Been away form this site for quite some time, but I decided it was time to resurrect it. And what better way than to give a review of Amazon's Pilot of The Man in the High Castle, based on Phillip K. Dick's famous alternate history novel.
The episode was brilliant and slick looking, dropping me straight in to this alternate version of the 1960s where Germany and Japan have divided the USA. This is exactly what the opening of it needed, so that viewers unfamiliar with alternate history can easily follow it.
There are several changes from the novel as are to be expected, but in my own opinion they all work for the better as this is a TV series and it needs to present things in a different manner from words on a page. The choice of changing the 'alternate history' McGuffin from a book to an old film reel was particularly good as it paints the necessary message in a manner of seconds.
The acting was good and bad in some places, Cary Hirokyuki Tagawa was my personal favourite as Tagomi.
The episode ended on a decent cliffhanger and as of now Amazon has greenlit it for a full series, citing that it has been it's most popular pilot since the inception of its pilot programme. This is excellent news, as alternate history has far too long been the domain of made-for TV films (Fatherland) or obscure items (2009 Lost Memories). The Man in the High Castle could be set to pull the genre into the mainstream on screen where it deserves a chance to flourish.
In my next post I'll detail some of the alternate history ideas that I have and that I'll be planning to write this year.
The episode was brilliant and slick looking, dropping me straight in to this alternate version of the 1960s where Germany and Japan have divided the USA. This is exactly what the opening of it needed, so that viewers unfamiliar with alternate history can easily follow it.
There are several changes from the novel as are to be expected, but in my own opinion they all work for the better as this is a TV series and it needs to present things in a different manner from words on a page. The choice of changing the 'alternate history' McGuffin from a book to an old film reel was particularly good as it paints the necessary message in a manner of seconds.
The acting was good and bad in some places, Cary Hirokyuki Tagawa was my personal favourite as Tagomi.
The episode ended on a decent cliffhanger and as of now Amazon has greenlit it for a full series, citing that it has been it's most popular pilot since the inception of its pilot programme. This is excellent news, as alternate history has far too long been the domain of made-for TV films (Fatherland) or obscure items (2009 Lost Memories). The Man in the High Castle could be set to pull the genre into the mainstream on screen where it deserves a chance to flourish.
In my next post I'll detail some of the alternate history ideas that I have and that I'll be planning to write this year.