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Finally saw this today with Lorraine. It is utterly breathtaking. It has moments of more intensely realised alien beauty than I have ever seen. It is even more thoroughly influenced by Roger Dean than I'd thought. The islands floating in the sky, the huge arches, the dragons in the forest, and their vivid colouring and spatter patterns are all straightforward lifts from Dean, as are some of the vehicles and animals. Roger Dean has been trying to get a movie underway based on his floating island concepts, and I can't imagine what is going through his head. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it must be utterly galling to have been so robbed of your concepts without acknowledgement.
But there is so much more added into this Dean template to bring it life, the movie can be forgiven. It is a spellbinding world. The story is predictable, straightforward and heavy handed, but because of its fabulous context this is easy to overlook. It is a must see movie. First one I've seen in 3D too. For the first ten minutes I wasn't completely comfortable with it, but I enjoyed the novelty, and it certainly added to the feeling of being at dizzying heights.
Emerged blinking back into this weird sunlight stuff, having seen it in the afternoon, after a walk by the sea. Want to see it again, to lose myself in its wonderful world.
Finally saw this today with Lorraine. It is utterly breathtaking. It has moments of more intensely realised alien beauty than I have ever seen. It is even more thoroughly influenced by Roger Dean than I'd thought. The islands floating in the sky, the huge arches, the dragons in the forest, and their vivid colouring and spatter patterns are all straightforward lifts from Dean, as are some of the vehicles and animals. Roger Dean has been trying to get a movie underway based on his floating island concepts, and I can't imagine what is going through his head. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it must be utterly galling to have been so robbed of your concepts without acknowledgement.
But there is so much more added into this Dean template to bring it life, the movie can be forgiven. It is a spellbinding world. The story is predictable, straightforward and heavy handed, but because of its fabulous context this is easy to overlook. It is a must see movie. First one I've seen in 3D too. For the first ten minutes I wasn't completely comfortable with it, but I enjoyed the novelty, and it certainly added to the feeling of being at dizzying heights.
Emerged blinking back into this weird sunlight stuff, having seen it in the afternoon, after a walk by the sea. Want to see it again, to lose myself in its wonderful world.
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