There’s two genres that have an IMMENSE potential to disappoint me: 1) swords and sorcery; and 2) Sci-fi. In the former category, my worst-of-all-time is Dungeons & Dragons. Even Jeremy Iron’s travesty couldn’t save it.
A big part of the reason why I’m easily disappointed is the amount of good genre books I’ve read - both fantasy and sci-fi. In my mind I pictured things differently, certainly not as cheesy as Merlin’s Apprentice.
The movie’s been produced as a mini-series so budget has been severely tilted towards cheap costumes and disjoined narration. Miranda Richardson graces the screen for a few seconds though she quickly falls victim to special effects (right).
Some of the most “offensive” moments come from total disregard of plausibity. One example: Barbarian hordes (albeit lacking in extras) wheel in ballistas when ambushed near a river ford. The Saxons (?) operate them with such cunning that other plot devices fall silent for the next 10 minutes or so when ballistas take care of cast no longer vital for the plot. (right)
Merlin’s Apprentice is an earnest effort to dislodge Dungeons & Dragons from the top position. It matches it in terms of star power (Miranda Richardson), special effects, and plot. It doesn’t score high on the dragon scale though - I miss the pointless flocks of golden, red, black, emerald, etc. dragons that plague D&D. Merlin has to settle for silver (or even bronze).
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