I know the mini-series compressed a lot of the original book's themes and sub-plots but it had to, otherwise it may have dragged on and on too much for modern (fickle) audiences. This series is SciFy Channel's crowning glory...a modern classic that will live on in years to come and be thought of in the same vein as "Close Encounters" and the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (with which it shares some parallels). The actor portraying Karellen (Charles Dance) does so with such gravitas and brilliance that he is very much the equal in terms of screen presence to Michael Rennie's Klatuu from "The Day the Earth Stood Still"...and that's not an accolade I give easily for Rennie was superb in that film.
I do not cry easily watching films or TV shows but I was reduced to tears at the end of the final episode. The use of Vaughn William's "The Lark Ascending" as Milo Rodrick's enduring memento of humanity for any future explorers passing by where earth once existed tore my guts open in sadness and pride. For all our faults Jerry Holcross (the Mayor of New Athens) was/is right. Despite our avarice, violence and base instincts, humanity created art, music, literature and science. It was the one species on earth who rose above all others to ask, "Is this all that we are?" Not quite Shakespeare's "paragon of animals"...not quite worthy of the mantle of Godhood...for despite all our advances and evolution we still carry the chimp inside of us.
From a production standpoint the series is beautifully executed and a real feather in the cap of the Melbourne Australia studio that produced it. Nice to see bits of beautiful Melbourne in the background from time to time. Oh...and the effects were excellent.
I do not cry easily watching films or TV shows but I was reduced to tears at the end of the final episode. The use of Vaughn William's "The Lark Ascending" as Milo Rodrick's enduring memento of humanity for any future explorers passing by where earth once existed tore my guts open in sadness and pride. For all our faults Jerry Holcross (the Mayor of New Athens) was/is right. Despite our avarice, violence and base instincts, humanity created art, music, literature and science. It was the one species on earth who rose above all others to ask, "Is this all that we are?" Not quite Shakespeare's "paragon of animals"...not quite worthy of the mantle of Godhood...for despite all our advances and evolution we still carry the chimp inside of us.
From a production standpoint the series is beautifully executed and a real feather in the cap of the Melbourne Australia studio that produced it. Nice to see bits of beautiful Melbourne in the background from time to time. Oh...and the effects were excellent.