The Swarm

The book "The Swarm" is an entertaining, thrilling and because of the well researched scientific facts educating novel about nature fighting back against the human invasion and destruction of marine ecosystems.

With the TV adaption, you won't get any of that so far, at least not in the first three episodes. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show. It's just not a good one, either. For years, there was talk about making the book into a movie, which didn't happen.

If you read the book and then watch this show, you'll understand why: Education is the enemy of thrill and in a series, there just isn't room to cover both without destroying the suspense.

The cast and setting on the other hand are all on point, and the filming locations are stunning. Sure, casting is a matter of personal opinion, if you know the novel, you'll have your own images in mind. But to be fair, that the makers didn't get wrong.

So order a copy of the novel and watch this show while waiting for your book to arrive.

None of the critics like this series. I do! The book, which I read 20 years ago, was at the level of a penny dreadful, with amateurishly crafted action scenes copied from movies and implausible characters. All this is no longer present in the first three episodes of der Schwarm, or has been completely deleted from the script. No more military saving the world, no more Wolfgang Emmerich doomsdays on the screen. Instead, slow plot developments with small, subtle catastrophes. This makes you want more and is decidedly different from the usual German series you see on TV. And fortunately, different from the book!

Once again I almost miss out on a series because I made the mistake of reading reviews on imdb, but thankfully I decided to watch it and make up my own mind, yes it is a little bit slow in parts, but nowhere near as bad as some have said. The story is actually very good, as is the acting, and yes things do actually happen, also there's a couple of familiar faces, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers from Game of Thrones, and Rune Temte from The Last Kingdom.

So if anyone is thinking of watching this, don't be put off by the reviews on here, watch it for yourself and make up your own mind, like me you may be pleasantly surprised.

I just don't understand all the negative reviews for this show. Every single scene is beautifully photographed and directed. The pace of the story is that of an old time apocalyptic disaster movie and there are definite references in the style to Jaws and 2001. The look of it is high class with astonishing camerawork. Maybe the negative reviews come from a desire to see more visceral action and drama. I think that this is similar to classic movies such as The Exorcist, a slow start that builds and builds. Even here though there are moments of real drama. There are clearly expensive location shoots and all are brilliantly done. I rate this show highly and congratulate the production team on their work. UPDATE: I posted the above review after watching the first three episodes and I stand by all I said. However, the subsequent five episodes all display a marked reduction in each of the elements that made the show so impressive. The photography, direction and editing all changed to become far more mundane and less engaging. The references to 2001 are still there, very obviously so and there are also clear influences from James cameron's The Abyss. The overall idea is no more silly than originally expected but the diminished quality prevents any meaningful buy-in.

This series wants so much! And I'd like to like what I see. But I do that to a moderate extent. This series should be, and I quote: Ecological thriller about the delicate interconnectedness between mankind and Earth. Incredibly exciting idea and many possibilities.

I will briefly summarize what I think this lacks: The "explanation" of what is about to happen becomes far too elaborate. I fall off along the way. Thriller? No. This is simply boring to watch, far too little action after two episodes. Good actors, yes, but a boring script and momentum are lacking here. There will simply be too much monologue/dialogue, and too little drama and events. I won't be following this one any further...