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BBC's War of the Worlds

Started by Butchers Blind, September 13, 2019, 09:02:08 AM

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Keebleman

Quote from: Bad Ambassador on November 11, 2019, 01:13:45 AM
Starts next Sunday at 9.00pm.

Look out for:

  • Yokel with shovel
  • Yokel scrapping over lifejacket
  • Yokel trudging across sand dunes
  • Yokel haring it through the woods
All me! 

I'm a bit like Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets.

SteK

Quote from: Bad Ambassador on November 11, 2019, 01:13:45 AM
Starts next Sunday at 9.00pm.

Already watched it - torrent-tastic!

It's a bit shit...

H-O-W-L

Seems like very maudlin raspy-breath modern-age period drama shite with a glossy layer of cyan alien bollocks pasted over it to give it the adaptation appeal.

Anyone else remember the Mark Gatiss and Rory Kinnear adaptation of First Men in the Moon about ten years ago? That was actually quite good because it stuck to the central messages and conceit of the original story while also changing shit to fit a tellybox format and timescale.

idunnosomename

I heard a fawning interview with the director on r4 the other night treated it like some daring new piece of televisual filmmaking

Not the reheated bit of pop culture slop that it is. Oh god you have a woman in a speaking role! How amazing.

Not arsed mate, Jeff Wayne LPs

Bad Ambassador

You'd think it would have the Radio Times cover, right? Well not only doesn't it, it's not even pick of the day. Both are Netflix's CoD show.

non capisco

I bet they don't even say OOOOOOOOOOH-LAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH like in the book.

Head Gardener


H-O-W-L

Quote from: non capisco on November 12, 2019, 04:38:16 PM
I bet they don't even say OOOOOOOOOOH-LAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH like in the book.

The inconsistent depiction of the martian cries in the book is legitimately chilling when you sit down and think about it for a few minutes in-context. The protagonist is basically describing what he thinks they're saying but he can't be sure because they are bloody aliens. It's like trying to get someone to describe the cries of a creature they've never heard before in better detail, and they just can't really replicate it. Such wonderous care and detail in the depiction of the Martians all throughout the book, imo.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: H-O-W-L on September 29, 2019, 02:12:29 PM
Really looks gash tbh. A shame when the Mark Gatiss version of First Men in the Moon a decade or so ago was a good adaptation, just a bit ropey in construction.

I've just watched the first episode, and it's not gash at all. Fairly understated for the most part and commendably grim.

Folk like Blodwyn (I love ya, Blodders) will instinctively dismiss it as bland and irrelevant, just because it's a BBC drama, but that's not fair. It's atmospheric, compellingly paced and well-acted. The special effects are very good, too.

Peter Harness (Doctor Who fella) has imbued it with a vaguely Threads-esque quality, which is fitting. It's good. I liked it.

You lot are all far too cynical for your own good.

olliebean

Kind of falling into the "do we really need another version of this?" category for me atm, but I'll probably give it a look. Will be deducting marks though if the artilleryman doesn't shout "I've got a plaaaaaaaaan!"

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: olliebean on November 17, 2019, 10:32:39 AM
Kind of falling into the "do we really need another version of this?" category for me atm, but I'll probably give it a look. Will be deducting marks though if the artilleryman doesn't shout "I've got a plaaaaaaaaan!"

We don't really need anything, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, MAN, but this version doesn't feel irrelevant.

Alberon

I'm far more interested in a reasonably faithful adaptation of the book as opposed to yet another updating of the concept which just turns it into another bland alien invasion story.

Orson Welles' adaptation and the 50s film that followed are exceptions as they keep the central theme of the predominant military power of the age having their arse absolutely handed to them by the martians.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Alberon on November 17, 2019, 11:07:05 AM
I'm far more interested in a reasonably faithful adaptation of the book as opposed to yet another updating of the concept which just turns it into another bland alien invasion story.

Orson Welles' adaptation and the 50s film that followed are exceptions as they keep the central theme of the predominant military power of the age having their arse absolutely handed to them by the martians.

This version places that message squarely front and centre.

beanheadmcginty

Was the 50s version the originator of that sound effect? You know the one, not the heat ray but the other laser guns. The same one that was then used for the photon torpedoes in Star Trek.

Alberon

Apparently so. From an article on the original Star Trek's sound effects.

QuoteSome of the familiar effects came from Paramount's own sound-effects library. The photon torpedo sound was originally created for the "skeleton ray" in George Pal's War of the Worlds, and some other Trek sound effects can be heard in the low budget sci-fi movie The Space Children.

https://www.audible.com/blog/arts-culture/kittens-kisses-and-razorblades-behind-star-treks-iconic-sounds/

beanheadmcginty

Cor! I love familiar sound effects. I'd love there to be a website that tells you where famous sound effects come from and which films they're in. A bit like that one that tells you where all samples in music come from.

Jasha

Quote from: olliebean on November 17, 2019, 10:32:39 AM
Kind of falling into the "do we really need another version of this?" category for me atm, but I'll probably give it a look. Will be deducting marks though if the artilleryman doesn't shout "I've got pillaaaaaaaaahs!"

idunnosomename

no david essex is probably the biggest bonus this has over the best adaption

Forever Autumn = ace
Brave New World = shit

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

That was good. Relentlessly grim. Well done.

Malcy

Enjoyed it. A bit different from what I was expecting. I might just download the rest and watch it tomorrow.

Cerys

Took too long for the martians to show up.  Annoying female lead.  No electric guitars.  Those are my only real criticisms.

Butchers Blind

A lot worked but did we need the add-on story of central character leaving his wife for another woman then that woman having a child out of marriage?

Kryton

Quote from: Alberon on November 17, 2019, 11:07:05 AM
I'm far more interested in a reasonably faithful adaptation of the book as opposed to yet another updating of the concept which just turns it into another bland alien invasion story.

Orson Welles' adaptation and the 50s film that followed are exceptions as they keep the central theme of the predominant military power of the age having their arse absolutely handed to them by the martians.

Indeed, the most chilling and wonderful moment for me as a Kid was listening to the vinyl and nearly crying when Thunder child snuffed it but saved the civilians.

That chilling moment when earth's best contemporary weapon was basically melted and sunk in the heat rays in about two minutes. Nowadays it'd be an aircraft carrier or a nuke or something and wouldn't quite work.

buzby

Yes, I enjoyed this too, it had a suitably grim tone and decent effects (the effect of the heat ray on the humans was well done too). It also had the added bonus for Merseyside-based viewers of plenty of location spotting - St. George's Hall looked suitably grand, and blokey's estranged wife lived at Croxteth Hall, just down the road from me.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Cerys on November 17, 2019, 10:21:43 PM
Took too long for the martians to show up.  Annoying female lead.  No electric guitars.  Those are my only real criticisms.

I didn't find her annoying, I though she delivered a very natural, unaffected performance. So there you go.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

This is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if transmission of this was delayed due to it being a whole lot grimmer than expected. For example, within the first ten minutes of episode two the Martians kill a baby. That's not the sort of thing you expect to see in the Sunday night BBC One 9pm slot.

BBC execs will have read the script beforehand, of course, but the uncompromising horror of the way it's been realised on screen may have taken them by surprise.

I'm probably talking bollocks, and not for the first time.

timebug

I see it was one hour, of a planned three one hour episodes, showing on the Beeb? I managed to watch what was called 'Part one' on a digital streaming service and it was 90 minutes long.So I guess some servers are dishing it up in two 90 minute segements?
Love the original book, and as Butchers Blind said:'A lot worked but did we need the add-on story of central character leaving his wife for another woman then that woman having a child out of marriage?'
I hate it when a basically good story is fucked about with, for the sake of fucking about with it, really!
And Demelza from Poldark seems a very gormless and slightly wooden bint in this; (dunno what she was like in Poldark, gave up on the recent remake very early on)
The 'tree trunks for legs' on the Martian machines was a bit iffy.Okay,so they used what was available 'locally' when creating their transport; but they were multi jointed (To give the impression of spiders or insects) how did that work then? Where were the hydraulics/electronics fitted?
An okay watch when there was bugger all else on* but hardly classic drama!

*I'm A Sleb was the main opposition to this, with Bruce Jenner being much more butch than the huge ex-rugger bugger or whatever he was. I know this because I saw the last few minutes of it,whilst channel hopping!

Ballad of Ballard Berkley


Norton Canes

Liked it but didn't really feel there was enough time spent on domestic Martian life

I mean they really had a chance to show that not all the Martians wanted to enslave another planet, and that some of the 8th gender Martians could actually work a heat ray.

Cerys

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on November 18, 2019, 08:46:10 AM
I didn't find her annoying, I though she delivered a very natural, unaffected performance. So there you go.

Oh, it wasn't the characterisation or performance that I found annoying.  It was the fact that she was there at all.  See points 1 and 3.