General / Off-Topic The Witcher, Netflix version!

The only thing I'd criticise really and it doesn't apply to those that know the story, is that it's not terribly clear about the timelines. So that could easily confuse newcomers and put them off when the timelines eventually catch up without each other.
As someone with zero Witcher history I coped fine with it. Good I hope modern audiences aren't that snowflaky.
 
Two episodes in and it's falling short of my already modest expectations. I feel like I'm in a strange position with my motivation to continue watching it; if I hadn't read any of the books or played any of the games, I'd have dropped it after the first episode, but having experienced some of the other media, I find the show really isn't holding up in comparison.

Standing on it's own I think it would be nearly unwatchable. So far there are a bunch of non-characters and a lot of clumsy exposition that does far more telling who these character are supposed to be than showing who they are, most especially in the case of Geralt himself. I'm not liking Cavil as Geralt and some of the other casting choices don't seem to be fitting well either. I liked the Queen they killed off (of course) in the first episode, and they seem to be doing a decent job with Yennifer, so far. But most of the rest is just blandness, interspersed with an exaggerated gravelly voiced Geralt, and an obnoxiously anachronistic Dandelion.

The CG is mediocre, the sets are pretty bad, while pacing and continuity are a muddled. Fight choreography isn't terrible compared to, say, Iron Fist or Game of Thrones, it but could have been a lot better. Distinct lack of atmosphere as well, which is something the games and books had in abundance.

As has been mentioned, it feels like they took the Witcher cliff notes and are trying to give it the Game of Thrones treatment. I'll probably finish it, but at this point I'm not expecting much.

Maybe I'll go back and watch the old Polish Hexer series...I don't think it could possibly be worse, despite the comparatively non-existent production values/budget.
 
Maybe I'll go back and watch the old Polish Hexer series...I don't think it could possibly be worse, despite the comparatively non-existent production values/budget.

I say you will feel better with the Polish Hexer 100%. Despite hilarious effects (the cgi dragon is haunting me to this day) and sometimes silly dialogue at least the show was put together by the folks who were trying to put some atmosphere from the books in it.
Back in the day (I saw Hexer in theater and then was watching the TV version) it was the hilarious "so bad its good" for me. After watching this new serie I can look back and say - hey, it was not all that bad! :D
 
Two episodes in and it's falling short of my already modest expectations. I feel like I'm in a strange position with my motivation to continue watching it; if I hadn't read any of the books or played any of the games, I'd have dropped it after the first episode, but having experienced some of the other media, I find the show really isn't holding up in comparison.

Standing on it's own I think it would be nearly unwatchable. So far there are a bunch of non-characters and a lot of clumsy exposition that does far more telling who these character are supposed to be than showing who they are, most especially in the case of Geralt himself. I'm not liking Cavil as Geralt and some of the other casting choices don't seem to be fitting well either. I liked the Queen they killed off (of course) in the first episode, and they seem to be doing a decent job with Yennifer, so far. But most of the rest is just blandness, interspersed with an exaggerated gravelly voiced Geralt, and an obnoxiously anachronistic Dandelion.

The CG is mediocre, the sets are pretty bad, while pacing and continuity are a muddled. Fight choreography isn't terrible compared to, say, Iron Fist or Game of Thrones, it but could have been a lot better. Distinct lack of atmosphere as well, which is something the games and books had in abundance.

As has been mentioned, it feels like they took the Witcher cliff notes and are trying to give it the Game of Thrones treatment. I'll probably finish it, but at this point I'm not expecting much.

Maybe I'll go back and watch the old Polish Hexer series...I don't think it could possibly be worse, despite the comparatively non-existent production values/budget.
Will wonders never cease? Something I actually agree with you on.
 
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Two episodes in and it's falling short of my already modest expectations. I feel like I'm in a strange position with my motivation to continue watching it; if I hadn't read any of the books or played any of the games, I'd have dropped it after the first episode, but having experienced some of the other media, I find the show really isn't holding up in comparison.

Standing on it's own I think it would be nearly unwatchable. So far there are a bunch of non-characters and a lot of clumsy exposition that does far more telling who these character are supposed to be than showing who they are, most especially in the case of Geralt himself. I'm not liking Cavil as Geralt and some of the other casting choices don't seem to be fitting well either. I liked the Queen they killed off (of course) in the first episode, and they seem to be doing a decent job with Yennifer, so far. But most of the rest is just blandness, interspersed with an exaggerated gravelly voiced Geralt, and an obnoxiously anachronistic Dandelion.

The CG is mediocre, the sets are pretty bad, while pacing and continuity are a muddled. Fight choreography isn't terrible compared to, say, Iron Fist or Game of Thrones, it but could have been a lot better. Distinct lack of atmosphere as well, which is something the games and books had in abundance.

As has been mentioned, it feels like they took the Witcher cliff notes and are trying to give it the Game of Thrones treatment. I'll probably finish it, but at this point I'm not expecting much.

Maybe I'll go back and watch the old Polish Hexer series...I don't think it could possibly be worse, despite the comparatively non-existent production values/budget.
I’ve watched the small trailers from the game many times, I wished someone would make a tv show using this format, that said, I still haven’t seen the new show, because I’m afraid I just get so disappointed that I rage quit 😂😂🤓
 
I’ve watched the small trailers from the game many times, I wished someone would make a tv show using this format, that said, I still haven’t seen the new show, because I’m afraid I just get so disappointed that I rage quit 😂😂🤓
Just forget the books and games and you're gonna enjoy it. It doesn't really care about the source material, except for an inspiration for a couple of small stories within..
But if you can look past that, it's a surprisingly fun show and H.C. is actually good.
 
Ok so I watched it, still need to finish it, however it's not that bad.

The good.
Geralt is actually not as bad as I expected, doing a good job with the character.
Yen, is actually very good as Yennifer, pretty close to games in appearance.
Ciri, well it's a young Ciri so not bad, good enough I would say.
The monsters, well they are ok for a low budget TV show, I can live with it.

The Bad
The constant Timeline flip flopping
The costumes, well, some are ok others are really horrible like the Nilgards uniforms, what happen there.
Triss, naaa, not working for me.

The ugly.
Well I didn't see anything I would say was horrible, other than they had to mix the diversity spice into it, however it's eatable.
 
After watching two episodes, the second of which was one of the stupidest productions I can remember watching, I blasted the show as an atrocity. Since then I got bored enough to watch episode three and very grudgingly found myself softening my stance. After watching the entire season I give my final evaluation:

If this was a unique property where the creative team was just winging it and trying to develop as they went along I would say the series rated a solid "meh." As it stands though, given the fact that they had tons of lore and literature to draw from I have to say that this was rather a pitiful showing overall. It wasn't as bad as I originally thought, but it wasn't much better, either.

There were only two parts worth watching imo. Cavill actually did a great job as Geralt, and though Yennefer was an utterly un-compelling character, she looks stunning sans clothing and they kept her stripped down in enough scenes to sort of hold my interest. That's it. In all other respects that the production could be quantified it was almost mediocre.

And it was hilariously misnamed "The Witcher," because if you break it down scene for scene and analyse it for story thrust and content where Yennefer's sleep inducing story arc was clearly of far more import than Geralt's (Geralt was barely a bit part) it clearly should have been called "The Witch."
 
she looks stunning sans clothing and they kept her stripped down in enough scenes to sort of hold my interest.

I got to the last episode and never watched it, i was that uninterested in how things worked out. I only watched that far because of the actress who played Yennefer.
I think i fell a little bit in love with her. But im past that now, Ive started to rewatch Startrek Voyager and 7 of 9 is once again my best girl.
 
I got to the last episode and never watched it, i was that uninterested in how things worked out. I only watched that far because of the actress who played Yennefer.
I think i fell a little bit in love with her. But im past that now, Ive started to rewatch Startrek Voyager and 7 of 9 is once again my best girl.
I'll say this about the ending to avoid spoilers: If you were hoping for a decent bang up climax to the story arc bringing all the characters together in a symphony of "The Witcher" inspired carnage you were sorely disappointed. In short, the ending was about as exciting as a poorly tied balloon losing all of it's air and sagging out of sight behind a sofa.

Personal opinion: that's what you get when the creative director for the production is a feminist.
 
I'll say this about the ending to avoid spoilers: If you were hoping for a decent bang up climax to the story arc bringing all the characters together in a symphony of "The Witcher" inspired carnage you were sorely disappointed. In short, the ending was about as exciting as a poorly tied balloon losing all of it's air and sagging out of sight behind a sofa.

Personal opinion: that's what you get when the creative director for the production is a feminist.

Yeh, i get those vibes from most TV and Movies made today.
The Gillette Effect, only so much eye rolling i can tolerate per hour.
 
Yeh, i get those vibes from most TV and Movies made today.
The Gillette Effect, only so much eye rolling i can tolerate per hour.
Exactly. The director was a literal man hating feminist, in charge creatively of a project where the main character is the very epitome of rugged manliness.
 
After watching two episodes, the second of which was one of the stupidest productions I can remember watching, I blasted the show as an atrocity. Since then I got bored enough to watch episode three and very grudgingly found myself softening my stance. After watching the entire season I give my final evaluation:

If this was a unique property where the creative team was just winging it and trying to develop as they went along I would say the series rated a solid "meh." As it stands though, given the fact that they had tons of lore and literature to draw from I have to say that this was rather a pitiful showing overall. It wasn't as bad as I originally thought, but it wasn't much better, either.

There were only two parts worth watching imo. Cavill actually did a great job as Geralt, and though Yennefer was an utterly un-compelling character, she looks stunning sans clothing and they kept her stripped down in enough scenes to sort of hold my interest. That's it. In all other respects that the production could be quantified it was almost mediocre.

And it was hilariously misnamed "The Witcher," because if you break it down scene for scene and analyse it for story thrust and content where Yennefer's sleep inducing story arc was clearly of far more import than Geralt's (Geralt was barely a bit part) it clearly should have been called "The Witch."

That's pretty much how I feel about the show as well. I gave it a "solid meh" at the time. Which is not bad, as I expected it to be trash and actually ended up surprised.

Henry Cavill did indeed a very nice job portraying a young Geralt. It clearly shows that Cavill is the only major league actor in the show. The actress that played Yennefer also did a nice job with the material she had (which wasn't great), but the character itself is a bit uninspiring, I actually feel that "videogame Yennefer" is a much more compelling and interesting character.

As for the rest, the whole show feels very low in production value, like if it was all filmed inside a barn with decorated walls, using people randomly dragged from the street as actors. I'll still probably end up watching season 2 as well, mostly because I'm a sucker for Geralt of Rivia.
 
That's pretty much how I feel about the show as well. I gave it a "solid meh" at the time. Which is not bad, as I expected it to be trash and actually ended up surprised.

Henry Cavill did indeed a very nice job portraying a young Geralt. It clearly shows that Cavill is the only major league actor in the show. The actress that played Yennefer also did a nice job with the material she had (which wasn't great), but the character itself is a bit uninspiring, I actually feel that "videogame Yennefer" is a much more compelling and interesting character.

As for the rest, the whole show feels very low in production value, like if it was all filmed inside a barn with decorated walls, using people randomly dragged from the street as actors. I'll still probably end up watching season 2 as well, mostly because I'm a sucker for Geralt of Rivia.
Lazy writers are the problem today, in the past you could have great shows done on a very small budget.
 
I watched it the other day. All 8 episode in one binge watch.
I have not played any of the games or read the books. I am a sword & sorcery fan though.
I enjoyed it, especially this bit ....

When a villager is describing how Geralt fought a monster "And then it ATE HIM!" and the bard, writing down "Oh he'll be fine"

I didn't realise what was going on until the last episode where they redo a scene in the first episode and then we catch up with the time line. Maybe I should have paid more attention.

The only real criticism I have is the language used, and I don't mean the swearing, I mean the overall language used. They talk using modern 21st century words when if you time-travelled back to the middle ages you'd not understand anything being said, and they wouldn't understand you and you'd probably be burned as a witch ... but yes, I know, Witcher is not set in our world or our timeline, its a fantasy and our language is used so we understand it and enjoy it .... it's just something that bugs me, like the universal translator in Star Trek (Why do alien's mouths move in English?)

On the whole, I enjoyed it, and it should settle in and get better after a season or two more.
 
it's just something that bugs me, like the universal translator in Star Trek
Technically that is exactly the type of thing that's happening.
You can imagine they're talking old Polish dialect and you just see and hear it translated into your language as if by magic. :D
 
Came across this video the other day, I think it did a good job explaining why the Witcher failed for me. A bit longish, but I think his analysis is sound.

 
Season 2 and I must say they really made this a great show, I'm hooked and I also like the direction the show is going.
 
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