Ran Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Lee Pace is worth the price of admission. But, I repeat, he is in incredible shape in this first episode. And yeah, there's some definite drift in the behavior and personalities of the Genetic Dynasty. The whole Dermezel thing was... interesting, especially as it seems suggested that this is (sort of) a new thing (apparently she and Cleon I slept together, but it doesn't seem to be a thing she has done regularly with other Cleons). Jared Harris gets some long sequences that I gather are supposed to let him cut loose, but they just feel ... long. I feel sorry for him, but I'm guessing he is very well renumerated. The Gaal-Salvor stuff is .... passable, I guess, maybe? I'm still finding Leah Harvey a bit of a charisma void, though. Still think it may be because of the American accent. A spoiler of a minor detail we noticed: Spoiler When Demerzel is repairing her head, she opens a box with the implements... and I noticed that the cover of the box features a depiction of the planets of our solar system. Those familiar with the Foundation series will recognize that this is probably very significant information, since knowledge of Earth beyond it having been the ancestral planet of humanity is pretty much lost by the time of the novels. In fact, Foundation and Earth is largely focused on the search for Earth. JGP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 (edited) In addition to being another reminder that I need to reread, I must've enjoyed it given my disappointment at not being able to jump right into E2. Agree on Harris. Thought the Gaal-Salvor stuff approached the appropriate level of awkwardness, but fell short. Gaal, yes, she will appeal more to rationality. Salvor, inosfar as established, seemed a bit too accepting of that logic but they might be going somewhere with that. Maybe. I'm not sure I want to like this series, but I do. Isn't that weird. Edited July 14, 2023 by JGP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Oh, the thing I spoilered is not new. I missed that we see the cover of the box towards the end of last season's finale, before she rips off her face (what a strange thing to write!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 3 hours ago, Ran said: Oh, the thing I spoilered is not new. I missed that we see the cover of the box towards the end of last season's finale, before she rips off her face (what a strange thing to write!) What a perfectly normal, common, every day English language sentence! You know, up there with...the terminator is the governor of California! Ran and JGP 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 @Ran I think CinemaWins would have to give 10 wins for Lee Pace's work out routine. Very well shot to manage that entire sequence of him being quite active without displaying anything it didn't want to show. It remains absolutely gorgeous, the colour and costumes in the throne room and the pigments for the mural all looked fantastic. I don't think anything was too annoying for me as a naive watcher (going to stick with that term for watching without knowing the source material) but nothing fantastic either, and the underwater stuff was eye roll. I could have done with just skipping that lol. Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Yeah, visually the show remains stunning. The VFX of the space sequences are really something else. @IlyaP It basically has nothing to do with the books any longer at this point. Ser Scot A Ellison and IlyaP 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 4 minutes ago, Ran said: Yeah, visually the show remains stunning. The VFX of the space sequences are really something else. By some distance the best thing about this show. Although, I rewatched Dune on a 4K bluray over the weekend. For me, the best ever onscreen depiction of spaceships 'n stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 7 minutes ago, Ran said: Yeah, visually the show remains stunning. The VFX of the space sequences are really something else. @IlyaP It basically has nothing to do with the books any longer at this point. Seldon’s ghost trapped in a mechanical gizmo? That he can then “escape” and confront living characters? Yeah… we’re way afield from the books. IlyaP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 For someone who hasn’t read the source material - Is it a good science fiction show worth watching? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 7 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said: For someone who hasn’t read the source material - Is it a good science fiction show worth watching? I'd say 50% (Empire's storyline) is really good, 15 or 20% (Gaal) has potential and the remainder varies between turn your brain off and even that isn't enough. One of the things I found most intriguing from the first episode hasn't really been paid off and I'm not sure it's going to. It's pretty enough to watch just for that though, and when you don't have attachment to the source material pissing you off it's easier to enjoy that. Ran and Theda Baratheon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) What @karaddinsays. The Genetic Dynasty portion, with its performances from Lee Pace, Terrence Mann, and Laura Birn, is both very science fictional and just quite well done. The rest... less so, sadly. Edited July 18, 2023 by Ran Theda Baratheon and Ser Scot A Ellison 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Hmm okay I’ll give it a go. I want something that visually looks incredible and has some actors in I like. I won’t get my hopes up for than that! Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 Thought the scenes with Empire and Dominion were fantastic, managing to combine tension and chemistry. Ella-Rae Smith certainly has presence, I don't think I'd seen her in anything more than a minor role in the Witcher before but hope to see more from her now. The other storylines? Spoiler I really didn't need the dangerous escape from the storm, didn't feel like it advanced anything - they could have just safely left atmosphere and moved on to more important things. The "drowning" to get a vision of the future was once again made much more dramatic than it needed to be. The Mule being able to see that she was watching from the past and choke her there is more than creepy enough on it's own if done right. I've found that particular thing really confronting when it's come up in other stories, I think because it's a similar sort of leap to something in a fictional story being able to perceive the audience which brings the real us into the tension. But by framing it with the drowning thing it's distracting from what should be scary instead of leaning into it. The Terminus/Foundation stuff I'm going to level the even worse criticism at - I just didn't care about it at all at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 Quite possibly the worst episode of television I've sat all the way through. Just shite. Utter shite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 Just watched the first episode of the first season. Visually stunning and very impressive and so far I’m invested enough in the story and the characters. I think they set things up fairly well…I have no idea where this story is going though (never read Asimov for my sins…) Ran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 On 7/21/2023 at 7:45 PM, Spockydog said: Quite possibly the worst episode of television I've sat all the way through. Just shite. Utter shite. I’ve just started the first season and this doesn’t fill me with confidence Ran and Ser Scot A Ellison 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 12 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said: I’ve just started the first season and this doesn’t fill me with confidence I can't agree with Spooky on that one lol, I really liked half of the episode. And there's plenty that's still far worse than the bad half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 (edited) On 7/25/2023 at 10:06 AM, karaddin said: I can't agree with Spooky on that one lol, I really liked half of the episode. And there's plenty that's still far worse than the bad half. You know, I kinda now just wanna watch this, since, if you're enjoying it, there must be *something* good there. Edited July 28, 2023 by IlyaP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 1 hour ago, IlyaP said: You know, I kinda now just wanna watch this, since, if you're enjoying it, there must be *something* good there. There's something for (me) everyone (not me) in the Empire and Dominion plotline haha IlyaP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 9 minutes ago, karaddin said: There's something for (me) everyone (not me) in the Empire and Dominion plotline haha Lee Pace. Jeezus. Look at those abs. Boy howdy. Way to make a boy feel like he needs to go to gym more often, Lee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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