Snowpiercer

I always thought the 2013 movie was too short, so after watching the movie i found myself reading the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, later re-titled Snowpiercer 1: The Escape, created by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, and published in 1982.

In my enthusiasm, I also read the subsequent sequels, The Explorers and The Terminus.

Then years later i come across this Snowpiercer TV series and right from the start i am into it. The first 2 seasons follow the first book loosely with some additions and omissions.

The show starts strong, especially in the first two seasons, with great world-building and solid storylines. However, by Season 4, it slows down, and some parts feel stretched out. Jennifer Connelly and Sean Bean keep things interesting though, with Connelly adding real depth to her character, even when she disappears from the story at times.

Daveed Diggs doesn't quite fit the role of such a major character; there are several moments where his acting feels awkward and out of place.

Overall its a good and entertaining show, better then the movie but worse then the graphic novel series.

Whoever made the decision to film season 4 with an abundance of close-ups, hand held cameras, and what looks like cell phones in the season 4 opener, really should be forced to sit on an anthill. That's what watching this show is like. The jump cuts, shaky camera work, jeez, what are they thinking. Let me guess, some "creative thinker" thought, lets give the show a claustrophobic feel with tight shots. This is what happens when someone surrounds themselves with sycophants who tell them they're geniuses. Or it's the fall back on the back of for a show that is not very interesting and is reaching for something it has lost and can't get back. It's the cinematic equivalent of jumping the shark. It reeks of desperation. This shows camera work is physically painful to watch..

I find my opinion similar to most of the reviews out there. The first two seasons were definitely better than the third. Honestly, I don't enjoy the way they focus on three characters in one episode and then switch to another three in the next. Sometimes, you don't see a main character for weeks. I think this format is one reason why season 3 feels so slow and boring.

Most of the characters lack depth, which I attribute to the writing rather than the acting. Melanie is the only character I find worth watching, and Jennifer Connelly delivers a great performance, as always. I aslo think season 3 suffered a lot because she was hardly present.

I've just started season 4, which we've waited ages for, and it looks like they're sticking with the same format, showing different sides of the story in each episode instead of giving us the full picture. It's too early to tell if there will be any improvement in the character dynamics. I hope they don't continue the pattern of alternating episodes between different settings, one outside the train, the next on the train, and so on. This would be very dull. I also hope they bring everyone together again to face the main conflict, or whatever they have planned for this season. And of course, I'm hoping for more Melanie too. Let's see if things improve.

Update after 3 episodes: layton's character is as annoying as ever.. no improvement there.

People are weird. Sometime really ridiculous TV series and movies gets very good reviews and sometime decent series gets bad. This TV series is the example of later. It's not an Emmy winning series but nevertheless quite interesting to watch. The actors are doing good job and the plot has some life to it. I am not sure, how come some science fiction movies and TV series, like Star Wars, gets high ratings, despite being quite away from reality but some get judged based on scientific laws.

For those stating that the premise of a train wrapping around the globe that has to keep running is too unrealistic - that is correct. Though it's a great metaphor for how our class based elitist society is part of a never ending circle that, given the right circumstances , could entirely collapse at any moment.

So no, train like this isn't possible. But that's not the point. Watch the story unfold and if need be pay attention to everything else and let the train part fall to the background. Either way, it's an interesting story and the acting is well done. The scenery is amazingly well thought out , and for a pilot episode they did decent job knocking it out of the park.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the film- but I'm quite interested to see how they do with this. So far, so good.

WARNING - you do need an imagination to watch this show. So if you take everything too literally you won't enjoy it.

The only unbearable part of this show is daveed Diggs- he doesn't sell the part very well at all. The show would be much better without him as a centrepiece: it's a shame they couldn't find Idris or someone a bit more captivating in their acting - Diggs is lacklustre at best and he's outshined by every other character , even the background ones.