Customer Reviews

The Seeker

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

This move did horrible in theatres across the world. There is a good reason for that. As a movie based off a best-selling book, it was an atrocity. The rushed pace of the story and the lack of a backstory, or background on any of the supporting characters really hurt this movie. But the biggest reason for this movie doing badly in the theatres were all the unnecessary changes made from the original book.The changes made to this movie were not needed. It is a prime example of dumbing down a story to try and make it either more modern, or simply more entertaining. For example: Will's family. In the book, his entire family was close, and nobody picked on Will. It was a prime example of a large family helping each other out during the holidays. Why did the movie make his family into rude, all around jerks? The change wasnt needed, I guess the movie felt that people didnt want to see a caring family, and instead thought that it would be more entertaining to see a bunch of morons tease their little brother. Another gripe I have is with Will's powers. In the book, the main thing about using the powers of the Light or the Dark, was that nothing was flashy, and they took the utmost care to not reveal anything to anyone. But here in the movie, Will has superstrength, can use the Force to push things, and also causes cars to explode when he has a temper tantrum. Ther are so many things wrong with this movie I dont have the patience to talk about them. I mean they couldnt even get the color of the Rider's horse correct. Do not waste your time with this crap, read the book instead, and even if you hate the book, at least ask yourself if any of these changes were needed.

This is quite possibly the most sheet adaptation of a book I've ever seen. The book was an amazing piece of work, showing the coming of age of a boy whose soul was ancient; there was no angst, no complaining, no teenaged "but I'm just a kid!" stuff. It was Good Versus Evil, and Evil was beautiful and tricky and powerful; and Good was sometimes hard and dangerous, but also as bright as the sun. The movie is a rip-off sucking onto the "teenaged boy with magical powers" theme, hoping to snag some customer cash. Avoid it.

We all had such high hope, didn't we? The fans of Susan Cooper's famous series The Dark Is Rising (Boxed Set): The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, Over Sea, Under Stone, Silver on the Tree, The Grey King had waited so long and when we heard Walden Media of Narnia fame was making the movie we were thrilled.

Sigh. To get it made, Ms. Cooper signed away her rights to halt the massive, poorly concieved changes to this beloved novel. Not only was it 'updated' to appeal to tweens, substantial alterations added up to a movie no one really liked and were sad to see. Shame on Walden media for altering a classic in the name of marketing.

Read the book and act as if this film never existed. You'll feel better.

What do you get when an awful director, a hack screenwriter and terrible casting director join forces to ruin a beloved children's book? You get _The Seeker_.

It is clear NO ONE associated with this film did anything more that read the book jacket of Cooper's wonderful book. Why do talentless film makers buy up great books only to change everything about them? The book works because the author knows how to tell a story.

This is truly an awful film. If you must see it, rent it, or buy it used. Don't give film makers who despise excellence in storytelling a single penny of your hard earned money. Instead, buy a copy of the book and read it out loud to your family on a winter's night. There's the magic.

Years ago, I wrote in my review of the DARK IS RISING series that these would make wonderful movies, so I was very excited to see the first of these stories hit the big screen.

Sadly, I was very disappointed.

Rather than following the life and excitement of these wonderful books, the director/producer/whoever took the cheap and easy road, creating a middle of the road, predictable story ... or worse. The "Old Ones" are one dimensional caricatures of Harry Potter characters, the seductive witch virtually ignores the entire feminist movement, and the storyline has needless updates with webcams and ipods.

Too bad, really. The young man who played Will had a fair level of screen presence ... he is a young man with potential.

What captured me initially about Ms. Cooper's wonderful stories was, similar to J.K. Rowling, her impression command of British mythology ... parts of the story that were sterilized out of the movie in order to create a story-line with a modern-day narcissistic plot (gee ... guess who is the final sign?!?)

Having said that, my 12-year-old really enjoyed the movie ... hopefully enough to get him to read the books.

Wow, where to begin... I have read the book but Im not one to pick a movie apart based on the book. If I did, I'd have to tear Lord of the Rings to pieces (which I loved as a movie). Anyway, Seeker is hands down the worst movie I've seen in a long while. It takes a 9 on my Eyes Wide Shut Scale of Bad Movies. Why? Terrible acting... super-over-the-top melodramatic scenes... an annoyingly inconsistent and incomprehensible plotline... idiotic amount if tension building with absolutely no pay off. In short its a lot like an episode of Dragonball Z, in a kids' fantasy movie clothing.

This is an awful movie in every way. Special effects, acting, a retread story, direction, music... every single aspect is sub-par. Do yourself a favor... rent or buy something else. I sadly saw this in the theater. I still regret it.

Update 04-05-08: I saw the preview of the DVD for this movie while wandering around Target, and it really reminded me what a terrible, predictable movie this is. Don't be fooled by the preview. It's the most cohesive bit about this mess.

I discovered the Dark is Rising sequence nearly 21 years ago, and have read each of the five books hundreds of times. I hadn't remembered seeing the movie in theaters, so I was excited when the local Blockbuster had it to rent. Anyone who's seen the Harry Potter movies knows that you can skip parts of the plot and tell the same story, the Seeker doesn't even do that much. They've left out key pieces of plot, key developments, and a lot of the wonder of Susan Cooper's book. As a stand alone movie, if you've never read the books, it's just ok, as a lot of the story seems to wander. I was hugely disappointed with the movie, although the actors and effects were all pretty good. Anyone with children who want to read the book, I'd almost recommend that they watch the movie first, it would be less confusing.

Save your time and your money. This is nothing like the book.
And badly made as well.

if you have read the book and loved it, you will be disappointed by this film.to say there are few differences between the book and film is a gross understaement! to me the only simalarities are between the characters names and that there are 6 signs!!!!!!!