rmnowac

After watching the first two episode, the other reviews are not a surprise to me. No doubt it's a reaction to the contemplative pacing which nowadays equals dull and uninteresting. This program is well written and acted. The production is top notch. It takes the time to explore humanity which I appreciate. I've yet to see the third and final episode so I'm hoping they stay the course.

That's why I think this program deserves a 7.5 rating.

...and it all comes down to Danny McBride's writing. The cast is trying their best but the material isn't up to snuff. The characters are supposed to be slightly overdone but McBride took it too far. Also, the humor is often simplistic and predictable.

Gemstones just doesn't compare to the high standard currently available from other shows.

After watching Salyut-7 which I found well made, well acted, human and tense, I wanted to know the true story. For that, I credit Nickolai Belakovski for his article "The little-known Soviet mission to rescue a dead space station" which can be found on the Ars Technica website. Suffice it to say, Salyut-7 is very much a work of fiction and, to be fair, was not intended to be taken as a true depiction of events.

As far as any shuttle mission to grab Salyut-7, it's complete hogwash despite there being a Russian documentary that promotes US efforts to steal the station. Bart Hendrickx wrote the article "Kidnapping a Soviet space station" for The Space Review website. It debunks the Russian conspiracy theory quite convincingly.

Enjoy the movie but don't rely on it for truth.