Its 2007 film adaptation, titled the seeker in america and the dark is rising in britain, made significant plot and character divergences from the book. Susan cooper, one of todays most distinguished childrens book writers, won a newbery medal and a newbery honor for books in her fantasy sequence, the dark is rising. Over sea, under stone c1965 i would give about 3 star my copy of this book with one of the worst cover illustrations ever contains all 5 books in the dark is rising series. Even though a few cgi moments are great fantasy fun, the story is so muddled and so unnecessarily altered from the source material that it. The dark is rising is a 2007 american family dramafantasy film adaptation of the second book in the fivebook childrens fantasy series the dark is rising by susan cooper.
The dark is rising cherishing first of all, lets find out about this film. It had decent characters and very good action scenes, but with a rushed storyline and overused clichas, it could have been better. Will stanton, seventh son of a seventh son, seeker of the signs that will save all from darkness, makes a fine hero in susan coopers the dark is rising book series, but the movie adaptation is lousy. Its not because the performances are bad or even that the special effects are poorly done, which they arent.
The wonderful, caring, loving stanton family was messed about with, diminished, siblings chopped out and pointless conflict and hate added. The dark is rising 2007 a boys life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of. You just viewed it under one of its many aliases harry potter, the matrix, the chronicles of narnia or any other fantasy that entrusts a young hero against dark forces with evil intentions. As for what the titles means, check out what will finds himself chanting about the dark. The dark rider, also known commonly as the rider, is the main antagonist in the 2007 fantasy movie the seeker. The dark is rising film the dark is rising wiki fandom. Traveling back and forth through time, will hunts for a series of mysterious clues and encounters forces of unimaginable evil.
To take the almost three hundred pages of the novel and condense it into a two hour movie can be daunting at best and involves a process known as adaptation. Because of its controversial changes from the book, it was released as the dark is rising in the uk, and in some other markets as the seeker. Will struggles with his new identity, and readers see him mature. In 2012 it was ranked number 22 among alltime childrens novels in a survey published by school library journal, a monthly with primarily u. The characters in the dark is rising are more fully developed than those in the first book in the series, and many readers skip the first book entirely. The dark is rising is a series of five contemporary fantasy novels for older children and young adults that was written by the british author susan cooper and. Dark rider was loosely based on the black rider in the books, a shadowy horseman with demonic magic who serves the dark and whose goal is to make sure that the seeker cannot find all the signs and in doing so he can. A boys life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark. But the audio book of the dark is rising, which is also unabridged, has a good reader, and moves quickly into the plot and keeps the listener engaged. The dark is rising will stanton is part of a large family that has recently moved from the us to england and when he turns 14 he finds out that his fate is entwined with mystical forces the light good and the dark evil. Those who have read the books are also extremely concerned that the screenwriter has taken out all reference to king arthur the integral part of the whole series.
Will stanton, the last of the old ones, the mysterious professor merriman, and the strange albino welsh boy, bran, are helped by three ordinary children in this last desperate battle. Will stantons life is turned upside down when he learns that he is the last of a group of immortal warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark. The novel the dark is rising features will stanton, age 11, who learns on that birthday that he is an old one and thus destined to wield the powers of the light in the ancient struggle with the dark. The seeker is a 2007 fantasy film incredibly loosely based on the novel the dark is rising by susan cooper and starring alexander ludwig and christopher eccleston. The dark is rising wiki reveals plot details about the series. His newfound abilities enable him to travel back in time to discover special signs which will enable the light to vanquish the dark. The dark is rising based on author susan coopers the dark is rising series. The seeker dvd, 2008, dual side for sale online ebay. The dark is rising is a 2007 american family drama fantasy film adaptation of the second book in the five book childrens fantasy series the dark is rising by susan cooper. The dark is rising isnt a horrible movie, but it doesnt even hold the candle to the book. The dark is rising is based on the second book in the series, which shares that name with the overall series name. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe to the big screen. Susan cooper is one of our foremost childrens authors. On july 27, 2007, the film was officially retitled the seeker.
Cunningham and stars ian mcshane, alexander ludwig, frances conroy, gregory smith, and christopher. The dark is rising was an american library association newbery honor book in 1974. The dark is rising begins with will stanton awaiting his eleventh birthday. It carefully and expertly wove arthurian legend and celtic mythology and along the way won the newberry and many other awards. The dark is rising is the first film adaptation of the authors acclaimed the dark is rising sequence. Janie grey is a 17 yearold seeker, a job which entails her ridding the streets of the undead of baltimore a duty which has been passed down from her cherokee ancestors and one she takes quite seriously. Comparing it to the film the seeker, you can see how the film telescopes the plot of several novels in the series and leaves a lot out. The second book in the series, the dark is rising, was published in 1973. The dark is rising is a mound of misaligned, uninspired rubbish void of the novels magic or, quite frankly, any real magic at all. The seeker is a 2007 american family dramafantasy film adaptation of the second book in the fivebook childrens fantasy series the dark is rising by susan. Its title seeker, seeker means by example when a device in a missile that locates a target by sensing some characteristic of the target, as heat the seeker. The dark is rising in its last and greatest bid to control the world. Here is a story that cries out for the fantastic, and gives us people who dont even seem to notice it. The story revolves around young american will stanton who moves to england with his family when his father takes a job at the local university.
The dark is rising film, based on the the dark is rising, was released in u. She is also the author of king of shadows, a boston globe horn book honor book, and green boy. As he uncovers mysterious clues, stanton discovers that with the dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in his. The dark is rising 2007 full cast and crew director. National education association named it one of teachers top 100 books for children. Since its an enormous hardback, and i was traveling, i put it down for a while, and am picking it back up for the second book, the dark is rising, now. I have not read this book, but i have a feeling that this adaptation is missing what made the story so interesting in the first place. Susan cooper book cover gallery things of power see also current events for notices of events of relevance to the dark is rising sequence andor susan cooper welcome to the the dark is rising wiki. And its director, david cunningham, is the son of loren cunningham, founder of youth with a mission, one of the world.
Hes supposed to seek out seven signs, none of which are ever actually used for anything, and which doesnt seem to require much in the way of hard work. The dark is rising due to its complete lack of resemblance to the book. This is the fifth and last book in the dark is rising sequence. Alexander ludwig, ian mcshane, christopher eccleston genre. Reception, awards, and impact edit the dark is rising was an american library association newbery honor book in 1974. With alexander ludwig, ian mcshane, christopher eccleston, frances conroy. But in the case of the dark is rising, the series is named after the book. It influenced other book series in the young adult genre. Her many books have won the newbery medal, a newbery honor, and the boston globehorn book.
British author susan cooper wrote a five book series of which the second book was titled the dark is rising, which came to be the title of the whole series in the 1970s. Nevertheless the first book over sea under stone seems the natural place to start as its a traditional treasure hunt in structure. The dark is rising available in dvd ship this item temporarily out of stock online buy online, pick up in store is currently unavailable, but this item may be available for instore purchase. The seeker is a 2007 american family dramafantasy film adaptation of the second book in the five book childrens fantasy series the dark is rising by susan. The dark is rising is based on a very famous childrens novel by susan cooper. How does the movie, the seeker the dark is rising compare. It would be difficult to film the books as they are somewhat disjointed and variable in length and content.
The seventh son of a seventh son, and therefore blessed with great powers. The dark is rising sequence by susan cooper goodreads. British author susan cooper wrote a five book series of which the second book was titled the dark is rising, which came to be the title of the whole series in the. The dark is rising action when an otherwise normal young man learns that hes the last of a group of powerful warriors, he embarks on a dangerous quest through time to battle the dark, an evil threat to mankind that has already claimed his twin brother. The dark is rising based on the second book of the dark is rising series by susan cooper, the seeker. But watching any film of a favourite book is a perilous business, let alone a film so bad that it made friends angry about this butchery of the text.
Creating a movie from a book is always a challenge. The film is based on or inspired by, as some diehards no doubt prefer the 1974 newberry awardwinning book by susan cooperpart two of. The film tells the story of will stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their. Its title seeker, seeker means by example when a device in a. It tells the story of will stanton, seventh son of a seventh son, who turns 11 on midwinter eve, and. It had decent characters and very good action scenes, but with a rushed storyline and. The book features elements of british folklore that are especially associated with the thames valley, with herne the hunter making an appearance. Here is a story that cries out for the fantastic, and gives us. Its made by walden media, the same production company that brought c. Over sea, under stone c1965 i would give about 3 star my copy of this book with one of the worst cover illustrations ever contains all. The dark is rising, was released in 2007 and was criticized for major changes to the source material, including by cooper. Aug 18, 2009 the film tells the story of will stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark. I have tried to wipe it from my mind, but quite a few things stayed with me.
The book that inspired the seeker is called the dark is rising by susan cooper. Will was instantly a furious old one, so furious that he did not pause to think what he should do. Youd think the fact that his birthday is right around the corner would make him happy, but the guys annoyedall he wants for his birthday is for it to snow, and hes pretty sure that wont happen. The film tells the story of will stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the dark. It is based on the book the dark is rising, but was badly altered, it seems, in the name of making it more commercial. The dark is rising, based on the dark is rising novel series. Its 2007 film adaptation, titled the seeker in america and the dark is rising. It really had little to do with the dark is rising. We are currently editing over 78 articles, and you can help. The dark is rising series by susan cooper goodreads. British author susan cooper wrote a five book series of which the second book was titled the dark is rising, which came to be the title of the whole series in. The seeker 2007 is loosely based on the novel the dark is rising which was written by susan cooper and released in 1973.
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