Brave New World Season 1 (Sky/Now) TV Show Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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The yoot contingent in our household wanted to watch this, for Solo and Miss Downton Abbey - although after this, Downtown Abbey may be more fitting.
It is wholly awful, I agree, Cas.
What starts off as possibly some Gary Numan mental humaniod-android affair, quickly devolves into just posh dalliances with genetics and drugs. The sex parties and reasoning for unchallengeable pairings diminish from literal titillation to yawn inducing mess. Then we have a watered Mad Max Oz-like affair outside full of Hill Billy heathens. Blend in various other and better sci fi works and it's truly F'd.
The only thing that could have made it sustainable, was if they fully played Empirion's Narcotic Influence at the outset whilst viewers plugged in their own Class A drip.
 
This sounds like the script meeting suggested some kind of Altered Carbon/Westworld vibe. Then someone else suggested throwing in some T&A because it worked on Games of Thrones. But maybe I'm being too charitable with the last part.
 
Watched the first episode last night and all i could say afterwards was, “well, that was different”
 
T&A you say? Might have to watch this to see if I agree with Cas’ score. :laugh:

Well actually after reading the review there is no way I’m wasting my time on what looks like trash.

I’m surprised poor old Tom wasn’t dumped with this. Or have the tables truly turned?:rotfl:
 
5 is very harsh IMO! but I guess that’s one person‘s opinion and we’re all entitled to our own. this series was released in the U.K. yesterday and whole 9 episodes were watched and reviewed in one day...no wonder it got such a bad rating. Brilliant series so far IMO
 
T&A you say? Might have to watch this to see if I agree with Cas’ score. :laugh:

Well actually after reading the review there is no way I’m wasting my time on what looks like trash.

I’m surprised poor old Tom wasn’t dumped with this. Or have the tables truly turned?:rotfl:
Don't worry, I've got some garbage lined up this month!
 
5 is very harsh IMO! but I guess that’s one person‘s opinion and we’re all entitled to our own. this series was released in the U.K. yesterday and whole 9 episodes were watched and reviewed in one day...no wonder it got such a bad rating. Brilliant series so far IMO

Thankfully, as reviewers, we sometimes get to see stuff earlier. Not that I understand why you would deride my opinion based on binging it; I do hope you're watching it a weekly pace to avoid whatever you think might happen to you if you binged it.

But honestly, I don't think I've ever been criticised before for watching a whole season before reviewing it. I find myself reminded of the bit in Ronin where De Niro says "Nobody ever accused me of that before" after Sean Bean tells him he thinks too much.

It actually got a distinctly average rating because... well I guess you could have read the review but the number was easier?

Key to addressing the points of your slightly skewed "Brilliant series so far IMO" opinion (namely - you haven't actually seen the whole season; a curious reversal of fortune as, really, the only way you'd have a legitimate argument is if you'd seen the whole thing and I'd only criticised it based on the first few episodes) are probably the following three lines from the review:

"You have to understand that Brave New World secures a lot of goodwill in its opening pitch, coming across within the first episode alone as having the potential to be really very special indeed."

"The reality is, though, that Brave New World abandons its lofty ideals almost as quickly as it introduces them."

"It gets tedious, and surprisingly small-scale very quickly, concerned with melodrama more than genuine drama, losing any real sense of momentum, and building to a conclusion only by necessity rather than any organic crescendo."

It would be really useful if we could somehow pull-out key quotes within the review itself... wait, oh yeah we already do that. Maybe I should have used some of the above as pull-outs to save you reading all the rest of the text?

I suspect that if you had considered reading the whole review rather than jumping up and down on the number you might have understood why I came to the conclusion I did after similarly thinking it was initially promising and realising soon it was actually quite vacuous.
 
T&A you say? Might have to watch this to see if I agree with Cas’ score. :laugh:

Well actually after reading the review there is no way I’m wasting my time on what looks like trash.

I’m surprised poor old Tom wasn’t dumped with this. Or have the tables truly turned?:rotfl:

Don't worry, I've got some garbage lined up this month!

Hold up. There are no tables. Just fair allocation of all the best stuff to me (which sometimes goes wrong) and all the most unpredictable stuff to Tom (which annoyingly sometimes goes right for him).

Ironically, we've both got some potential garbage this month as Blumhouse have taken a dump on Amazon for October and we're hoping to find truffles.

Oh and I'm covering Sandler's latest, so... oh dammit what was that about turning tables...

 
5 is very harsh IMO! but I guess that’s one person‘s opinion and we’re all entitled to our own. this series was released in the U.K. yesterday and whole 9 episodes were watched and reviewed in one day...no wonder it got such a bad rating. Brilliant series so far IMO
Sometimes just watching early episodes can give a bad opinion of a series and given up on just as later episodes things get going, so binge watching's not always a bad thing.
I was watching Beowulf Return to the Sheildlands and by episode 2 though was bloody awful and seemed the general consensus and stopped watching, then ages after the series had finished just thought I have an other look and it got going round the 3rd episode and I ended up binge watching and really enjoyed. So binge watching can sometimes add to the pleasurer of a series a week by week episode may not give.

BTW I watched the mini series adaptation of Brave New World and hated it.
 
Hold up. There are no tables. Just fair allocation of all the best stuff to me (which sometimes goes wrong) and all the most unpredictable stuff to Tom (which annoyingly sometimes goes right for him).

Ironically, we've both got some potential garbage this month as Blumhouse have taken a dump on Amazon for October and we're hoping to find truffles.

Oh and I'm covering Sandler's latest, so... oh dammit what was that about turning tables...

I'm sure that Sandler effort will be top notch. Expecting 9/10. :rotfl:
 
I'm sure that Sandler effort will be top notch. Expecting 9/10. :rotfl:

I'd never prejudge anything but I think you're scoring is a little bit on the low side.
 
It's not a good sign when the debate shifts to review tactics and protestations about no prejudice but includes it in irony that's bound to get lost on the fervent.
 
It's not a good sign when the debate shifts to review tactics and protestations about no prejudice but includes it in irony that's bound to get lost on the fervent.

It's my bad mate, normally I have a thicker skin, today I clearly just hadn't had enough sleep.

On the plus side, the thread has officially become more interesting than the show.
 
Thankfully, as reviewers, we sometimes get to see stuff earlier. Not that I understand why you would deride my opinion based on binging it; I do hope you're watching it a weekly pace to avoid whatever you think might happen to you if you binged it.

But honestly, I don't think I've ever been criticised before for watching a whole season before reviewing it. I find myself reminded of the bit in Ronin where De Niro says "Nobody ever accused me of that before" after Sean Bean tells him he thinks too much.

It actually got a distinctly average rating because... well I guess you could have read the review but the number was easier?

Key to addressing the points of your slightly skewed "Brilliant series so far IMO" opinion (namely - you haven't actually seen the whole season; a curious reversal of fortune as, really, the only way you'd have a legitimate argument is if you'd seen the whole thing and I'd only criticised it based on the first few episodes) are probably the following three lines from the review:

"You have to understand that Brave New World secures a lot of goodwill in its opening pitch, coming across within the first episode alone as having the potential to be really very special indeed."

"The reality is, though, that Brave New World abandons its lofty ideals almost as quickly as it introduces them."

"It gets tedious, and surprisingly small-scale very quickly, concerned with melodrama more than genuine drama, losing any real sense of momentum, and building to a conclusion only by necessity rather than any organic crescendo."

It would be really useful if we could somehow pull-out key quotes within the review itself... wait, oh yeah we already do that. Maybe I should have used some of the above as pull-outs to save you reading all the rest of the text?

I suspect that if you had considered reading the whole review rather than jumping up and down on the number you might have understood why I came to the conclusion I did after similarly thinking it was initially promising and realising soon it was actually quite vacuous.

My comment about your review was unfair, you’re a reviewer doing your job and I’m sure its your honest opinion. It’s just that I have seen another film that got not that great reviews on here that went on to make over a billion dollars at the box office, other reviews online were also not great, however the actual paying customers who went to the cinema really enjoyed the film and gave it great reviews.

I think currently we are very lucky to have all these great series and films to keep us entertained...also the price we pay for these services are dirt cheap so we just need to show a bit more appreciation rather than pick on everything, just sit back and enjoy. saying this I’m a bit bias as I work in filming and can see the work that goes into making these films and series. I was on the sets of this series form start to finish and saw what went into making it so my comment may have something to do with that fact. Because I have a lot of respect for this forum I guess i was just hoping it got a better reception.
 
My comment about your review was unfair, you’re a reviewer doing your job and I’m sure its your honest opinion. It’s just that I have seen another film that got not that great reviews on here that went on to make over a billion dollars at the box office, other reviews online were also not great, however the actual paying customers who went to the cinema really enjoyed the film and gave it great reviews.

I think currently we are very lucky to have all these great series and films to keep us entertained...also the price we pay for these services are dirt cheap so we just need to show a bit more appreciation rather than pick on everything, just sit back and enjoy. saying this I’m a bit bias as I work in filming and can see the work that goes into making these films and series. I was on the sets of this series form start to finish and saw what went into making it so my comment may have something to do with that fact. Because I have a lot of respect for this forum I guess i was just hoping it got a better reception.

I'm sure a lot of hard work went into this.

It's a thankless task asking the majority of the cast to play compelling characters whilst also playing uniformly subdued 'drugged-up' characters - the two are mutually exclusive IMO.

Possibly the solution would have come with the girl, had they made that decision (earlier) but they didn't and it was left to Solo to overcompensate, which didn't work either.

And there are some great ideas, and a premise with a lot of potential, it certainly had me invested until after the impressive savage land sequence, following which it just didn't appear to go anywhere or have any impact.
 
I love this website it is incredibly informative and the forums are extremely useful thanks to all the members. But yes always a but I find the reviews on here very inconsistent now I am sure this is partly because of the range of reviewers and also more to do with me personally. I watched this whole series a while back and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think a five is a very low score for something that was visually very attractive. I thought some of the character development was interesting to watch. Yes some of the characters were lacking and a little bland. Overall I thought it was a good show and would certainly think it deserved a 7 and would recommend it to anyone who likes something a little alternative with some sci-fi mixed in.
 
i always think reviewers have a thankless task at the best of times, what i like cas may hate etc, so like anything subjective wether it be hardware or content, find out for yourselves. i started watching the show yesterday despite the negative review, i am 3 episodes in and so far so good ( lol these are no doubt the best 3 eps) , thus far would score it a 7, lets see what the rest bring.
 
I really tried to get into this one and for a few episodes I did but ultimately have to agree with the 5/10 rating. Not worth the time investment as there are plenty of other decent things to watch right now.
 
i always think reviewers have a thankless task at the best of times, what i like cas may hate etc, so like anything subjective wether it be hardware or content, find out for yourselves. i started watching the show yesterday despite the negative review, i am 3 episodes in and so far so good ( lol these are no doubt the best 3 eps) , thus far would score it a 7, lets see what the rest bring.

I think it is subjective, but there is an element of objectivity which will help readers get better aligned.

For example, for Ratched, I explained that I personally abandoned AHS after the first few seasons, and have too much love for the original movie, and so therefore (amongst other reasons) found little worth in a pseudo AHS-Ratched TV show.

However, by that same reasoning, if you still love AHS, can't even remember One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and are well up for a period-set AHS-style show that has little to do with Cuckoo, but will fill the gap in a year where we don't have a new AHS season, then you might be minded to still check it out.

So the review, as 'subjective' as it may be, does hopefully still allow people to make informed decisions, so long as they go beyond just the score and understand the reasoning.

Similarly here, it would be really interesting to see what people think come the end of the show because, like you and several others describe, I found it actually pretty good at the beginning, and certainly felt it had far more promise than it ultimately delivered on.

I guess it also comes down to time. If you don't want to take the risk, then save yourself the 10 hours, as even those who enjoy it don't appear to be going above a 7. And if you do want to take the risk, but find it going downhill mid-season, don't bother pushing on to the end because you've already been forewarned it doesn't get any better, only worse.

Yes, it's just an opinion, but if presented correctly, the reasoning behind that should still be informative.
 
I think it is subjective, but there is an element of objectivity which will help readers get better aligned.

For example, for Ratched, I explained that I personally abandoned AHS after the first few seasons, and have too much love for the original movie, and so therefore (amongst other reasons) found little worth in a pseudo AHS-Ratched TV show.

However, by that same reasoning, if you still love AHS, can't even remember One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and are well up for a period-set AHS-style show that has little to do with Cuckoo, but will fill the gap in a year where we don't have a new AHS season, then you might be minded to still check it out.

So the review, as 'subjective' as it may be, does hopefully still allow people to make informed decisions, so long as they go beyond just the score and understand the reasoning.

Similarly here, it would be really interesting to see what people think come the end of the show because, like you and several others describe, I found it actually pretty good at the beginning, and certainly felt it had far more promise than it ultimately delivered on.

I guess it also comes down to time. If you don't want to take the risk, then save yourself the 10 hours, as even those who enjoy it don't appear to be going above a 7. And if you do want to take the risk, but find it going downhill mid-season, don't bother pushing on to the end because you've already been forewarned it doesn't get any better, only worse.

Yes, it's just an opinion, but if presented correctly, the reasoning behind that should still be informative.
Always informative ,Cas.
 
Watched the first two episodes last night. So-so rating at present. If things don’t pick up after episode three I’ll scrub it. It’s not been riveting or compelling viewing thus far.
 
Watched two more episodes tonight. Getting a bit better, so will stick with it for now, although the suggestion/implication that an American savage can save the British living in New London is already starting to irritate. This seems to be a US series with excellent British actors and actresses whose talents, to me, seem to be being wasted. Time will tell, I suppose.
 
I've watched 6 episodes so far and I quite like it, don't know much about review scores but it's watchable and the acting is good.
 
An interesting debate regarding critics in this thread. Opinion on any form of entertainment is always subjective but for me I it’s about gaining a level of trust in a particular reviewers opinion. I follow Cas and Toms reviews because of their reasoning and explanation but mainly because I have found their taste is in line with my own maybe 70% of the time.
 

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