Author Topic: Sci-fi television  (Read 37578 times)

deflective

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Reply #25 on: October 23, 2008, 01:29:30 AM
ah, cool. i was wondering if they would be worth checking out. the anime was paced so well there may have been problems when it was converted into films.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #26 on: October 23, 2008, 08:01:28 AM
ah, cool. i was wondering if they would be worth checking out. the anime was paced so well there may have been problems when it was converted into films.
   Big fan of Death Note, exactly the right sort of mundane/twisted balance.  If you like that, it's probably worth tracking down Ergo Proxy.  Very odd utopian/dystopian Cyberpunk series.



deflective

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Reply #27 on: October 25, 2008, 01:35:06 AM
i had a chance to watch the first death note movie. it isn't bad but it's kinda like reading a coles notes version of a classic. they did a surprisingly good job of condensing and changing the plot so that it could fit into a quarter of the time (reminiscent of the first lotr movie) and it's good to see that japan's culture as a whole isn't as misogynistic as anime.

the careful thought of the original story is lost in places though. L from the anime would have jumped all over some of the things that happens in the movie and ended it right there. Light was much more cautious originally, that was one of the things i liked best about it. you didn't have to keep telling yourself that it's just a story and excuse the super genius for not thinking of things that occur to you.

i agree that the original did a very good job of introducing a simple (but powerful) supernatural ability and then following the results. we get to watch our anti-hero make some pretty intense moral choices and go through dramatic changes but it concentrates on that contest between characters and lets you decide for yourself who's in the right.

if you have the time to watch a full series then the anime is the way to go, otherwise the movies are worth checking out in their own right.

ergo proxy sounds interesting. 'therefore a simulation'?



wolvesdread

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Reply #28 on: October 25, 2008, 10:24:47 PM
It's definitely important to watch Farscape from the beginning.  Oh you can drop in to an episode somewhere in the middle and follow the plot well enough to get some enjoyment out of it I suppose, but when I did that a few years back a then Farscape innocent - most of what I saw seemed really stupid and unnecessary.  Having since watched it from the beginning.  I love it.  Or at least I loved the first two seasons..  I have yet to see the rest.

The one I still can't figure out and it may be more of the serialization issue.  Got to be there from the word go for it to make any sense.  Is Lexx.  I have watched random episodes and it's entertaining in the same way MST is entertaining that way.  I haven't the time to watch it from the start, but I am curious what my opinion of it would be if I did.



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Reply #29 on: October 28, 2008, 08:18:09 PM
I had already found the site, but thanks.  My wife is supposed to record it for me so I can watch it when I'm home.  I hope they do a good job with it, the books are great.

Apparently, the first 30 minutes or so of Legend of the Seeker will be up for free at the iTunes store.


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Reply #30 on: November 11, 2008, 03:11:34 AM
Did anyone catch Legend of the Seeker?  I missed it.



slic

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Reply #31 on: November 14, 2008, 03:11:43 AM
I have been a B5 fan from the very beginning, I even have the B5 guidebook, and have some of the novels (the triliogy of the rise and fall of Bester, and the trilogy of What happened with Moliari/how Vir became emperor).

I find some similarities of it to BSG.  I found BSG to be excellent.  I haven't seen any of the current season (4), and this leads to my next point.  We get our shows on DVD - we are months behind the current shows, but the advantage is we watch them when we want.

When I travel (which isn't nearly as often as you), I can take a couple of discs with me or copy them to my harddrive.

You can get older series cheap (especially if they are second-hand).

I also got on the Farscape bandwagon early, but it's much more intense.  I also agree with stopping at Season 4

I also recommend Stargate, but only from Season 10 on.  It has Claudia Black and Ben Browder (from Farscape), and their chemistry is just great!


No help with Legend of the Seeker, sorry



Zathras

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Reply #32 on: November 14, 2008, 03:34:06 AM
Haven't gotten around to Farscape.  With all the podcasts that have been referred lately and a trip to the used book store, tv takes a back burner.



Zathras

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Reply #33 on: November 30, 2008, 03:59:15 PM
Saw an episode of Legend of The Seeker yesterday.  Not sure how I feel about it.  My in-laws taped the first episode, and I'll watch that next time I'm home.  Looks to be a notch above Hercules.



Zathras

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Reply #34 on: January 18, 2009, 11:00:08 PM
Watched the first 8 episodes of Farscape over the last few days.  It's ok.  My issues with it are more quirky than anything.  Some of the acting is Shatner-esque.  I'll finish watching up to the episode that stePH recommended. 

As to Legend of the Seeker, it just seemed to be taking way to long to move through the plot.  I've seen 4 (?) episodes and I'm pretty meh about it.



slic

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Reply #35 on: January 18, 2009, 11:35:37 PM
Personally, I found Farscape to be hit and miss.  I never really liked any of the characters except Aeryn Sun(sp?), so it was hard to get into the show.

They did get into cool plot ideas with the wormhole tech, but overall it didn't make the grade for me.



Zathras

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Reply #36 on: January 22, 2009, 05:25:35 PM
Am I missing something?  I've had friends rave about Farscape.  They say it's the best sci-fi show ever.  Really?  I started watching it, and didn't bring anything else with me, so I'll probably keep watching, but if it were warmer, I'd rather take a walk. 

I watched Durka Returns last night, and it has a lot of examples of why this show is below average, IMO.

1.  The Darryl Hannah from Balde Runner impersonation.
2.  Durka chops off his long, white hair with a knife, and he looks like he just left the barber shop!  Oh, come on!  At least mangle his hair a bit!
3.  Cliches everywhere!  Evil person from past "cured" then reverts to his evil ways.  Prisoner who is only guilty of being what we would consider fringe.
4.  This show is too formulaic.  John Crighton is so good hearted and this will enable him to triumph every time.

Ugg.  I really would like a Farscape fan to point out the good things that I'm obviously over looking, please.



stePH

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Reply #37 on: January 23, 2009, 01:13:45 AM
Am I missing something?  I've had friends rave about Farscape.  They say it's the best sci-fi show ever.  Really?  I started watching it, and didn't bring anything else with me, so I'll probably keep watching, but if it were warmer, I'd rather take a walk. 

I watched Durka Returns last night, and it has a lot of examples of why this show is below average, IMO.

1.  The Darryl Hannah from Balde Runner impersonation.
2.  Durka chops off his long, white hair with a knife, and he looks like he just left the barber shop!  Oh, come on!  At least mangle his hair a bit!
3.  Cliches everywhere!  Evil person from past "cured" then reverts to his evil ways.  Prisoner who is only guilty of being what we would consider fringe.
4.  This show is too formulaic.  John Crighton is so good hearted and this will enable him to triumph every time.

Ugg.  I really would like a Farscape fan to point out the good things that I'm obviously over looking, please.

I never said it was Babylon 5.  But I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the second and third seasons.

But (again) I never saw the appeal in Firefly so my opinions could be suspect.

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Zathras

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Reply #38 on: January 23, 2009, 03:24:04 AM
It wasn't anyone on this forum that praised it to the heavens.  I'm trying to be patient and am going to reevaluate after season 2.  I really need to take a look at who was producing the episodes.

Just promise me that the Shatner acting fades, please!



stePH

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Reply #39 on: January 23, 2009, 05:16:08 AM
It wasn't anyone on this forum that praised it to the heavens.  I'm trying to be patient and am going to reevaluate after season 2.  I really need to take a look at who was producing the episodes.

Just promise me that the Shatner acting fades, please!

I just really liked the story developments through the second and third season.  The acting never struck me as particularly bad.  But I seem to be pretty uncritical in this area -- acting has to be at Traci Lords/Stephen King levels of awful for me to really dislike it.

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Zathras

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Reply #40 on: January 24, 2009, 02:11:16 AM
Just watched episode 17 (I think the number is correct), Through the Looking Glass.  This one was good.  I think it's gonna be a lot like B5, the first season does a lot of set up.  Even I will admit there were some crappy first season B5 eps.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #41 on: January 26, 2009, 03:00:13 PM
On a loosely related topic, io9.com have a really good piece up at the moment detailing five shows they argue are secretly science fiction.  24 I've heard classified this way before (I think it's season 5 that, if you take the internal timeline at face value, is taking place in 2015 and each successive year has at least a year's time gap after that) but Bones was a pleasant and valid addition too, especially for Angela's holo tank:)  Worth reading, it's a fun piece.



Zathras

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Reply #42 on: February 24, 2009, 04:15:40 PM
Took a break from Farscape, planning on picking it back up soon.



Zathras

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Reply #43 on: March 02, 2009, 02:03:00 PM
Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning.  It's getting better.  Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore.  It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.



stePH

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Reply #44 on: March 02, 2009, 03:31:04 PM
Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning.  It's getting better.  Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore.  It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.

Chiana or Chianna.  I don't think I've ever seen it written, but it's definitely a hard "CH" beginning her name.

Remember, the two-parter "Into the Lion's Den" at the end of season 3 is the peak.  I wouldn't even bother watching the season 3 finale.

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Alasdair5000

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Reply #45 on: March 02, 2009, 04:06:03 PM
Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning.  It's getting better.  Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore.  It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.

   It's around there that the writers and Ben Browder realise the most logical reaction Crichton would have to his situation is to quietly go utterly, utterly mad.  The moment they figure that out?  Big fun ensues:)



Zathras

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Reply #46 on: March 04, 2009, 03:46:25 PM
I see now why I didn't like Farscape before.  They don't bother explaining anything other than how Chrichton got on board Moira.  You also need to be able to suspend disbelief.  There are incidents all over the place where my brain starts to point out mistakes and I have to disengage my logic pathways.  It's still fun, and John is really starting to lose it.



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Reply #47 on: March 05, 2009, 01:01:16 PM
Farscape was one of those shows I would often watch, but I never rushed home to catch it, and so missed a lot of the story arcs. I was fun to look at, if nothing else, for the costume, creature and ship designs.

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Reply #48 on: March 24, 2009, 06:31:53 PM
I watched the show Lexx for a while, but originally there were a few shows on HBO or Cinimax called "Tales from an alternate Universe" that had the origins of lexx, in three or 4 longer shows (I think they were an hour or so long).  Has anyone ever seen these?  They were rated PG13 or R on their original release, and were weird, but entertaining in their own way.



Zathras

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Reply #49 on: April 23, 2009, 03:09:42 PM
Watched an episode of Farscape last night after a bit of a break from it.  While this is a "fun" show, it's still irking me.  Are they trying to be campy?  Some of the stuff in here just grates.  I'm glad I'm finally watching it, and would recommend  it to others, I just feel like either they are missing something or I am.