The Legend of Zelda TV series

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Kelthaz, Feb 7, 2015.

  1. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    No, this isn't about the 80's Zelda cartoon where Link says "Well excuse me, Princess" every five seconds. No, apparently a live action series is under development at Netflix.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix is developing a Legend of Zelda live action series which they describe as "Game of Thrones for a family audience". Right now this is just a rumour, but it's a rumour from a reliable source with a plausible premise.

    The Zelda series is light on story, but it does have a rich universe with plenty of interesting characters and races to work with. A decent budget and quality writers could do something amazing with the source material. I'm anxious to see what comes of this.
     
  2. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    Decent budget is the operative word here. I'm very cautiously optimistic.

    Is it going to tell the exact same damn story every season right down to the same weapons and temples? :lol:
     
  3. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    Zelda's actually decent on story, but the problem is it technically spans hundreds of years with lots of different characters. But the premise is fine. Just do something based on the original story, Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, or some combination thereof.
     
  4. Steven

    Steven Admiral Admiral

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    This is absolutely key. If any part of that is missing, it could be very bad. Of course, you could probably say that about any kind of tie-in like this.

    That being said, I'm not entirely convinced that live-action is the right format for a Zelda series.

    As am I. Even if it means having to subscribe to Netflix solely for this.
     
  5. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    I think live action is a good idea simply because animation has been done before. What's coming to mind is Lord of the Rings. There was an animated movie, but it doesn't compare to the spectacle of live action.
     
  6. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    My interest in this project will be solely based on the identity of the director.

    This is a hard concept to pull off. You need just the right combination of lightness and seriousness and you need to give a voice to a silent character while still maintaining his essence. And you have to costume a character like Link without it looking too much like Peter Pan. You also need a very stylized fantasy world.

    If they actually do pull it off it could be awesome.
     
  7. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    This, rather than the Marvel efforts, is something that would actually increase my chances of subscribing to Netflix.

    I only got into Zelda within the past ten years, and I've only played one game, A Link to the Past on Super Nintendo, but it blew me away. A Link to the Past is great material on which to base a TV series. I'd prefer a live-action effort.
     
  8. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    I have played Zelda in forever... do the characters ever actually speak?
     
  9. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You mean audibly? Not in A Link to the Past.
     
  10. Chris3123

    Chris3123 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^
    We have gotten sound bites from most major characters since Ocarina of Time came out for N64 (usually when a new speech window pops up or when a character performs a physical action), but never anything more complex than "hey" "woah" or various sounds like gasps, grunts and laughter.

    ETA: The games that were put out for the CD-i had full recorded dialogue (for the cutscenes anyway), but those abominations don't count. They are to the LoZ game series as the Star Wars Holiday Special is to the Star Wars franchise.
     
  11. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, excuuuuuuse me, Princess!

    Definitely not an announcement I think anyone was expecting. Hopefully it ends up more fun than cringeworthy. I wonder if it ties in at all with the more open world Zelda game that was announced. i suspect that GoT for the family line is going to get a sound drubbing on the internet.
     
  12. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    With the exception of Link, there's a ton of dialog in the game - just not audible sound files. I really trailed off after Ocarina, so I only know "Listen." I'm trying to find the hilarious xkcd comic related to that, but I'm coming up blank.
     
  13. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    I know there's text dialogue, I mean is there spoken dialogue in the newest games?
     
  14. OdoWanKenobi

    OdoWanKenobi Admiral Admiral

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    ^No. It's still all text with the occasional little "Hey" or "Whoa" sound bite.
     
  15. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    Which is probably a good thing. Gives the show more flexibility - they aren't having to imitate something that came before.
     
  16. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    If anyone in the show says anything other than "hey!" or "whoa!" I'm going to protest!!! :mad:

    ;)
     
  17. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Other characters talk in the game, but Link does not.

    I hope they don't feel the need to have some helper creature follow him around like in all recent Zelda games. Though I suppose that's the obvious way to inject comic relief.
     
  18. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Actually someone somewhere pointed out that in Skyward Sword Links mouths does move and people seem to be responding to him. Which implies he does talk the audience, just never hears it.
     
  19. Ethros

    Ethros Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'd say more like big, big budget. With all the monsters and so on it'd probably need even more SFX than Game of Thrones. If they do want to make it likes the games that is...
     
  20. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Link does talk, but we never hear it or see it. Plenty of characters will respond to Link like "Oh, Death Mountain? You don't want to go there." implying that Link asked about Death Mountain.