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> Aired 10 years before the release of the first instalment of Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy, the low-budget film appears ripped from another age: the costumes
by jan_Inkepa 6y ago
> Aired 10 years before the release of the first instalment of Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy, the low-budget film appears ripped from another age: the costumes and sets are rudimentary, the green-screen effects are ludicrous, and many of the scenes look more like a theatre production than a feature-length film.
I wish the article wasn't so sneering in tone... sneering is good larks if you're on board with it, but if you come in like "oh wait this actually seems interesting" it can be a bit off-putting. However, it is nice to know of this show's existence, and I'm grateful to learn of that.
- versale 6y agoActually it is a theater adaptation, but aired on TV. I remember that time. The Leningrad TV made plenty of similar TV-plays for children featuring actors from Leningrad theaters. I find it funny that such production is compared with Jackson’s trilogy now.
- guerrilla 6y agoIt's like they pulled one of their Cold War era writers out of retitrment just for this article...
- essentialoils 6y agono, he looks like a freshly minted cold warrior. andrew roth should go and dig up scifi from bbc and compare "green-screen effects".
- IgorPartola 6y agoI love Star Trek TNG but it was about as “ludicrous” in a lot of ways. I also grew up on Soviet movies and cartoons so this doesn’t look as out of place to me as I guess it might to someone who’s never seen this genre of film.
- jahnu 6y agoTotally :) https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/startrek/images/2/20/Skinofevil.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190224204539 https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/startrek/images/2/20/Skino...
- nullifidian 6y ago>more like a theatre production than a feature-length film Because it was basically a "television play", a hybrid between a theater production and a higher budget TV series/film. Such things were common on Soviet TV. One has to understand that Soviet Union was relatively poor when compared with the west, especially so during perestroika. For example "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is another Soviet tv play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCutJ-7acvg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCutJ-7acvg
- chrisseaton 6y agoTV plays also used to be very common in the UK.
- blowski 6y agoThe best adaptations of Shakespeare were TV plays. A lot of CGI is now trying to mask the lack of good plot.
- chrisseaton 6y agoI also think many classic TV shows are effectively TV plays - such as Star Trek, the Twilight Zone, etc.
- blowski 6y agoYou're right, that's a really fascinating observation. I can see myself noticing that on future shows.
- jhgb 6y agoYou mean something like UK's "I, Claudius"?
- nullifidian 6y agoFrom what I've seen on youtube regarding British TV plays, they were much much higher budget, and much closer to just a normal TV series/film, maybe with a theatrical dramatic flare, while Soviet TV plays often had abstract "modern theatre" like decorations, fewer or no background characters, other cost cutting measures, much closer to theater in terms of production.
- Uhhrrr 6y agoI just went back and watched the BBC adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
- gumby 6y agoDo you mean BBC TV? HHGTTG was originally a radio play made by the BBC (Radio 4), later adapted as books.
- Hwatwasthat 6y agoThey made a tv show too, some of the cast being the ones from the radio show. It's definitely in the original doctor who style of special effects, and I really enjoy it!