Why. Why would you deliberately sabotage an entire series with this travesty. Wheel of Time has the potential to be an outstanding television series, with engaging plots and strong characters- male, female, people of color- it has it all and you did this. We know you did it in order to hold on the film and TV rights, however you just shot yourself in the foot, because if this is what you have to show people interested in making a show, you have no idea how badly you have screwed up. It was nice (and incredibly lazy) of you to incorporate so much of the book's original dialog, but that won't save the kindergarten level acting and complete disregard for basic plot elements- like, I dunno- never naming the Dark One? Ever? It's a thing? You did actually read more than the prologue, yes?
13 Reviews
Pathetic, five-dollar foot-long version of a great saga.
dunewell30 March 2015
Red Eagle has been sitting on this great trove of modern mythology for a decade or so. They've had plenty of time to do something amazing. And if anything, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, should have spurred them to REAL action.
Instead, these clowns produced a junior college quality abortion of a film with wooden acting and cartoon costumes. They literally sneaked this dog onto the air at like 1AM, probably so that no one would watch it. Why? Two reasons: First, these Turd World Refugees knew it would suck. Second: It was a greedy, desperate attempt to hold on to the rights of a story they didn't invent, and haven't done a damned thing worth mentioning with for ten years.
If it were a perfect world, Rand al'Thor and the Asha'man would show up at Red Eagle's offices and Balefire them right of the Pattern of this Age.
Do Not Watch This.
Instead, these clowns produced a junior college quality abortion of a film with wooden acting and cartoon costumes. They literally sneaked this dog onto the air at like 1AM, probably so that no one would watch it. Why? Two reasons: First, these Turd World Refugees knew it would suck. Second: It was a greedy, desperate attempt to hold on to the rights of a story they didn't invent, and haven't done a damned thing worth mentioning with for ten years.
If it were a perfect world, Rand al'Thor and the Asha'man would show up at Red Eagle's offices and Balefire them right of the Pattern of this Age.
Do Not Watch This.
Pathetic - Honestly Most Porn has Better Acting
mattawilliams-9873625 March 2015
There is absolutely no excuse for this garbage. If you are a fan of this series then my heart goes out to you and as a fellow fan I share in your disgusted opinion of this disaster. This a perfect example of why they should have the rights to this potentially epic fantasy series stripped from them. The fact that fans of this series have to resort to saying "well they shot it in 4 days so its good considering that" should be a glaring red flag for anyone who was hoping for a well done pilot. It is so evident that no one involved in this pilot cares about the series other than to control the rights to it. Highlighted by the casting choice of Billy Zane as Ishamael this was doomed from the start. Read the books if you have not yet and for those of you who have and are just discovering this brown stain of a pilot...there are no redeeming aspects of this pilot. Furthermore, it is brutal people are actually trying to give pros and cons to this piece of tragic TV history. As a fan I award you no points and you should be stripped of the rights to this asap.
No... just NO.
jak_shadwin9 February 2018
A Mockery
yuukanna7 July 2017
When I saw the description of this episode tucked away in an obscure time-slot on an obscure channel I was both excited and concerned. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is deeply significant in my life. Even in the start of this episode, you can immediately feel the collective disappointment of Wheel of Time fans worldwide as the quality was low and dull in the extreme. As it went on I began to understand just how offended one can get by blasphemy or mockery to something well loved... This poorly handled grab at retaining rights nearly physically hurt me with how disgusted I felt.
It wasn't that bad
Horst_In_Translation16 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Winter Dragon" is an American 22-minute live action short film from 2015 and there is a chance these novel-based stories may get an own series at some point in the near future. 2 years ago, it did not work out and you can see that this one here got some really harsh criticisms. The director is James Seda and the most known cast member is probably Billy Zane. As this is a little fantasy film and that is really not my favorite genre and also because of the low rating, my expectations here weren't too high. And it was pretty much what I expected: a bit pretentious at times and also takes itself more seriously than it should. But then again so does Game of Thrones and you could see that the makers here were heading into that direction making it an interesting watch for GoT audiences. I can't say if they succeeded, probably rather the opposite. In any case, I personally thought this was not a good watch, but also not a failure as some may say it was in terms of acting, story and the project as a whole. I must say that my review comes from the perspective of somebody who has not only not read the books, but doesn't even know them. A thumbs-down and I'd probably not watch it as a serious if the quality is the same as in this potential pilot episode. Watch something else instead.
it really is the prologue brought to life
xXtheoversoulXx11 December 2021
There is one popular WoT "content creator" over at the Shadowspawn YT domain... he ruthlessly mocked this production. But upon re-reading the prologue of The Eye of the World (no, not "Ravens") for the fourth time, the accuracy is there in speech and in tone.
Haters will latch on to this for it's legal maneuverings, but it really is the prologue brought to the screen.
Haters will latch on to this for it's legal maneuverings, but it really is the prologue brought to the screen.
Better than Amazon
mc_arnold30 July 2022
I only wish the Amazon series was as good as this. This actually captured the heart of Robert Jordan's story, and if you look at it as a first draft (It was rushed out in order the renew the rights to the series) and not a finished product, it's quite good.
Veritable masterpiece
jmaric-6587324 December 2021
Great adaptation of the series prologue
bjjs314 March 2015
Understanding the circumstances of this Short, created in a tight deadline to retain the rights to the story, is key to appreciating its value. It is a stylistic portrayal of the series prologue and fully stands alone as a short. The remaining 13,000 pages aren't needed to explain this short, and the characters and actors in this short aren't needed to create a TV series which would likely skip the prologue completely.
I thought the directing and writing was a very good adaptation and really captured the spirit of the prologue.
I found it entertaining. If you're expecting a 'Game of Thrones' type of pilot, don't watch.
I thought the directing and writing was a very good adaptation and really captured the spirit of the prologue.
I found it entertaining. If you're expecting a 'Game of Thrones' type of pilot, don't watch.
8/10 in comparison
jygdrdd30 July 2022
Still better than Amazon's version of the story. This phoned in recreation of the first few pages of the first book are a more true to source material than the entirety of that abomination that Amazon has poured millions of dollars into. I give it a 8/10 just for being a truer version of Robert Jordan's written work.
All around a faithful adaptation!
flame_master-641822 August 2022
The acting may be a "tad" over the top. But it is a very faithful adaptation, sadly more so then that travesty Amazon allowed. This was the prologue brought to life, it show cased the insanity of Lews Therin Telamon, and the menace of Ishamael.
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