Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2019 December 26

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December 26

Decades

Been trying to find a program called Decades, which had each episode about a year during the 1960's & 1970's. Remember the name of the TV series, but can't find much more. Can anybody pins this down, for me? GoodDay (talk) 02:34, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

It might help if you provide a bit more context: country, network, approx. year of air, host, etc. What was the focus? Are you absolutely sure of the name? IMBd lists three shows called Decades, but none seem related to what you're looking for. Was "Decades" just part of the title, maybe? Matt Deres (talk) 04:21, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

It was an American show, based on US history. Each episode dealt with top stories in the US, by year. The show aired in the 1960's & 1970's. GoodDay (talk) 23:23, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

It aired in the 1960s and 70s? So, each one was like a year in review type thing? Maybe it was done by a local news station or something? Matt Deres (talk) 21:39, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

That's how it was done. Each episode covering a year. Had a catchy tune for the 1960s episodes & another tune for the 1970's episodes. GoodDay (talk) 20:56, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Looking for a Fantasy Movie

Dear All

I am looking since a long time for a fantasy movie which I like das a kid, but I don’t recall the title or the storyline. But I do recall one specific scene very vividly: an old man who is a monk or a wizard (or both, he at least wears a robe with a hood which covers most of his head) is seeing praying and/or meditating alone in the woods. Some monstrous soldiers of the antagonist walk up to him and tried to attack him. He opens his eyes, jumps on his feet and takes his staff and starts fighting with the attackers. Does someone of you know what movie this is? I am unfortunately not sure if this was a cinematic release of a television movie. I have watched it on television when it was aired back in the early 2000s, but I am not sure when the movie was made. But what I can definitely say is that I don’t recall much computer generated effects. I mostly recall practical effects, the monster soldiers of the bad guy were people with masks and animatronics, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, thank you very much for your help! I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!--2A02:120B:C3E7:E650:B8B8:F986:1D7A:31C4 (talk) 16:06, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

Can you tell us what language the movie was in, and what country you were in when you saw it? Your post above gives no clue to either, and your IP address apparently geolocates to Switzerland. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.204.182.54 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:09, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

I saw it in Germany. I am sure that it was a movie from the Anglo-Saxon region.--2A02:120B:C3E7:E650:D102:2255:390:9D57 (talk) 18:29, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Elder Scrolls Background Information

Dear All

I would love to know what real life cultures, rituals and religions have inspired the aspects in the famous "The Elder Scrolls" video games series. I tried to find information online, but I could not find anything useful. I was also not able to find "making of" books. I am especially fascinated by the game "Skyrim".--2A02:120B:C3E7:E650:A931:29B9:FE86:2516 (talk) 19:47, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

Sovengarde is likely a realer version of Valhalla, while the idea of a half-dragon man born to rule is a faker version of Druk Gyalpo. The Dzongkha language is a mix of hard-to-translate and squiggly, like those glowing Words of Power. Bretons are real enough, as is their fairy tale culture, from whence sprang spriggans, orcs, elves and the rest. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:33, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Courtesy link: The Elder Scrolls.

Note that orcs were the creation of J. R. R. Tolkien who was really the originator of the high fantasy genre, but as InedibleHulk wisely says above, much of this is rooted in northern European folklore, Celtic mythology and Germanic mythology (Tolkien was a professor of Old English and drew inspiration from works like Beowulf and the Icelandic sagas).

Alansplodge (talk) 18:42, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

We also have an article called The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which may help. Alansplodge (talk) 19:00, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

My bad, I'd assumed the orcmaster descended from Bretons. Tolkien family says Prussians, and his own says he was a Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon. I guess the Anglo-Saxons would be what Tamriel calls Imperials. The Khajit seem to be drawn from the Felidae and Pashtuns, the later of which also played a large role in another great game called The Great Game. It's no longer officially playable, but fans of both empires have gone on to host many multiplayer deathmatches with modern hardware and various nefarious stability patches. Operation Freedom's Sentinel, the latest remake, will turn five in three days, but I have no idea if the developers have anything special planned. I do know the Argonians believe in a creation involving a battle between a giant hungry serpent of darkness and an all-powerful tree of light, so in that regard, they're no different from most real people, except they call their Akatosh figure "Atak" and their Lorkath figure "Kota". Typical swamp talk. My grandpa knew the babyface as Yahweh and the heel as Leviathan. I mainly remember Leviathan as an early incarnation of "The Animal" Dave Bautista, but as a fan of viking metal, I know a lot of other people remember him as Jörmungandr. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:41, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

The Imperials are based on the Romans; any time you hear the word "Empire" or "Imperial" in western fantasy, you should assume Roman Empire until shown otherwise. Their armor, ranking system, and pseudo-Latin style names all scream Roman. The Khajit are, yes, clearly based on cats, but their human analog is the Romani people (a/k/a "Gypsies") - wandering merchants unfairly characterized as thieves. Although the Orcs get their name from standard Tolkein-based fantasy, they are not evil; I would charactize them as being closer related to the Klingons of Star Trek fame - hardy warriors with a culture based on honour. Matt Deres (talk) 21:56, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Yeah, I lost my mind there for some reason. I knew they were Romans for years before this, I swear, thanks for slapping the sense back into me. I still think the desert roots, language look and drug production seem Persian to some extent, but there are definitely a few roaming troupes of lying, cheating and stealing "Gypsy cats" in this game (and M'aiq, of course). Mixed bag of mutts, like the Dunmer, in all shades of historic grey. InedibleHulk (talk) 09:24, 31 December 2019 (UTC)