terra nova

[binka]

anyone watched it?

just finished and i have to say i think it's awful.

my main gripe is apparently dinosaurs are bullet proof. they must have shot about 100 bullets into the sides of the slashers to no effect that i could see. even shooting one in the face from about 50cm didn't do any damage. although having said that i don't know why they bothered since the fearsome slashers managed to kill precisely zero people in the onslaught

the characters are rubbish as well and so is the writing. taylor had a great line in refence to the mysterious writing by the waterfall 'you didnt go anywhere near the falls did you?' he said with immense subtlety 'good, those are some treacherous waters...'

i think that means he knows about the writing but wants to keep it secret (just in case you missed the significance from earlier when sky showed it to josh and told him she suspected taylor knew about it which is why the area is off limits)

but just in case you still didn't grasp the importance of the writing on the rocks we get told a third time when two of the others/sixers are helpfully discussing exactly what it all means and the woman said 'these are the key... to everything!'.

the special effects looked rubbish and certainly don't look like they spent $20m on just the pilot.

im going to carry on watching it but i think its going to turn out being a stupider and more rubbish version of lost

 

[Santino]

Stargate: Jurassic Park.

 

[DotCommunist]

Proper cheesy bullshit that owes me my 60 mins back

 

[Santino]

Don't know why they had that clumsy bit of exposition at the end of episode two about the writing on the rocks.

 

[DotCommunist]

when the two kids arrive and see the statue of the old probe there is also craply shoehorned exposition as the sister informs him about how this is an alternate timeline of the past.

All the characters are 2-d. Lean grizzled camp commander. Tough but family oriented rule breaker dad. Impetuous gash chasing son. etc. Appalling scripting as well.

I liked the choking oppressive dystopian nightmare they left, it got shite once they hit the clean new world of dinosaurs.

 

[Santino]

I could - just - forgive the clunky exposition near the beginning, but to reveal what could have been a decent mystery that unfolded over a whole series in an otherwise pointless scene just seemed completely mental.

I noticed two names from Voyager among the list of about 11 executive producers, btw.

 

[ChrisFilter]

Yeah, it was pretty lame. I'll probably keep watching out of idol curiousity though.

Clearly one 'for the family'.

 

[Santino]

I'll give it a few chances because it's the sort of thing that could improve once the basic premise is established and the writers and actors are settled. If they can make it Star Trek in Dinosaurland then that wouldn't be so bad. They need a character exploring what it is to be human though, obv.

 

[DotCommunist]

it's like a shit but budgeted larger primeval.How come the dinosaurs rip through metal cars like it's a foil takeaway tray and yet are turned back by sturdy wooden fencing? None of it makes any sense. Even those 'sixers' don't make any sense. They are crudely drawn metaphors for the enemy within. Fucking americans and the damn paranoia about ruined paradise.

 

[likesfish]

a hell of a lot of writers need to go watch a proper firepower demonstration
big snarly creatures against modern military firearms might get to chomp you you at close quarters but they are going to die soon afterwards.
unless they have magic self sealing lungs

 

[binka]

im glad we're all agreed on this

 

[Ax^]

And we did not get a second season of flash forward...

*shakes fist at sky*

 

[maldwyn]

I was expecting to see Tippi Hedren in this week's episode.

Truly dreadful series.

Anyone see episode one of Homeland?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I heard a review of this which suggested that the characterisation and plot was entirely cribbed from computer games. Bad FPSes presumably.

 

[binka]

just finised watching the third episode. without wanting to spoil the fun for anyone i have to say one particular moment of genius stood out for me:

the scene is set in taylor's hq where taylor is discussing the latest threat with shannon (who is now apprently taylors most trusted aide/employee) and the chief egghead malcolm wallace

taylor: i had to bury three of my men this morning, my question to you is how are we supposed to handle these things?
egghead: what we need to do is get a science team together to observe these animals so we know what we are up against
taylor: not today malcolm. until i know what these things are and why they're attacking my people nobody leaves and compound
egghead: sir we have research teams in the field that...
taylor: thats enough! you'll research another day

great stuff

also, great ending where jim finally

Spoiler

got to bone his wife

 

[Pingu]

i was going to watch this over the weekend.

shall i pluck my nose hairs instead?

 

[fishfinger]

Pluck away, it'll be less painful.

 

[N_igma]

I was disappointed by this, if the 3rd episode isn't a marked improvement then I'm ditching the whole thing.

 

[Santino]

That wasn't any better.

 

[dilute micro]

IT'S AWFUL

 

[Stigmata]

Better or worse than Stargate Universe?

 

[DotCommunist]

stargate universe was good tele. This is not. It is almost so bad you keep watching to see how lower in writing quality they will go. It makes Sliders look like high art

 

[binka]

sky can do so much better than that idiot. hopefully he'll end up dead now he's getting mixed up with the the bad man who runs the bar

 

[binka]

i used to enjoy sliders quite a lot although i havent seen it in about 10-15 years (or whenever it was that it used to be on bbc at 6pm)

 

[dilute micro]

Worse than stargate universe.

Way too much teenage romance.

 

[Stigmata]

i used to enjoy sliders quite a lot although i havent seen it in about 10-15 years (or whenever it was that it used to be on bbc at 6pm)

Sliders had the Crying Man and John Rhys Davies in its favour, but the parallel universes were rubbish. And the show was inherently conservative in that it invited the viewer to think 'thank fuck the real US isn't communist/a British colony/ruled by women/full of killer bees' etc.

 

[Santino]

Sliders had the Crying Man and John Rhys Davies in its favour, but the parallel universes were rubbish. And the show was inherently conservative in that it invited the viewer to think 'thank fuck the real US isn't communist/a British colony/ruled by women/full of killer bees' etc.

There was that one episode where America was run by corporations that put subliminal messages in their advertising, and wages were paid in vouchers to be used in the shops of the company you worked for.

 

[DotCommunist]

probably penned by a pinko liberal who used to write for TNG

 

[maldwyn]

Perfect illustration of budjet isn't everything - but what is, script?

 

[binka]

budget can be everything imo. i wouldn't object to 42 minutes of mindless dinosaur violence but they can't even do that properly