The Martian Chronicles is a 3 part series based on Ray Bradbury's book of the same title. I have however, never read the novel so I cannot reference back to the source but I never like to do that anyway. EPISODE ONE------------------ This first episode serves as a decent introduction to the series even with its major
flaws. The story moves along a terribly slow pace throughout with at times weighed in on my attention, leaving me to be distracted and bored quite a few times. I felt as if the whole thing could have been condensed and formatted to a one hour show instead, that would have benefited the pacing a whole lot more. This would have allowed for a lot of the useless special effects to be cut too with don't really add anything to the story nor are they interesting to look at. The performances from the cast were good and they work with the script as best as they can. I enjoyed the soundtrack surprisingly, even with it's rather cliché science fiction tone. I also found the dialogue to be well used within the context of the film and the philosophies and moral issues that are brought up from the characters do the film some justice, even if they are pale and half-baked in comparison to other features. 5/10 EPISODE TWO------------------ I enjoyed this episode quite a bit more than the first outing mainly because a few of the problems with the first were fixed this time round leaving a much more enjoyable couple of hours. The pacing was probably the biggest change I noticed with the speed now reaching a bearable and capturing standard. Perhaps the storyline drifted too much into the fantastic realm as a result but nevertheless I enjoyed most of it. I feel that if the priest?s storyline was cut however, the episode would have been far stronger as their involvement in the plot often was slow and tiresome. Performances again were good, probably even better than the first episode. I also enjoyed the soundtrack again, plus the dialogue and the sets and props were also of a good standard. There was also far less special effects used this time, which benefited the episode a lot, leaving more time for characters and plot. 7/10 EPISODE THREE------------------ Surprisingly, episode 3 of the series actually improves on the previous outing, even if a few of the details really go rock bottom. As was the case with episode 2, the pacing here is of a far more engaging standard, hardly ever dropping to anything as slow as the first show. The stories told were also of a much higher standard and never really drifted off into the fantastic and unbelievable areas that episode 2, which I felt was a good thing. There were a few details (specifically on the technical side) that I had problems with, and certain characters were a little too cardboard to be at all authentic, but for the most part ?and certainly for the last act of the film- this episode gets it right. Performances ranged from bad to terrific, and generally were of a much better standard than the previous 2 shows. Again, much less special effects, much to my pleasure seeing as most of the effects used in the original episode were rubbish. Perhaps what I enjoyed most however was the shift in focus, deciding to analyse the themes of human desire, our motives and out passions. This particularly comes to a brilliant close during the last 20-30 minutes where civilized Human and Martian contact is made in a well performed and written scene. Indeed if there is one reason to see this series, it would be these final moments. So in general, not a bad TV series at all, but there is no doubting its major flaws. It all depends on how much you like your science fiction, and how picky you are really. As I?ve chronicled, each episode tends to improve on the previous one, and the last episode in particular develops a pace that betters itself as it goes along, ending up in a wonderful philosophical climax. I recommend this to science fiction fans. 8/10
November 7, 2007
