User reviews

The show starts okay and the general themes are interesting, but as it goes on it gets worse and worse. The crew makes no sense at all. People don't communicate with each other or act logically and of course everything goes wrong because of it. Later there is a lot of filler. Lots of logical inconsistencies where the show breaks rules it had established before. Sometimes characters tell others what happened wrong. This just seems like scenes were filmed out of order and messed up in editing or something. The way computers work of course makes no sense either, but I guess this is a minor gripe at this point.

So why still 6 stars? Because I think for all its flaws it was still extremely watchable. If only to get the solutions to the mysteries. I do not regret watching it, though I will not watch it ever again or a season 2 of it.

It's not the most original story. It borrows heavily from Solaris, 2001, Star Trek, Sunshine, Strange Days, The Abyss... But the hate it gets is pretty ROFL worthy. I didn't understand why at first, until i understood that this series replaced the ultimately forgettable (yet seemingly more popular) "The Expanse". I love Sci-Fi, but honestly, all the reviews rating this below 5, you can just disregard them. IMDB should stop letting every opiniated crybaby write a review and figure out a way to filter out the petty fanboy drivel. It also seems a lot of these people did not watch the show, like they claimed to have, since they are bringing up issues, which are actually explained in the story. But as it stands, Nightflyers is rated a lot lower than shows many times worse, such as Killjoys, Dark Matter or Continuum and other cheesefests. This show is leagues better than those, yet gets rated a lot worse.

Back to the show. The setting works, eventhough it's not original (as stated above), characters and performances are better than most sci-fi series, there is enough mystery, to keep you interested without dragging it all out (like The Expanse). There are a few things that don't make sense, but ultimately don't detract from the experience, unless you have set your bar to the standard of the absolute best shows of the past few decades. If you let those things bother you, then you can stop watching about 95% of movies and shows all together.

It's a well made show, i enjoyed watching it, but does not break any new ground. If you liked the movies/shows i mentioned earlier, and wouldn't mind a "light-synthesis" version of those (content & storywise), then you might very well enjoy this.

Chock full of dumb characters making dumb decisions, NIGHTFLYERS aims to go where no one has gone before...in making us want to pull our hair out.

The mission: an intrepid group of explorers has set out from Europa to rendezvous with an alien craft in space. You'd think a mission of this importance would require a crew of top-notch scientists and seasoned spacefarers. Not here. We get a crew of ding-dongs who wouldn't pass a psych eval. Add in a belligerent tool of a telepath whose sole job--wait for it--is to communicate in a friendly manner with the aliens, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Not long after launch, the mission goes sideways with weirdness. The captain knows all along why this is happening. Does he do anything about it? Say anything? Perform any corrective action? Nope. He pretends like he's ignorant instead of heading back to port because reasons. Oh, and the series opens with a murdery death scene far into the story that wipes out any worry for the characters shown because we know how they end up. Yay.

Strange mash up of horror, sci fi, psycho thriller and matrix kind of elements... some parts reminded me of event horizon... I liked the characters a lot

Most of the characters do stupid things to drive the plot along. Similar to Prometheus or the other recent Alien movies, a crew that should never be allowed out without adult supervision!

You ever come across a show you're really enjoying, come onto IMDb to look up the cast and find it has a 6/10 average with a ton of 1/10, 4/10, etc reviews? That's what happened with Nightflyers. This show has a great mix of suspense, horror, mystery, and science fiction. The sound design is absolutely wonderful (I'd recommend watching with headphones for something different), and the performances are engaging and on point. I'm not exactly sure what most people were expecting (George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones in space or Asimov/Asher level hard sci-fi?), but this is a damned decent show. Perfect? Far from it. But it's an odd, multilayered and entertaining sci-fi show - far from deserving of these silly, pretentious 4/10 reviews.

Have to say don't know why every one keeps on bashing this series down... Okay we all have different tastes...

I kinda like this, it's weird and freaky, but it makes me want to see more, wanting to know how it ends

So just watch the first 2 episodes yourselves and make up your mind about it, you be surprised and like it like I do. You do need to keep up and not get side tracked as the series is quit le complex

Though makes you wonder what twisted mind George RR Martin has in writing the book haha

The costumes are nice, actors are ok, but it seems like the plot doesn't really go anywhere big. People talk here and there, creepy stuff happens with sudden loud sounds, nothing gets explained well or at all so you have to believe in their reality no questions asked. I know it's fiction and all but a very unrealistic one so it's very hard to believe. I'm sure Martin's book must be good, but this show isn't.

It's not fantastic, but not bad either. Nothing you haven't seen before, but mostely done pretty well. It get's a bit cheesy here and there and some characters were a bit annoying, but overall I found it very entertaining. After a couple of episodes it really gained momentum only to dissappoint at the underwhelming finale. I would recommend not taking this show all too seriously. If you're not expecting the next holy grail in the space horror genre and you're in for some entertainment, you might end up liking most of it. Or at least half of it.

It's difficult to understand how a show as exceptional as The Expanse can be cancelled and replaced with dumbed-down schlock such as this. From the start we're already against Humanity not only because we see the outcome but the writers went out of their way to clarify why Humanity does not deserve to survive. On top of that, they have clearly graduated from the School of Having Characters Act Stupidly to Create Conflict. Also, I'm all for stories taking their time, but when you're already doing so over an entire season I see no point in having scenes drag on with long stretches of nothing, particularly when those scenes have little to do with the plot.

I think I've figured out why the corporate pinheads who run Syfy cancelled "The Expanse" and green-lighted this show: Jealousy. They only like series where the characters are stupider than they are. It makes them feel smart. "Nightflyers" goes right up there with "Childhood's End" as an example of how NOT to run a sci-fi channel.

I didnt post a review i years, but I feel like i have to, now. I stumbled upon this series, read the reviews like always, almost decided to skip it. I didnt have anything to do or watch and after long debate with myself I decided to give it a go.

Yes the show is not the best out there, the start of the first episode is really, i mean realy bad. I was expecting bad, but this is really bad. But after first 10 minutes the show is alright. Watched the second episode, I want to watch more.

The crew has some stupid decisions, some characters are terrible. There are some inconsistencies, but overall the show is alright. It is watchable and a good pastime.

Unfortunately it's a cool looking visual bad storytelling. there is no science involved and all the characters are too dumb and religiously emotional which can't be scientists in a million years. Imagine they going to space mission but all of them are too selfish to give away their stupid past and move forward. who on a right mind will send these messy depressed people to space ? It's all garbage excuses in each episode to move the story somehow but it doesn't working and it's very silly. There is no information or back story about the characters nor the Volcrons whom it should be all about. I gave it a 5 only because of the heavy production, CGI and cinematography. The plot and storyline is nothing but trash.

Think Solaris meets Event Horizon meets The Shining. I don't understand the critical hate for this show. I love it. To be sure, it's a thinking person's SciFi show. You can't tune out, you'll miss important nuances, and you aren't spoon fed. Even better. I always thought SciFi should be a thinking person's genre. Light Sabre fights are cool and all, but long, drawn out philosophical discussions with friends they do no make. Best of all, there is a very groovy 80's SciFi feel (owing to the source novella) but with all the modern day trappings I love.

This series opens aboard a spaceship; something has clearly gone very wrong. Dr Agatha Matheson floats into a room before the gravity is re-established; she tries to dispose of something but is suddenly attacked by a man, Rowan, wielding an axe! Following a struggle she manages to dispose of the item then kills herself. Following this prologue the action moves back to the start of the mission. Agatha and Rowan are part of a team led by Karl d'Branin which has boarded the ship 'Nightflyer' on a mission to make first contact with an alien species known as the Volcryn. The crew of the ship aren't too happy as the team includes Thale, a powerful and potentially dangerous telepath. As the series progresses dangers emerge and tensions increase dramatically, as does the madness.

Whenever a new space set sci-fi comes along I suspect it will either be clearly inspired by 'Star Trek' or 'Star Wars'; as soon as I'd started watching this my thoughts turned to 'Event Horizon'; this was clearly going to be a horror in space. Paranoia abounds; it starts with the fear of Thale but soon expands and nobody seems to be immune. There are some quite gory moments; if you can get past the prologue it shouldn't be too much of a problem though. The characters are interesting even if most of them aren't particularly likable; the cast does a solid job bringing them to life. Unfortunately the series was cancelled after a single season so the ending is more than a little frustrating. Overall I thought this was a good first season but as it is just a first season rather than a complete series I can't wholeheartedly recommend it... what there is is good but it needs a proper ending.

Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of sci-fi horror.

I really wanted to like this show. It started not bad, but with each week it is getting worse. It simply became boring, messy, not clear what is going on there, and don't let me start on logic, science or whatever scyfy is there. No tension, no action, nothing. I hope it will improve somehow but it is just getting worse...

Like so many others here, I do not understand the low ratings. This show is scifi at its best. It's been written in the 80ies, so probably not appealing enough to the Millennials here. It has everything one wishes for, a mysterious alien entity, a great cast, a voyage in a spaceship, a matrix, VR, horror, suspense, mindcontrol, gore, moments of sadness, moments of fear, a great character building and the longer you watch, the better you understand the interconnected and interwoven storylines. Absolutely fantastic.

I've watched the whole season and hope for a continuation! It is intellectually demanding, but ut is a rare gem on tv. High quality production delivered. Full stop.

I have read all of the negative reviews here and I don't agree. Could it be better-certainly. But, it is a Sci-Fi show and I will support it and watch every episode. There is a lot of good and some bad, but it is good enough for me to watch. If you are a fan of Sci-Fi, then you need tomsuppprt these efforts whether you like it or not. The reason why there are so few Science Fiction shows is because there are not enough viewers watching the few that show up. If you want more, then watch the shows and then you get the network to suppprt these shows. The Expanse was cancelled because there was not enough viewer support. I love the show and watched every episode, but I am one of the few that did. Support Science Fiction- good, bad, or ugly!!

Can't imagine that this is the work of the Great George R. R. Martin. But, this is one of his very initial works, so can't blame him either. As far as the TV show is concerned: So far, not impressed by the first couple of episodes. Editing is a mess. Lacks coherence. Story is kinda too chewed up for todays day and age. In 1980s, it may be a novelty, but, not anymore. Don't want to give anything away but, this just seems like a bad mixture of many space movies that we have already seen. Being a Battlestar, SG, Expanse and GoT fan, I can't rate anything but 2 stars.

It's clearly not "Game of Thrones in space". Just three ideas:

1. Mix of cliches where you can find direct inspiration in Event Horizon, Matrix & Tron, Alien & Prometheus and many more; with virtual worlds, alien creatures, psychic and augmented humans, time travel (sort of), first encounters, people going mad (for no reason), crime and investigation, etc. All together where none of the themes really advance of concludes.

2. Characters behaving illogical and making too many stupid decisions. All of them. Every single character is too stupid at some point, of simple change drastically without reason.

3. Weird narrative where each episode is more or less a different plot that starts and concludes within the episode duration. But these small stories are so big, weird and mysterious that could have made it to a full movie. Then plot concludes and a new one, completely different starts. After 4 episodes, the characters have lived so many different traumas with so many plot turns, that is completely... weird.

So basically is a must watch for any hardcore fan of SciFi. But it will be forgotten soon.