Why Respecting Lore Is So Important

[@mountpennart]

Eric! What a good review! I’m of the opinion that respecting the source material is super important- so thank you for addressing this. I was looking forward to this film- but will now do so with a more cautious eye. Thank you as always for an amazing explanation!

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you my friend! Definitely a bit of a mixed experience, curious to know what you think when you do catch it!

[@frankberry6220]

Dear Eric, As usual, you present your audience with a well researched dissection in a deceptively relaxed manner. Bravo! Frank.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you so much Frank!

[@StrangeHistory-tr2xs]

It’s great how you reference original works in your reviews and discuss staying true to the intention from the author. An extension of a story from a small section of text really can turn into something great. Too bad this movie was not one

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you, and well said

[@scenicwalkthru]

Great review. This film sounds like a fantastic idea wasted

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you! It kind of was unfortunately

[@aifoSFilms]

Excellent review, my fiend!!!

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you my friend!

[@Pondimus_Maximus]

This is easily the best review of this film I’ve seen. Excellent work, as always. 🖖😀

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you so much my friend!

[@RJres]

That's unfortunate - there's a story to be told there between the lines and it sounds like they missed the bigger themes. Personally, I think taking a chapter like that where there's a lot of blanks presents a great opportunity for a creative adaptation. But what use you to fill in the blanks must connect to the greater narrative. I might still watch this on streaming when it comes out, because it does intrigue me. What really irks me though is when the adapters use those blanks to do things entirely counter-intuitive/counter-lore/counter-character, etc., and justifying it with "well... Tolkien never explicitly said there weren't terminators riding velociraptors in middle-earth". BTW - totally agree with you on the deaths of children (and dogs) in movies like that. It comes across entirely as a cheap shot to say "look how edgey we are". At most, it should be implied but never shown or explicit.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Exactly! The blank spaces should complement the themes and narrative of the original Although terminators riding velociraptors would have improved rop big time!😂

[@RJres]

@@Ericthecameraman And thinking about it a bit more, I think sometimes the blank spaces are best left as blank spaces. Not everything needs to be detailed and the mystery can be more awe inspiring than the knowing. Kinda like how in graphic design the white space accentuates and complements the main content (and I'm sure there's a similar analogy for shot composition). In Dracula's case - hints of some sort of unstoppable nefarious activity on a voyage... simply terrifying precisely due to not knowing what happened. Turning it into a basic slasher flick... uninspiring (as an example, not knowing if that is the case with this movie).

[@Ericthecameraman]

@@RJres that’s spot on, pretty much the root of the problem with so many films this one included. Like in a new hope with Han mentioning the kessel run in passing- actually seeing it on screen in a separate film takes away from the mystique of that original scene

[@RJres]

@@Ericthecameraman - exactly, and a perfect example! Another master example of this is pretty much through all of Buckaroo Banzai, with all these little things happening in the background with these hidden little "what the heck was that about" moments (e.g. the watermelon in the compression machine, lol)

[@RJ420NL]

While the addition of new characters wasn't necessary for the story, it was necessary for DEI, which of course is what counts most. At least they didn't race/gender swap all the characters. I'm surprised the captain wasn't a nonwhite girl boss who slew white male Dracula then went on honeymoon with her wife.

[@Ericthecameraman]

That would’ve been the perfect ending 🤣😂

[@frankberry6220]

Dear Eric, You' the one doing the heavy lifting; I'm just glad I found your channel. Frank.

[@Ericthecameraman]

You’re so kind, Thank you so much Frank

[@frankberry6220]

Dear Eric, I see your dissertations like those of art historians explaining details of classical paintings. They explain not only the positioning of the subject, but the relevance of other figures an objects featured within the image. Given that context may be lost over time, it is vital to have experts like you describe details that most of us would otherwise miss. To use a simple analogy, take the line from Hamlet where he claims that although feigning madness, he still 'knows a hawk from a handsaw.' That appears very obvious, whereas Shakespeare was drawing the comparison of two tools, viz. the plasterer's board (hawk) and the carpenter's handsaw. Frank.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you so much for your kind words Frank, I always appreciate your comments!

[@lunalupus63]

Completely unaware of the existence of this film until now! 'Dracula' is one of my favourite novels, and I agree, that chapter is one of the most chilling, leaves so much to the imagination. But my initial excitement about watching it gradually died down as your review progressed. What a shame about the changes you mentioned, which, by the sounds of it, really diminishes the captain's last moments. Can't help but wonder if the change was made so as not to draw attention to the rosary, which would be silly considering the part holy symbols play in defeating Dracula. Anyway, another great, succint review, thanks.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you so much! Yeah this one flew under the radar, on streaming already in the US! It is odd, and it really started out strong, especially with its use of holy and unholy symbols (locals shuddering and panicking at the dragon marks on the cargo) and then abandoned their impact. As a fellow fan of the novel you’ll definitely have some mixed feelings if you get around to seeing it!

[@chrisheller2705]

I feel like this film had such potential….

[@Ericthecameraman]

It did!

[@dougieranger]

Oh wow, Dracula, or Count Vladimir Dracula of the Order Of The Dragon, to give him his full title, is one of fiction’s all time best characters. I will look forward to this film but from a sceptical perspective. Thank you once again Eric for these wonderful films you make my friend. Best wishes from Scotland. Slàinte mhath. 🥃

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you so much brother! Agreed, definitely one of fictions all time best

[@dougieranger]

@@EricthecameramanOh absolutely. And thanks for your kind comment on my last, distinctly amateur, film.

[@Ericthecameraman]

@@dougieranger no problem man you did a great job!

[@dougieranger]

@@Ericthecameraman😊

[@SoundsInMyMind]

Great review. This whole “woke”movie phase is killing the desire for fans to watch new movies. I for once won’t want a movie that’s has been passed through the woke filter. DEI is the new lore in Hollywood. No wonder they’re all sinking. No pun intended.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you, and so true! Sinking ship..😂😂😂

[@majkus]

"Respecting lore" is really not, I think, much different from respecting history when doing a historical film. A film about actual historical events (e.g., "Glory") should attempt to portray things as accurately as possible-but naturally, real historical events did not unfold with any concern for dramatic structures, so it is common, and artistically necessary, to combine historical figures into single characters, telescope the passage of time (Shakespeare's chorus explains this in Henry V), invent new characters and events (in "Glory", flogging was not a permitted practice in the army at that time), and so on. How much of that is 'acceptable' to people who know the history will vary a great deal. How good is the history in Alexander Nevsky? Ehhhhh. How good is the film anyway? Wow. And so it is with literary adaptation. Ultimately, the real question is not so much about conforming to the original 'real' events, but whether the story is told well, and whether the original matter is treated with respect. Do they tell the truth, mainly? "You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth." - Mark Twain, 'Huckleberry Finn'

[@Ericthecameraman]

Very well put!

[@nalublackwater9729]

In sum: they wanted to make a slasher horror story but existing IPs are too expensive and it takes time and effort to create your IP. Solution? Just use a copyright free, existing IP and voilá!

[@Ericthecameraman]

Exactly!😂

[@niesenjohn]

Geography and a lack of understanding of blood typing screws this film.

[@Ericthecameraman]

“What’s blood type?” - writer of last voyage of the Demeter 😂

[@followthefiddledavidbathen6012]

I disagree?

[@Ericthecameraman]

You agree

[@e.h7306]

Prove it

[@tfm4580]

It has become important to not show white men doing heroic deeds ( like Indiana Jones saving people, as you pointed out in a previous review), anything involving self sacrifice or acts of extraordinary kindness, in fact, in some films all and only white men are the baddies. Even Christianity is becoming a dirty word, and the captain with his crucifix is an example of what is out of favour. I would love for all new films which follow the insidious woke agenda to have a viewer warning attached to it, like a health warning on a cigarette pack. 'This film is only for woke snowflakes who care more for their image, identity politics and propaganda than artistic authenticity and characterisation based on the reality of human nature'. Or, if that warning sticker is too wordy, then one that says, 'This film's priority is the woke agenda', that would suffice. These days, unless I want to subject myself to hours of cringing and intellectual pain, I have to rely on film reviews by independent thinkers like yourself. Thank you.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you! Totally agree it seems Christianity is getting pushed aside and watered down even in films where it should have an impact, like with Demeter or even recent exorcism films relying on relics to defeat the evil rather than the power of God

[@FreyjaRKim]

Thank you for the review, it's really insightful. Call me weird, but I'm so tired of films featuring one character that you know since the beginning will survive in a genre like this. It's boring, and at some point, it begins to annoy me because of how cliche it is. I think these filmmakers and producers should stop making every film about one hero. Ending a film with utter demise of each one of the characters in the film is not a sin. I really love Dracula, the book and its various adaptations, and if anything, I want more display of his monstrosity. We saw and read about it, but I wanted to see how horrifying his existence was to "normal people". Characters that we knew were not going to make it because they were not the "main characters". It adds reality to the fiction. While it's nice to think how someone could have avoided death or be a hero in their own story, this kind of deviation from lore really transformed the whole film into a fanfiction. It's so disappointing to know that it's yet another heroic OC fest. Would have been so good if it really ended as we imagined. Also, it really bothers me about the logic of just anyone could win against a mighty being like Dracula. It really belittled his lore of being a powerful, supernatural creature. I really wanted the main character of this film was written with misdirection, making you think that he was a main character, but by the end of the film, we realised he was just one of the mob characters that the villain slain and disappeared into obscurity, not even mentioned in the main story. It would have been so devastating because it would feel irritatingly realistic.

[@Laeiryn]

So what you're asking for is a movie adaptation of The Elf Queen of Shannara, huh?

[@FreyjaRKim]

@@Laeiryn Honestly, I'd watch that.

[@Ericthecameraman]

Thank you and well said. Interesting mentioning the monstrosity because this film really could’ve been an opportunity for that, and I thought that was the initial direction when he was first encountered hiding under the stairs, but then it just devolved into another generic kill-and an out of character one at this with all the blood he wasted!😂