As a rule these days, movies or series excel in effects and cinematography but are betrayed by scripts that either go nowhere or have more plot holes than swiss cheese.
This series bucks the trend. Low budget clearly shows its limitations and it won't get marks for directing. Yet, there's something about it that kept me watching, even when I cringed at the cheesy dialogue or gasped at the stilted scene composition. The script is quite original: a higher dimensional species projecting itself on a 3D world, the concept of a completely organic and biotech technology, the conflict with other alien civs and the idea or taking over worlds and farming planets, all are ideas that form part of high sci-fi literature. Here they are honestly explored to a decent extent, without any blinding contradictions or absurdities. The ending, with the strategic conundrum it presents humanity, is top notch.
Is the series dated? Without a doubt. Acting is often under- or over-cooked, there are plenty of places where the plot sags and drags, or the obvious or the commonplace is pompously stated to fill the time. Rather poor special effects (even for its time) and cheap production values betray a modest budget. The interest the script generates, though, goes a long way to balancing out these defects and keeps the viewer eager to find out the end. The ideas in the script, in fact, scream for a modern remake that will remedy the glaring defects in special effects, direction and production value. I do hope Netflix or somebody else (other than the NDs) is listening.
This series bucks the trend. Low budget clearly shows its limitations and it won't get marks for directing. Yet, there's something about it that kept me watching, even when I cringed at the cheesy dialogue or gasped at the stilted scene composition. The script is quite original: a higher dimensional species projecting itself on a 3D world, the concept of a completely organic and biotech technology, the conflict with other alien civs and the idea or taking over worlds and farming planets, all are ideas that form part of high sci-fi literature. Here they are honestly explored to a decent extent, without any blinding contradictions or absurdities. The ending, with the strategic conundrum it presents humanity, is top notch.
Is the series dated? Without a doubt. Acting is often under- or over-cooked, there are plenty of places where the plot sags and drags, or the obvious or the commonplace is pompously stated to fill the time. Rather poor special effects (even for its time) and cheap production values betray a modest budget. The interest the script generates, though, goes a long way to balancing out these defects and keeps the viewer eager to find out the end. The ideas in the script, in fact, scream for a modern remake that will remedy the glaring defects in special effects, direction and production value. I do hope Netflix or somebody else (other than the NDs) is listening.