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Ratings37
phlipsidecreative's rating
Reviews6
phlipsidecreative's rating
I'm puzzled by the reviews that claim all of Conrad's brilliant story have been abandoned. Utterly untrue. All the main points of the original story are here. The betrayals, the ethical compromises, the cowardice. Not a single one missing. What had changed is how the story is told. Conrad jumped back and forth, a device that works better on writing than on TV. There are always some compromise made when covering a written story to a screen of any size. Those made here seen more than reasonable to me. The result is a thoughtful carefully constructed story that resists the urge to pick up the tempo just for the sake of a little "excitement". Some will find the pace slow, but it builds from the meaningless pretense of the characters lives and the mundane tempo of real life.
Some lovely performances by the whole cast. No one is cast as either superhero or supervillain. These are ordinary people of no great distinction, no matter thier place in life. Both evil and justice are flawed and banal.
Some lovely performances by the whole cast. No one is cast as either superhero or supervillain. These are ordinary people of no great distinction, no matter thier place in life. Both evil and justice are flawed and banal.
Helpful•21
The main characters (sheriff, his wife, most of the oil company folks, etc) are nasty, broken people. Tim Roth's lead is a manipulative, narcissistic alcoholic. He destroys everything he touches. By the end of the first season, he reveals just what a vile human being he is. Yet the show is well acted and directed through the beginning of the second season. I'm interested to see if they can continue to keep it interesting.
Helpful•00
This movie is nowhere near as bad as some reviews claim. At the bottom line you find a solid concept - the world stands at the edge of the apocalypse. A war in the Middle East threatens to boil over at any moment. But an artifact/lifeform from beyond Earth may be the answer humanity needs. Is it weapon or cure?
I will grant you that much of the story won't surprise you, but it's pretty well done in that comfortable storytelling zone. The acting is fair to good (sadly, the main character is the least gifted actor's role). This is pure average-guy-fighting-the-evil-government stuff. There are some dumb moments (an operation on a living person that uses a cast saw? Really?) but there's enough here to carry you to the end.
Great science fiction? No. Worth your time? Absolutely.
I will grant you that much of the story won't surprise you, but it's pretty well done in that comfortable storytelling zone. The acting is fair to good (sadly, the main character is the least gifted actor's role). This is pure average-guy-fighting-the-evil-government stuff. There are some dumb moments (an operation on a living person that uses a cast saw? Really?) but there's enough here to carry you to the end.
Great science fiction? No. Worth your time? Absolutely.
Helpful•30