Ursula K. Le Guin Movies

Animator Goro Miyazaki, son of the famous Hayao Miyazaki ("The Walt Disney of Japan"), makes his directorial debut with the animated feature Tales from Earthsea (aka Gedo Senki). Miyazaki loosely adapted the work from the third and fourth volumes in best-selling sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin's infamous series of cult novels -- all set in Earthsea, a Tolkien-esque fantasy realm. Gedo Senki opens at a point when Earthsea is deteriorating rapidly, and the power of magic is waning -- tendencies signaled by the sudden, frightening reappearance of dragons in the land of humankind. Ged Sparrowhawk was once a lowly goat herder but is now known as Lord Archmage, the most powerful of all wizards. He soon meets Prince Arren of Enlad -- a teenage boy chased by a "shadow," the force that is tipping the world out of balance and driving innumerable people to the point of insanity.

The men team up and journey to Hort Town, the Earthsea capital city, where they find the entire community turned upside down -- craftsmen have abandoned their trades, slavery runs rampant, addicts clamor in the streets. They ultimately find refuge in the priestess Tenar's palace, also occupied by the scarred orphan girl Therru. While the latter initially avoids Arren in fear of his "dark side," Arren bides his time in the nearby fields, being mentored by Ged on the balance of creation. Therru eventually opens up to Arren, but he grows increasingly disturbed by nightmares about being chased by the shadow, and his daytime fear of it grows absolutely overwhelming. Ged then discovers that the cause of the kingdom-wide "imbalance" is actually his old arch nemesis, the wizard Cob, who has opened up the gateway between the living and the dead, and hopes to attain eternal life, meanwhile plotting to murder Ged in vengeance for an act he committed long ago.

In fear of his evil self, Arren absconds from Tenar's palace -- actively fleeing from the shadow -- but ultimately faints and turns up at the castle of Cob. The latter's minions give their guest "hazia," which causes him to lose his bearings and tell Cob his real name. Arren thus becomes enslaved to the wizard. Meanwhile, Ged and Therru turn up, and bring Arren back to full awareness. With their assistance, he is able to surmount the temptation of eternal life; he then does an about face, and, with the assistance of an enchanted sword, prepares to do battle with Cob. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The Lathe of Heaven was a made-for-cable remake of the 1980 TV movie of the same name, both based upon the futuristic novel by Ursula K. LeGuin. Former child star Lukas Haas is effectively cast as George Orr, an otherwise ordinary man who experiences extraordinary dreams. When the visions in his head begin coming true -- and even seem to be altering reality -- the anguished Orr consults psychiatrist Walter Haber (James Caan), which is the first of many miscalculations on the part of the protagonist. Dr. Haber intends to harness George's "talent" to bring his own peculiar notion of Utopia to full fruition. Will the fabric of the space-time continuum unravel as Haber plots and plans and Orr's dreams become more and more frightening? And how does Orr's extremely skeptical (and ravishingly beautiful) lawyer Heather LaLache (Lisa Bonet) figure into all this? Lathe of Heaven made its A&E cable network bow on September 8, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Beginning consists of two hour-long episodes from the weekly TV series Starlost. Created by Harlan Ellison (who later disowned the project), this science fiction effort is set in the 28th century. Keir Dullea stars as a postapocalyptic youth who has been sentenced to prison for speaking his mind. Dullea escapes by stealing a huge space vehicle, Earth Ship Ark, in the company of the girl he loves (Gay Rowan) and his rival for her affections (Robin Ward).This "feature film" is comprised of the following episodes: "Voyage of Discovery", the series' pilot film; and "The Goddess Calabra", written by Ursula K. LeGuin, in which heroine Rachel (Gay Rowan) finds that she is the exact double of an extraterrestrial goddess. Though The Beginning ends on an upbeat note, its impact was dulled by the aimless, directionless series that followed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi