johnnyc-1
Joined Dec 2001
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Reviews7
johnnyc-1's rating
Not just the worst sci-fi series I've ever seen, but the worst of any genre I've seen in years. In fact, it's probably a stretch to call it sci-fi at all since the writers didn't really seem to care about having an actual sci-fi story - it was 90% "messaging". What was ostensibly the main story arch - the story of a race called "homo sensoriam" - was incidental to preachy messaging that went on and on and on. It just doesn't stop. In the first season it took them 10 episodes just to get to the plot. The pacing is glacial!
At times it feels like this was produced by teenagers with a huge budget and no adult supervision.
Many will say the acting was pretty terrible as well, and some of the acting was definitely really bad, but the dialogue is just awful. Not sure good actors would change that.
I'm giving 1 star for production values and 1 star for the premise.
At times it feels like this was produced by teenagers with a huge budget and no adult supervision.
Many will say the acting was pretty terrible as well, and some of the acting was definitely really bad, but the dialogue is just awful. Not sure good actors would change that.
I'm giving 1 star for production values and 1 star for the premise.
I haven't seen the original film or read the novel, so there's that, but I just can't see how one can compare the 60s film adaptation to a 2022 mini-series. So I'll just get that out of the way...I'm reviewing this on its own merits.
The series is as good a spy thriller as I've seen in years. And there's a bonus - it's also a 60s period piece and really *feels* like the 60s. The story is part mystery, part spy thriller and moves along quickly as we try to keep up with all the bits they leave to keep us wondering "what is going on here?". All is revealed after a few unexpected twists and turns. What spy movie doesn't have plenty of those?
Cole and Boynton play characters who aren't what they seem and as the series unfolds our first impressions are turned upside-down. There's a restrained but definite chemistry between these two. Another reviewer described Boynton as a "revelation". I have to agree.
This was a pleasure to watch!
The series is as good a spy thriller as I've seen in years. And there's a bonus - it's also a 60s period piece and really *feels* like the 60s. The story is part mystery, part spy thriller and moves along quickly as we try to keep up with all the bits they leave to keep us wondering "what is going on here?". All is revealed after a few unexpected twists and turns. What spy movie doesn't have plenty of those?
Cole and Boynton play characters who aren't what they seem and as the series unfolds our first impressions are turned upside-down. There's a restrained but definite chemistry between these two. Another reviewer described Boynton as a "revelation". I have to agree.
This was a pleasure to watch!
It's hard to watch people who are vulnerable get sucked in like this. I'll just say this:
Cults make people do things they don't want to do or wouldn't normally do. I'll repeat: CULTS MAKE PEOPLE DO THINGS THEY DON'T WANT TO DO. If you say you don't want to do what they tell you to do, they'll coerce, shame, blame, and threaten you if you don't want to do what you're told to do. The leaders will do it themselves, but they'll also use other cult members to apply the required pressure to make you submit.
When you're in a cult, you don't know you're in one until something terrible happens that brings on the questions, because if you're not asking questions, you'll never get out. And cult leaders and their devoted followers hate when you ask questions, because questions will usually lead to you walking out of the physical or virtual doors.
What's difficult about this particular cult is they're a "virtual cult" - they mostly didn't live anywhere near each other. It was all happening over the Internet. Unlike the other cults we've heard of, this cult existed almost entirely in the virtual world, so entirely in the minds of its members. No one was physically prevented from leaving, but in their minds they were trapped. Asking questions is how all former cult members manage to escape.
It's a tough watch. I can't recommend watching, but if you have an interest in cults, or think you have been subjected to a person or group of people who have made you do things you didn't want to do, then watch and ask questions of the world around you. You might be in one and not even know it.
Cults make people do things they don't want to do or wouldn't normally do. I'll repeat: CULTS MAKE PEOPLE DO THINGS THEY DON'T WANT TO DO. If you say you don't want to do what they tell you to do, they'll coerce, shame, blame, and threaten you if you don't want to do what you're told to do. The leaders will do it themselves, but they'll also use other cult members to apply the required pressure to make you submit.
When you're in a cult, you don't know you're in one until something terrible happens that brings on the questions, because if you're not asking questions, you'll never get out. And cult leaders and their devoted followers hate when you ask questions, because questions will usually lead to you walking out of the physical or virtual doors.
What's difficult about this particular cult is they're a "virtual cult" - they mostly didn't live anywhere near each other. It was all happening over the Internet. Unlike the other cults we've heard of, this cult existed almost entirely in the virtual world, so entirely in the minds of its members. No one was physically prevented from leaving, but in their minds they were trapped. Asking questions is how all former cult members manage to escape.
It's a tough watch. I can't recommend watching, but if you have an interest in cults, or think you have been subjected to a person or group of people who have made you do things you didn't want to do, then watch and ask questions of the world around you. You might be in one and not even know it.