have read leguinn book and see pbs excellent rendering of her story this new version be a crashing disappointment . the first problem be that there be so little left of the story that much of it impact be miss . in spite of be light on effect and budget the early pbs production make much good use of it resource to communicate leguinn apocalyptic drama to the viewer . what happen to the space alien . they seem to be replace by david straithorn character who occasionally pop into scene with sage verbiage . unfortunately and so much have be strip that there be no tissue leave to connect him to what little plot remain after the producer and director finish their hatchet job on content and context . who know why they do that . what leave be a nothingness rival only by jor jor apocalyptic reality . in order to understand what go on here and one might want to read the book and or view pbs 1980 telling of the story . please do not waste your time with this turkey and especially since the pbs version be available on dvd .