Words can't describe just how awful this installment is and you will be hard pressed to sit through it for 27 minutes let alone its 274 minutes of total runtime.
First off, it's clear they had zero budget for Book III, Book I and Book II set high marks in production value, this is just plain awful. The cinematography is atrocious, the directing is worse, the composition is terrible and it looks like this was shot on the most low grade stock one could find. I think I have seen adult films with better production value to be honest.
The reduced budget meant that actual interiors had to be used and the sound is absolutely horrid. Lines are muddied and almost completely lost at times because of the reverberations and lack of enough sound coverage. It also takes a toll on lighting and focus, there are just blatant moments where characters delivering lines aren't lit well at all and start out out of focus but suddenly come into focus during the take, totally 3rd rate.
As if this isn't enough you have the plot mangling. Obviously they couldn't afford Patrick Swayze and they let him live in Book II (as I understand he was actually killed in the novel) only to bring him back for a quick and horrid death at the beginning of Book III. His death is absolutely meaningless and since Swayze wasn't available Orry is played by recycling some footage from the prior series installments and then using a stand-in for his actual murder.
Not even the opening narration from John Jakes could save this production. I physically twinged when he read the line "through a strange twist of fate Bent survives", it's nearly as painful as "it was a dark and stormy night".
Buy the box set, throw Book III in the trash and consider yourself well entertained for the week or so it will take you to get through the first two installments and then pretend this one doesn't exist. Trust me, it's better that way.
First off, it's clear they had zero budget for Book III, Book I and Book II set high marks in production value, this is just plain awful. The cinematography is atrocious, the directing is worse, the composition is terrible and it looks like this was shot on the most low grade stock one could find. I think I have seen adult films with better production value to be honest.
The reduced budget meant that actual interiors had to be used and the sound is absolutely horrid. Lines are muddied and almost completely lost at times because of the reverberations and lack of enough sound coverage. It also takes a toll on lighting and focus, there are just blatant moments where characters delivering lines aren't lit well at all and start out out of focus but suddenly come into focus during the take, totally 3rd rate.
As if this isn't enough you have the plot mangling. Obviously they couldn't afford Patrick Swayze and they let him live in Book II (as I understand he was actually killed in the novel) only to bring him back for a quick and horrid death at the beginning of Book III. His death is absolutely meaningless and since Swayze wasn't available Orry is played by recycling some footage from the prior series installments and then using a stand-in for his actual murder.
Not even the opening narration from John Jakes could save this production. I physically twinged when he read the line "through a strange twist of fate Bent survives", it's nearly as painful as "it was a dark and stormy night".
Buy the box set, throw Book III in the trash and consider yourself well entertained for the week or so it will take you to get through the first two installments and then pretend this one doesn't exist. Trust me, it's better that way.