General / Off-Topic The BBC's war of the worlds is pants

"Seen nearer,.........

The preceding text though says:

"And this Thing I saw! How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot of the thunder. A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer. Can you imagine a milking stool tilted and bowled violently along the ground? That was the impression those instant flashes gave. But instead of a milking stool imagine it a great body of machinery on a tripod stand.. "

So reflecting what @Mad Life Crisis had recalled.
 
So reflecting what @Mad Life Crisis had recalled.

He was right about HG Wells reaction to the piccies not representing the tripods as he saw them, he added this paragraph as a result :

"I recall particularly the illustration of one of the first pamphlets to give a consecutive account of the war. The artist had evidently made a hasty study of one of the fighting-machines, and there his knowledge ended. He presented them as tilted, stiff tripods, without either flexibility or subtlety, and with an altogether misleading monotony of effect. The pamphlet containing these renderings had a considerable vogue, and I mention them here simply to warn the reader against the impression they may have created. They were no more like the Martians I saw in action than a Dutch doll is like a human being. To my mind, the pamphlet would have been much better without them."
 
Ah, I had really high hopes for this series, since it actually had the courage to use a vaguely period-appropriate setting. And then I was really disappointed. And now I kind of want to rant about it.

  • Once again, a complete failure to understand how the Fighting Machines are described as moving. The 'bowled milking stool' bit describes a thing that moves fast and can change direction completely in a single step. Indeed, I've seen pointed out elsewhere that a big reason artillery is ineffective against them is that they're just too nimble to hit. Here, well, I guess they have three legs, and... and they're big. And that's where the resemblance ends.
  • The Martians themselves. They build three-legged machines, right? So they must have three legs themselves! Again! Just like every other version! At least they didn't have heads on top this time. But they also didn't have, you know, 'hands', or fine manipulators of any kind, and behaved more like animals than intelligent creatures, where the whole point of the original Martians was that they were brains with hands and nothing else.
  • The story flow was all wrong. By which I mean the novel, and many adaptions, goes through distinct stages of suspense, hope, despair, bleakness, then even a sort of elation at the end. This was just a little suspense, then grimness, gloom, despair, more gloom, maybe the barest suggestion of something better and then it ended. Not the same at all.
  • About the only really 'iconic' scene left was the heat ray at the common. No Thunderchild, no Dead London Montage, no real 'Rout of Civilisation' bit, no mad artilleryman bit, not even the Train On Fire. Such a waste.

...And there's more, but I should probably stop.

I'll say one thing though, it has made me like the Tom Cruise version a whole lot better. Ironically it now seems to me to be a lot more faithful to the original.
 
Ah, I had really high hopes for this series, since it actually had the courage to use a vaguely period-appropriate setting. And then I was really disappointed. And now I kind of want to rant about it.

  • Once again, a complete failure to understand how the Fighting Machines are described as moving. The 'bowled milking stool' bit describes a thing that moves fast and can change direction completely in a single step. Indeed, I've seen pointed out elsewhere that a big reason artillery is ineffective against them is that they're just too nimble to hit. Here, well, I guess they have three legs, and... and they're big. And that's where the resemblance ends.
  • The Martians themselves. They build three-legged machines, right? So they must have three legs themselves! Again! Just like every other version! At least they didn't have heads on top this time. But they also didn't have, you know, 'hands', or fine manipulators of any kind, and behaved more like animals than intelligent creatures, where the whole point of the original Martians was that they were brains with hands and nothing else.
  • The story flow was all wrong. By which I mean the novel, and many adaptions, goes through distinct stages of suspense, hope, despair, bleakness, then even a sort of elation at the end. This was just a little suspense, then grimness, gloom, despair, more gloom, maybe the barest suggestion of something better and then it ended. Not the same at all.
  • About the only really 'iconic' scene left was the heat ray at the common. No Thunderchild, no Dead London Montage, no real 'Rout of Civilisation' bit, no mad artilleryman bit, not even the Train On Fire. Such a waste.

...And there's more, but I should probably stop.

I'll say one thing though, it has made me like the Tom Cruise version a whole lot better. Ironically it now seems to me to be a lot more faithful to the original.

I actually liked more than I hated, and to be honest I'd rather see something new than keep remaking the old.

The social aspect was hard handed in places: I would have rather that gender equality came through adversity after the attack than how it was portrayed. I loved the flash forwards that showed the aftermath in a logical way and linked the bacterial angle. I also liked how propaganda was used, with most people in ignorance of what was going on- the beach scene being the high point. I also loved how Amy was portrayed as desperate to steal, and fed up that the BBC cut a small reaction shot that insinuated her character gave into the drunk soldier to avoid being punished for stealing (and that the rotten beans made her sacrifice meaningless).
 
I actually liked more than I hated, and to be honest I'd rather see something new than keep remaking the old.

If anyone had actually made the old properly in the first place, I might agree. :)

The social aspect was hard handed in places: I would have rather that gender equality came through adversity after the attack than how it was portrayed. I loved the flash forwards that showed the aftermath in a logical way and linked the bacterial angle. I also liked how propaganda was used, with most people in ignorance of what was going on- the beach scene being the high point. I also loved how Amy was portrayed as desperate to steal, and fed up that the BBC cut a small reaction shot that insinuated her character gave into the drunk soldier to avoid being punished for stealing (and that the rotten beans made her sacrifice meaningless).

Fair points certainly, but... They put some new and interesting stuff in, but they also gutted the original story and most of the interesting things about it while doing so. If the original story had somehow never existed, I might well have thought this one was great and meaningful and atmospheric and stuff, but as it is, it wasn't the story I wanted to see. Each to their own, but now the chances of getting a faithful period-appropriate adaption seem further away than every. :(
 
I can think of nothing positive to say about this series. It was poorly shot, badly written and even more poorly directed. Those people responsible for this mess should consider taking up a different occupation.

To anyone considering watching this - don't - it is dire and possibly the most disappointing thing I have ever seen on television.
 
I can think of nothing positive to say about this series. It was poorly shot, badly written and even more poorly directed. Those people responsible for this mess should consider taking up a different occupation.

To anyone considering watching this - don't - it is dire and possibly the most disappointing thing I have ever seen on television.

Well get ready for this then- you are going to love it!

 
Well get ready for this then- you are going to love it!
..........

I was reading about that when it was being shot and then of course IMDB reviews landed and put the baby to rest. One good point someone made on there:

"... It was refreshing to watch an apocalyptic event that had nothing to do with Americans, ..."

So I suppose that could also be given as a plus to the Beeb's disaster. ;)


 
I was enjoying it up to a point then it was what, then I came around to what they were trying to do, but then I diddnt even watch the ending monolouge as by then I was bored and the wife and I were chatting about somthing else.
 
I thought it started well, then nosedived. Was it the same people who wrote the most recent Dr.Who? Seemed as poorly written. Last episode was so embarrassing!
 
Sadly 'we' (this is a global 'we' in relation to english language tv entertainment in general) just don't know how to (or are simply not able to) make good TV shows anymore. Sure we get the odd fluke show that gets it right (i still enjoy The Big Bang Theory for example), but i honestly have not been able to watch and enjoy any of the main channels TV series for over a decade now (from the BBC, ITV etc).

Science and Nature stuff is still decent quality (Brian Cox, David Attenborough, etc) but the last time i was able to watch a whole 'entertainment' series we are talking way back (Doc Martin might be a rare example of a long running show that did not lose it's mojo). 'Day of the Triffids', 'Threads', 'Space 1999', 'Blake Seven', 'All Creatures Great and Small' etc etc. That was really the golden era of TV's entertainment shows, where good writing, good acting and good production teams knew how to tell a logical tale with 'real' characters and interest.

I blame 'Big Brother' (the tv show) and that era of TV where the rush to the bottom has spread it's influence into everything else. 'Quality' is the rarest of commodities in TV these days imho. So much so that even when something 'historical' is attempted ('The Tudors' for example) it just bleeds modern-day thinking to distraction that you can't actually believe these people are doing what their doing and saying what they are saying in the historic context, so it becomes a strange make-believe rather than historical re-enactment. Shows like that, that we make today, would totally not surprise me if the 'Henry V' character in it suddenly pulled out an i-phone to gossip about sex lives with the 'Cardinal' or something.

And it is much the same for film also (see Star Wars after the orginal trilogy etc).

We are just way past our creative best as modern english speaking nations, it's all about the ratings and viewer numbers and the dive to the bottom common denominator. It's destroying our 'culture' in effect.

It's got to the point where i won't even bother watching something like this new War of the Worlds series as i know before hand not only is it going to stink, but it will likely ruin what was good about the original sources it was based on.
 
Sadly 'we' (this is a global 'we' in relation to english language tv entertainment in general) just don't know how to (or are simply not able to) make good TV shows anymore. Sure we get the odd fluke show that gets it right (i still enjoy The Big Bang Theory for example), but i honestly have not been able to watch and enjoy any of the main channels TV series for over a decade now (from the BBC, ITV etc).
..........

Just 2019 for example (only UK broadcast TV produced, no Sky, Netflix etc.) a tiny sample off the top of my head of what I have enjoyed and seems also well regarded:

Line of Fire

Don't forget the Driver

Mum

Gentleman jack

Killing Eve

Fleabag

Guilt

The Capture

Ghosts

His Dark Materials

Derry Girls

I could go on but I won't, maybe you need to get your telly fixed. ;)
 
It certainly was a disappointment. The design of the Martians didn't make any sense, They looked like a three legged version of the toxic head crabs from Half Life 2. They certainly didn't look like they were responsible for creating any of the technology they used. Also this version made their demise look monumentally stupid. Most versions from the original go on the trope of the Martians being technologically more advanced than humans but a bit dim regarding biological threats, but in the BBC's version they seem to have enough knowledge to try and terraform/marsform Earth and only die because they decide to eat people and catch diseases from them.

Anyway a random treat to make up for how bad it was
 
Just 2019 for example (only UK broadcast TV produced, no Sky, Netflix etc.) a tiny sample off the top of my head of what I have enjoyed and seems also well regarded:

Line of Fire

Don't forget the Driver

Mum

Gentleman jack

Killing Eve

Fleabag

Guilt

The Capture

Ghosts

His Dark Materials

Derry Girls

I could go on but I won't, maybe you need to get your telly fixed. ;)

My biggest regret is having BBC 3 shut down / shunted about. That was the hotbed of a lot of fun shows. Boosh, Monkey Dust, The Fades, Being Human, Bad Education, Torchwood (which was alright), Little Britain and a lot of good one off shorts (the Five Doctors being my favourite although I think that might have been BBCi).

The BBC is always good at costume drama and crime. Sci Fi (serious stuff) is where it goes wonky- saying that though sci fi generally on all platforms is iffy outside of a few shows.
 
Tales of Para Handy?
with the GREAT Gregor! (admit here to being a McNeill of Barra descendent) Vatersay Boys n all tha’!
ive had a dram or too, forgive me!
and taken a beatin on CQC v musketeer et al tonight!
 
“Cobblers”! Love your pensive Zappa Gully! Me late granda would tell tales of old Ireland, listened to the Gaeltacht raidio naGaeltachta back in the day. A stage raconteur, it was the story, always the story. It’s all about in your face emotion now, when that should be built by the story. Not forced through slack tired barely there narrative of meaningless guff.
 
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