The mess continues with the series and movies that disappear from SkyShowtime. The platform got off to a very good start in Spain. According to surveys, the growth was spectacular due both to the price (with a very attractive initial offer) and to the fact that they knew how to take advantage of a moment of weakness for Netflix (when they started with the mess of shared accounts).
However, controversy did not take long to appear. On the one hand, the image quality was not as expected for 2023, something that could be explained due to the low price of the subscription, but the most serious thing was the mysterious disappearances of series and movies. In fact, the platform has lost more than 300 movies in these months.
The curious problem of licenses (when some are yours)
At the end of May the storm broke: many series began to show an expiration notice. There was content, like ‘Dexter’, that disappeared and, after two days, returned. However, the entire ‘Fast and Furious’ saga disappeared without anyone saying anything. It has not reappeared on SkyShowtime.
At that time, we contacted the platform to ask what was happening and they assured us that the disappeared content would reappear at some point and that, furthermore, the expiration notice was an error in the application.
The days passed, the expiration date arrived and, despite the company’s words, many of the contents ended up leaving the platform. It is true that new series and films are released every so often, but as the CROSSOVER account on Twitter has pointed out, and as reported from ADSLZone, despite the fact that 135 films have been added, the count has dropped a lot.
From 700 movies, SkyShowtime has grown to 370 titles. It is a substantial decrease in content and the platform itself has responded from its global account, noting that many of these titles will return in the coming weeks and emphasizing new releases such as ‘Poker Face’ or ‘Passing Lies’.
The reason? The licenses. Even if they are from the platform itself (from some of the companies that make up the Sky conglomerate), you have to pay to keep those emission rights and it is what is leaving many contents out of SkyShowtime.
And yes, it is quite normal for the series to enter and leave the services. It is something that happens on Netflix, for example, but also on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now, to go to the video game sector, but the problem is that in SkyShowtime it seems that more content comes out than comes inso the count is negative.
We will see what happens in the coming monthsbut although the company in its own terms and conditions states that they can do and undo without warning, taking into account the unfavorable climate around the disappearance of content, perhaps it should notify in advance the productions that will leave the platform.
It is something that, again going to other services, is already done both in the competition and in other sectors.
Obsessed with Baldur’s Gate 3? We also. And it’s normal. Venturing into his world is a joy. Let yourself be carried away by their great stories or see the hilarious consequences derived from a bad shot even more. However, did you know that there are movies inspired by that same fantasy universe? One of the best, in fact, was released just a few months before Larian’s video game.
the saga Baldur’s Gate It is set in Dungeons & Dragons. More specifically, our journey takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a context shared by the bard Edgin Darvis, the barbarian Holga Kilgore and the rest of the characters in the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures, the most recent foray being of the franchise on the big screen.
Logically, the current campaign the Forgotten Realms of D&D it also draws from countless previous fantasy universes and others created after the fact. From Tolkien’s signature in The Lord of the Rings to other much more modern productions created directly for small screens. And, of course, a colossal legacy of sword and magic video games.
Adapting the universe of The Forgotten Realms and the essence of Dungeons & Dragons to the new times and the concerns of those passionate about fantasy, but preserving the essentials to awaken the fascination and adventurous spirit of new generations through any medium or format.
As you already know, in LifeExtra We are true lovers of fantasy. The one we live through video games, of course, but even beyond. Precisely for this reason, we have prepared a very special selection of films and series that, we hope, you will love if you are enjoying both Baldur’s Gate 3 like us.
From animated productions to large film productions or timeless classics. Content that addresses the stories of magic and swords from different points of view, sometimes not so serious and others less orthodox. Promoting variety so that there is always something interesting for everyone. And, hopefully, inspiring you for when you resume your game.
Our starting point, the work that our SamaGame colleagues crowned as the best adventure film of recent years.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Paramount Pictures shot a sensational, hilarious, and action-packed game of Dungeons & Dragons in which nods to the Forgotten Realms, the essence of the franchise, and the spirit of high-fantasy quests fill the screen. A movie that, without being strictly perfect, is absolutely essential for Baldur’s Gate 3 players.
Streaming: Movistar+
Dungeons & Dragons (Dungeons and Dragons)
The first major live-action production of Dungeons & Dragons for the big screen was released in 2000 and was quickly eclipsed by the success of other great magic and fantasy sagas. Which does not take away its own merits, its successes -which it has- and the fact of starting its own film trilogy whose brooch will be launched directly in domestic format.
Dragons and Dungeons, the animated series
Forty years before the premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Baldur’s Gate 3which is said quickly, the first animated series based on Dungeons & Dragons, offering three seasons of adventures starring young adventurers trying to return to the real world with the help of the Dungeon Master plus one missing episode. Watch out for the theme of the Spanish version performed by Dulces.
The film saga of The Lord of the Rings
It is absolutely impossible to allude to the great adventure, fantasy, magic and sword films without recommending Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. An impeccable adaptation of the literary saga that revolutionized the film industry and, in the process, masterfully captured the essence of a work that until then was considered impossible to film.
Streaming: HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video
The Hobbit Trilogy
A decade after the cinematic phenomenon of the Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson himself and his team tackled the challenge of taking the YA novel The Hobbit by transforming it into a three-film saga. And despite its great excesses, which are very visible, it is still a spectacular experience of adventure, magic and swords with a huge dragon capable of amortizing that expensive sound bar that you bought for your television.
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
The Flight of Dragons
Decades before Warner’s adapted Tolkien’s works, the company released the flight of dragonsan animated film based -with enormous liberties- on the novel of the same name that Peter Dickinson wrote in 1979. And despite the fact that so much animation carries many elements of its time, its way of presenting the coexistence between science and magic in a Medieval fantasy world remains timeless.
Conan the barbarian
One of the best fantasy films ever made. As it is. The adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s work starring Arnold Schwarzenegger himself (with none other than James Earl Jones replicating him) conveys the epic of swordplay and great adventures from its opening bars. Of course, its sequel, Conan the Destroyer, brims with much more fantasy, magic and elements of D&D, although as a film it lags far behind. Much further back.
Streaming: Disney Plus
The Princess Bride (The Princess Bride)
“” The engaged princess (The Princess Bride) is a well-deserved cult work and a true fantasy, adventure film classic with touches of comedy and fairy tales based, of course, on the 1973 book of the same name. With colorful characters, iconic and inevitable elements sword duels capable of capturing the imagination of a young reader and, by extension, of entire generations of spectators.
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
Warcraft: The Origin
From the video game to the big screen with no expense spared. Blizzard and Universal put all the meat on the grill to bring the eternal conflict between the Alliance and the Horde to movie theaters, offering an authentic visual spectacle that divided specialized critics and those passionate about video games.
And despite the fact that, in this case, it is Blizzard who borrows elements from D&D to cement its background, the gratuitousness with which spells are performed or the decorations will draw smiles among Baldur’s Gate players.
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix Skyshowtime
(dis)charm
Our first not-so-jarring note is very carefully chosen: (dis)charm It is the third major animation project from the creators of The Simpsons and Futurama and, at the same time, a tribute, parody and own approach to the fantasy and adventure genre; with that point of criticism and acid humor so characteristic of Matt Groening’s characters. A madness, yes, with events worthy of one of those very bad thrown in Baldur’s Gate that lead to fascinating dramas.
Streaming: Netflix
The Witcher Saga on Netflix
More than high fantasy, the universe imagined by Andrzej Sapkowski in his literary saga matches much more with dark fantasy. But, at the same time, he provides a cruder and darker portrait of the typical adventure feats in which elements of Nordic and medieval myths play a leading role. Especially when it comes to fighting against dark creatures and beasts.
With regard to this selection, we have not only wanted to keep in mind the already available seasons of The Witcher, the series, but also productions closely linked to them such as the Nightmare of the Wolf. And while The Witcher: Origin of Blood movie is in many ways a nonsense, in its own way -and with its flaws- it fits much better within the standards of D&D games than it does in Geralt’s world of Rivia.
Streaming: Netflix
the wheel of time
Once again, television drinks from paper by taking Robert Jordan’s High Fantasy novels (James Oliver Rigney to our close friends) to serial format. However, we cannot forget that more than 20 years ago Wizards of the Coast itself, owner of Dungeons & Dragons and by extension Baldur’s Gate, developed a role-playing game based on the rules of the third edition of D&D. They are independent franchises, for the record, but with enough points in common so that The Wheel of Time deserves a viewing if we like to get lost on the Sword Coast.
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
Knights, princesses and other beasts
Recommend Knights, princesses and other beasts (Your Highness) due to its plot, its contribution to the seventh art or its themes is really complicated: David Gordon Green’s film is a true prank that not even the most warlike and charming Natalie Portman can save. And yet, the way to sweep home each and every one of the clichés inherited from the enormous legacy of Dungeons & Dragons achieves that, at least, it deserves a mention. Even if it is to add a note of color to our selection.
Streaming: SkyShowtime
In the name of the king (In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale)
The legacy of uwe boll and its dangerous flirtations with video game adaptations is almost a subgenre in itself from which what is just and necessary can be rescued. In the King’s name, with its flaws, manages to make the cut: Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Claire Forlani and even John Rhys-Davies lend themselves to adapting the Dungeon Siege role-playing saga, achieving high suspense for Boll, but also his best fantasy film , magic and swords. Another thing is where the bar is, of course.
Streaming: Rakuten TV
The Dragon of the Lake of Fire (DragonSlayer)
As much as we are passionate about video games, we could not close our review of fantasy, magic and sword films with a contribution from Uwe Boll. The general idea is to offer a wide variety of approaches to the themes of Baldur’s Gate 3, And the movie fits that very well. But it wouldn’t be pretty. That is why we have reserved DragonSlayer for the end.
Released in Spain under the name of The Dragon of the Lake of Fire, it is a Dark Fantasy story produced by Paramount and Disney itself that, despite its marked clichés, combines feelings of heroism, tests of courage and the determination to finish with a powerful enemy to offer the viewer the essence of great adventures.
SkyShowtime has officially launched in the Netherlands. The new streaming service that bundles numerous well-known television channels and movie houses is ready with a zipper of films and series. We’ve listed the best movies on SkyShowtime for you.
SkyShowtime is full of movies, where you can choose between numerous genres. Because of the trees you may no longer see the forest, so we will give you a helping hand. Do you want to enjoy a nice evening on the couch with a movie? With these movies on SkyShowtime you certainly do!
Mission Impossible Fallout
If you’re looking for one of the best action films of the past ten years, SkyShowtime is the place to be. Mission Impossible Fallout is waiting for you there, the sixth film in this now 26-year-old film series. This time too, a spectacle is delivered thanks to the fantastic action that has been filmed in a phenomenal way. Especially when you consider that Tom Cruise does his own stunts.
The Godfather
A list of the best films, The Godfather should of course not be missing if it is on the relevant streaming service. And that is the case with SkyShowtime. The film by director Francis Coppola is seen by many as a masterpiece and can still compete with modern films in 2022 – despite The Godfather having already been released in 1972.
In The Godfather we follow the Corleone mafia family in post-World War II New York. Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is the respected head of the family, but times are changing. Younger son Michael (Al Pacino) soon has to prove himself when the Corleones find themselves in a bloody mafia war.
If you want to know how The Godfather came about, you can also watch The Offer on SkyShowtime.
Gladiator
Russell Crowe has a glorious career in Hollywood and Gladiator is one of the films in which the American took his biggest star role. The story of the betrayed gladiator who has to fight his way out of the arena or take revenge is still fantastic, as is the acting of Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix who plays the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Originally the film was already fairly well received, but the film is now seen as revolutionary for the genre of historical films. In addition to the acting, this also has to do with the fantastic music and visual effects that still look very good in 2022.
Jaws
Jaws also belongs in the list of best films that SkyShowtime has to offer. This Steven Spielberg classic still hasn’t lost its luster 47 years after its original release. This thriller still manages to terrify people into swimming in the sea, all because of a monstrously large shark.
It has everything to do with Spielberg’s fantastic film work. In 2022 that is still wonderful to behold, just like the dynamic between an old sailor and a police chief who simply wants to stop a murderous shark. Those who have never seen Jaws are doing themselves a huge favor to do so via the new streaming service.
Back to the Future
Classics come in many forms and Back to the Future is certainly one of them. The story of Marty McFly is iconic, but if you’re not familiar with the movie, we’ll leave out the spoilers. All you need to know is that Marty accidentally sends himself back in time, making a huge mistake.
Director Robert Zemeckis managed to deliver a classic with the film (which later received two more sequels) thanks to, among other things, the way the film is put together. The film never gets boring thanks to strong music and a killer pace. Add to that a good load of humor that is still funny today and you have a film that you simply cannot miss.
Get Out
Since it’s Halloween, we can’t help but add a bonus movie to this list in the form of an appropriate horror movie. Get Out delivers this with minimal grotesque practices and mostly wreaks psychological havoc thanks to a clever storytelling by Jordan Peele. That story is further supported by great acting by Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener and Lakeith Stanfield.
The film is about Chris who goes with his girlfriend to her parents for a weekend. Soon something doesn’t seem quite right, so the young photographer decides to investigate. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have done better…
Do you already have SkyShowtime? Let us know in the comments below!
Few better things come to mind than enter a movie theater to receive an adrenaline rush for a couple of hours the kind that leave you with a sore jaw from unconsciously clenching during the projection. Each year there are only a handful of films capable of generating these sensations -or close to them-, and so that you do not have to look too far, we have compiled the best ones in the list that you can read below.
Having passed the equator of 2023, we can already make a good selection with the best thrillers and the best action movies that have gone through the big and small screen so far this film year. The harvest, of course, is still very appetizing.
We start our list internationally with this Danish production directed by Ali Abassi, responsible for the fantastic ‘Border’ and who has once again demonstrated his talent in the fantastic ‘The Last of Us’. The filmmaker takes us to Iran at the beginning of the century in one of the most tense, raw, unsettling and twisted thrillers we’ve seen in a long, long time. If many speak of her as the ‘Seven’ of Oriente Fear, it is not by chance.
‘John Wick 4’ (‘John Wick: Chapter 4’, 2023)
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne
Don’t say “action”, say “John Wick”. After three magnificent installments, it seemed impossible that the saga starring Kenau Reeves could further increase its level of quality, but with this fourth part Chad Stahelski has exceeded all expectations with a sweeping, ultra-stylish and epic show which has left us with some of the most impressive setpieces and combat scenes of recent times. Blessed self-awareness.
‘They knock on the door’ (‘Knock at the Cabin’, 2023)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Rupert Grint
Nobody like the good old M. Night Shyamalan to get on your nerves and leave you sitting on the edge of your seat for a couple of hours using only first class atmospheres and characters. With ‘There’s a knock at the door’, the director has adapted the novel by Paul Tremblay molding a one hundred percent house brand story that plays with the end of the world in an exercise worthy of praise in form and substance.
Criticism of “There is a knock at the door”
‘The pact (The Covenant)’ (‘Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant’, 2023)
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Anthony Starr, Emily Beecham, Alexander Ludwig
Guy Ritchie does not fail. Whether in much more personal and lucid bets – pay attention to the next film on the list – or in more conventional titles, the British knows very well how to energize the stalls, and the case of ‘The Pact’ is no exception. His warlike action thriller will not go down in history as the most personal title in his filmography, but his camera work and staging and the performance of Jake Gyllenhaal They deserve a place in this compilation.
‘Operation Fortune: The great deception’ (‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre’, 2023)
If in ‘The pact’, the figure of Guy Ritchie was half present, in the hilarious ‘Operation Fortune’, the director’s personality can be perceived frame by frame. Hatfield’s has once again teamed up with Jason Statham and Hugh Grant to model a spy adventure that delivers everything expected of a Ritchie title: top-notch action, spectacular execution, and a sense of humor that’s as goofy as it is absurd. Brilliant.
‘The Master Gardener’ (‘Master Gardener’, 2022)
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Quintessa Swindell, Esai Morales, Victoria Hill
As it could not be less, the last feature film by the legend who wrote ‘Taxi Driver’ and who has directed great titles such as ‘Mishima’, ‘Escape chance’ or ‘The Reverend’, had to be part of this list. On this occasion, the teacher injects an extra dramatic charge into a guilt-ridden character study in which the suspense and sleaze have almost as much weight as its sad and nostalgic aura. Essential.
Review of ‘The Master Gardener’
‘Tyler Rake 2’ (‘Extraction 2’, 2022)
Directed by: Sam Hargrave
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishvili
After his first installment swept Netflix, it was almost inevitable that Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake would return to the Big N of streaming to shape what will be the platform’s action franchise. Sam Hargrave has returned to get behind the cameras in a more effective sequel than its predecessor in which its formal effects make more sense. The Hargrave-Hemsworth duo has come to play, and the result is a salad of cookies and shots to enjoy without worries that also brings an impossible sequence shot under its arm.
With each passing installment, the ‘Fast & Furious’ saga gets a little more unhinged, and the last-minute change that its tenth installment suffered and that landed Louis Leterrier in the director’s seat has not prevented this constant from being followed. And it is that ‘Fast & Furious X’ has reached such levels of delicious and crazy absurdity that it is the closest thing we can find to an ‘Avengers’ movie with big cars, the smell of gasoline and a sleeveless shirt. An authentic joy full of self-awareness and without any fear of ridicule.
Criticism of ‘Fast & Furious X’
‘Mission: Impossible – Deadly Judgment. Part 1’ (‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Part 1’, 2023)
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hailey Atwell
Anyone looking to see the most elegant, precise and rhythmic action cinema available today has a clear winning bet: the ‘Mission: Impossible’ saga. Since its fourth installment, Ethan Hunt’s adventures have been raising the bar until they lead to a ‘Deadly Sentence’ that It may not be the best, but it leaves an almost perfect two and a half hours in which espionage and heart-stopping setpieces are at the service of pure and simple fun.
Review of ‘Mission: Impossible – Deadly Judgment. Part 1’
‘Sisu’ (2022)
Directed by: Jalmari Helander
Cast: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Onni Tommila, Mimosa Willamo
‘Sisu’ may enter the top 3 of great surprises that the last edition of the Sitges Festival gave me. Jalmari Helander’s film unexpectedly ended up becoming the winner of the award for best film in the competition, because its hour and a half of footage condenses a magnificent narrative economy and one of the dumbest action orgies, almost in a cartoon style, of the year. Watching a super soldier slaughtering ___s has never been so satisfying and fun. And on top of that there is a beautiful puppy.
‘Boksoon Must Die’ (‘Kill Bok-soon’, 2023)
Director: Byun Sung-hyun
Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Si-a, Esom, Koo Kyo-whan
As expected in a list made by a server, there was going to be room for the South Korean industry. My first selection for the occasion is ‘Boksoon Must Die’, with which Byun Sung-hyn, who directed the fantastic ‘The Merciless’ in 2017, has remade an action thriller that does not invent the wheel, but that has an impeccable technical invoice, form and style. Jeon Do-yeon is magnificent in the leading role of her.
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Buyng-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Nam-gil, Park Hae-jun
And, finally, another of the great surprises of Sitges 2022 and an impeccable… and relentless South Korean thriller. The bulky 150 minutes of ‘Emergency Declaration’ once again demonstrate that South Korea has a special sensitivity for this type of cinema, and that is that his orgy of action and intrigue on board an airplane manages to keep you riveted to the seat practically without blinking until the credit titles circulate. What Han does with the camera in a confined space is truly impressive.
