[Thread] Foundation (AppleTV +): Season 1 review (spoiler-free)
I had the opportunity to see the season ahead. Now I can't wait for the second season to be greenlighted, and I'm ready for the hoped-for 8-season cycle.
Did you like the first 2 episodes? You will like the rest.
Did you find that the first two episodes strayed too far from the books? We will have to accept that this is not Foundation, the book. This is Foundation, the TV series.
(All the pics here are from the first 2 episodes, but some wonderful -2839- shots await you in the future.)
I'm really glad I didn't reread Foundation before the series. Now, after the season, is the right time.
Because the interviews didn't lie: it's a remix drawing on the whole of Foundation (and more). If the book was a puzzle, it was broken apart to create a new shape.
This is what had to be done. We may not agree with some of the narrative choices made (and there are things I didn't like, but I won't talk about them until the end of the season), but this is a really deep adaptation, from one medium to another.
Maybe I would have liked more science and math, but a handful of scenes using these concepts will remain among my favorites.
Sometimes it's brilliant. Which thrills me, since it's only a first season, an introduction to the universe.
I already loved Salvor Hardin in the novel, and I still love him/her, even though the character has similar traits while being deeply different.
Gaal Dornick (amazing @loullobell) is the other pleasant surprise in this series.
I am delighted to have spent 10 hours with them.
Casting is always important, and I'll be delighted to see @leah_harvey, Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Laura Birn or Terrence Mann for years to come.
I love all these characters.
Those who have seen the first two episodes already know that the production design, sets, cinmatography, costumes, VFX are high level. Nothing changes thereafter, The Mandalorian will have to share some Emmys next year.
What amazes me is that I loved the concept of the Cleonic dynasty, invented for the series. The Empire is not Manichean, even if it crosses time and space in unimaginable ways.
It really is the start of something, while showing that time is a character.
I have identified about ten ships, half of which will be entitled to their own ship design thread after the season airs. There are really cool designs. And I didn't feel like I was seeing something from SW, Trek, BSG or The Expanse (although sometimes...)
There are things that I didn't like that I understood at the end of the season, two or three more things that bother me but that could be explained in a future season. Some Deus Ex Machina, and some clever stuff from the novel that weren't included. But overall I am satisfied.
The important thing is not to hope for a faithful adaptation of the novel. It really is a remix. The pieces of the puzzle come together to form another Foundation ... a second Foundation. 🙃
And you know what? It's okay with me. I absolutely want to know the rest of this story.
For a first season, I am impressed. This is the start of a big saga, and sorry for the comparison but I feel like at the end of GoT season 1. I am enthralled and know the best is yet to come.
Centuries of story in 80 episodes.
The first two episodes were just the introduction to a season that looks itself like an introduction to a great space fresco. Enjoy it over the next eight weeks, the opportunity is too rare.
Oh and now I absolutely believe them when they say that they are planning an 8-seasons endgame (in the best of cases, with luck and success) and that seasons 2-4 have been thought of in advance. It shows.
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Please note that Star Trek Prodigy did not invent the concept of "lost kids on a spaceship".
There was The Astronauts (2020). There was Space Cases (1996), with Firefly's Jewel Staite (ans appearances of George Takei & Mark Hamill). There was SpaceCamp (1986).
And these are the ones that come to me from memory, without looking at my notes. There must be other stories, including lots of novels.
Because it's a solid basis for a story in space. What's important is how it's told.
We're building on what's gone before, and....
...that's a good thing.
SpaceCamp, Space Cases, The Astronauts and Prodigy are distinct, and Skeleton Crew probably will be.
Plus, I don't understand why it seems like we learned about it yesterday when we've known about the synopsis for 2 years.
I don't know how anyone with an account like mine will manage in 20 or 50 years.
For decades, the Internet was an incredible research tool. Of course, information had to be checked and cross-checked, but it was like a global library.
With the rise of AI, everything changed.
In less than 2 years, I've seen a flood of fake concept art and illustrations by great artists. Fake or altered Moebius or Foss art. I've seen fake production images. I've seen articles in the form of bad syntheses of poorly digested information.
Now I'm mostly relying solely on my own archives and books published before 2023. Anything I find since last summer I put in a separate directory (unless I'm sure of the source).
People born 20 years from now will arrive in a world where the truth will be way harder to find.
[Thread] Farscape fans, to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary today, several interviews have been published.
Find them in this thread, along with the hope for a revival. 🤞
1/15
Showrunner Rockne O'Bannon: "Looking back, there's been a lot of conjecture about bringing..."
"...the show back which I'd love to do. Brian [Henson] and I have been talking about that at length for quite a while. And even though we would love to have gotten it going sooner, there's actually something to be said about having had a 25 year gap. It's not something you..."
"...would ever plan to do. But I think it's potentially a real advantage in that there is such a span of time that the characters could have grown and other things could have happened."
"The Uncharted Territory, where the series takes place, is truly wildly expansive..."
[Thread] Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): The office of Admiral Alexander Marcus and a history of (space) flight
The production design of this unloved film is nice. For example, this office contains a number of ship models (including the villain's secret ship👌).
A history of space flight by Admiral Alexander Marcus:
Created by Quantum Mechanix's artisan prop and model shop, @QMxInsider FX Cinema Arts, these 14 models were made of mixed media including resin and plastic.
It took a team of six model makers about two months to create this history of spaceflight miniatures.
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (LucasArts) was released 26 years ago today.
And since we won't have a Star Wars TV show for a while, why not (re)discover the adventures of Kyle Katarn? Let's get on with the Valley of the Jedi quest.
1/22
The story begins one year after the fall of Emperor Palpatine, when a group of Dark Jedi, searching for the location of the legendary Valley of the Jedi, capture Qu Rahn, a Jedi Master...
2/22
But it's on Nar Shaddaa that we find Kyle Katarn (Jason Court), hero of Dark Forces (1995), who is trying to find out more about his father's death from an information broker droid, 8t88.
This dive into the city was fantastic for its time.
3/22