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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5407 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-10
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Developing one's self confidence is difficult for most 14-year-olds, and doubly so for Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) who's recently moved to England and has just begun his first year of study as an American overseas. Feeling shy and inadequate in school as well as amongst his five brothers and one sister, Will becomes increasingly confounded when he starts to see strange visions including a sinister horseman (Christopher Eccleston) who demands Will give him some sort of sign which he knows absolutely nothing about. Befriended by four elders of the local community (Ian McShane, Frances Conroy, Jim Piddock, and James Cosmo) who turn out to be "Old Ones" from ages past, Will learns that his destiny is as a seeker who must travel through time to collect six ancient signs that will somehow enable light to triumph over darkness and save the world as he knows it. As Will discovers that he possesses hidden powers and struggles to learn to control them in order to accomplish his quest, he is racked with insecurity and self-doubt. In the end, Will's inner strength will be tested to the extreme as will his relationship with both family and friends.

While based on Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, this movie is significantly different from the book: Will's age and family circumstances have been changed, the role of the Old Ones in Will's education about his powers is much diminished, the six signs are less religiously symbolic, and the treatment of the final battle between light and dark is markedly different. Nonetheless, The Dark Is Rising is a suspense-filled, action-packed 94-minutes brimming with great special effects comparable to The Bridge to Terabithia and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy that's immensely appealing to viewers ages 10 and older. --Tami Horiuchi, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Based on Susan Cooper's 1973 Newbery Award-winning fantasy novel, THE DARK IS RISING, director David L. Cunningham's 2007 film follows the adventures of young protagonist Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig), who discovers that he is an immortal being connected with an ancient struggle between good and evil. Aided by fellow 'Old Ones', including Miss Greythorne (Frances Conroy) and Merriman Lyon (Ian McShane), Will, an American in England, must face off against shadowy forces bent on world domination, most notably represented by the black-clad Rider (Christopher Eccleston).
Taking a different approach to Cooper's revered novel, THE SEEKER, actually drawn from the second book in THE DARK IS RISING sequence, will certainly raise the eyebrows of ardent fans of the series, particularly given screenwriter John Hodge's considerable alterations to the original story. For example, Will is American instead of British. For those unattached to Cooper's story, however, THE SEEKER will likely prove to be an enjoyable escapist film, with Conroy (SIX FEET UNDER), McShane (DEADWOOD), and Eccleston (HEROES) adding credibility to a largely unknown cast that is anchored by the likable Ludwig.

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Customer Reviews

Please stick with the books
I love Christopher Eccleston's work. I love the Dark is Rising sequence of books (ok Over Sea, Under Stone isn't as good as the rest, but even so...). I thought I would at least enjoy the film. But no, it is truly awful. I resent having to give it one star, even, the film is a complete waste of time. Please stick with the books and read them out loud to/with your children if they don't want to read them themselves.

I can't understand why they re-wrote one key element of the book just to give a random happy twist to the film (won't give a spoiler just in case anyone actually wants to watch this tosh).

Merriman may have seemed a bit grumpy in the book, but he wasn't gormless - mind you, since poor wickle Ian Mcshane's brain couldn't cope with the book, its not surprising the character came across as a total idiot.

Rather than put yourself through the agony of this film, do something useful like watching paint dry.

A shoddy, unconvincing mess of a film
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Why do film writers do this terrible thing to excellent books? I love all the Susan Cooper stories and was really excited to see it was the latest 'fantasy' story to be given the film treatment - but what a disappointment when I finally saw the film.
Changes to the story are to be expected because film is a very different medium, but there is no earthly reason to make Will and his family American, no reason for there to be a 'lost twin' brother held hostage by The Rider, no reason for cod mysticism with the father being a physicist who was investigating the Light and Dark many years before ... and why was so much of the action played out in front of various members of Will's family? Why was Merriman so antagonistic to Will? I love Ian McShane but he was totally miscast as Merriman. Maggie was referred to as a witch but did almost no magic and was never a threat to Will - in the book she does imprison him by magic and take the first 2 signs from him before he's rescued by Merriman.
I'm sorry to have to say this, but if you love the books, avoid this film.
If you don't care what film writers do to books - you might enjoy this film although I found the adult leads weak and unconvincing. The children were marginally better but the entire story dragged and there was no real tension.
Oh dear. I hope they do better with the next book they maul.

Um...but sorry, NO, NO
As a mum with 4 children who LOVE reading, I like them to try the books, before we see the film attempt at making the 'pictures in your head real, for a given (other people's dreams) value of real'.

Sorry, but this film just does not work to encourage them to read any thing else within the series. It does not encourage anyone to read the rest of the series, why be disillusioned again!

Where are the, slightly Kipling flavoured, rhymes about the future? Where is the menace of 'being different'? Who removed the security of being 'normal' and a part of a something, even if you, sometimes, resent it?

Trite ending. Interesting material excised. The signs are mandelas, hunting of the wren, boat burials, music, navy, customs of holly, concepts of time, et al.

Okay, watch this, but mine, the oldest 14 and 9yox2, don't want it again, maybe in a couple of years, if there is nothing else. The little one, 5, walked off, she has sat and listened to all the Narnia stories and Greenwitch.

V.sorry, but taking GOOD books and making a MESS of them, just will NOT do! Anyone out there remember the film of Watership Down or the first cuts on Lord of the Rings?


I said it was a bit 'Kip...'

When the dark comes Rising,
Six will turn it back
Three from the circle,
Three from the track
Wood, bronze, iron,
Water, fire,stone,
Six signs the circle and...
the grail gone before.

30 years and I can STILL do it from memory!

Bye Sad and a bibliophile