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theauton
Reviews
Dune (1984)
Master at work
Master director creates a visionary masterpiece from a supposedly unfilmable book. The production is superb, the sets & effects are sublime & the cast put in outstanding performances. An outstanding adaptation of the book worthy of Frank Herbert's blessing.
Sapphire & Steel (1979)
Way out...& then some
The finest in 'Scarfolkian' British sci-fi.
If, in the 70's in particular, you thought The Tomorrow People, Dr Who & Day of the Triffids were a bit tame then this weirdness is for you.
Rentaghost meets Dr Who, I barely remember watching it in the day (Space 1999 & Blake's 7 were more my thing). However, it still is well worth a look, if only to try & get your head round the warped & far out plots.
They just don't make TV like this any more, more's the pity.
The Tripods (1984)
"Was it all for nothing...?"
Top class sci-fi, for it's day.
As a teenager in the 80's I remember watching but maybe I didn't fully appreciate the greatness of this series.
In comparison to other sci-fi of that era maybe I was expecting more in the way of space travel & monsters rather than a road trip dodging space invaders.
What we are given instead is a story of friendship & courage in the face of almost insurmountable adversity, which turns out to be much more compelling.
A little over extended the series only really pays off in the last half dozen episodes & ends all too precipitously.
Nevertheless for it's day this is a compelling watch & equal to it's counterparts, such as Dr Who, even though said series was unfortunately by this time a pale comparison to it's earlier incarnations.
Like Dr Who the fact that The Tripods was cancelled doesn't diminish is appeal, as in its' case one can read the books to find out what played out for the characters.
A remake would be nice but probably would fail to capture the distopian, creeping dread of the original & anything less than an extended TV series would inevitably involve introducing hyped up action that simply doesn't exist in the books.
I've thoroughly enjoyed rewatching The Tripods & can heartily recommend it, if you're prepared to invest the time to watch it throughout.