Eragon is Fox’s big hope at imitating the success of New Line Cinema (The Lord of the Rings), WarnerBros. (Harry Potter) and Walden Media/Disney (The Chronicles of Narnia) with a holiday release fantasy epic. Both the film project, locked firmly in the Christmas 2006 release slot, and the book it’s based on have received considerable coverage on this site (Eragon movie preview; Eragon Book Review; Eldest Book Review). With the film already in post-production (those unfamiliar with the book should know that the film adaptation will require lots of computer-generated imagery) and the largest part of the shoot completed, I feel it is time to try and assess what we can expect from this first film of a potential new franchise. This assessment is largely based on two factors: visuals from the film that have been released onto the internet and the previous projects this film’s cast and crew have worked on.

Below is one of the earliest Eragon images that surfaced sometime in mid-2005 which highlights the quite respectable cast attached to this film, clad in their character’s attires:

From left to right we are presented with Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty, The Beach) as Durza, the evil henchman of King Galbatorix, played by John Malkovich (Con Air, Being John Malkovich, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), Djimon Hounsou (Amistad, Gladiator, The Island) as the rebel leader Ajihad, newcomer Ed Speleers as Eragon, Jeremy Irons (The Man In The Iron Mask, The Time Machine, Kingdom Of Heaven) as his sage mentor Brom, Sienna Guillory (The Time Machine, Resident Evil: Apocalypse) as the elf Arya, and Garrett Hedlung (Troy, Friday Night Lights) as Eragon’s sturdy companion Murtagh.

The first really promising glimpse of the film followed in the form of a short behind-the-scenes video that seems to have vanished from internet in the meantime. Not only did it contain key members of the crew sheding some light on the production, it also featured brief film clips in pretty much their finished form (thus none of these scenes sport much in the way of CGI). Here are a couple of screenshots from some of those scenes:

Arya and Eragon overlook the plains // Eragon prepares to unleash an arrow

Murtagh emerges // Brom confronts Eragon

The Gedwëy Ignasia on Eragon’s hand // Eragon and Murtagh ride in the sunset

Eragon and Murtagh on horseback // Arya leads the way

The first official movie still released by Fox depicts two of the film’s better known cast members, John Malkovich and Robert Carlyle, in a scene that never took place in Eragon, the book. In fact, Malkovich’s character Galbatorix is not once ’seen’ in Paolini’s novel, but only narrated in flashbacks and referred to in other characters’ speeches and conversations. So where in the book you are privy to Durza’s evil deeds only, the movie seems to showcase how the chief himself gives instructions to his number one minion. It appears Fox and/or the screenwriters wanted to harness the antagonistic forces into a recognizable face:

So far so good. Only recently though, a batch of new photos from the set were published over at Shur’tugal (which means ‘Dragon Rider’ in the book’s fantasy Ancient Language), probably the number one source for Eragon news and information right now. And the initial reaction to them among followers online has been somewhat negative, especially over the shots permitting the first glance at Urgals (who are sort of representative of the Orcs in The Lord Of The Rings). In the book, the Urgals are described as men with bowed legs and thick brutish arms made for crushing. The Kull, the strongest race of Urgals, stand over eight feet tall on average, and their legs are thick as saplings, making them veritable giants (quoted from Wikipedia, as I’m too lazy to go and look up the descriptions in the book myself). Below is how the Urgals will be presented in the film adaptation:

What we see here, in fact, are Hungarian bodybuilders in ridiculous make-up and uninspired costumes. According to this newspaper story, they were forced to shave bald, or near bald [...] much to their dismay. Combined with the tattoos, they much more resemble a gang of veteran Harley bikers than fearsome combat opponents, to me at least.

Furthermore we are offered a look at the set of Farthen Dûr which does no justice at all to the majestic mountain city revealed in the book (granted, much of the magic that can make this work will be created in post-production):

Going by all these images, how serious and epic an approach can we expect? Much of the responsibility of bringing this film to life rests in the hands of director Stefen Fangmeier. Upon cross-checking his previous credits in the IMDB the first thing that captures your eye is the fact that Fangmeier has not directed a single film so far. Eragon is his first. His entire experience has been gained working as a visual effects supervisor on films such as Jurassic Park, Twister, Saving Private Ryan, The Perfect Storm, Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World and Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events. I, for one, hold some concern over his direction possibly focusing a little too much on the visual side, given his background, though I’d gladly be shown otherwise come December.

Paolini’s novel itself isn’t as focused on action and fights as one might imagine. Indeed, the story’s strongest point is probably the relationship built up between the lead character and his dragon, who share an intimate mental link. I’m very curious to find out how the issue of Eragon and his dragon conversing with eachother in their minds will be portrayed on screen, a task that will have initially been tackled by the screenwriters Peter Buchman and Lawrence Konner. Checking the IMDB for their credits, by the way, yields the following results: Buchman has previously only scripted Jurassic Park III (he’s written screenplays for Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming Guerillia and Peter Weir’s War Magician in the meantime, though, which is very encouraging), while Konner has penned various teleplays for the TV show The Sopranos and provided scripts for films like Mona Lisa Smile, Planet of the Apes, Mighty Joe Young, Mercury Rising and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, among others.

Taking all of this into account, I’d have to say I’m awaiting the film release of Eragon with mixed impressions. I enjoyed the book a great deal, and the preview clip together with the movie stills enable me to hope for an adequately enjoyable film adaptation, but I must admit that the attached crew and studio have me quavering slightly. There is as of now no word yet on when to expect the first trailer for the film, which should certainly allow for a better judgement on what to expect of this year’s big fantasy release. But when it does hit, we’ll be sure to roll this issue up again and offer an indepth analysis of the new imagery. In the meantime, interested readers can discuss Eragon in this discussion thread at the X-Boards or visit our Eragon database entry for more information on the film or view more images in our Eragon gallery.

Lastly, I’d like to point out that author Christopher Paolini will be attending a chat over at Shur’tugal on Sunday, March 5, at 3pm EST. He is expected to answer your questions on anything about Eragon, Eldest, the upcoming third (and final) book and the film adaptation.

Posted by Tai in Commentary, Movies • Add to del.icio.us Add to Digg