View Full Version : Altered Carbon (Review)
I'm surprised this show does not get more attention considering how good it is. It's sort of The Punisher Meets Blade Runner. It's clear someone was a huge fan of Blade Runner as some scenes are literally carbon copies from that movie. It's heavy on the graphic violence, but it's well done vs gratuitous and the show is all around well done and compelling to watch. It's solid adult SF, and very much worth checking out. A far better show than The Witcher - which is getting a lot of attention - by miles BTW. A-/B+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpyNN3WJEFY
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/01/26/time-to-catch-up-on-netflixs-second-best-sci-fi-show-altered-carbon-ahead-of-season-2/#935e2c5993ad
It’s excellent imo. I’ve watched it all the way through twice. I’m surprised you gave it an A-/B+. I would give it an A+. I think it’s some of the best sci-fi released in a very long time.
MountainRaven
02-01-20, 10:08
I enjoyed it and hope they have a second season.
IIRC, it's based on a series of books.
What I didn't like about it was that it was only 1 season but now I see another is coming out this month. Good deal.
It’s excellent imo. I’ve watched it all the way through twice. I’m surprised you gave it an A-/B+. I would give it an A+. I think it’s some of the best sci-fi released in a very long time.
Only SF show I have given an A+ is The Expanse. This show does have some minor bobbles and such that keeps in the very good (A-/B+) territory vs great territory. While no episodes have been bad, they seem to vary wildly in quality.
Not a huge fan of Altered Carbon, at least not yet. I’m four episodes in and while I will likely watch a few more, hoping it pulls me in, so far I find myself ambivalent. The acting is great, the concept is interesting, and the production is fantastic. I just can’t seem to find myself wanting to see where it goes.
When my wife and I watched The Expanse we couldn’t wait for each next episode. When we watch Altered Carbon, it’s like we’ll watch the next episode if there’s nothing else to do. Maybe.
Gunnar da Wolf
02-02-20, 10:21
I like it enough to finish the season and watch the second when it comes out. My wife bailed in two episodes.
It does have a Blade Runner feel to it.
Not a huge fan of Altered Carbon, at least not yet. I’m four episodes in and while I will likely watch a few more, hoping it pulls me in, so far I find myself ambivalent. The acting is great, the concept is interesting, and the production is fantastic. I just can’t seem to find myself wanting to see where it goes.
When my wife and I watched The Expanse we couldn’t wait for each next episode. When we watch Altered Carbon, it’s like we’ll watch the next episode if there’s nothing else to do. Maybe.
The Expanse is possibly the best SF series of all time, so you'll be disappointed if comparing to that, like comparing The Witcher to GOT, bad idea.
I'm surprised this show does not get more attention considering how good it is. It's sort of The Punisher Meets Blade Runner. It's clear someone was a huge fan of Blade Runner as some scenes are literally carbon copies from that movie.
Just coming to point this out. So far it's decent, I just started into season one, but they have heavily mined Blade Runner for content and visuals.
For me, stylistically it reminds me of Blade Runner but it also has a strong William Gibson-ish cyber punk feel....like Blade Runner meets Shadowrun, for those who know what that is...
Only SF show I have given an A+ is The Expanse. This show does have some minor bobbles and such that keeps in the very good (A-/B+) territory vs great territory. While no episodes have been bad, they seem to vary wildly in quality.
Season One of Westworld is the best recent sci fi I can remember.
Season One of Westworld is the best recent sci fi I can remember.
Good point and very true. Forgot about that one. It sure did go down hill after that.
Just coming to point this out. So far it's decent, I just started into season one, but they have heavily mined Blade Runner for content and visuals.
Bing my favorite SF movie of all time, and top 5 of favorite movies in any genre, I'm ok with that! I'm trying to view it as an homage vs a rip off.
Not a huge fan of Altered Carbon, at least not yet. I’m four episodes in and while I will likely watch a few more, hoping it pulls me in, so far I find myself ambivalent. The acting is great, the concept is interesting, and the production is fantastic. I just can’t seem to find myself wanting to see where it goes.
This mirrors how I felt about it as well. For whatever reason, it just didn't hook me. I finished the first season, and will watch the second, but it wasn't one where I was just dying to see what came next.
The Expanse season 1 was brutal to get through. Season 2 so far (only a few episodes in) has been a huge improvement.
Altered Carbon was very interesting but in typical Netflix fashion suffers from the same basic sets shot from different angles. Season two drops mid Feb and I’m hoping they do a good job with it. There is definitely a blade runner feel to this..
+1 on Westworld, I thoroughly enjoyed that.
The Expanse lost me in Season 2.. Altered Carbon was good but I couldn't hang with it through two attempts. That fight in the elevator was pretty awesome though.
Bing my favorite SF movie of all time, and top 5 of favorite movies in any genre, I'm ok with that! I'm trying to view it as an homage vs a rip off.
Not sure it's my favorite sci fi film of all time, but it's on the top 10 list. And yeah it's more of a lift than a blatant rip off. So far the only complaint I have about AC, is that it's a thinly veiled "transgender" validation piece, where human consciousness is fluid, interchangeable and gender neutral. You also have the well worn "once we can achieve some kind of digital transfer of consciousness" does that mean we can live forever or does it prevent us from moving on to a true afterlife (if one exists.) This idea was done to death in Caprica, which sadly was otherwise so horrible it made me realize that I didn't want to live forever if this is what sci fi has become.
Westworld on the other hand was brilliant right out of the gate without relying heavily on the 1970s film it was premised on, to the point that it made the relationship with that film irrelevant. When it pointed out that the presentation of God on the Sistine chapel by Michelangelo was framed by a representation of the brain and brain stem "consciousness", it knocked a home run that hasn't been surpassed since.
Sadly there were too many directions to take the story and they attempted most of them, which made the show a little too "busy" for most and it started and remained "too cerebral" for many. And unlike other thinking sci fi such as Interstellar, there weren't enough cool flashing lights and effects for the "let's get stoned and watch 2001" crowd.
I also thought the story arc of Maeve Millay wasn't significant enough for her to become a primary character that drives the season, the use of PS90s really put me off as there is probably nothing more useless to stop the androids as they describe them and once they lost Angela Sarafyan as a main character and reduced her to redundancy, I started not caring about the show.
They simply went in too many directions with too many storylines that somehow had to be neatly resolved in one or two episodes and that never works.
Not sure it's my favorite sci fi film of all time, but it's on the top 10 list. And yeah it's more of a lift than a blatant rip off. So far the only complaint I have about AC, is that it's a thinly veiled "transgender" validation piece, where human consciousness is fluid, interchangeable and gender neutral. You also have the well worn "once we can achieve some kind of digital transfer of consciousness" does that mean we can live forever or does it prevent us from moving on to a true afterlife (if one exists.) This idea was done to death in Caprica, which sadly was otherwise so horrible it made me realize that I didn't want to live forever if this is what sci fi has become.
Westworld on the other hand was brilliant right out of the gate without relying heavily on the 1970s film it was premised on, to the point that it made the relationship with that film irrelevant. When it pointed out that the presentation of God on the Sistine chapel by Michelangelo was framed by a representation of the brain and brain stem "consciousness", it knocked a home run that hasn't been surpassed since.
Sadly there were too many directions to take the story and they attempted most of them, which made the show a little too "busy" for most and it started and remained "too cerebral" for many. And unlike other thinking sci fi such as Interstellar, there weren't enough cool flashing lights and effects for the "let's get stoned and watch 2001" crowd.
I also thought the story arc of Maeve Millay wasn't significant enough for her to become a primary character that drives the season, the use of PS90s really put me off as there is probably nothing more useless to stop the androids as they describe them and once they lost Angela Sarafyan as a main character and reduced her to redundancy, I started not caring about the show.
They simply went in too many directions with too many storylines that somehow had to be neatly resolved in one or two episodes and that never works.
A lot of what you're saying is why AC gets high marks, but not higher. Also, when I show starts having me ask Qs like, if they're robotic tech is that good (detectives arm for example) and they can transfer consciousness that well, why not just go full cyborb and no longer deal with the frailties of the flesh they demonstrate so often? The drug on the knife lowered his body temp enough to avoid the IR on the station, what? Stuff like that, when it keeps popping up, will chip away at my enjoyment of the show. If it gets too bad, then it gets demoted further.
WW season 3 is coming out at some point, and it's been so long and season 2 so disappointing, I'm no sure i even care at this point.
A lot of what you're saying is why AC gets high marks, but not higher. Also, when I show starts having me ask Qs like, if they're robotic tech is that good (detectives arm for example) and they can transfer consciousness that well, why not just go full cyborb and no longer deal with the frailties of the flesh they demonstrate so often? The drug on the knife lowered his body temp enough to avoid the IR on the station, what? Stuff like that, when it keeps popping up, will chip away at my enjoyment of the show. If it gets too bad, then it gets demoted further.
WW season 3 is coming out at some point, and it's been so long and season 2 so disappointing, I'm no sure i even care at this point.
Another problem I have is if the actual tech is so advanced, why is the virtual tech so poor? Those drugs should have been full on, 100% lucid encounters and not just sad holograms. Never mind the blatant promotion of recreational drugs in the first place. I hate it when there are social agendas just under the surface or worse, front and center stage. Blade Runner rose above almost all of that shit and that is why it is still the standard to beat decades later. It's one of the things that made Dune so much of a failure.
As for WW, this is the problem with starting out with the highest possible score, it's difficult to sustain and only goes down from there. You wonder if it would have been better to do as an unfinished "season one" only show. Battlestar Galactica's "Blood and Chrome" is IIMO the best of all of them but only a part one exists, while I really would have liked to have seen it concluded they might have just hack jobbed it like the previous two versions that left everyone unresolved and disappointed.
Hopefully Season Three of WW gets back on track, but like you I have adjusted my expectations.
6 episodes in. Your recommendations don't disappoint Will. Bewbies, guns, lots of killing, nothing to complain about.
6 episodes in. Your recommendations don't disappoint Will. Bewbies, guns, lots of killing, nothing to complain about.
I have many faults, bad taste in movies and TV shows is not one of them. :dance3:
I have many faults, bad taste in movies and TV shows is not one of them. :dance3:
Still need to binge Season 4 of Expanse... Wife won't let me watch it without her.
Still need to binge Season 4 of Expanse... Wife won't let me watch it without her.
The wife and I are starting season 4 tonight. :dance3:
IKnowNotEverything
02-04-20, 15:00
https://youtu.be/BpbtLSJEHJQ
I am curious to see how Anthony Mackie does as Takeshi Kovacs. Hope this does season one justice.
https://youtu.be/BpbtLSJEHJQ
I am curious to see how Anthony Mackie does as Takeshi Kovacs. Hope this does season one justice.
He should make a solid choice for it.
I’ve watched the first season twice, love it. Looking forward to season 2 here soon; I really liked Joel Kinman.
Anyone watching Ragnarok on Netflix? Norway made show about a reincarnation of Thor, I find it entertaining in a quaint sort of way. You have to be able to overlook the usual PC stuff, climate change, evil corporations etc. but the kicker is the evil corporation is owned by 1,000 year old evil "giants".
Anyone watching Ragnarok on Netflix? Norway made show about a reincarnation of Thor, I find it entertaining in a quaint sort of way. You have to be able to overlook the usual PC stuff, climate change, evil corporations etc. but the kicker is the evil corporation is owned by 1,000 year old evil "giants".
I'm so done with the "corporations / climate change" crap that if Netflix made a show starring my favorite female porn stars that was patterned after Strike Back about a covert, elite unit that fought against Democrats who were secretly running evil corporations and deliberately terraforming the planet to make certain areas more desirable I probably still couldn't watch that show.
Even if you had Devon, August Ames and Dorothy Black raid the offices of Nancy Pelosi armed with G3Ks while wearing PVC and latex fetish wear, I probably still couldn't watch that show.
I'm so done with the "corporations / climate change" crap that if Netflix made a show starring my favorite female porn stars that was patterned after Strike Back about a covert, elite unit that fought against Democrats who were secretly running evil corporations and deliberately terraforming the planet to make certain areas more desirable I probably still couldn't watch that show.
Even if you had Devon, August Ames and Dorothy Black raid the offices of Nancy Pelosi armed with G3Ks while wearing PVC and latex fetish wear, I probably still couldn't watch that show.
Totally agree with you, except I would probably watch that show. But never admit it.
Netflix made a show starring my favorite female porn stars that was patterned after Strike Back about a covert, elite unit that fought against..
All I heard was “Strike Back”.
Clap clap.
Man, the duo really needs to return to Strike Back. They killed it. Great shooting scenes. Hot Babes. Serving justice. World travel.. that show had it all.
Will, thanks, as always, for your reviews. I enjoy reading them.
All I heard was “Strike Back”.
Clap clap.
Man, the duo really needs to return to Strike Back. They killed it. Great shooting scenes. Hot Babes. Serving justice. World travel.. that show had it all.
Will, thanks, as always, for your reviews. I enjoy reading them.
I'm going to endure the next season when it starts this month. It's a shadow of what it was, but they seem to be trying to bring it around a little bit.
I think the show fell apart when one of the original two fell off of a train or whatever it was and got seriously injured trying to keep the show looking like real deal operators. There was a very long time out and that is also when the original members of Section 20 decided to call it a day and they didn't exactly wrap the show on a happy ending with the discovery that ultimately "they" (the UK government) were the real enemy. That sort of put me off.
Then we got superhero lesbians and fighting barbies and I was like "really"? But I will raise a glass to Damien Scott, he'd **** anything...he was like the Capt. Kirk of special operations.
Finished season 2. I enjoyed it, but it didn't live up to the first season for me on most levels. If you enjoyed 1, watch 2, but I thought it was a notch lower all around. Even the visuals and production not as good. Not sure if they changed directors or made other changes besides the new main character, but it just didn't look nor feel as quality a show as season 1 for me. B-
Adrenaline_6
03-18-20, 15:10
Finished season 2. I enjoyed it, but it didn't live up to the first season for me on most levels. If you enjoyed 1, watch 2, but I thought it was a notch lower all around. Even the visuals and production not as good. Not sure if they changed directors or made other changes besides the new main character, but it just didn't look nor feel as quality a show as season 1 for me. B-
Agreed. Definitely a notch lower than Season 1. At least the ending tied things up and set up things well for Season 3 if they get one.
On a positive note, Season Three of Westworld is off to a strong start.
I had just started The Expanse when I realized that AC Season 2 was about to drop, so I decided to go back and rewatch season 1 before diving into 2. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. It's nice to have something at home to bide the time.
On a positive note, Season Three of Westworld is off to a strong start.
Agreed, felt like S1. I'm encouraged it's going to be more S1 then S2. Probably needs it's own thread really.
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