Whilst this adaptation of The Day of the Triffids has its flaws (more on that in a moment), I found it thoroughly enjoyable. This has been one of my favourite stories since childhood and I was excited to hear of this new production. I was even more intrigued when I learned that Dougray Scott was taking the lead role.
In terms of weaknesses, the miscasting of Eddie Izzard was the biggest mistake, and took this otherwise atmospheric production in the wrong direction. You don't need a comic-book baddie when you have the menace of the triffids to contend with.
Where so many productions fall down is when implausible things happen in the storyline. The more plausible and realistic the concept, the more frightening it will be when it comes across on the screen. Most implausible of all was Torrence's method of surviving the plane crash. Also, the rushed pace forced all cast members to be within a mile of each other right from the outset! The triffids simply weren't frightening enough. They looked like men walking in plant suits.
On the plus side, I so enjoyed the mood and atmosphere of the production. I wish it had been a much longer story, maybe 6 to 8 hours long, with the slowly building threat of the triffids.
So often I read less than positive reviews of Dougray Scott's acting, and yet to me, he was very well cast in this. Despite the implication otherwise in modern entertainment, you don't have to be a baby-faced 20 year old male to be a "hero". In fact, quite the opposite. In real life, heroes come from all age groups, personalities and backgrounds. The greater the life experiences people have, the more they are equipped to deal with the trials life throws at them. This needs to be reflected in movie making too to make stories more plausible. Dougray Scott is a much under-rated actor and I'd personally like to see him in many more top roles instead of all the teen "heroes" monopolising our action based movies these days.
All the other performances came across well too, and I really cared about the characters. Throughout, I was worried they were going to kill off Coker (Jason Priestley). It was a pleasant surprise to find Priestley in this production.
In summary, much as I like Eddie Izzard, this production suffered by his inclusion as it added a comedic/comic-book element which detracted from the threat of the real enemy.
I would really like to encourage the BBC to produce a darker follow-up with the same cast, but only with the triffid as the enemy (ie. no comedic characters). There is plenty of potential for taking this storyline a year away, as other countries start to communicate with our characters and as the triffids spread and pollinate across the globe.
In terms of weaknesses, the miscasting of Eddie Izzard was the biggest mistake, and took this otherwise atmospheric production in the wrong direction. You don't need a comic-book baddie when you have the menace of the triffids to contend with.
Where so many productions fall down is when implausible things happen in the storyline. The more plausible and realistic the concept, the more frightening it will be when it comes across on the screen. Most implausible of all was Torrence's method of surviving the plane crash. Also, the rushed pace forced all cast members to be within a mile of each other right from the outset! The triffids simply weren't frightening enough. They looked like men walking in plant suits.
On the plus side, I so enjoyed the mood and atmosphere of the production. I wish it had been a much longer story, maybe 6 to 8 hours long, with the slowly building threat of the triffids.
So often I read less than positive reviews of Dougray Scott's acting, and yet to me, he was very well cast in this. Despite the implication otherwise in modern entertainment, you don't have to be a baby-faced 20 year old male to be a "hero". In fact, quite the opposite. In real life, heroes come from all age groups, personalities and backgrounds. The greater the life experiences people have, the more they are equipped to deal with the trials life throws at them. This needs to be reflected in movie making too to make stories more plausible. Dougray Scott is a much under-rated actor and I'd personally like to see him in many more top roles instead of all the teen "heroes" monopolising our action based movies these days.
All the other performances came across well too, and I really cared about the characters. Throughout, I was worried they were going to kill off Coker (Jason Priestley). It was a pleasant surprise to find Priestley in this production.
In summary, much as I like Eddie Izzard, this production suffered by his inclusion as it added a comedic/comic-book element which detracted from the threat of the real enemy.
I would really like to encourage the BBC to produce a darker follow-up with the same cast, but only with the triffid as the enemy (ie. no comedic characters). There is plenty of potential for taking this storyline a year away, as other countries start to communicate with our characters and as the triffids spread and pollinate across the globe.
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