the voice, and the puppeteer was absolutely on point with the little movements and mannerisms, just fantastic work. Amazing work all around of course, this series, like the original film, is a work of art, such a brilliant testament to so many different artists and fabricators. 

Also, I highly recommend watching the making of the series after the final episode, a well done but brief look at the insane amount of work and talent that went into this series.

My younger nieces, nephews and cousins have been enjoying it, never having seen the original film, and all very young. As I mentioned, no puppets for the gelflings would be nearly pointless to me, but it seems the look is still accessible enough to at least some younger viewers. As the for the tone? Game of Geflings indeed, I loved it, deep, like returning fans wanted, with enough betrayal and drama for younger crowds. I think most just need to remember puppets don't necessarily mean kiddy and light hearted, it's just the medium.

 

[technoblue]

Hm. I always preferred puppet Yoda to CGI Yoda in the movies. The only time CGI Yoda made sense to me was during the heavy action-oriented Jedi battle scenes of the prequels. For the original trilogy, I was never convinced that the added effects were necessary. I went out of my way to get Harmy's Despecialized Edition on Blu-ray once it was available.

Ha! I guess I'm old fashioned.

With the Dark Crystal, I see the puppets as being part and parcel of that mystical environment. I agree that they have a look to them that is strangely familiar and yet uncomfortable at the same time. I don't know what it is, but the visualization helps to sell the otherworldly fantasy to me. I'm okay with that. The story is done in such a way that I'm able to connect with the puppet heroes emotionally. As I see them go through their daily lives, as I see them face challenges, betrayals, find friends and allies, learn more about who they are and how they see the world change around them. That became a big deal as I was watching.

But anyway, that's just me. I am surprised how much this show, like Labyrinth, has gained a positive cult following in recent years. I'm also surprised, especially after the discussion here about CGI preferences, to hear that Netflix asked the Henson company for live action puppets after the idea was originally pitched as an animated series. This tidbit is part of The Crystal Calls documentary, which is also on Netflix. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the new series, and wants more insight into the behind-the-scenes work. 

9 minutes ago, Tking22 said:

Also, I highly recommend watching the making of the series after the final episode, a well done but brief look at the insane amount of work and talent that went into this series.

Yes! It bears repeating: +1 for the making of documentary.

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by technoblue
typos