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Revolution (TV Series)

Totenkindly

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Anyone watch this tonight yet? I just saw it streaming on NBC's site. It's produced by Abrams, I think.

Not sure how I feel about it yet. The opening five minutes was pretty interesting, but then it became kind of formulaic and predictable, until about the last 15 minutes, where upon it got more interesting again.

Another issue is that I didn't particularly warm up to anyone in the cast yet. I mean, I do like Miles the most, probably (he comes off as a slightly darker Dennis Quaid), and Charlie... and the black woman seems intriguing (the actress is kind of mesmerizing)... but everyone else is just kinda meh. I had a much different reaction with the Lost pilot, which I thought was far more solid and the cast (the actual actors) were more interesting overall.

Right now this feels like a mix between Lost and Terra Nova and Once Upon a Time, and I hope this is more of the former rather than the latter two. even the bad guys seem to be playing at being menacing, without really yet being menacing.

And some of the appeal of the show is just seeing what certain popular landmarks might look like if they could no longer be maintained.

I thought the scene with the ice cream was oddly touching. I mean, what would you do if this society was about to collapse. What are the last things you'd do before those things disappeared forever and you could never get them back again?
 

MacGuffin

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I'm watching football like a real American (I'm also sick).

Though I did record it. However, it sounds pretty silly. Magical amulets?
 

Totenkindly

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They weren't magic amulets... at least, I don't think so. We see the insides of one early in the episode, and it's basically a USB drive. So I have no idea what happens at the end of the episode, when an amulet seems to generate power.
 

kelric

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I'd marked this as a show that I might like (I tend to like the post-apocalyptic stuff), but I missed the episode watching the last 3 episodes of Breaking Bad season 4 (which were really quite good). Will have to check it out at NBCs' site later this week.

I'm not too confident that it'll be well done, but the premise does sound like it has potential (but I thought, and still think, that Terra Nova's premise sounded great too, and look how cringeworthy that turned out).
 

Usehername

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I watched the pilot but thought it mostly took a good idea and somehow dropped the ball. Maybe I was doomed to dislike it because I saw a hulu ad from a producer who happily explained that, "it's a long walk. Like LOTR" (which I hate).
 
G

Ginkgo

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I'm watching the first episode now. Shit got real, and fast.

PS - I think it will be great success if they only tread lightly where Lost has already traveled.
 

Totenkindly

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I watched the pilot but thought it mostly took a good idea and somehow dropped the ball. Maybe I was doomed to dislike it because I saw a hulu ad from a producer who happily explained that, "it's a long walk. Like LOTR" (which I hate).

That's what I felt too -- I was underwhelmed overall, especially sitting on it for a night after. It seems only on par with the Terra Nova pilot, which had a few decent actors and then a bunch of bland/miscast ones (like the leader of the Sixers -- here, I'm not that impressed with the Militia leader, who already loses some intimidation factor just from playing Sidney Glass/Genie off "Once Upon a Time"). Danny doesn't seem to know how to act. The doctor seems kind of impenetrable and not in a good way. etc. I felt like they were all masked strangers; I didn't feel that way with some other series' pilots, where the characters/actors kind of grab you from the start. I wonder how the directing and camera angles impacts this as well.

And we all know how Terra Nova went, although one reason it folded was because they didn't have the budget to support their dinosaur animations without a decent following. Less special effects here, but it still doesn't bode well; and they had Jon Favreau (Iron Man) involved in the pilot.

The pilot is supposed to be the best / anchoring episode.

At least we did leave with some real questions:



EDIT:

At this link, it says Mitchell will appear through flashbacks, and she's credited for the six episodes currently on the table, so....

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revolution-nbc-elizabeth-mitchell-lost-jj-abrams-343674

One of the other articles, she talks about her character as if there's a lot of backstory we have not yet seen that is being handled in the showm, so you'll likely see more of her....

The Hollywood Reporter: How would you describe Rachel?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Maternal and intelligent. What I liked about her is she's spectacularly non-equipped to deal with the world that's coming towards her and I love that. After six years of playing intensely, physically-capable women, it was fun to start someone from scratch, someone who is soft -- just in what she's done and what she's seen. I loved the idea of an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation. It was something I hadn't done in a long time. There's a lot of vulnerability that comes from not being able to protect yourself.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revolution-elizabeth-mitchell-370773
 

Totenkindly

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Linky

http://news.yahoo.com/revolution-built-good-ideas-needs-big-personalities-review-182910772.html

...A lot happens in the pilot, but it feels like a grab-bag of ideas and potential hooks. It's the same problem that afflicted NBC's last big-idea sci-fi show, "The Event," and Fox's "Terra Nova." In their calculated attempts to offer a little something for everyone, they forgot that characters keep us coming back every week.

Like almost every sci-fi show that has come since "Lost," "The Event," and "Terra Nova" have copied its worst element - too many throwaway mysteries which will never be fully resolved. But the best part of "Lost" was its deeply damaged and conflicted characters, from the felonious Kate Austen to the lovable-but-underestimated Hurley.

"Revolution" could use more big personalities. It has too many generically good-looking people behaving inoffensively, who we are supposed to like simply because TV needs protagonists, and here they are....

Word.

I might have been premature on my criticism of Esposito, who I only knew from "Once Upon a Time".... apparently he's been more riveting (and darker-natured) on Breaking Bad, a show I plan to watch but haven't started yet. Still, I just didn't find him particularly menacing, the show right now still has too much eye candy in their cast and not enough texture to the characters.
 

Totenkindly

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Another review is here:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/1...-is-bland-but-the-sci-fi-series-could-succeed

So apparently Revolution was much more hyped than I thought. ...the pilot episode has aired and by the end of it it seemed like the entire population of the world responded with a collective shrug, the massive simultaneous shoulder movement probably causing the Earth’s atmosphere to be raised an entire inch....

...Revolution may be a new rival to the ever-so-helpful Dictionary of, Like, ALL the Post-Apocalyptic Clichés, by George Romero. It features every single trope of the genre: Slightly fascist militias, the drunk lowlife who is secretly awesome, the determined and impossibly hot chick who is good with a bow and has a tendency to get sentimental (Pfft, women … You know how it is … Am I right fellas? Who’s with me?) etc. The only slightly original character is Maggie, the British doctor, there to remind us that the producers don’t think all women are hysterical (only the young ones), but I might be saying that because I haven’t yet identified which trope she represents in this scenario.

...the premise is still intriguing enough to maybe warrant following the series to see where it goes....it has potential. After all, an apple is also a very bland thing, but dare a gullible friend to swallow one whole and you may be surprised to find how entertaining that fruit can be.
 

Stanton Moore

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This show isn't gritty enough, given the subject matter... I wanted something more like 'The Road', but not as hopeless...of course that's not possible when you have to cut to ads for F-150's, et alia.:cry:
 

Usehername

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At this link, it says Mitchell will appear through flashbacks, and she's credited for the six episodes currently on the table, so....

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revolution-nbc-elizabeth-mitchell-lost-jj-abrams-343674

One of the other articles, she talks about her character as if there's a lot of backstory we have not yet seen that is being handled in the showm, so you'll likely see more of her....



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revolution-elizabeth-mitchell-370773

Oou! I love her. Maybe I'll keep tabs on it just in case it gets better. Thanks!
 

kelric

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Well, I watched it, and I have to agree with the general sentiment. Worthy premise, but at least for the first episode, sort of hollow. Both in that all of the interesting parts were in the first 5 and last 5 minutes and that there weren't really any characters that grabbed me (except perhaps Google-AC/DC guy (Hurley-redux, but I liked Hurley too) and Algebra Teacher, but something tells me that they're minor characters). Perhaps I'm getting old, but I have zero interest in the inevitable romance subplot between Miss Hunger Games and Militia Spy Guy. I mean, that last-minute rescue (of an enemy, at the expense of his own squadmate) could have come right out of an After-School Special.

I think what struck me the most is what seems to kill most science fiction in mainstream TV... failing to maintain realism in the little things. For instance, the most network-friendly bloodless swordfight in history... complete with a scene where the hero was surrounded by swordsmen, who a) patiently waited their turn to be killed and b) gave the hero a free time-out that lasted like 15 seconds when one of their fellow goons was shot with an arrow and said hero turns his back to them to gawk at his rescuer.

I think watching things like Game of Thrones, as violent as it may be, makes these sorts of things seem particularly weak in comparison. I mean, I know that the choreographed fight scenes aren't what this show's about... but it was a pretty glaring dose of anti-realism. And science fiction, especially that which aspires to be taken even a little seriously, can't afford to fall flat on the little things like that. Far-out premise? Unexplained mysteries? Bring it on. But everything else needs to be spot-on, and it wasn't. Everything from the uber-fast-acting, uber-strong whiskey-poison to the cheap looking crossbow that took repeated hits from a steel sword to well-known landmarks surviving to be gawked at while their neighboring buildings magically turned into forest just sort of oozes laziness to me. Good science fiction (and fantasy) doesn't make those mistakes.

The acting seemed sort of flat, but I guess I can give that a bit of time. Esposito was pretty darned good in Breaking Bad, so I'm not counting him out yet, and although most of the younger actors seem of the "nice to look at, but not much else" type, they may surprise me. And the mention that Elizabeth Mitchell will be present in future episodes (in flashbacks, at least) is a plus.

I'll keep watching it, at least for a while, though. The premise is interesting, and the questions that came up near the end hinted at a plot that might turn into something -- even if it may turn into something like Lost, where the plot goes everywhere but where you thought it would. But in Lost, the characters made the show... I suspect that this show won't make it unless it can catch up, and quickly, in that aspect.
 

swordpath

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I'd marked this as a show that I might like (I tend to like the post-apocalyptic stuff), but I missed the episode watching the last 3 episodes of Breaking Bad season 4 (which were really quite good).

Nice little coincidence that at least one of the show's villains is played by the guy who played Gus Fring in BB.
 
A

Anew Leaf

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I was looking forward to it, but found the pilot very meh, like others have said.

Random thoughts:
1- How are people able to have swords and crap?
2- Seeing the militia come in on horseback made me really miss Firefly. (Ok, this serious totally needs Nathan Fillion and I will watch it to the ends of this earth. :wub:)
3- The only interesting part is the black out itself and the aftermath as humanity adjusted. THAT is far more interesting to me than the supposedly interesting "charlie" and her boring family.
4- The love interest bit is super heavy handed = snooooooooooooze. Not interested. This guy may have saved you, but he also betrayed you. (If she's ovulating, then I give her a pass for this one episode.)
5- Miles is trying too hard to be all ISTPesque.
6- The very ending was so Lost + Hatch, I chuckled. I am not sure this was the reaction they were going for.

I will keep watching for a few episodes to see if it gets better, but so far I am unimpressed. What I love about other JJ shows such as Lost and POI... is that the characters are very strong and real and things are developed slowly and beautifully. This was like Terra Nova without the possibilities of dinosaurs.
 

swordpath

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I watched the the first 10 minutes and got bored. I liked the first 2 minutes when everything was shutting down, and that's about it.
 

Usehername

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Well, I watched it, and I have to agree with the general sentiment. Worthy premise, but at least for the first episode, sort of hollow. Both in that all of the interesting parts were in the first 5 and last 5 minutes and that there weren't really any characters that grabbed me (except perhaps Google-AC/DC guy (Hurley-redux, but I liked Hurley too) and Algebra Teacher, but something tells me that they're minor characters). Perhaps I'm getting old, but I have zero interest in the inevitable romance subplot between Miss Hunger Games and Militia Spy Guy. I mean, that last-minute rescue (of an enemy, at the expense of his own squadmate) could have come right out of an After-School Special.

I think what struck me the most is what seems to kill most science fiction in mainstream TV... failing to maintain realism in the little things. For instance, the most network-friendly bloodless swordfight in history... complete with a scene where the hero was surrounded by swordsmen, who a) patiently waited their turn to be killed and b) gave the hero a free time-out that lasted like 15 seconds when one of their fellow goons was shot with an arrow and said hero turns his back to them to gawk at his rescuer.

I think watching things like Game of Thrones, as violent as it may be, makes these sorts of things seem particularly weak in comparison. I mean, I know that the choreographed fight scenes aren't what this show's about... but it was a pretty glaring dose of anti-realism. And science fiction, especially that which aspires to be taken even a little seriously, can't afford to fall flat on the little things like that. Far-out premise? Unexplained mysteries? Bring it on. But everything else needs to be spot-on, and it wasn't. Everything from the uber-fast-acting, uber-strong whiskey-poison to the cheap looking crossbow that took repeated hits from a steel sword to well-known landmarks surviving to be gawked at while their neighboring buildings magically turned into forest just sort of oozes laziness to me. Good science fiction (and fantasy) doesn't make those mistakes.

The acting seemed sort of flat, but I guess I can give that a bit of time. Esposito was pretty darned good in Breaking Bad, so I'm not counting him out yet, and although most of the younger actors seem of the "nice to look at, but not much else" type, they may surprise me. And the mention that Elizabeth Mitchell will be present in future episodes (in flashbacks, at least) is a plus.

I'll keep watching it, at least for a while, though. The premise is interesting, and the questions that came up near the end hinted at a plot that might turn into something -- even if it may turn into something like Lost, where the plot goes everywhere but where you thought it would. But in Lost, the characters made the show... I suspect that this show won't make it unless it can catch up, and quickly, in that aspect.

I concur with everything you said.
 
A

Anew Leaf

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I watched last night's episode and was completely underwhelmed. Everything is too heavy handed: the acting, the music, the plot.

Sigh. Nothing is subtle.
 

Totenkindly

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HA HA HA! I just finished it a second ago. I thought it was an improvement on the pilot.... enough that I'll watch another one.

But I do agree with what you said. I especially noticed the music tonight -- it was just too much. It needs to integrate better into the dialogue. The whole things is too heavy-handed and overt. The best moments are when it forgets to be dramatic and obvious and accidentally does something subtle/unexpected/natural.
 

kelric

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Everything is too heavy handed: the acting, the music, the plot.

Sigh. Nothing is subtle.

The whole things is too heavy-handed and overt. The best moments are when it forgets to be dramatic and obvious and accidentally does something subtle/unexpected/natural.

:solidarity:

Just finished the episode -- I still think that this *could* be a good show. But the heavy-handedness is really clumsy. I can't help but think that if they stopped trying so hard, it'd be a better show. I'm not sure that all of the actors are up to it, though... especially NotKatniss (as I saw her described elsewhere - it just fits too well). She seems to have one facial expression... "pouty glare", and it's quite annoying.

The guy who plays Miles was okay, Esposito was good (as expected) even if his lines were overwritten. At least I feel that he can pull it off. The younger actors were universally pretty bad, although it's hard to tell if that's them, or simply bad dialog/direction. I suspect both.

The whole "little things are wrong" comment I had about the pilot still applies, but not quite as much in this episode. More un-bloody swordfights that are probably just a given, and I thought it was rather odd that one week after the power went out, only like 5 people (four of whom are a family) were out and about *in Chicago*. Maybe they can't afford extras? But at least the basic story is somewhat interesting to me, so I'm willing to keep watching.

 

Totenkindly

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Just finished the episode -- I still think that this *could* be a good show.

Yes, I felt like I saw some signs of it tonight... like when it looked like Charlie fell off the wall, and then Nate showed up...



The guy who plays Miles was okay, Esposito was good (as expected) even if his lines were overwritten. At least I feel that he can pull it off. The younger actors were universally pretty bad, although it's hard to tell if that's them, or simply bad dialog/direction. I suspect both.

Yes, I think the directing "how things fit together" is off. That's why everything is so overdone. The director(s) need to take more control and ease everything back and give better instructions to the various pieces of the show.

More un-bloody swordfights that are probably just a given,

Yeah, I think it's aimed too much at the Terra Nova market for us to get any real decent blood aside from a few gutshots -- it's just all glam sworddancing.

and I thought it was rather odd that one week after the power went out, only like 5 people (four of whom are a family) were out and about *in Chicago*. Maybe they can't afford extras?

That was how I felt in Snow White and the Huntsman -- like they couldn't afford enough extras to make storming the castle at the end believable. It was hard to even care about that "wicked witch" when her army seemed tiny and pathetic and there were barely any people in the village. And what should have been the climactic battle seemed about on the scale of a middle-school reenactment battle.

As far as your spoiler goes -- YEAH! I was so excited to see that. it's funny because sometimes it's hard to recognize a good actor until they're next to bad ones, because they do it so effortlessly.
 
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