When Richard Adams's first novel was published in 1972, one critic wrote "I announce with trembling excitement the looks of an exceptional story." This was Watership Down, a masterfully crafted tale of adventure, courage, tyranny, and freedom.
The characters are rabbits.
This surprised readers, especially those who suspected that they were reading a children's novel. But there is war, death, and cruelty in Watership Down, a thoroughly adult story. It enthralled an entire generation and became a bestseller.
Watership Down became a movie in 1978 and an animated television series in 2001. Now Adams's famous story is returning to the big screen. Deadline reports that Neflix and the BBC plan to turn it into an animated miniseries. They've recruited the best actors for it, including John Boyega of Star Wars, James McAvoy of X-Men, and Ben Kingsley of Ghandi.
As a devoted fan of Richard Adams's work, I'm thrilled. Watership Down, though not deep, is a truly perfect novel. If you've enjoyed it, I suggest also reading Adams's greatest and most neglected novel, Shardik. You may also enjoy Adams's autobiography, which describes the real-life people that inspired Hazel and Bigwig.
-via The Mary Sue
Comments (2)
First post!
E.T.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (my pick for greatest movie of all time)
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Close Encounters
Duel
Minority Report
Jaws
And so on.
1941
ET
IJ: Temple of Doom
IJ: Last Crusade
Always
Hook
AI
Minority Report
Terminal
War of the Worlds
I could go on, but just try to defend THOSE.
Don
Some of what Don said were "clunkers" could easily be disputed--ET is dated but the original (NOT the "remastered" junk!) had a lot of charm and a very powerful message. Last Crusade was cinematographically sumptuous and the storyline had a lot of excellent moments, though admittedly the whole "Holy Grail Obstacle Course" was cheesy enough to cause diarrhea in the lactose intolerant... For that matter, all of the movies he listed could easily be debated on for hours by those familiar with them.
I will wholeheartedly agree with him on War of the Worlds, though, summing it up in two little words: Tom. Cruise.
*shudders morbidly*
However, it's becoming increasingly apparent that fame is pushing him to pull a George Lucas--thereby requiring him to register his inflamed ego as a potentially lethal incendiary device, and to keep it stowed in the cargo area of his personal jet during any flights. Expect him to start pushing plodding CGI-infested plot-deficient "prequels" onto his fan base and retconning his older films any minute now...
--TwoDragons