Fantasy : Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

All these syfy channel miniseries are horrible. Now, I know you're limited by budget, but if anything it should make them better written. But you have all these horrible fantasy movies being put out. You'd think Neil Gaimon or whoever is considered a great fantasy writer would write a fantasy miniseries. There aren't even good fantasy movies being made. They either try too hard to be The Princess Bride, which means they are trying to be funny and the point of The Princess Bride was that it was done straight, but there were funny moments, or they are going for a kids audience. I'm not saying they need to be for adults, something like Lord of the Rings showed that you can do fantasy well and make it for a wide audience. I just think that an amazing fantasy miniseries could really show that a miniseries is a good medium. The problem with most of them is that they start off so slow that people lose interest. So it needs to keep people interested in thr story and not drag.

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Try Gormenghast (2000): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197154/

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Game of Thrones maybe?? My fav of the moment :)

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Not really a miniseries though.




It`s far easier to start a war than to end one.

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?


Game of Thrones is great, and so is Gormenghast.


Music expresses the inexpressible

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Game of Thrones ROCKS!!!

It seems that it's not the lack of them so much as it's the lack of QUALITY in them. Some start good, then fizzle out. Some start cliche'd right from the start, some are just another telling of a much repeated story, and some are just plain bad to begin with.

I think if time, effort, caring & at least a halfway decent budget are put forth, quality fantasy should be as common as quality Sci-Fi (or any other genere).

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

The BBC made the TV series of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, I think it was 6 episodes which is normal for UK TV but probably comes under miniseries territory in the US. A Sandman TV series would be great though, or American Gods.

I liked the 90s miniseries of The Stand, the finale was lacklustre but the opening episode was so fantastic it is one of my favourite opening episodes of any TV series.

And it is hammy as hell but I still quite enjoyed the Merlin with Sam Neil in it. I like the current BBC Merlin too.

Carnivale is good and I would consider that a fantasy.

Oh, and there is the web series JourneyQuest although it is comedy.

I do agree that there is not enough though, I don't know why that is, but perhaps the popularity of Game of Thrones will make the producers see that there is an appetite for it.

The lute is the coolest of all medieval stringed instruments.

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Alice in Wonderland (1985)- 10/10

It's also my most favorite movie. It's a movie that I grew up with. It's the most faithful to the books. It has the Lion and the Unicorn scene (my favorite part from the book) and it even has that scene with the fawn. A whole bunch of celebrities are in it. Lloyd Bridges, Karl Malden, Ringo Starr, and Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few.

The Silver Chair (1990)- 10/10
Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989)- 9/10
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988)- 8/10

Volker Flenske: (While torturing David) I don't know why you're doing this to yourself!

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

Do Doctor Who arcs count as mini-series?

Re: Why are there no good fantasy miniseries?

That's a easy answer. People are too hard to please and the people that finance these films don't want to throw their money away. I'm not saying to say a movie is great if it's not but bashing it will not help it either. We support fantasy with our money and our reviews. If you didn't like a certain fantasy movie or series be constructive instead of destructive. It could make a difference. People want a steady stream of movies and ALL of them has to be the best they ever seen. That's never happened and never will. So, let's support fantasy if you want to see more. We do that with our reviews, money, talking to people who might like it even if you don't, etc. Until then fantasy will always be at the bottom.
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