07-24-2017, 11:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-29-2017, 09:43 PM by Mattias Westlund.)
Well, I love The Expanse. Best sci-fi show I've seen in years; production values are really high, as you say it's highly realistic, and on top of that it proved to me that Thomas Jane is actually quite a good actor, and not just a B-movie tough guy. He really shines as Miller and it's kind of sad that he hasn't gotten more nuanced roles over the years. As for the alien element, I don't mind it. It adds a sense of mystery to the plot and for the most part it feels done "right". The Protomolecule is something slightly different from the typical alien invsasion fare, and so far I think it's cool. I have peeked at the storyline of the books though and it seems like things take a turn for the... weird later on. So we'll see.
Also, you didn't mention Battlestar Galactica. If you haven't seen it you really should. It has no aliens (the main antagonists, the Cylons, are synthetic man-made beings who rebelled against their creators) and deals more with humans in space than anything else. As for whether it's realistic... uuuuh, no, not really. The science behind FTL travel and other tech things isn't really explained at all, the plot has some metaphysical aspects that are outright silly, and sadly the ending is very unsatisfying. But up until late in the last season it's a very good show with great characters and a lot of interesting twists and turns. Come to think of it, it's more like a WWII submarine movie set in space; gritty, claustrophobic, lots of tension between crew members, and of course the ever present danger of being obliterated by a much more powerful enemy.
Overall I agree with you though. Alien invasion movies are a dime a dozen and they're all pretty much the same. Not even when someone attempts to do something different and more realistic does it get any better, then we get dull, artsy-fartsy movies like Interstellar or Arrival instead.
Edit: the Cylons are the ANtagonists. Brain fart. Then again, as the show progresses, things get more complicated so I guess I wasn't too far off the mark
Also, you didn't mention Battlestar Galactica. If you haven't seen it you really should. It has no aliens (the main antagonists, the Cylons, are synthetic man-made beings who rebelled against their creators) and deals more with humans in space than anything else. As for whether it's realistic... uuuuh, no, not really. The science behind FTL travel and other tech things isn't really explained at all, the plot has some metaphysical aspects that are outright silly, and sadly the ending is very unsatisfying. But up until late in the last season it's a very good show with great characters and a lot of interesting twists and turns. Come to think of it, it's more like a WWII submarine movie set in space; gritty, claustrophobic, lots of tension between crew members, and of course the ever present danger of being obliterated by a much more powerful enemy.
Overall I agree with you though. Alien invasion movies are a dime a dozen and they're all pretty much the same. Not even when someone attempts to do something different and more realistic does it get any better, then we get dull, artsy-fartsy movies like Interstellar or Arrival instead.
Edit: the Cylons are the ANtagonists. Brain fart. Then again, as the show progresses, things get more complicated so I guess I wasn't too far off the mark
