New SyFy miniseries(es), "Childhood's End" and "The Expanse"

[+ poolboy48220]

Childhood's End was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen. It looks like they're taking some liberties with the story, I'm looking forward to it to see how many they take and how well it's done, and in particular how well they portray the Overlords when they finally reveal what they look like. The aliens DO have a secret agenda in the book, but it's not what you'd think.

 

Written by Arthur C. Clarke and hailed as a revolutionary work of science fiction since its publishing in 1953, Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

 

The Expanse is being marketed as "If you miss Battlestar: Galactica" you'll love this. I'd be likely to watch it for Steven Strait anyway :-)

Hundreds of years in the future, humans have colonized the solar system. The U.N. controls Earth. Mars is an independent military power. The planets rely on the resources of the Asteroid Belt, where air and water are more precious than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising between these three places. Earth, Mars and the Belt are now on the brink of war. And all it will take is a single spark.

 

It is within this future that The Expanse begins. The series follows the case of a missing young woman that brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system that will expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

[gallahadesquire]

The Expanse sounds vaguely like Babylon 5.

[AdamSmith]

Childhood's End was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen. It looks like they're taking some liberties with the story, I'm looking forward to it to see how many they take and how well it's done, and in particular how well they portray the Overlords when they finally reveal what they look like. The aliens DO have a secret agenda in the book, but it's not what you'd think.

OMFG! Likewise I idolized Childhood's End. A screen treatment has been forever in coming. Look forward to seeing if it captures much of the poetry and mood of the novel.

[sincitymix]

im really looking forward to both.

[body2body]

"Childhood's End" is perhaps Arthur C. Clarke's most interesting book ("The City and the Stars" is for me a close runner up).

When I heard SyFy was doing a mini series based on it I dug out a yellowed paperback copy that I bought in 1969 and read it again on a flight to London. It's really wonderful, and I hope that they don't screw it up.

 

Has anyone seen the recently released Amazon mini series based on Phillip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle"? I'm tempted to sign up for Amazon Prime but haven't pulled the trigger for fear they've screwed it up.

[sincitymix]

"Childhood's End" is perhaps Arthur C. Clarke's most interesting book ("The City and the Stars" is for me a close runner up).

When I heard SyFy was doing a mini series based on it I dug out a yellowed paperback copy that I bought in 1969 and read it again on a flight to London. It's really wonderful, and I hope that they don't screw it up.

 

Has anyone seen the recently released Amazon mini series based on Phillip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle"? I'm tempted to sign up for Amazon Prime but haven't pulled the trigger for fear they've screwed it up.

 

I loved the book. It was very interesting on a what if scale. I haven't seen the series yet though.

[gallahadesquire]

"Childhood's End" is perhaps Arthur C. Clarke's most interesting book ("The City and the Stars" is for me a close runner up).

When I heard SyFy was doing a mini series based on it I dug out a yellowed paperback copy that I bought in 1969 and read it again on a flight to London. It's really wonderful, and I hope that they don't screw it up.

 

Has anyone seen the recently released Amazon mini series based on Phillip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle"? I'm tempted to sign up for Amazon Prime but haven't pulled the trigger for fear they've screwed it up.

 

I've only seen the pilot of The Man in the High Castle, and it was fantastic. I have to plead time on the TV to watch more of it!

[+ poolboy48220]

I've heard nothing but good about The Man in the High Castle. I'm also considering signing up for Amazon prime just for that - I subscribed to Netflix just for the 4th season of Arrested Development. I read the book long, long ago and remember very little of it beyond the basic premise.

[AdamSmith]

This prompted me to start rereading Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men, Clarke's self-professed greatest imaginative influence. One of the monuments of sf. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men

 

Text online: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601101h.html

 

Other key influences on Clarke's style and outlook being Verne, Wells, H.P. Lovecraft ('The Color Out of Space' and similar sf-slanted works; Clarke wrote a side-splitting parody of HPL's 'At the Mountains of Madness' he called 'At the Mountains of Murkiness,' wherein for instance the Cthulhu character writes himself a reminder: 'Have Slog-Wallop [Yog-Sothoth] see about the drains'), also Tennyson and especially A.E. Housman for poetic tone.

[MrMiniver]

I've heard nothing but good about The Man in the High Castle. I'm also considering signing up for Amazon prime just for that - I subscribed to Netflix just for the 4th season of Arrested Development. I read the book long, long ago and remember very little of it beyond the basic premise.

 

I bingewatched the whole thing a couple weekends ago. SUPERB. It deviates from the book quite a bit from what I've been told. But I thought the production values and the acting were top-notch. So much good TV right now. And the two young lead guys are not bad on the eyes. Chilling to see people in the suburbs walk around casually saying "sieg heil."

[MrMiniver]

im really looking forward to both.

 

I'll watch anything once with Steven Strait. Remember The Covenant? That was wall to wall hot guys. Dumb movie but who cared? When they were all half naked in the locker room, well, worth the price of admission.

[Rod Hagen]

I still have Humans recorded. Should I watch or delete? I kinda wanna delete unless it's REAL good. I thought ep1 was just ok.

[+ Truereview]

I still have Humans recorded. Should I watch or delete? I kinda wanna delete unless it's REAL good. I thought ep1 was just ok.

In my opinion, nothing worth binging on. Predictable and slow. I caressed the delete button often.

 

I'm all for checking out both the expanse and childhood's end!

[MrMiniver]

In my opinion, nothing worth binging on. Predictable and slow. I caressed the delete button often.

 

I'm all for checking out both the expanse and childhood's end!

 

I clicked it off pretty early on. very boring.

[Rod Hagen]

Thank you. Very appreciated. Humans, deleted.

[+ Truereview]

bump...

 

@poolboy48220 and others...childhoods end....thoughts now that it is over?

 

Me...meh

[sincitymix]

bump...

 

@poolboy48220 and others...childhoods end....thoughts now that it is over?

 

Me...meh

it was... meh. the book was better.

[AdamSmith]

Good to know. Now no need to stream it.

[+ poolboy48220]

I'm about halfway through. I think it's okay so far, but didn't hit me like the first episode of the Battlestar Galactica reboot did.

[+ Truereview]

Watching the Expanse as we speak. @MrMiniver stsrted a separate thread here on Steven Strait (Jim Holden - character in the series). I agree with MrM...Steven looks delectable! I have to admit I have a little thing for Paulo Costanzo. - from Royal Pains, and also a character in the Expanse. Maybe it's the Ialian Jewish combo.

 

PS - really liking the special effects to show gravity impact on "belters". Gotta wonder what other things stretch....

[body2body]

For this viewer Childhood's End was better than I feared. I can understand the difficulty of adapting it ( I read that Kubrick wanted to but abandoned it as too difficult, and ended up collaborating with Clarke on 2001). I had some issues with the compression of time ( the SyFy adaptation took place over 35 years, the novel over 100 years) which seemed to have been done to allow the continued involvement of Stormgren ( the always beautiful Mike Vogel). That character is gone after the first third, or less of the novel. The pivotal Ouija Board scene in the book is turned into some high tech E.T. Extravaganza. Most missed was Karrellan's eloquent final address to mankind. The best thing about this adaptation was Charles Dance as Karrellan. Although the look they settled on was a bit too overtly Satanic, his voice was just as I'd heard it while reading the book. Still, they got most of the big themes across. I'd give it a C+.

 

I enjoyed The Expanse, I like complex plot lines, and liked the cast, and the sense of moral ambiguity. I think this will be fun to follow.

 

I'm just grateful to SyFy for giving me something other than another dreadful Holiday special to watch.

[+ Truereview]

For this viewer Childhood's End was better than I feared. I can understand the difficulty of adapting it ( I read that Kubrick wanted to but abandoned it as too difficult, and ended up collaborating with Clarke on 2001). I had some issues with the compression of time ( the SyFy adaptation took place over 35 years, the novel over 100 years) which seemed to have been done to allow the continued involvement of Stormgren ( the always beautiful Mike Vogel). That character is gone after the first third, or less of the novel. The pivotal Ouija Board scene in the book is turned into some high tech E.T. Extravaganza. Most missed was Karrellan's eloquent final address to mankind. The best thing about this adaptation was Charles Dance as Karrellan. Although the look they settled on was a bit too overtly Satanic, his voice was just as I'd heard it while reading the book. Still, they got most of the big themes across. I'd give it a C+.

 

I enjoyed The Expanse, I like complex plot lines, and liked the cast, and the sense of moral ambiguity. I think this will be fun to follow.

 

I'm just grateful to SyFy for giving me something other than another dreadful Holiday special to watch.

So nice to read an informed opinion that carries a positive tone. So glad to have read your post, B2B.

[Rudynate]

Childhood's End was one of my favorite books as a pre-teen. It looks like they're taking some liberties with the story, I'm looking forward to it to see how many they take and how well it's done, and in particular how well they portray the Overlords when they finally reveal what they look like. The aliens DO have a secret agenda in the book, but it's not what you'd think.

 

Written by Arthur C. Clarke and hailed as a revolutionary work of science fiction since its publishing in 1953, Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

 

The Expanse is being marketed as "If you miss Battlestar: Galactica" you'll love this. I'd be likely to watch it for Steven Strait anyway

Hundreds of years in the future, humans have colonized the solar system. The U.N. controls Earth. Mars is an independent military power. The planets rely on the resources of the Asteroid Belt, where air and water are more precious than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising between these three places. Earth, Mars and the Belt are now on the brink of war. And all it will take is a single spark.

 

It is within this future that The Expanse begins. The series follows the case of a missing young woman that brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system that will expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

 

 

I'm looking forward to watching "Expanse." I like anything with Thomas Jane in it on principle.

[+ Truereview]

I'm looking forward to watching "Expanse." I like anything with Thomas Jane in it on principle.

First 4 episodes are already available OnDemand. Watched the first 3 last night, not bad.

[+ DERRIK]

Syfy channel available on iPhone and iPad but on released on Apple TV

 

As a result I have to use my iPhone then AirPlay this to Apple TV

 

I sure NBC has its reasons not to release on Apple but it's beyond me