Anyone seen the first two episodes of this?
Television The Man In High Castle
- Thread starter wr8_utd
- Start date
I've seen the pilot, they've released another episode?
Looks quite mediocre and riddled with cliches. Also, they appear to have gone down the easy route of binary good/evil.
"Justice and liberty for none" is poor writing imo, as if the Germans had won the war they'd have used justice and liberty as justification for their acts... kinda like the US did in Iraq.
"Justice and liberty for none" is poor writing imo, as if the Germans had won the war they'd have used justice and liberty as justification for their acts... kinda like the US did in Iraq.
You certainly wouldn't brag about not having it in your pledge of allegiance. I re-read the novel after seeing the pilot, one of the things I think they failed to capture was that fascism was now the normal state of affairs that you just went about your daily business in, they weren't in a resistance movement raging against oppression. Even the nicer characters were casually racist and almost blasé about widespread genocide. It was the norm. They need to be careful about getting rid of that and just turning it into an extended war film. I'm still looking forward to the full series though.
Didn't know about this... must check it out
Very enjoyable book
Very enjoyable book
Wow, was just about to write "I wonder if the book is similar to Man in High Castle by Dick" -- feck me I'm dense. Yeah, I've read this book, it was a bit weird I thought, not excellent, not bad, just good. Weird vibe to it, was more about Japanese if I recall correctly. (Years since I've read it).
The pilot was great and very promising. Astonishingly the rest of the first series is mediocre at best.
It could've been a great show.
It could've been a great show.
Bleh, had been looking forward to this.
I'll give it a shot, but I'm really not sure that the book would translate into TV all that well.
Don't take my words too seriously. The pilot was probably too overwhelming for me and I expected it to continue that way.
Nah I had a feeling it would be the way, as @Bebe said above the book isn't particularly easy to translate to the screen, particularly for a presumably multi-season show. I'll give it a go eventually, just not going to rush into it unless I hear a lot of praise.
The book is good.
It's been getting very good reviews.
Book is fantastic. Not sure if I'd want to watch this though.
Anyone seen this?
Watched the first two episodes and it's pretty decent so far. I thought Robert Knepper was in this, disappointed to find out it's just some guy that looks like him.
Just watched the first episode. I'm impressed.
First 2 episodes are good.
It was OK. Never heard of it before the other day and reading this tread. Loved the fact all 10 episodes were ready to watch though. This is how all TV should be done imo.
The ending was a bit weird, just sort of happened and left me scratching my head. I won't discuss as people won't have seen it yet but yeh, you will see. I expected it, just more subtle and earlier. A second season might explain more.
I believe its moved away from the book in many ways. I've not read it but seems that there's are differences.
All in all, 7/10.
The ending was a bit weird, just sort of happened and left me scratching my head. I won't discuss as people won't have seen it yet but yeh, you will see. I expected it, just more subtle and earlier. A second season might explain more.
I believe its moved away from the book in many ways. I've not read it but seems that there's are differences.
All in all, 7/10.
I'm 6 episodes in and really enjoying it.
No idea what Grasshopper is about, seems like both nations are in on it though. Thought it may have been the Pacific teaming up the American Resistance, but i'm not sure how the main German guy is mixed up in all of it. I thought early on that he may have been the one that was leaking information but my heads spinning now! Really good tv though, might not be everyones cup of tea given it's not action but i'm loving it.
Thinking about giving this a go. Seems interesting.
Everything about it is cool. Even the doorman to Tagomi San opens and shuts his door with such panache.
Ya, it's not really binary good/evil. It might be the only show ever to make you actually pull for Adolf Hitler.
The entire premise is absolutely nauseating though. It is basically the height of US conceit, "we don't get involved therefore Germany and Japan win".
If you can suspend your disbelief over that, it's fun.
I thought they were involved but the allies lost. It's all pretty vague and unexplained. Really enjoyed watching it, it's a slow burner though.
I liked it, but I still prefer Fatherland.
It was made very obvious that the Americans were involved and lost. You need to pay more attention.
People talk about their parents being "in the war" and the Germans nuking DC several times. We don't know anything about why they lost, though it's strongly implied that the Germans getting the atom bomb first had something to do with it. This is also what the German traitor Wegener gives the Japanese.
Only just heard about this- reviews in here seem quite mixed but got 96% and 93% on rottentomatoes fwiw. So long since I read the book, I can barely remember it to be honest.
So overall, worth a watch?
So overall, worth a watch?
Depends on your TV taste. If you're an action type fan then it's probably not a show for you. If you don't mind slower paced thinkers then this is 100% up your street.
I thought it was excellent.
It was enjoyable and kept me enticed throughout the whole 10 episodes because the idea behind it is very captivating and poignant. Unfortunately though I think it had the potential to be much better. Visually it is stunning and up there with the very best tv shows however the plot at times seemed unimaginative. The imagery of Nazi New York was very eerie as was the rising sun flag appearing everywhere The the west coast. It does make you wonder how different life could have been for us all. The ending is mind boggling and is completely open to the viewers interpretation.
It has been getting great reviews though which I find strange. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh because my expectation of TV shows has hit the roof ever since watching BB and Walking dead.
It has been getting great reviews though which I find strange. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh because my expectation of TV shows has hit the roof ever since watching BB and Walking dead.
I mean my expectation has gone very high because the likes of bb and walking dead are the best out there. Imo of course.
k, i'll hold my tongue.
No I wouldn't want you to hide it. By all means, get it out. I want to know what your favourite shows are.
Americas Next Top Model obviously!
Big brother?
Finally got to it. It was enjoyable enough as its own thing, it's just a shame they basically seem to have ignored the book completely and said "how do we make an ongoing tv show where the allies lose the war?". The plot is pretty standard wartime resistance fare with the occasional event from the novel thrown in as window dressing, and the characters are cardboard cutouts that are consistently thick and irritating. Don't really like that they've changed the Grasshopper Lies Heavy from a book to a bunch of films either, it doesn't really work as a concept.
All in all, I guess I'd say it's alright enough as a tv show, will watch next season to see where it goes, but as adaptations go it's pretty gash.
All in all, I guess I'd say it's alright enough as a tv show, will watch next season to see where it goes, but as adaptations go it's pretty gash.
The premise is a good one but it feels flat to me. Half way through and I cant say any of the characters are likeable.
I think all things considered they've done a good job. I don't really think the books story would have worked as a ten series long season arc (especially if they want to make a series 2) but they've done a good job in re-creating the world of the story which is, all things considered, the best bit about the book in the first place.
I also think the Grasshopper lies heavy change makes sense, partly because we don't have to deal with the awkwardness of watching characters read a book, but also I quite like the symmetry of a book within a book and a film within a film.
Completely agree with the characters though, well, by and large. I think the Obergruppenführer character is good, as is the trade minister and the Kemptai officer. Joe, Juliana, and her bloke are all pretty terrible though.
It looks great, everything else isn't up to much though.