Childhood's End, adapted from the Arthur C. Clarke novel of the same name, centers on the story of humanity across multiple decades after a visitation from what are deemed "the Overlords," mysterious alien beings that propose an end to suffering, war, disease and all forms of injustice, leading into the Golden Age of Man. Karellen, the supervisor of Earth, appoints Ricky Stormgren as the messenger between the Overlords and humanity, but at the same time refuses to show himself, believing humanity would not "accept his appearance." And, even though this Golden Age does seem to come, there are those who believe it to be a ruse for some more nefarious plan, and events are immediately set in motion that will affect the future for humanity.
Childhood's End, like the novel, is bold and sweeping in scope and scale, asking many philosophical and important questions on life, what it means to be human, what is the soul, and many others. Syfy's adaptation is near perfection, showcasing phenomenal art direction, visuals and the overall production; this is honestly something you'd see if Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg did a miniseries together. The only big detractor of this epic is the unnecessary subplot between Ricky Stormgren and his love interest, Ellie, which becomes a bit annoying and takes away from the shock and awe of the situation. The performances for the most part are good, with Charles Dance's performance as Karellen being the highlight and show-stopper (just wait till you see his "true" form, which is mostly practical effects). Out of the human characters, it is Osy Ikhile as Milo who brings a stand-out performance as Milo Rodericks, a man who, as a child, was healed by the Overlords. As I said earlier, the visuals and art direction are beyond stunning; it was HBO-level quality what you saw on screen, especially in the third act of the miniseries. Even Charlie Clouser's score helped set the atmosphere and tone of the series, bringing a tragic and somber sound to the mystery and strangeness. The writing and direction are both fantastic, but the script sometimes did suffer from excessive story-telling, focusing a little too much on unnecessary subplots when the epic started to build to something bigger than before. But, there was always a quick recovery.
Childhood's End is a must-see epic. It's long, dark and very depressing, while also being intelligent and intriguing, keeping the same themes and ideals Clarke raised in his book in the miniseries. If you want something with action, look elsewhere. If you want a hopeful story, look elsewhere. This series is an extremely faithful adaptation, and while changing a couple details and adding subplots, was successful in modernizing the tale for today, even though it was written in 1958. Don't miss this. We don't get epics like this often.
8.5/10 Stars*
Childhood's End, like the novel, is bold and sweeping in scope and scale, asking many philosophical and important questions on life, what it means to be human, what is the soul, and many others. Syfy's adaptation is near perfection, showcasing phenomenal art direction, visuals and the overall production; this is honestly something you'd see if Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg did a miniseries together. The only big detractor of this epic is the unnecessary subplot between Ricky Stormgren and his love interest, Ellie, which becomes a bit annoying and takes away from the shock and awe of the situation. The performances for the most part are good, with Charles Dance's performance as Karellen being the highlight and show-stopper (just wait till you see his "true" form, which is mostly practical effects). Out of the human characters, it is Osy Ikhile as Milo who brings a stand-out performance as Milo Rodericks, a man who, as a child, was healed by the Overlords. As I said earlier, the visuals and art direction are beyond stunning; it was HBO-level quality what you saw on screen, especially in the third act of the miniseries. Even Charlie Clouser's score helped set the atmosphere and tone of the series, bringing a tragic and somber sound to the mystery and strangeness. The writing and direction are both fantastic, but the script sometimes did suffer from excessive story-telling, focusing a little too much on unnecessary subplots when the epic started to build to something bigger than before. But, there was always a quick recovery.
Childhood's End is a must-see epic. It's long, dark and very depressing, while also being intelligent and intriguing, keeping the same themes and ideals Clarke raised in his book in the miniseries. If you want something with action, look elsewhere. If you want a hopeful story, look elsewhere. This series is an extremely faithful adaptation, and while changing a couple details and adding subplots, was successful in modernizing the tale for today, even though it was written in 1958. Don't miss this. We don't get epics like this often.
8.5/10 Stars*