Knights Of Bloodsteel

Okay, I feel somewhat obligated to comment on this sci-fi channel miniseries, though I'd rather not waste the time. And I'm certainly not going to invest the time and thought needed for a review.

The previews had me very intrigued. It looked dark or at the very least, serious. Not the kids stuff we've seen in the fantasy genre in recent years. (The Seeker, Bridge To Taribithia, Narnia, etc.)

While it didn't seem geared toward kids, and while it wasn't terrible (at least part one wasn't), it came across bland, unfocused and suffered from the usual tv movie budgets.

As I've so often felt in the past, this miniseries has the budget of one truly solid tv movie, yet it stretches that budget into a two-night event. The eye candy is too far separated by uninteresting dialogue and the CGI dragons look extremely fake.

I did appreciate the blend of sci-fi (the assassin's claw) with the fantasy genre, but it wasn't enough to win me over.

Don't get me wrong, I understand it's a TV/direct to DVD movie. But with titles like "Merlin" and even "Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath Of The Dragon God" to compare it to, it falls far short. In Merlin, we have fewer special effects and spell-slinging in particular than I would like. But the characters and story carry us through until the next scene of epic magic. And though D&D2 was anythinng but a masterpeice, it used special effects liberally and fits in nicely with those poorly acted/scripted fantasy films of the 80's (Beastmaster, Krull) that I still love to watch.

Knights Of Bloodsteel hasn't delivered in either category, and unless that radically changes tonight, it will be another two hours of my life that I could have spent playing Neverwinter Nights.