The Lost World TV Show - My Thoughts

The Lost World.

Having seen this quite a while back, I re-watched it again a shorter while back.
And in fact I am re-re-watching it again at the moment.

Why so many re-watches?

It is easy to watch.
It is very much in the pulp vein, and it is this sort of happy disposable light entertainment that sometimes you want.
Having recently watched Game of Thrones, I wanted something that was lighter and did not require prior knowledge of the previous 400 episodes to be able to follow it or to get bummed out by it.

So how does it compare to the book?
Well it is a different beast, though both are products of their time.
The Lost World story is very much of its time in that it is really very racist, containing such lines as:

“A gigantic negro named Zambo, who is a black Hercules and willing as any horse and about as intelligent”

“Gomez and Manuel, two half breeds.”

“..and being observed by our huge negro Zambo who is as faithful as a dog, and has the hatred which all his race bear to the half breeds, he was dragged out..."

“Our devoted negro”

“In order to see our negro…”

And many references to the superiority of the European man.
So, not great on the race front.

The only real female is Gladys and she is not looked upon kindly either, she indulges in emotional blackmail and is quite shallow and unfaithful.
She is a distraction and gets in the way of the men being men.

This and a some other parts of the book make it quite clear that a European white male is the superior being.

The TV show however has females in it, some strong ones, sexy ones, some both at the same time ones, females in leadership roles, females as goodies and baddies.
The show treats females as equals in terms of ability, but at the same time, objects of desire.
It is quite clear that whilst the female roles are in fact equal to the male ones in terms of what they are capable of, they are also eye candy for the viewer, make no mistake about that.

In terms of flirting and being lead by their loins, both are treated the same.
The male characters lust after new female characters and the females lust after new male characters.

As for people of colour, I fear that the TV show is also a product of its time and all the leads are white as are most the roles.

The plot of the TV show draws from the book, but adds a lot.
A bucket load of stuff extra.
It takes the premise of the lost world with dinosaurs, ape men and lost tribes and runs amok and indeed overboard with new ideas.

You can’t help but feel that each week the producers would pop down to the studio and see what set was left over from a previous show and write an episode based around that.
Much like the original Star Trek clearly did and the Holodeck on TNG.

So the show is based upon the book but with added females in lead roles, and with a lot more over the top pulpy madness.

The characters from the book that are in the show are similar.
Lord John has the same sort of charm and rugged manliness.
Malone however seems to be American rather than Irish. (?) He struck me as a plot device in the book and this seems to translate to the TV show with him being a bit of a fifth wheel.
Challenger is changed both physically and mentally, which is good for my money as in the books he was somewhat of an arrogant and unpleasant twat.
Summerlee seemed fairly much the same, but perhaps a bit wetter and less prone to arguing with Challenger.

Summary

I like the TV show, it is not faithful to the book, it can't be, it is longer and attempts to reflect a more modern attitude.

It is a good way to pass the time and is light entertainment for nerdy types at it's best.
It has some actually very good episodes and some truly terrible ones, but the thing that keeps you coming back each time, like all good shows, is the characters and watching them develop, you grow to love them.

The Blog Is Dead, Long Live The Blog!!

On my first post I said:

"I kind of wanted one site where I can just talk about anything that pops into my mind without worrying if it is the right sort of content for the site.

Expect posts about Crom's Anvil, Conan, Red Sonja, fantasy films, comics, novels, geek merchandise and all that stuff."

However I forgot that is what I said and I convinced myself the blog was just for Sand and Sorcery stuff.

Fool of a Took!

So, now that I have remembered it is for any old crap I like....

Expect posts about:

Conan - Roleplaying

Not planned, but it seems I am about to start roleplaying again after about 20 years away from it.
It is all quite scary as I have forgotten so much and am so rusty.

On the plus side, I am using a system I like (Elric!) and it is to be tweaked and set in the wonderful setting of Hyboria.


Playing around with character sheets:

I am off to their house on Sunday to show them how roleplaying works (they are noobs to it) and to generate their PC's!

I will report back, wish us all luck!

Sand and Sorcery Films

Trying to soak up the desert feels:

So obviously the 3 Conan films.

I also watched* (though not necessarily enjoyed):

Hercules
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Prince of Persia
300
300 Rise of an Empire
Immortals
Jason and the Argonauts
The Scorpion King (All 5 of them, yes 5!!)
Ator the Fighting Eagle (All 4 of them)
Clash of the Titans
Wrath of the Titans
The Warrior and the Sorceress 
Deathstalker (All 4 of them, see above)
Barbarian Queen
The Barbarians
Red Sonja
Flesh and Blood
Kull the conqueror
Troy
Kingdom of Heaven
Alexander
Gods of Egypt 
Hearts and Armour
The Arena
Beastmaster
Beowulf
Conan the Adventurer
Xena 
Gunan 
Princess of Mars
John Carter 
Amazons
In the name of the King
Season of the Witch
Black Death
The Great Wall
Last Knights



However as I ran out of desert themed films I ended up setting for anything.
Some of these films are great and some are a waste of your time.

Let me know what else I should be watching!









*Some may be more fantasy than desert fantasy, but hey beggars can't be choosers.

Happy Holidays

May your loot by great and your feast hearty!

Humble Beginnings

For the longest time I never bought myself any treats, no cool stuff just for the sake of it.
I figured that I did not need anything so would save my money for either Samantha’s birthday and Christmas, or for Charlotte.

However, as a family we attended GeekMania and I saw a replica sword from Conan.
Samantha insisted I treat myself as I never do, so I did.

My first bit of self bought Conan merch for the office:




Of course I already had my great Funko’s and small comic / book collection:






My birthday was soon after the show and Samantha bought me a hand made, hand drawn map of Hyboria:



It is very lovely and the lady who makes them can be found online HERE


I then figured I needed a couple of bits of artwork on my wall.
And maybe a mug, and a cushion and…



In the space of a month I have managed to turn to dull office into the starts of something with a bit more fantasy flavour.

Now, what next?

And do you have any merch to show off?

Why I Like Conan

So I started a sand and sorcery blog and then moaned about the quality of films and talked about the sexism and racism in REH’s writing.

Do I even like the Conan and or the genre at all?

Hell yes.

I first read Conan as a teenager, it is fair to say that the appeal of a manly man who defeated his enemies through guile and raw manly manliness who also got the girl, was strong.

I am sure back then the less acceptable connotations were lost on me as the above was the draw.

I guess I read the books first then saw the film?

To be honest I am not sure, but the film blew my mind.

It was the business.

I still think it is amazing today.

The story itself is a complete fabrication and Arnie does not really look like Conan at all, he has the wrong colour hair, the wrong colour eyes and Arnie has a naked chest, where as Conan had a hairy chest.

So whilst not really a Conan story in the pure sense, it is still a great piece of film work.

The sets are gorgeous and testament to what artisans can make.

The score is perfect and the story is in the right vein, that is to say it is a personal story and not one about saving the world from destruction.

There are so many very cool things in the film.

It is for me, the best film in its genre to date.

I felt it captured the world, and that is what I love about it to this day.

Interestingly the film being much more modern than the books does not have simple savage tribes of black people as the bad guys.

Yes, Thulsa Doom is black, clearly, but he is not a savage tribesman.

It also has a mix of protagonists rather than a single white guy.

But anyway, I read the books as a boy and loved them, saw the film and loved it.

In fact back then I would go down to the village and into the local video shop and hire all the fantasy films I could. I have seen many many terrible 80’s and 90’s sword and sorcery films.

But back then I loved them all.

The thing about Conan stories is that they are easy.

You don’t have complicated twisting plots, you don’t have intrigue and politics, you don’t a story arc that goes on for longer than it should.

You have simple, formulaic short stories that deliver the same thing each time.

They are pulp, and that is OK.

In today’s life style where time is precious I am glad to be able to pick something up and finish it before I have aged another year.

TV shows seem to drag on for years when the story should have concluded seasons ago.

You want to know what happens, but after years of watching the same stuff happen over and over you kind of don’t care anymore, it gets boring.

Conan stories are bish, bash, bosh, done!

Cheap thrills I guess.

So the accessibility and time required to enjoy a story is a big draw for me.

The character of Conan is more complex than those not familiar with him would know, he is not completely two dimensional, and he himself whilst unaccustomed to the ways of polite society has some redeeming attitudes toward life.

But the thing I like most, is not him, though he is a big factor in it, the thing I like most, is the world.

It is for me, fantastic and yet utterly believable.

There is one dominant intelligent race, man.

No elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, pixies, gnomes, trolls, ogres, ratmen, beastmen, frogmen, dragons, centaurs, gnolls, treemen, halflings, kobolds, hobgoblins, drow, minotaurs, mermaids, catfolf, giants, etc etc.

A world in which numerous races could exist for millennia without some sort of genocide having wiped out all but the most dominant race seems to me, unlikely, unless we refer back to ooh magic, or ooh the gods.

I like that religion is cultural and varied, and for the most part the gods do no nothing to interfere in the lives of Man.

(Are they even real?)

I like the way the different lands are described and the fact REH draws from the real world and blends them with myth and fantasy and makes a new world that is convincing.

For me the only issue with this stitching together of various cultures is that the various technology levels do not always sit well with me. 

But then I guess the actual world was like that.

I like that magic is rare and that some of the magic employed by sorcerers is in fact science, poisons on fingernails that seem to be a ‘touch of death’ spell. Herbs and plants that are used to make ‘magical potions’, the power of suggestion when combined with deep rooted cultural superstitions and hypnosis used as ‘mind control’.

Of course there is proper magic, the raising of the dead, the hurling of energy at enemies, the manipulation of the elements, and the summoning of creatures from other planes but it is never cheesy.

It is dark and terrible and you know the wizard has made some dark pact with some unnameable thing in order to have this power.

There are no energy discs to carry your rations on, no reversing gravity, no antimagic zones, no bags of holding, no vorpal swords, no armour of ghost repulsion, no flutes of giddy laughter, no pools of life, and certainly no wands of wonder.

The world is ancient and whilst civilisation is spreading and man is maturing, the world is still littered with far away forgotten glimpse of the past.

Signs that all is not as it seems, Man is not alone and other things exist out there.

It is I think very much low fantasy, almost an alternate version of history, and this is what I like, it is eay to relate to within the confines of its own setting, it is plausible.

This from a gaming point of view makes it easy to find inspiration for names, clothing, weapons, architecture and beliefs. 

It makes gaming very easy, but at the same time discourages ooh magic and hand wavium. 

Plus actions have very real consequences, oh no Belit is dead…

I cast Resurrection!

Yay, Belit is not dead any more. 

Anyway, to summarise.

I think the world of REH is accessible to all, easy to buy into whilst still being vast and rich.

Nothing is over the top for the sake of it, it is the story of an extraordinary man in an ordinary world (in its own context), driven by his desire to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

There are no gods to fight, no dragons to slay, no wizards to prevent from destroying the world.

There is but mirth, steel, and a strong arm to wield it.