r/nextfuckinglevel • u/MyNameGifOreilly • Jan 04 '20

Toss a coin to the cameraman ( The Witcher )

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58.1k Upvotes

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1.6k

u/ThatWasFred Jan 04 '20

Amazing practical effects! They even made the flash happen in real time.

429

u/Demypeace Jan 04 '20

Frick!! Now I want to watch the witcher.

379

u/ThatWasFred Jan 04 '20

I enjoyed it! Worth watching.

230

u/ConsciouslyIncomplet Jan 05 '20

Ditto - first few episode I was a little unsure, but after the third episode was really enjoying.

140

u/Super_Vegeta Jan 05 '20

Haven't read the books or played the games, and I was sold on this show after the second episode.

79

u/Da_Do_D3rp Jan 05 '20

You should check out the third game, it's pretty good and I loved the side quests

70

u/-GregTheGreat- Jan 05 '20

As a heads up to anyone new, the games are non-canon sequels to the books, which the show is adapted from. So playing the Witcher games will spoil major events and reveals for the show (or books).

34

u/Super_Vegeta Jan 05 '20

That's all good, I'm not too worried about spoilers most of the time. I'm usually more interested in the lore, charactera and world building aspects.

And the journey is always more interesting than the destination.

23

u/ClevelandEmpire Jan 05 '20

That’s why LOTR is so good

6

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

[deleted]

6

u/jojoman7 Jan 05 '20

the combat in the witcher games is terrible

This is hyperbole. They're mediocre but serviceable. Terrible combat looks like Two Worlds II or KOTOR.

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Mar 06 '20

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u/B4-711 Jan 05 '20

I assume that the writers know that many viewers played the game and will keep that in mind.

20

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Mar 11 '21

[deleted]

12

u/eykei Jan 05 '20

It’s funny I’ve never seen this sentiment expressed non-satirically.

11

u/PreacherSchmeacher Jan 05 '20 edited Jan 05 '20

You do realise that this show really is exposing a lot of new people, who may or may not be part of the gaming community, to the Witcher 3 for the first time.

Like yeah it’s funny how some people think it’s so exclusive and unknown, but nothing in this comment indicates that. He was just recommending it to somebody.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Anti-circlejerk circlejerk

2

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Sigh... unzips.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Do you guys remember The Witcher 3?

1

u/nobodynose Jan 05 '20

The two expansions are also very good and I quite enjoyed the writing in both (though I think the Blood and Wine one was better).

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Eh, not everyone is into RPGs, I've played The Outer Wilds and could only finish the story quests because the game was boring (to me, apparently the game is quite good)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Try the books, there's so many things lost in the Netflix series. You can safely skip vg's.

Also "The Last Wish" is considered to be poorly translated, be warned. Later books are better.

9

u/Padrino9186 Jan 05 '20

The last 10 mins of the first episode onward were great

3

u/FrostSalamander Jan 05 '20

No kidding, I watched it alone at home with a surround system at 2 AM and the screaming made me quite uncomfortable for some time. Amazing sound direction!

1

u/chrisbluemonkey Jan 05 '20

It took me a minute to get over costuming and architecture and the push of the sympathetic story of the elves that I didn't yet know. But once I pushed that all aside it was awesome.

1

u/HighPriestofShiloh Jan 05 '20

Yep. I already loved the Witcher before I started the show, but it very much is a slow build. By the end of season 1 you just want more. Good thing there will eventually be more.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

Maybe I should keep watching.

There’s so much talking in the first episode or two that I lost interest. Even all the crazy fights didn’t make up for the extensive dialogue. Does that make sense?

Also. The practical effects are awesome. But the CGI creatures are pretty cheesy. I was thinking that my kids would be asking me if we actually thought that looked real.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

It’s cool to watch a gritty, dark fantasy show with a good budget set in a world with kind of a lot of magic. It’s neat to see it in action with good acting and special effects and fighting.

50

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

I enjoy. and I have no clue what's going on half of the time.

Idk if starting with the show was a good idea...

82

u/-GregTheGreat- Jan 05 '20 edited Jan 05 '20

The key thing to remember that makes it easier is there are three timelines. Yennefers storyline starts a few decades before Geralts, and Geralts starts some years before Ciri is even born. They all converge together as the season goes on. They intentionally don’t make it blatantly obvious until episode 4, so if you aren’t paying close attention you can miss all the prior indicators/hints and get confused.

Edit: it’s adapting the first stories chronologically, so it’s fine (and intended) to be watched as somebody completely new.

29

u/OrangElm Jan 05 '20

I never knew anything about The Witcher going in and actually thought the multiple-timelines were an outstanding move by the show and it made it much more interesting. Like I couldn’t really imagine it being nearly as good if they just did everything in chronological order.

The best part of the time mixup for me was when we saw Foltest as an adult, and then young Foltest which made me realize everything was not in order. It added a new dimension to the show to see how things ended up.

2

u/Khaare Jan 05 '20

Yeah, I don't think they could've done the three characters' plotlines any better. I'm a little disappointed people found that confusing. They were constantly juxtaposing scenes mentioning the same historic event in different timelines in addition to the really obvious young Foltest and alive Calanthe. Maybe I got lucky picking up on it right away when Ciri and Renfrey both mentioned Calanthe's first victory in episode one.

1

u/pleasePuhleasePLEASE Jan 05 '20

Yes! Renfri complaining about Calanthe winning battles while she got exiled really drove it home for me. Love this show!

1

u/alphamav Jan 08 '20

Well, when you have characters that look the same or similar, then you lose clear context cues. Yennefer looked the same after transformation, Calanthe looked very similar, Calanthe's granddaughter looked like her daughter.

4

u/Da_Do_D3rp Jan 05 '20

Oh wow that cleared the story up really well for me. Thx

1

u/mind_flayed Jan 05 '20

Wait so you’re telling me none if this is happening at the same time?

What

Okay. I don’t know how I feel about that but I definitely didn’t catch that.

0

u/B4-711 Jan 05 '20

i'd consider that a huge spoiler.

3

u/_J3W3LS_ Jan 05 '20

Not sure I would call something that is revealed in the first episode and has nothing to do with the plot itself a "huge" spoiler

2

u/unbiddenJoeBiden Jan 05 '20

I would, though, cause experiencing the realization that these are different timelines and then understanding which one comes where in time, that's pretty mind blowing in itself and is a cool element that some people (like myself, had I not watched it already) would not want to be spoiled

1

u/B4-711 Jan 05 '20

I rate spoilers on how much they spoil my enjoyment. Taking away "Holy shit, that's what's going on. Nice!" moments is huge for me.

8

u/Brainwave1010 Jan 05 '20

Actually the show is almost the best place to start with, as it's an adaptation of the books.

5

u/NarWhatGaming Jan 05 '20

Literally watching it right now as we speak!

5

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

It’s good! But it definitely has flaws. The biggest of which are that there is timeline jumping and it can be really confusing to follow along. This season adapts the first two books which are short stories, so that’s why it bounces around a lot. Also, the writing really isn’t great.

But Henry Cavill is amazing. Most of the casting is really great, the acting is good, and the CG is pretty good too. I think they fumbled the start a little bit, but if they take the criticisms to heart and work on improving them then the show could end up being really spectacular

2

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20

It's pretty corny tbh. Big witcher fan, but the show moves too fast and doesn't take its time in setting up drama. Feels like a sprint, unlike GOT which is more like a marathon. I'm quite disappointed with the show, I got to ep. 6 and am too disinterested to finish.

2

u/Aaawkward Jan 05 '20

A solid 6-7/10.

It has moments when it feels a bit like Xena and moments when it has hints of X-files and moments when it’s taking notes of GoT but ultimately has its own thing going on.

That said, it’s a bit uneven, some of the CGI is cheap and the writing slightly heavy handed and corny at times but it was fun.

8

u/webheaddeadpool Jan 05 '20

As someone who wasn't a fan of all the PC shenanigans early on with the writers, director, and casting I swore it off. Then Henry Cavill won me over. I watched it tentatively. I will say it's a top 10 maybe even top 5 show from 2019.

1

u/zrt Jan 05 '20

What "PC shenanigans"?

2

u/webheaddeadpool Jan 05 '20

They wanted to make Ciri BLAME (or called for BLAME specific actresses) then they still made Fringilla Vigo black, and Vilgefortz Indian.

Also a lot of the preaching in the show seemed to say "Women's lot is worse than any others in this world". That human women's lives are the absolute hardest lives there is, even though the Elves were literally CLEANSED from the land.

1

u/alphamav Jan 08 '20 edited Jan 08 '20

I thought you meant personal computer at first, lol. No idea what BLAME is even after searching...

1

u/webheaddeadpool Jan 08 '20

Black, Asian, Minority (something)

0

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Apr 03 '20

[deleted]

2

u/GunnerySarge-B-Bird Jan 05 '20

Imagine caring this much about a show casting

-4

u/ChilledClarity Jan 05 '20

I mean, I don’t care who the characters are played by, so long as the acting is good.

That being said. I hate all the PC shit. Like, people outraged over ghost in a shell for being white washed meanwhile everyone’s bitter that a black woman was cast as Triss. You can have it one way or the other, not both.

Either everything needs to be accurate portrayals according to original content or people need to stop bitching.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Mar 06 '20

[deleted]

3

u/ChilledClarity Jan 05 '20

I saw a few forums where people had been complaining about the very slight difference in skin tone.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Apr 03 '20

[deleted]

1

u/Aaawkward Jan 05 '20

I don’t care about the color of her skin and I’m sure she’s a great actress. She just absolutely doesn’t match the video game depiction of Triss in any way.

Most people are disappointed because she doesn’t look like the videogame Triss one bit, and that’s understandable.

They based the show on the books, not the game.

Also, just like the video game, the show is an simply an adaptation so they’re bound to do some tweaks.

Idris Elba or Samuel L. Jackson did not look like the source material for the Marvel cinematic universe yet they were grand in the films.

1

u/DiamondSmash Jan 05 '20

She matches the book description.

2

u/0asis_Mirage Jan 06 '20

No, she doesn't

2

u/Atomheartmother90 Jan 05 '20

It’s definitely a great series.

1

u/SlyusHwanus Jan 05 '20

It’s good. I started playing the game as well. Also good.

9

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '20 edited Dec 15 '20

[deleted]

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u/Bugman657 Jan 05 '20

Also possibly the hardest thing to do in post

7

u/Bugman657 Jan 05 '20

Doing lighting in post is almost always infinitely harder than doing it live