Eregon: Jeremy Irons Plays Aragorn.

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Yes, I know you're going to jump on me for saying that. I know the character was named Brom! I'm just making a comparison. I just saw "Eregon" thanks to my IO cable early releases ordering system. Thank heavens for that - I hate going out to rent movies. I can never find what I'm looking for, and Hubby inevitably picks all war movies, leaving me with nothing. I tuned in and worked on some fret dressing (guitars necks) occasionally looking up to see what was going on. Finally, I gave in and sat down to watch (when Jeremy Irons made it onto the screen). I never bothered to read "DragonRiders of Pern" no matter how many times my best friend Sarah told me to read them. I just couldn't bring myself to sully the memories of dragons like those told of in Tolkien - such powerful, wonderful dragons. I liked the idea of dragon-riding, but it seemed a little too commercial Frisetta to me. I ignored them. Now along came "Eregon" which was approved by Ursula Le Guin herself, and described as a "Pern for the younger folk". Fine then, if Ursula can give it her go ahead, then I may as well watch the movie, eh? But the fact that Jeremy Irons was in it had me glued to the screen. Jeremy did his usual great story-telling bit, uttering his lines as deftly as a wood nymph lands on a branch - making words take flight into the world of fancy. But then I recognised the character, as he sat by an unlit fire and uttered a word of incantation to spark up a flame. Ah hah! I said, "That's Aragorn!" In the same way that the little Hobbits got to know Aragorn, so was Eregon learning to trust Brom. And oh, was he filled with magical words, hard won experience, and character. Wait, though - low, he bore the Mormegil! The what, you say? The black sword of Turin, Beleg, and Eol. Okay, perhaps I've gone much too far into Tolkien for you. Let's get simple - the older man with experience who has a strange cultured accent and wears rags but carries the sword of his foe....sound familiar? I didn't mind. I love Jeremy so much for his rolling tongue that I can forgive plot problems. He was ultra-delightful, always the keen swordsman, until he had to give up his character's life and do a fantastic death scene. I adored his last shot, on the back of the dragon... And well, his true last shot, laying in state and looking very stately at that. The man just can't look bad, even when wearing soiled leather and suede. He's a class act, and "Eregon" turned out to be a fine fantasy film that had so many elements of Tolkien in it that even the most die-hard Tolkienite would love it. So did you see it, and what did you think?