Primeval - on DVD by AURaptor

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Primeval - on DVD

POSTED BY: AURAPTOR
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 7, 2010 13:12
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Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:13 PM

America loves a winner!

Never caught it as it originally aired. Then I heard real good things about this show a while back, via The Signal podcast.

So I figured I'd give it a go.

Man, what a mixed bag.

Of course, the kicker of such a series would have to be the FX of the ancient critters.

It seems simple enough. All the great writing and plot set up will go out the window if the FX are completely hokey. Think " Land of the Lost", circa 1975.

And for a t.v. show, the FX are quite palitable. Not outstanding, but they don't so much take away ....

It's the weirdest thing. I really WANT to like this show. There's some clever writing and decent enough plot development, though not outstanding. There's the matter of how ancient animals appear in modern times.... through the 1st couple of discs, it's a bit " iffy " , but I'm going with it, to see where it goes.

My problem w/ the show is... imo, the numerous and flat out absurd action sequences and story lines. Which is quite confusing, because there's quite a bit of really good character development and twists in the plot, it shows someone was spending their time thinking up something worth while!

A general example of what I'm referring...... characters routinely stop and carry on with a mundane and pointless conversation, when it's been well established that they're in a hurry.... a matter of life or death type hurry. And yet there they are, yammering away about what one thinks about something another character said or did.... WHO CARES ??? You'v got a very short amount of time to get from point A to point B, or else you're either dead or trapped forever..... it's just so damned incoherent, it makes it nearly impossible to watch!

Nearly, as I still am soldiering on to finish what I started. Hope there's a pay off, and things improve.

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 1:32 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

I'm guessing from the lack of replies that there's simply not much in the way of support for this show. I've watched a couple of more discs, and it's clear that,despite it's appeal in spots, over all it's a substandard effort.

I really would like to know what the writers / directors were thinking in how they worked out much of the action scenes, the spatial lay outs, the sequencing....it really does come off as a 2nd rate HS film class project on various levels.

So much is simply taken for granted, with out any attempt of explanation of how or why, it sadly comes off as amateurish. At the end of the episode, things just " work themselves out " , time and time again, with out acknowledgement by the characters in the least.

The rampaging mammoth will just happen to walk up a ramp into an empty truck, not tear it up or try to escape, but wait for the door to close behind it, simply because that's how to end the scene?

Yeah, ok.... sure. Works for me.

( oh, and how many of us could hop into a stolen car, and then return in 10 minutes with a cannister of fresh female elephant urine ? I'm guessing around London, it's about as common an item to get as finding a starbucks here in the U.S. )

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 2:53 AM

LEMMING

This might be my fault (that must have been my review you listened to :-)

What I tried to convey, was that Primeaval was a lot of fun if you were able to just go with it and ignore the sometimes gaping holes in the stories and character behaviour. I liked it, in a Saturday evening, brain out, don't try and think about it too hard way. Maybe I failed in conveying that.

I found it enjoyable hokum, that was usually well paced, had some interesting characters and even some genuinely intriguing sci-fi ideas. These are DVDS that I will (and have) watched more than once and enjoyed again.

I pretty much agree with the points that you made if you look closely at what happens in the series, but there are plenty of good enjoyable shows that suffer similar flaws. It is not in the same class as Firefly or Buffy of course (though you can pick them apart as well if you've a mind to) and I'd rate it not as good as the new Dr Who when it's on form, but it kicks butt compared to some other UK genre shows of similar vintage (e.g Demons which was truly appalling (I wanted to like it too, watched the whole lot, but it really was a steaming turd of a show), or Merlin or Robin Hood )

I'd give it a chance, as there are some good episodes in the 2nd season, but if it's just not your cup of tea, then that's fine too (I liked Dollhouse for instance, but I wasn't mad keen on it like Firefly and Buffy say. The S1 DVD has been watched once only, so Primeaval with me at least scores higher, despite it's flaws: it's just plain out more fun IMO. I'll wait till the S2 Dollhouse DVDs come out and drop in price by next year probably). The 3rd season of Primeval is more variable and probably contains more of the type of flaws that you highlight and I too was left hoping that they'd get a chance to fix this (and resolve the cliffhanger end) with the apparently renewed 4th and 5th seasons.

I'm not sure how well this show is known outside the UK, but then that was one reason I wrote the review in the first place :-)

As for the Elephant pee... I give up. (That was one of the more WTF moments I'd agree :-)

Nick

The Signal (signal.serenityfirefly.com)

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 10:47 AM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

( oh, and how many of us could hop into a stolen car, and then return in 10 minutes with a cannister of fresh female elephant urine ?

I'd try the zoo. Not sure about elephant piss, but lion dung is sold to people who want to keep next door's cats off their garden.

The really implausible bit is getting anywhere in London and back in 10 minutes.

Quote:

A general example of what I'm referring...... characters routinely stop and carry on with a mundane and pointless conversation, when it's been well established that they're in a hurry....

That's character development: They have to put it in so girls won't flip channel and watch Big Brother instead. I believe there was some US thing about an ex-cheerleader who fights vampires that mixed up horror/action with teen angst drama and soap elements and was fairly influential.

Plus, they were influenced like stink by Doctor Who which often has incongruous banter in moments of mortal peril. But with more style.

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 11:07 AM

IMNOTHERE

Quote:
Originally posted by Lemming:
compared to some other UK genre shows of similar vintage (e.g Demons which was truly appalling (I wanted to like it too, watched the whole lot, but it really was a steaming turd of a show), or Merlin or Robin Hood

Demons was not even bad. At least Robin Hood was bad enough to be amusing, at first.

The one to watch from the UK is, I think, Being Human - not sure if that has made it to the international stage yet. Didn't think the second series was as good as the first (but I wasn't at my best last winter, so I may have been a bit jaded).

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 12:06 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Nick,

Holy cow, thanks for responding, and I just can't express how much I enjoy The Signal!

I'm completely hooked, and don't you in the least bit fret over my less than stellar impression w/ Primeval. Not your fault! I'm sticking w/ it, flaws and all, because I really do enjoy the characters! And that's what so maddening, is how ( here I go repeating myself ) interesting and well thought out certain sub plots are written, and then the action sequences..... it really is baffling. Like if Joss and company were to write the character development and interaction, but then Mrs Smith's Jr High Intro into Film making 101 was charged w/ the fight scenes....

" ..as the horde of evil, blood thirsty creatures surround our friends, it looks as if there's no way out... but wait! To everyone's surprise, and just in the nick of time, a full battalion of heavily armed good guys, who just happened to inexplicably be in the area, shows up and saves the day!

Now, who wants pizza!! "

To be honest, I had no idea how many seasons of Primeval there were, so I'm glad there's a 4th and 5th!

Dollhouse took a bit of getting use to , but once I sat down and did the whole dvd thing, I really kinda grew to like it. Much the same w/ Primeval, I suppose.

(.... and I have to confess, I have a back log of Signal podcasts to listen to and catch up on, so I'll not hold your review of Primeval against ya. Deal ? All of y'all do such a fantastic job, past and current crew, it's really quite ...well, shiny. )

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010 12:19 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by ImNotHere:
That's character development: They have to put it in so girls won't flip channel and watch Big Brother instead. I believe there was some US thing about an ex-cheerleader who fights vampires that mixed up horror/action with teen angst drama and soap elements and was fairly influential.

Plus, they were influenced like stink by Doctor Who which often has incongruous banter in moments of mortal peril. But with more style.

Chatty banter while in the midsts of saving the world is one thing, but casually discussing one's past love life, as if you're on a evening stroll after dinner but you're really trying to make it to the portal before it closes, stranding you for eternity 100 million years in the past..... a sense of urgency seems in order. Just my opinion.

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Tuesday, September 7, 2010 1:12 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Well, I finally sent the series packing. Couldn't bring myself to finish it. Didn't even make it through the 2nd season.

It's sorta sad, in a way. A couple of characters and sub plots I really wanted to follow. But , after the DVDs loitered for a while, I decided to give it one more go. I had hoped to build up a hankerin' for some anomaly action, but alas.... I just couldn't get past the ridiculousness of it all.

Farewell, Claudia Brown, and your big brown eyes.

So long Abby, and your wickedly cute smile.

Conner, and Nick... your choices in women seem as hopeless and dangerous as your job description.

And so long, irrationally curious prehistoric animals, who unwittingly wander TOWARDS the bright, shining array of sharp , glowing levitating geometric shapes, enter into a foreign world, and immediately start chewing on power cables, boring through solid concrete, or attacking and eating anything that comes across your path, and then amazingly scamper off , knowing EXACTLY where to hide.....until the good folks from the Home Office arrive. To save the day.

I'll miss y'all so very.... well, not so much. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

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