Movie, Eragon
From The Inheritance Encyclopedia
The Eragon movie was adapted from the novel Eragon. It was released on December 15, 2006 and is rated PG. The DVD was released March 20, 2007.
Contents |
The Cast
Main Characters
Edward Speleers: Eragon
Chris Egan: Roran
Jeremy Irons: Brom
John Malkovich: Galbatorix
Djimon Hounsou: Ajihad
Sienna Guillory: Arya
Robert Carlyle: Durza
Garrett Hedlund: Murtagh
Rachel Weisz: Saphira
Other Characters
Alun Armstrong: Uncle Garrow
Gary Lewis: King Hrothgar
Joss Stone: Angela
Caroline Chikezie: Nasuada
Nils Allen Stewart: Lead Urgal
Steven Spiers: Sloan
Hungarian Hired Actors/Actresses
Ágnes Bánfalvy: Old Woman
Máté Haumann: Character Unknown
Matt Devere: Character Unknown
Richard Rifkin: Character Unknown
Michael Mehlman: Character Unknown
Tamás Deák: Character Unknown
Pál Makrai: Character Unknown
The Crew
Director
Writers
Book Author: Christopher Paolini
Screenwriter: Peter Buchman
Editors: Mark Rosenthal, Larry Konner
Producing
Producers: John Davis, Wyck Godfrey, John A
Co Producers: Adam Goodman, Chris Symes
Movie Composer
Patrick Doyle
Stunt Performers
Stunt Coordinator: Gabor Piroch
Stunts: Allan Poppleton, Branko Jehlar
Cinematography
Hugh Johnson
Makeup Coordinators
Hair Designer: Trefor Proud
Key Hair Stylist: Tracey Wells
Casting
Casting Director: Mindy Marin
Extra Casting: Tamás Kertész
Costume Design
Costume Designers: Carlo Poggioli, Kym Barrett
Assistant Costume Designers: Giovanni Casalnuovo, Debbie Scott, Megan Worthy
Specialty Costumer: Stacia Lang
Production Management
Unit Managers: Gergö Balika, Ravi Dube
Slovakian Unit Manager: Vaclav Mottl
Production Manager: Peter Seres
Unit Production Manager: Malcolm Ferrante
Other Directors
Assistant Director: Chris Newman
Second Assistant Director: Bogi Móricz
Third Assistant Directors: James Chasey, Herjeczki Márk, Tamas Vass
Artists
Dragon Concept Artist: Patrick Tatopoulos
Storyboard Artists: Tracey Wilson, David J. Aldred
Concept Designer: Ravi Bansal
Key Greensman: Jon Marson
Draught Person: Christine Parkin
Special Effects
Special Effects Foremen: Markus Geiger, Michael Luppino
Special Effects Senior Technicians: Herbert Blank, Armin Moritz, Jurgen Thiel, Thomas Thiele
Special Effects Techinicians: Norman Ernst, Roman Holub, Frank Schlosser, Marcus Schmidt, Thomas Schultz, Frantisek Sloup, Olaf Will
Second Unit Special Effects Technician: Nicola Di Chio
Special Effects Supervisor: Gerd Feuchter
Special Effects Set Supervisor: Bernd Rautenberg
Second Unit Special Effects Assistant: Antje Blumel
Special Effects Buyer: Kinga Baranyai
Special Effects Contact Lenses: Clive R. Kay
Visual Effects
Visual Effects Coordinator: Karen M. Murphy
Visual Effects Assistant Coordinator: Natalie Lovatt
Visual Effects Modeler: Glenn Marsh
Previsualization Artists: Scott McGinley, Bradley Mullennix
Supervisor: Dragon Build: Craig Narramore
Mation Control Previsualization Artist: Andrew Bull
Match Move Technician: Mike Woodhead
Propmen
Sword Master: C.C. Smiff
Differences From the Book
Characters
Durza
- There isn't enough description in the book, so we can't really say if there's anything different from the book to the movie. However, some people do say that Durza should have shorter, more fiery red hair than he has now.
- In many trailers Durza is seen riding a strange, shadowy bat-like creature that is as large as a dragon. The books say absolutely nothing about this creature.
- Durza (while in Gilead) does not use Arya as means to lure Eragon to rescue her.
Ajihad
- He is bald in the book.
- It is mentioned in Eldest that he has golden armor, not dark armor.
- He does not go to meet Eragon & Murtagh when they are brought into the Varden. He doesn't even see them until the next day when they are brought to him in his office.
Eragon
- He has brown hair in the books, but in the movie he has blonde highlights.
- He's a poor farm boy in the book, but in the movie he's wearing clean tunics and leather.
- Eragon only uses magic a few times in the book, and he never uses it against the Ra'zac but in a clip of Eragon fighting the Ra'zac he yells a word in the ancient language and the Ra'zac is immediately thrown into a tree.
- In the movie Eragon says he is 17, however, in the book he is 15 going on 16.
- Does not recieve his scar(similar to Murtagh's)after battling Durza. (Durza does use a sword like object on his back during the Dual, although this may not leave a scar)
- In the book, Eragon doesn't rescue Arya until after Brom dies and Murtagh is there to help.
Brom
- He has long white hair twisted in a knot in the book, but in the movie he looks much younger, and he doesn't have the long white beard.
- Brom in the movie is said to be a "malcontent who drinks away his evenings, railing against Galbatorix's tyranny" (Mythic Vision-The Making of Eragon-By Mark Cotta Vaz-Page 84)
- Brom should've died of a wound inflicted by the ra'zac not Durza
- In the movie, Brom finally dies while riding on Saphira, but in the book he dies in the cave
Arya
- She has dark hair in the book, in the movie she's blonde.
- There were no feathers in her hair in the book, only a leather strip to hold up her black locks.
- Arya does not wear a dress in Eragon.
- She does not have pointed ears in the movie, but she is supposed to.
- Arya in the book wears pants. In the movie she is shown in a skirt.
- In the movie, Arya tells Eragon that she is an elf-princess. However, In the books, she does not tell him that until Eldest, and then he is surprised and slightly dismayed.
- She is suppose to be unconscious when Eragon finds her and until they reach the Varden
- The poison is in effect at Gil'ead, in the movie it comes into effect after Brom's funeral.
Murtagh
- He has brown hair in the books, black hair in the movie.
- He has a hand-and-a-half sword in the books, in the movie he has Zar`roc minus the red tint on the blade.
- His scar is across his stomach not his back & isn't even in the same shape which is diagnally across his back from his right shoulder to left hip
- In the book, while at the Varden Murtagh is kept in a descent cell not a caged one
- He did volunteer to help Eragon get to the Varden but was also supposed to try to leave when they got close because in the book is clearly states that he does not want to go to the Varden
- He saved Eragon from th Ra'zac in the book, but in the movie he saved Eragon from Urgals
Urgals
- They don't have horns in the movie and appear more human.
- They have a sort of war paint type thing on their faces in the movie, including eye shadow.
- They're wearing multi-layered clothes in the movie.
Saphira
- In one shot of Saphira, we see she has horns when in the book Christopher Paolini never
mentioned horns.
- In the trailers Saphira breathes fire many times when in the book she only breathes fire once, at the end.
- In the book her scales are bright blue whereas in the movie they are a dull blue. This is because when she is made electric blue she looks some-what cartoonish.
- In the book Eragon finds out that Saphira can speak to him mentally after a few weeks, so Saphira would only be up to his waist or midriff. However, in the trailers we've seen, Eragon only realizes that Saphira can hear his thoughts when she is much larger.
- Paolini says that Saphira grew naturally but in a clip we see of the movie Saphira flies into the air as a hatchling, fire encompasses her, and she lands a fully grown dragon.
- In the book Saphira is said to have leathery wings. She has a scale/feather hybrid in the movie.
Ra'zac
- In Eldest the Ra'zac's eyes are described as being "dark and as large as fits, they seemed" when in the trailers their eyes are small and red.
- Instead of wearing long cloaks like in the books they wear tightly wrapped garments.
- Brom says that even he cannot defeat the Ra'zac, but in a clip we see Eragon hanging a Ra'zac with magic and Brom plunging Zar'roc into another Ra'zac, which immediately turns into dirt. Even if you had trained for battle all your life both of these feats would have been majorly difficult, but Eragon had only been a Dragon Rider for a few weeks.
Angela
- In the book, Angela is said to meet Eragons mother. This would have to make her fourty or older. Angela, in the movie, it portrayed by eighteen year old Joss Stone.
- In the book, Angela is in Teirm, in the movie, she is in Daret.
Orik
- Orik the dwarf is not in the movie at all.
Solumbum The Werecat
- Solumbum is not in the movie, but in the book he plays a very important role. He summons the prophecy of which Eragon must fulfill.
Garrow
- Garrow in the book is unconscious, but dies later on. In the film he's dead when Eragon finds the destroyed house.
Sloan
- Sloan is killed in the film, but in the book he later on plays an important role along with Katrina in Eldest.
Alagaesians
- In the book Paolini describes Alagaesians as being more peasant-like. But flipping through the "Making of Eragon" book I saw clear pictures of most of the Alagaesians, and they look like tan, African natives with wierd multi-colored gowns. The producers said they did this because they did not want to appear racist.
Items
Zar'roc
- In the movie, Zar'roc has a blue saphire (possibly to correspond to the color of Saphira), but in the book, since the sword was forged for a different rider, there is a ruby in the pommel.
- Brom never has Zar'roc in the book except for at the very beggining, but wields it in the trailers.
- The movie map has much more color.
- The mountains and forests are different on the movie map.
- The compass on the movie map is much more detailed.
- There are only four cities on the movie map: Carvahall, Daret, Gil'ead, and Farthen Dur.
- The Spine is the only mountain range labeled on the movie map.
- The Hadarac Desert is spelled differently on the movie map.
- There is no border between Alagaesia and Surda on the movie map.
- The five southern islands get a bit cut off on the movie map.
Gedwey Ignasia
- In the books the gedwey ignasia, located on Eragon's hand, is in the shape of an oval and is silver. In the movie it is red like a scar. It is in the shape of the movie icon swirling E and only takes up part of Eragon's palm.
Filming
Location
The main filming location of the movie was throughout Hungary. After it ended in September, blue screen work began in London, as well as work on the CGI at Industrial Light and Magic in California. [1]
Budget
The final budget has not yet been calculated yet, but it has been said to be well over $100 million. [2]
Trailers, Previews, and Unauthorized Footage
The trailer was first said to appear on X-Men 3: The Last Stand, but then it got pushed to Superman Returns. It then got pushed off of Superman Returns so that they could polish up the special effects. After that, it got moved to Snakes on a Plane, but got pushed off again. The trailer finally appeared on the movie Gridiron Gang, but it was released on AOL beforehand. Earlier in the year, unauthorized footage from Fox wormed its way online to a popular video site called Youtube. It was later removed by Fox because its content was used without permission.
You can watch the Eragon trailer here.
An international trailer was soon after released by Fox as well. You can view that here.
Not too long after the international trailer, Fox released a second trailer for the Eragon movie, including many new scenes not seen in the first. You may view that here.
Soon after that, Eragon was previews on a TV spot on ABC during a Harry Potter Movie Quick show. You may view the short version of the TV spot here. You may also view the long version of the TV spot here.
Trailer Impressions
E3 Expo
The Eragon Trailer was displayed to some lucky viewers at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. One of those lucky viewers was Mike Macauley from our very own Shurtugal.com. Mike's impressions of the trailer are:
"The scene where Eragon, Murtagh, and the horses emerge from under the waterfall right as they reach the Varden is in the movie, however, I don’t know exactly how it’s done. In the preview, I did see Eragon and Murtagh come out of the water with a few warriors pointing swords at their heads.
Another scene’s existence that I’m able to confirm is the prologue. I’m not sure what order it appears in, but in the clip I was shown, Durza is standing on the top of the small cliff, lights flashing and wind blowing around him, performing magic.
For those of you complaining about Galbatorix being in the movie, and for the opposites who were saying “he’s just in flashbacks!!”… well, the complainers were correct. Galbatorix is in the movie, however, not in any kind of role he plays in the book, from the scenes I saw. He could be playing in flashbacks, but I can at least tell you that he’s definitely playing a character in the actual current plotline. There were a few occasions where he’d look like a lush, spoiled… jerk, laying around and acting like he was high on caffeine. There were other parts where he’d be conversing with Durza about the current happenings (Arya, Eragon, etc.).
It was also confirmed to me that the town on the water that we’ve been showing you pictures of (the most recent had what looked like lizard skins hanging on a store front) is Daret."[3]
London MCM Expo
The London MCM Expo, held in late May, also previewed the Eragon Trailer. InsomniacMania, a company that got to view the trailer, says the following about it:
"The teaser started with a voice over talking about a "time of legends" and "a land shrouded in darkness", and then introduced us to Edward Speleers as Eragon. In the footage we saw him receive his dragon egg, be told it will only open when it has a bond with its dragon rider, and Jeremy Iron's character telling him that he was a dragon rider.
There was hardly any effects shots shown (apparently because they are still making them!), but there were two extremely brief early effects shots of a dragon passing by the camera over head. You really couldn't see much apart from the outline of a seemingly blue Dragon flying extremely fast! In terms of an indication of how good it was, the audience cheered a little when the dragon flew past at the end, but there was still quite a few audience members who walked out as soon as it finished, so you can tell that although it wasn't bad, it was obviously still not quite amazing yet!"[4]
Saphira
Saphira is being coordinated by Industrial Light and Magic Studios. She makes many appearances in the trailer, as well as pictures that have now been released. Much of the movie's budget has been used to make Saphira, which is why the budget is so high. One fan got a peek at Saphira and here is what they said:
"The fan tells us that he got the chance to see Saphira, who he says is "awesome and extremely realistic". He says that this makes sense, since a huge part of the movie's budget is being put into the making of Saphira, and unfortunately causing a lack of work on things such as the Urgals, who have appeared to be more human-like in the movie..." [5]
Reception
The Eragon film has recieved a 14% approval rating from RottenTomatoes.com.
The second week after release saw one of the worst drops in gross income after the release weekend in cinema history. It was among the top 50 of this ranking.
Thoughts of the Fans
| Warning: This page or section is the opinion of the user-author only, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Shur'tugal and/or its staff members. |
It looks as if they just slapped this together with no intention of making it good
I know of a site here is the link www.petitononline.com if we all sign the petition we could get them to make a new movie that follows the book better. - random Eragon fan
"They should really do a re-make of the move that actualy follows the book. I think I could make an even better movie in my villiage with just an old video camera and no special effects" - anmomous
"It doesn't look too bad but it doesn't look too good...I think Fox could have spent a bit more time with the costumes and the weapons. Hopefully they'll do an awesome job with Saphira. I'm still definitely going to see it though!" -Jamie
"The main disappointment that I, as well as many others, have noticed is that Arya doesn't look to be an elf." -Matt
"I have also noticed that of Arya. She doesn't even have pointy ears. No black hair, no almond eyes. In the movies, is she actually an elf? And Saphira, her head is the shape of a dog. Yet, i am still going to see the movie, and enjoy it, and everything else. I am obsessed with it, even though i say critisism about it. Also, am i the only one that noticed of what i think as Broms grave? Arya seems to be there too, oddly." -Sarah the Rider
- It's not the first time that dragons have used dog-like heads. Take Spirited Away, for instance.--Spyderchan 20:56, 23 November 2006 (EST)
"I also noticed Brom's grave and Arya was there. I am A HUGE Eragon fan and will see the movie as soon as possible. I love Eragon So much, i was making my own movie poster when it was still set to release July 16. My biggest disappointment though, is the urgals. They are way to humanoid and have no horns! I just hope the kull are better." - du shur'tugal abr sundavar
"The only thing i can complain about is the Urgals,in the books they are described with huge horns,in the film it looks like a couple of people have have just dipped their faces in brown and red paint and pretend to be Urgals.But the rest looks awesome."
From what I've heard from the clips, I don't like the screenplay.--Spyderchan 21:36, 5 December 2006 (EST)
"it was miserable! Frosty the snowman was better! It was just... just... grrrrrr!!!" - Joseph Davison - mr.chosop
"Stop complaining people! I loved it! And if you want to complain so much, take it to www.anti-shurtugal.com. I would never go to a site like that. I can't wait for the second movie to come out, and I wonder how fox is going to make it since they left out Solumbum and Sloan. They both play an important part. As well as Elva, and they left out parts that Arya had to take place in. And Murtagh. And Orik. And Hrogthgar. And, OMG u guys r right. What a fool Fox is!" -Heir of Eragon
"As a fantasy movie, it was pretty well done. As Eragon though... I thought it failed. They rushed through many parts of the book and changed or cut others. I felt that if I didn't know the names of people from reading the books, I would not have been able to know what their names were while watching the movie. My mother who has not read the books didn't know who Murtagh was along with some other major characters such as Galbatorix and Brom. I did however, very much enjoy the characters of, in order, Murtagh, Saphira, and Brom. I thought that some of the dialogue in the movie needed work. For example, when talking to Durza, Galbatorix says 'I need my stone. Without it I'm vulnerable.' The major problem with this line is that first of all, it's a dragon egg for god's sake, and secondly, would the evil dragon rider who slaughtered countless people actually say 'I need my stone'? I would imagine him saying something like "Get me my stone back. It is of vital importance and renders me vulnerable! GET IT!" or something of the sort. I didn't like how they cut or changed characters and Saphira's 'growing' seemed rather lame. All in all, I've got a lot more things to critisize about the movie, but I'll just say again, Murtagh was amazing. The best thing about the movie was Murtagh I thought. And now because this is terribly long, I'll stop." --Allie2 20:36, 17 December 2006 (EST)
- "Get me my stone back. It is of vital importance and renders me vulnerable! GET IT!" is more explanatory than the actual line, but it's not as dramatic. (I haven't seen the movie yet btw). Galbatorix is supposed to be so powerful that he doesn't need to yell to get things done.--Spyderchan 21:06, 17 December 2006 (EST)
- Yeah, but the way that line is said in the movie just makes him seem like a pathetic child... --Allie2 00:36, 18 December 2006 (EST)
It was horrible it was a disgrace to the book. The differences in the movie made it impossible for the next one to be made. Number one if Arya was awake during Brom's death why couldn't she heal him. number two both the ra'zaac are dead how is that going to work. number three no Jeod or Orik. Number four carvahall is destroyed. Number five Arya has already left. Number six the star sapphire was never broken. Number seven where was Elva. Number eight Arya wasn't even an elf. The only good part of the movie was that shruiken looks freakin sweet.
OMG i completly sucked. The writing was terrible, the entire storyline was changed for the origonal text i think that if there is an other movie then they need to step it up for a kiddy movie and make it like it should be made. To me the characters were dead on except angela, but alot of the characters were left out and they were the ones that played the most important parts in the books. The whole thing seemed really rushed to me. parts were left out or joined together to make it way more confusing. I think that over all it was a terrible idea and would have been better off just not made. Although Saphira was exactly correct in her making but the way they developed her was even wrong, a flash of lightning WOW not. Fire the writers and get some new ones that have read the books and have wrote for other good movies.--Eragon man 17:11, 10 January 2007 (EST)
WHY DID ERAGON AND ARYA HOLD HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAD FOX, BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --Kystra 05:28, 11 January 2007 (EST)
I think it sucked, and to those who think we should take our bad opinions elsewhere, this is an opinion section. Whether good or bad, these are our opinions. Rotten Tomatoes was right, and my biggest disappointment was the urgals. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The urgals just looked like painted up fat Hungarian men. --RandomLurker 14:31, 12 January 2007 (EST)
Well, I just saw the movie, and I agree with Kystra; Eragon and Arya weren't supposed to hold hands! But, then again, they pretty much manipulated the entire book making the movie, so what's it matter if they go ahead and twist it and change it some more? Here's my opinion of the movie: it stunk!!! Well, compared to the book it did. Otherwise it's not so bad as a movie. But if you've actually read the books you'd have a different opinion. I counted thirteen characters, major and minor, that they left out, including Solembum, the Twins, Katrina, and Jeod. They were essential to the plot! And they crammed the events of several months into a period of a few days, plus they got Arya all wrong (where's her pointy ears and black hair?), and she's my favorite character! I mean, come on! Does anyone else agree with me? I don't see how they'd make the next movie, if they do, and if they did, I wouldn't wanna see it anyway! Okay I think I've said enough. Oh, wait; I forgot something. RandomLurker is right. THE URGALS STUNK!!! They just looked like fat men with paint on!!! Argh! Yes, the movie would have been better off just not made; I agree with Eragon man. --Arya_Drottningu
Well said. I reckon that Edward Speelers is just a dumb blonde who can't act, come on, why couldn't they have done the right thing and gotten someone who could actually act and has brown hair? Also, Arya_Drottningu has a very good point. Arya should indeed have black hair and pointed ears, why couldn't they have got Liv Tyler to play her? Brom was adequate enough all in all pretty good. The urgals are pathetic with their painted fat men. In contrast with the book, a ridiculous attempt. But some bits were pretty good. But there was too much leaving places and characters out to much. Kystra, you are a legend. Arya and Eragon shouldn't have held hands. --Axle Grease 13:56, 26 March 2007 (EST)
