Masters of Science Fiction

The best short stories in sci fi found a place in this show, though only for a short while, and a remarkable show it is. The stories are generally well picked: fascinating, though with more of an emphasis on the human condition than on a sense of wonder.

Each episode has it's own tone: dark or bleak, satirical or serious, philosophical or mystical. The acting so far has been outstanding. The show has a lot of similarities with The Outer Limits which I also adore but really that show had strong episodes countered by weak ones. Here, it's six episodes (two never aired) that are all not only very entertaining but also very memorable.

I must say Stephen Hawking's voice doing the intro's and outro's doesn't add much, because of two reasons: his voice is simply not very personal since it's purely mechanical and really he's just saying what we already get to see in the beginning of episodes or what we got to see at the end, making conclusions and asking questions that are already in our minds by watching the show. Because it's an intelligent show and despite each episode being stand alone, it offers far more depth than most other sci fi shows and that is not an easy feat.

Two thumbs up and again, what a shame to see a genuinely good show go. Oh, the fate of most great sci fi shows...it would be insufferable if there weren't so many other shows worth watching.

Having missed all the other UK showings of MOSF I was happy to sit down and watch episode 2 - what a mistake! Although the budget and acting were above average the story made absolutely no sense and as for the final scenes with the President making a decision no one would ever make that fast under so much ridiculous pressure. It was poorly written and obviously aimed at a certain religion and political bias. Does anyone actually know why it was set in Iraq or did the writers think that would allow them to make a contemporary political commentary.

I would advise against bothering with this episode - see the other reviews for the rest.

Born in '65, Asimov, Clarke, Lovecraft were my science fiction Masters, it is refreshing to know that my grandad was right, wisdom comes with age.

Watching these glimpses of other 'futures' is fun, where I was this was tomorrow probably, now ...humanity is learning finally that they have a choice / right / duty to speak out.

It would be nice if the News each day had a positive spin, advertizing for profit was illegal, bring back the village green with stocks, home detention isolation to stop criminal association.

All things remain the same, technology has not made we all smarter, it has made we lazy, addicted to communication devices, communication devices that run our lives, we are being pushed towards accepting AI is a computer generated 'know all'.

AI is a 'know all' programmed for advanced function by a human, like Kermit or Miss Piggy it needs a human hand.

I don't leave comments very often, but felt compelled to do so to give some counterpoint to very negative comments.

It seems that you will either love or hate the series, and few people are indifferent in the sense that they rate it average.

Such is the case with my rating: 9 out of 10, mostly because the "Masters" is different and tries to go deeper. The fact that ABC discontinued the show after 4 episodes is either a good or a bad sign, depending on your viewpoint.

These are not stories that we have become used to where Science-Fiction is concerned. Obviously, for me, that is a good thing. These stories focus more on characters and character development, in the tradition of the great SF-writers of the sixties, and the casting is excellent - on the whole we have good acting from good actors to support the story, an absolute must in stories which rely on it.

I fear we will see nothing more than the 6 episodes I know at the moment I write this. It's a shame, but I'll content myself with stories published in the great SF-magazines.

In summary, probably only for a particular brand of Science-Fiction fans.

Writing a review for movies is challenging work because is hard to find good model to compare with, and writing a review for SF story is more challenging because there is no pattern for fiction itself.

Comparing Masters of Science Fiction with Twilight Zone or Outer Space is not good because they are mirror for times that are gone. Masters of Science Fiction is kind of mirror of our times and only on that way I can talk about this serial. Is it too political? No. Just turn on your TV and what you will see is politics everywhere. Even in commercials.

SF writers for decades try to imagine our future and give us warnings how to deal with future problems and how to live with each other and that are real messages hidden in this serial.

Masters of Science Fiction present to us 6 excellent stories about us and I only can say-THANKS.