Cutout stories are not that bad, we see them all the time. When executed well a stereotype can be a powerful emotional and intellectual draw. Not here - idiotic writing (limp wrist girl drops phone, hears someone breaking into the house, decides to go after the perp instead of getting the phone and calling the cops) is what really kills it. Can't believe this is based on a best seller. Poor Americans, they really are devolving if this is considered a thrilling read. It looks pretty and apparently that's all you need.. I realize that the twenty quid I'm paying for Netflix isn't much compared to the movie theater or five minutes of ads every fifteen minutes, but still, it's shocking they invested our money in something so crude. I gave it 1 star to balance out the airhead rating. It's more of a 3 really but hell what's the difference?
Reviews
5 Reviews
Star Trek: Picard
(2020–2023)
Excellent, happy feelings
31 January 2020
Someone here has said they are a years long Trek fan sorely disappointed. Well i wouldnt put much stock in that. Two episodes in ive everything i could have wished for.
I am a scifi aficionado and sandwich enthusiast both, but it will be a rare morsel indeed that has tears welling up my eyes!
Tonight i sleep soundly, the trek continues with two great new entries in the franchise. Thank you to all involved - its much appreciated.
I am a scifi aficionado and sandwich enthusiast both, but it will be a rare morsel indeed that has tears welling up my eyes!
Tonight i sleep soundly, the trek continues with two great new entries in the franchise. Thank you to all involved - its much appreciated.
Alastair Reynolds on TV!
19 March 2019
My rating is based on the quality of Reynolds original material, a short by one of the great living SF writers, Beyond the Aquila Rift.
The plot is classic - there's a glitch in the ancient alien jump gate system humans have been using to traverse the universe, one that sends our hero far, far out in the dark.
Even die hard science fiction fans are often unfamiliar with the short fiction of their favorite authors. Its a thing, probably something to do with the epics we all started out with. Here's your chance to read it in CGI. If you feel the sense of wonder watching this 15 minute story do yourself a favor and read the original. There's an audio book out too, it'll have you pulling over at a rest stop, mark my words.
The plot is classic - there's a glitch in the ancient alien jump gate system humans have been using to traverse the universe, one that sends our hero far, far out in the dark.
Even die hard science fiction fans are often unfamiliar with the short fiction of their favorite authors. Its a thing, probably something to do with the epics we all started out with. Here's your chance to read it in CGI. If you feel the sense of wonder watching this 15 minute story do yourself a favor and read the original. There's an audio book out too, it'll have you pulling over at a rest stop, mark my words.
The Orville
(2017–2022)
A great scifi show with a helpful dose of humor
24 September 2017
The Orville is strong humanist scifi in the tradition of the Trek franchise supported by genuinely funny, appealing writing.
MacFarlane has great comedic timing and a fine cast to play off. This is no Red Dwarf though, the setting and characters do not require much suspended disbelief and the jokes are delivered mostly dead pan.
Definitely not a spoof as some have said - simply a sometimes wry pastiche.
The design is a treat too, somewhere between Star Trek Enterprise and the Abrams reboot films. For me as a Trek fan it feels very natural, more so than the YA-ish reboot design.
Watch this show, you will not regret a moment of it!
MacFarlane has great comedic timing and a fine cast to play off. This is no Red Dwarf though, the setting and characters do not require much suspended disbelief and the jokes are delivered mostly dead pan.
Definitely not a spoof as some have said - simply a sometimes wry pastiche.
The design is a treat too, somewhere between Star Trek Enterprise and the Abrams reboot films. For me as a Trek fan it feels very natural, more so than the YA-ish reboot design.
Watch this show, you will not regret a moment of it!
Dark Planet
(2008)
Waiting for film two
5 January 2009
This attempt at bringing a Strugatski brothers novel to the modern Russian screen is without a doubt a success.
A little about the plot: young explorer Maksim Kammerer crash lands on Sarakhsh, a world enveloped by nebula gasses where people have never seen the stars. The Unknown Fathers, a group of local oligarchs, brainwash the population to fear and despise surrounding nations. Kammerer, aloof in his assumed superiority, sets out to free the people of Sarahksh of oppression and paranoia.
I wont ramble on - suffice to say that Bondarchuk has done well considering the scale of the novel. Vasiliy Stepanov (as Maksim Kammerer) is sexy, cool and a blond head taller than his alien companions (a fine nod to the novel and a detail I did not expect). He was also most excellent in the action scenes.
Bondarchuk shines in his portrayal of Umnik (The Clever One). I really enjoyed the scenes of him writhing in agony in the bath. A great performance. I am compelled after reading some of the other comments to say that the novel, like this movie, is quite comical...
Direction-wise there are some minor continuity errors and a few places where pace slows, but the film sticks quite closely to the novel and this may not have been avoidable.
Compared with the contemporary adaptation of the Strugatskis Ugly Swans by Konstantin Lopushansky the film is of course rather crude and soulless. But it's good fun done right.
I recommend it to everyone and will be waiting for film two.
A little about the plot: young explorer Maksim Kammerer crash lands on Sarakhsh, a world enveloped by nebula gasses where people have never seen the stars. The Unknown Fathers, a group of local oligarchs, brainwash the population to fear and despise surrounding nations. Kammerer, aloof in his assumed superiority, sets out to free the people of Sarahksh of oppression and paranoia.
I wont ramble on - suffice to say that Bondarchuk has done well considering the scale of the novel. Vasiliy Stepanov (as Maksim Kammerer) is sexy, cool and a blond head taller than his alien companions (a fine nod to the novel and a detail I did not expect). He was also most excellent in the action scenes.
Bondarchuk shines in his portrayal of Umnik (The Clever One). I really enjoyed the scenes of him writhing in agony in the bath. A great performance. I am compelled after reading some of the other comments to say that the novel, like this movie, is quite comical...
Direction-wise there are some minor continuity errors and a few places where pace slows, but the film sticks quite closely to the novel and this may not have been avoidable.
Compared with the contemporary adaptation of the Strugatskis Ugly Swans by Konstantin Lopushansky the film is of course rather crude and soulless. But it's good fun done right.
I recommend it to everyone and will be waiting for film two.
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