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Watership Down


Lurkily

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So I finished Watership Down on Netflix. For those of you unfamiliar with the books . . . yes, yes, it's talking rabbits.

It's also a desperate exodus, it's the last hope of a dying tribe, it's battle, it's spy craft, it's a jailbreak, it's war, it's daring raids and honor and betrayal and glory and death, all wrapped in a strange, but thoroughly believable mythology.

But also talking rabbits. Watch it anyway.

I will offer the caveat that it might not be appropriate for younger viewers.  No blood or sex or anything, but there are ruthless, uncaring rabbits in the world, and this movie doesn't shy away from depicting them.  Graphically it's a PG, but emotionally it might be PG-13.

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I’m familiar with Watership Down, and I have seen screenshots of the original film and read a synopsis of the book. And, JESUS CHRIST LOOK AT ALL THAT GORE FROM THE ORIGINAL FILM! But I have heard that there will be a Netflix mini-series on it, so I might check it out sometime.

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I won't compare the Netflix Miniseries to the book - that wouldn't be fair at all - but it stands pretty well on its own two feeet.

If you are trying to decide between the two, I would of course recommend the book.

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I got the book as a christmas gift (I wanted it) because I already had a history with the "franchise". When I was about six to eight years old, I used to listen to the audiobook. It was intended for kids of that age and I loved it. Then, my father discovered the movie. So, we watched it - rather bad idea. The scene with the suffocating rabbits scared me to death. 

Lately, a review about it was recommended to me on youtube. I started to remember everything, and decided the read the book. And it's really, really good. I plan on watching the old movie soon, but I don't think I'll watch the new version, since I don't like the animation.

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I have to say, the CGI is pretty well handled, except in the rabbits' "walk", and how they handled fights. I owned a rabbit, and I don't recall his faster-than-walking-slower-than-running hops being that . . . lurchy.  And when rabbits attack each other, there's never any kind of visible damage.  I get that they don't want to be gory in this one, and I can appreciate it, but there is literally zero indication of injury done unless someone's limping.

Outside of those, I think it was handled as well as can be expected of mid-budget CGI.

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I want to read the book. I grew up with the first episode of the old series. Then I got traumatized with the movie (wich I now love, by the way). Then I saw the second episode of the old series. I've also read "Tales from Watership down" (the sequel for the book).

I watched the Netflix version too. I feel like Idon't really have the right to critique it, since I haven't read the book, but here is a small list of likes and dislikes:

+they used scenes from the book, that didn't make it into the movie

+honeycomb, HONEYCOMB (flashbacks to the old series and my childhood 💗)

+they made the black rabbit female, wich seems very suiting (for example, in yin and yang the black side is death and feminine)

+it was pretty enjoyable to watch

+good compared to "Mole and Panda" or "Peukaloisen uudet matkat" (terrible 3D remakes of beloved old cartoons)

+character developent on some background rabbits (tought they could have spent it on more important characters instead)

+mostly great voice acting (at least in the Finnish translation)

-THEY REMOVED MY FAVOURITE BACKGROUND RABBIT!!! >:(

-no boat scene

-all of Hazel's good ideas are given to others

-HazelxClover (They met tvice, and suddenly they're in love???) Now Clover is Hazel's only motivation to do anything

-no Bright Eyes (I get they didn't use the song for copyright reasons, but they also removed the important bonding moment of Hazel and Fiver)

-what they did with the seagull (he used to sound like a bird, now the sounds like a rap artist and he is a jerk)

-the rabbit movement (I have had rabbits, I know how they move)

Did I say "small list"? I still prefer the old movie and show

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Well . . . . . . . they are RABBITS . . . . . . but I pretty much ignored their whole relationship.  I didn't mind it so much, but it felt like they had to cut the scenes that made it make sense.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am told Redwall is a good series of novels; also a series about talking animals, glory and death and such.  I have not read them, so I can't tell you whether I agree, but when I wrote Murine Honor, and expressed concerns that mice riding cats to battle was too whimsical to be so grim, Redwall is what many many people help up as a counter-example.

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6 minutes ago, Lurkily said:

I am told Redwall is a good series of novels; also a series about talking animals, glory and death and such.  I have not read them, so I can't tell you whether I agree, but when I wrote Murine Honor, and expressed concerns that mice riding cats to battle was too whimsical to be so grim, Redwall is what many many people help up as a counter-example.

Redwall is awesome

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What bothers me about Redwall is the fact that I can't get an emotional connection to the characters. We don't get to know what they think or what they feel like. Even if I end up getting attached to a character, they're dead/not born yet in the next book...

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