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Utopia is one of the best British shows there is. Will check out this American reimagining, but am tempering my expectations.
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# ? Sep 24, 2020 06:55 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:17 |
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Some Strange Flea posted:Third, presumably final trailer came out last week. This is a definite improvement in that I'm now merely unimpressed rather than actively repulsed.
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# ? Sep 24, 2020 10:33 |
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I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that someone takes the time to rescore it with the old music.
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# ? Sep 24, 2020 12:42 |
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I counted 18 dead in the first episode. Not entirely toned down. The initial plot is basically the same. Grant and Wilson are the same characters with very similar looking actors. The music is derived from the original score. Looks good.
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# ? Sep 25, 2020 18:13 |
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I had low hopes for the remake based on the initial trailer but I’ve seen 2 episodes now and it’s... well, it’s a slightly different show from what I remember (haven’t seen the original since it premiered) but I think it captures the mood? It has a good drive to it. It’s only 8 episodes so I’m happy to keep watching.
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# ? Sep 25, 2020 20:20 |
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Josh Lyman posted:I had low hopes for the remake based on the initial trailer but I’ve seen 2 episodes now and it’s... well, it’s a slightly different show from what I remember (haven’t seen the original since it premiered) but I think it captures the mood? It has a good drive to it. I have also reached the end of episode two: Pour one out for the original character. She could never survive an adaptation but she gave it a decent go.
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# ? Sep 25, 2020 21:15 |
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I'm on the second episode and it's just slow as hell in a bad way.
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 00:23 |
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I finished it and... it’s okay. I’m not sure I like the setup for season 2, but since it will no longer be based on the original, maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised. No telling how long when that’ll be since corona would’ve shut down production.
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 02:20 |
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I'm only on the third, but does this actually manage to somehow surpass the original's plot when it took two episodes to cover what Utopia did in its first?
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 03:23 |
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Mameluke posted:I'm only on the third, but does this actually manage to somehow surpass the original's plot when it took two episodes to cover what Utopia did in its first? The original absolutely fell apart after the first season, so it wouldn't be too hard tbh. That said, I've only had a chance to watch the opening credits, and the mosquito/oil shot is inspired.
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 03:42 |
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I was huge fan of the original series , so I'm watching the Amazon one now and to me at least it feels like things are moving faster not slower. It's definitely got its own vibe to it. Very surprised that Amazon released this now.
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 04:17 |
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First episode thoughts: I loving hate what they've done with Arby. It's trying too hard to be creepy, when Arby was terrifying in his innocuousness and flat affect. I do really like
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 11:35 |
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Never even heard of good until I saw this thread and there was an amazon thing. My partner didn't like the first two episodes of the amazon one and the clips from the brit one look.... Like Infinitely better visually and musically. Is it available anywhere legit or is this one of those filez kinda things now?
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 17:51 |
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Synnr posted:Never even heard of good until I saw this thread and there was an amazon thing. My partner didn't like the first two episodes of the amazon one and the clips from the brit one look.... Like Infinitely better visually and musically. Is it available anywhere legit or is this one of those filez kinda things now?
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 18:57 |
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Managed to finish the series overnight. It was overall inferior to the original. I hate how Wilson's turn was so perfunctory and based on what-realizing that someone else thinks Americans are sheeple? I found Arby's choices to be equally weak. That said I did think Lily's story was a cool addition.
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# ? Sep 26, 2020 19:37 |
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Uktopia is on Amazon in the UK, currently.
Some Strange Flea fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Sep 26, 2020 |
# ? Sep 26, 2020 20:31 |
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Three episodes in and this is clearly so much better than the British original. I liked some of the stuff better in the Channel Four version, but the script for this is clearly tighter, and manages to keep its cast more proactive (and therefore more likeable) than in the original. And for all that this show doesn't have the same kind of colour grading that the original had, its vision of inner city life is so much more interesting, and pointed. This production is so much more angry, and its arguments more pointed and aggressive, and I really appreciate that.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 03:14 |
Open Source Idiom posted:Three episodes in and this is clearly so much better than the British original. What? This is good but not even close to the original. The actors are nowhere near as great for their characters. The cinematography is on a different level in the original.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 04:10 |
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D-Pad posted:What? This is good but not even close to the original. The actors are nowhere near as great for their characters. The cinematography is on a different level in the original. Dan Byrd is so much better than Nathan Stewart-Jarrat it's not funny, and Alexandra Roach, while a very good actress, was completely wasted. I think both Arby and Jessica are better in the original, but generally this remake has a higher level of performance across the board.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 07:15 |
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Open Source Idiom posted:Three episodes in and this is clearly so much better than the British original. Yeah uhh what? The script really isn't tighter. It wastes an assload of time with irrelevant bit characters (the comic finders, Sam, Sam's dad just in the first couple episodes). And its arguments are boiled down to incoherence; where the Network's operatives spoke in frank terms about their climate change fears, Wilson Wilson here is an inarticulate schmuck and the Harvest is just Kevin Christie playing God at Milner's behest. Also...what? Nathan Stewart-Jarrett's Ian is way better than this lame-o. You actually got a sense of why Jessica might stick with the group because of her creepy attraction to him (instead of simply taking the cast hostage)
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 07:18 |
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At first I hated this one because I made the mistake of rewatching the original about a week ago. As others have said the cinematography and soundtrack is just worse. They took something visually and audibly unique and made it completely generic. Not much else to say. It seems like just about every decision made in regards to the characters was the wrong one. Becky and Ian both didn't feel like real people and also had zero chemistry together. Much preferred Arby as a dead eyed mouth breather, felt a lot fresher than generic polite hitman. But the biggest let down for me was Jessica Hyde. The UK version was calm, ruthless and pragmatic, the sort of person you could see surviving despite an international conspiracy being after her. The US was all over the shop. In the UK version Jessica Hyde calmly strangles an old man in a homage to the opening of No Country for Old Men. In the US version Jessica Hyde has a technicolour action scene against a giant homeless woman, Having said that I did enjoy the later episodes more, when it felt like rather than just being an expensive high school production of the original it started exploring some of its own ideas. Overall the only people I would recommend this to is people who have seen the original and want to appreciate it even more.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 07:20 |
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I watched the first episode. Terrible. Absolutely terrible. So much stupidity beyond the poor job of trying to make it the same but different. Over and over I kept saying out loud how bad it was. It started immediately with the dumb credits. Then a dumb opening scene that made no sense. It didn't intrigue. It was like the opposite of the original that is brilliant from the first shot. I mean, when in what universe have you seen a hot blonde working as a shlep groundskeeper? That would never happen. It did nothing for her character other than draw the viewer away to question the point of the scene. I kept getting the feeling that it was supposed to be funny but all the jokes were missing. I may watch the second at some point, after I rewatch the original again because if I am going to watch Utopia, I might as well do it right. poo poo, the kill scene in the hotel was a complete joke and made no sense. Why poison one room then wander around shooting everyone else? Ugh. I wish I'd seen Finchers vision of a US remake rather than the trash Amazon unleashed upon the world. At least The Boys is great.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 08:41 |
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This villain girl subplot (episode five) is hilarious. Edit: all the villain stuff is amazingly weird. You can see why they cast The Riddler from Gotham.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 12:46 |
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Becky and Sam just feel like they split UK Becky into two characters in a way that gives New Becky way less agency and character.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 17:41 |
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Waltzing Along posted:I watched the first episode. Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Keep watching, I got a really sour taste after the first scene but it really really picks up and the core cast seem to have better chemistry and motivation than the original. Also in Ep 2: the killing of Wilson Sr was really touching and funny
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 18:31 |
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As an American, I gotta say I morbidly enjoyed the stuff dealing with the politics of the vaccine approval process if for no other reason than it’s a preview of what’s going to actually happen with the coronavirus vaccine.
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# ? Sep 27, 2020 20:21 |
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The knockoff credit music bugs me more than it should
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# ? Sep 28, 2020 06:08 |
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I like the 'conspiracy' group in the US version more than in the UK. It never made sense in the original that "The Network" could have such reach and power, yet be unable to stop a ragtag group of normals. Here, it's just the result of a really fanatical family-cult who gently caress up all the time.
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# ? Sep 28, 2020 06:16 |
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Open Source Idiom posted:but the script for this is clearly tighter You cannot possibly be talking about the dialogue. EDIT: Or, really, even the plot. At least while the plot is still vaguely throwing homage at the original. Regulus74 fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Sep 28, 2020 |
# ? Sep 28, 2020 07:50 |
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xerxus posted:I like the 'conspiracy' group in the US version more than in the UK. Just finished ep 6: I enjoy that they lean less on technological ways to frame, track, and kill their enemies. I also like that they have more of a budget so you can see the scope of things instead of the “there are only 10 people in the whole conspiracy and counter-conspiracy” thing that the UK version was forced into. Actually seeing a quarantine zone with tents and bunny suits and protestors is much more powerful than yet another news segment with a jpg of the biohazard sign. The US version also hits its central themes of family and belonging much harder and with basically every speaking character. On the other hand, the music is serviceable but in no way gets to de Veer’s score. The framing and camera work is much more sweeping but the coloring is uninspired, including an insulting amount of teal and orange quasars for a show released ityool 2020. The biggest miss was definitely the opening scene with the very bad acting by the two dayplayers and the Blade Runner-style voice over explaining what the comic book is. theflyingexecutive fucked around with this message at 10:35 on Sep 28, 2020 |
# ? Sep 28, 2020 10:32 |
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I also like the specific way in which the conspiracy is flawed -- they see human beings as a system that needs correcting through strict discipline, rather than as inherently broken and random vectors of chaos that can't be corrected. The Foster mother sums up the themes pretty clearly at one point. Sometimes the system works for people, and that's fine, but it's not going to work for everyone, and we need to be able to adapt to that when it happens. But you can see it at multiple levels of the script, from the comic fans who only understand how to read fiction in one way, to the way a lot of the cast are obsessed with purpose and utility.
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# ? Sep 28, 2020 10:43 |
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It was straight irresponsible to release this right now. This is going to be antivaxer canon via Facebook forward by March.
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# ? Sep 28, 2020 14:30 |
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:It was straight irresponsible to release this right now. This is going to be antivaxer canon via Facebook forward by March. Anitvaxers dont need a niche amazon show to come up with absolute horseshit. They do fine on their own.
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# ? Sep 28, 2020 21:57 |
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Despite being a UK goon I never caught the original. Watched the remake at the weekend and am currently working my way through season one of the original. The remake doesn't seem to have been well received. Both seem to have their pros and cons imo. I like the setup more in the US version, the Comic Con, the lore of Dystopia being explored more. I'm finding the UK Jessica Hyde and Arby more interesting. I prefer Raine Wilson's character more interesting than Paul Higgins but the character's motivation is better.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 00:26 |
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I knew nothing of the UK version, got into this because of Desmin Borges since I love You’re the Worst, and really liked it.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 00:44 |
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loosenukes posted:I knew nothing of the UK version, got into this because of Desmin Borges since I love You’re the Worst, and really liked it. gently caress, I knew I recognised him from somewhere.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 01:06 |
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Proud to say that I own the chotchkie that made Wilson Wilson go "gently caress humanity"
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 03:59 |
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Making Wilson's turn contingent on "people love CRAP" ruins any subversive potential that change has, because Wilson is a hypocrite for believing it. He's a prepper. He loves crap.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 05:30 |
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Mameluke posted:Making Wilson's turn contingent on "people love CRAP" ruins any subversive potential that change has, because Wilson is a hypocrite for believing it. He's a prepper. He loves crap. He loves useful poo poo. He took issue with the unused spiralizer, and conspicuous consumption generally.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 07:18 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 12:17 |
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Open Source Idiom posted:He loves useful poo poo. He took issue with the unused spiralizer, and conspicuous consumption generally. Dude couldn't wait to show off his bunker.
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# ? Sep 29, 2020 14:43 |