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Asimov Foundation
- Thread starter NiagaraPete
- Start date
I’d love to see someone take on the Vorkosigan Saga, Lois McMaster Bujold’s series of books.
Martin
Martin
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I agree with SIY. Was all primed for the Childhood's End, and after just part of viewing the 1st one knew it was a bust.
Disturbing the Universe
Amazon.com: Disturbing The Universe (Sloan Foundation Science Series): 9780465016778: Dyson, Freeman: Books
Amazon.com: Disturbing The Universe (Sloan Foundation Science Series): 9780465016778: Dyson, Freeman: Books
www.amazon.com
Wow. 1981 - seems like yesterday....passed way last year, I see.
RIP.
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Well I've seen the 1st episode. The look of it is gorgeous, but they aren't letting that overwhelm the story.
I'm not so sure the advantage of the cloned emperors vs the book version. I also thought all three were very stiff in their acting. Well the young boy doesn't appear to be able to act. The rest of it seems quite good. Good enough I am anxious to see the 2nd episode which is already available.
It has been over 40 years since I read the original 3 books. Probably a good thing so as not to be bothered by every little change to the details.
I'm not so sure the advantage of the cloned emperors vs the book version. I also thought all three were very stiff in their acting. Well the young boy doesn't appear to be able to act. The rest of it seems quite good. Good enough I am anxious to see the 2nd episode which is already available.
It has been over 40 years since I read the original 3 books. Probably a good thing so as not to be bothered by every little change to the details.
I've watched the first 2 episodes and i'm enjoying it. For me, Foundation is all about the grand themes and big ideas, i'm not too bothered if the details get changed help tell the story or make it fit the little screen in 2021.
charleski
Major Contributor
Watched the first two last night and loved it. I last read all the books when I was a teenager, so my memory of them is very spotty, but from reading on other forums it seems they've incorporated some of the themes that Asimov retconned into the series in the later books.
Very dense yet manages to keep the pace going, I suspect this will reward a second watch-through once all the episodes are out.
(The whole issue with the machines 'losing' the AI wars yet still being at the heart of government is part of this.)
Apparently the show-runner wants it to last 80 episodes if they'll fund them.
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An aside and something I often see our American brethren say (presumably because the concept is totally alien) . It's Sir Sean Connery or Sir Sean.
There is one serious issue with Foundation...
Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick (both played by UK based actors) keep refering to something called 'Math', I assume they are referring to to 'Maths', I don't know why they keep dropping the 's' off the end, but it's very annoying!
Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick (both played by UK based actors) keep refering to something called 'Math', I assume they are referring to to 'Maths', I don't know why they keep dropping the 's' off the end, but it's very annoying!
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I can feel the actors wincing each and every time.There is one serious issue with Foundation...
Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick (both played by UK based actors) keep refering to something called 'Math', I assume they are referring to to 'Maths', I don't know why they keep dropping the 's' off the end, but it's very annoying!
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I noticed the first 3 were available up front. I hope it's an 8 or 10 episode season. Wonder if they are trying to stick to roughly 1 season per book?
The showrunner is aiming for 8, 10 episode seasons... https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/apple-tvs-foundation-may-run-for-as-long-as-game-of-thrones
I got started on the first two, as well as For All Mankind.
Both are quite good, and worth the subscription, but for me, not quite in the 'gotta stream 'em all at once' class as The Expanse.
(FAM is just a weird proposition, but then I'm not a 'fan' of alt.reality stuff anyway. Nice 60s memorabilia presentation, tho.)
I do worry a bit that Foundation will become a darn soap opera, if it continues for.ever.
Time to move on to Greyhound
Oh, and re: Foundation: when I was 'a kid' studying physics and maths (esp maths) I had to walk about 5 miles to a part time job I had, and used that time running various calculations and conversions in my head...which I suspect I got from Foundation, tho I read that at a very early age. I'd totally forgotten about that until I watched this show.
(Eventually, I stopped doing that, and could afford a radio, and so listened to the watergate hearings instead)
Bottom line, though, is that so far I like the Apple streaming service, and will continue it for the forseeable future.
(I see articles recently reporting that their subscription rate is far lower than reported/presumed?)
Both are quite good, and worth the subscription, but for me, not quite in the 'gotta stream 'em all at once' class as The Expanse.
(FAM is just a weird proposition, but then I'm not a 'fan' of alt.reality stuff anyway. Nice 60s memorabilia presentation, tho.)
I do worry a bit that Foundation will become a darn soap opera, if it continues for.ever.
Time to move on to Greyhound
Oh, and re: Foundation: when I was 'a kid' studying physics and maths (esp maths) I had to walk about 5 miles to a part time job I had, and used that time running various calculations and conversions in my head...which I suspect I got from Foundation, tho I read that at a very early age. I'd totally forgotten about that until I watched this show.
(Eventually, I stopped doing that, and could afford a radio, and so listened to the watergate hearings instead
)Bottom line, though, is that so far I like the Apple streaming service, and will continue it for the forseeable future.
(I see articles recently reporting that their subscription rate is far lower than reported/presumed?)
OP
- Thread Starter
- #75
I watched both Friday with my granddaughter (she loved it) asked lot's of questions. I'm alone today now I'm going to view it again without distraction.
Watch about 30 minutes of the first episode until I just couldn't take it anymore. It's simply unwatchable and almost have nothing to do with Asimov's original work...
gizmodo.com
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/EEXD5DOQ6NEM3IHTDDLOQOHRSA)
www.chicagotribune.com
www.theguardian.com
They Said Foundation Couldn't Be Filmed, and It Still Hasn't Been
In 1966, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy was voted the best science fiction series of all time at the Hugo Awards. In 2021, the first live-action adaptation comes to Apple TV+. io9 reviews the TV show starring Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, and Leah Harvey.
gizmodo.com
‘Foundation’ review: Apple TV+ takes a big swing adapting Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi book series
With its epic thousand-year span, “Foundation” is the story of a galactic empire on the brink collapse as foretold by an inscrutable mathematician.
Foundation review – a galaxy of money can’t save Apple’s Star Dreck
With a huge budget, a starry cast including Jared Harris and explosive interplanetary plot, this new sci-fi epic wants to be taken seriously. What a shame it feels so earnest and ropey
www.theguardian.com
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Having watched the second episode I agree. They kill off Hari Seldon, and launch Gaal into space cryogenically frozen?Watch about 30 minutes of the first episode until I just couldn't take it anymore. It's simply unwatchable and almost have nothing to do with Asimov's original work...
They Said Foundation Couldn't Be Filmed, and It Still Hasn't Been
In 1966, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy was voted the best science fiction series of all time at the Hugo Awards. In 2021, the first live-action adaptation comes to Apple TV+. io9 reviews the TV show starring Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, and Leah Harvey.
‘Foundation’ review: Apple TV+ takes a big swing adapting Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi book series
With its epic thousand-year span, “Foundation” is the story of a galactic empire on the brink collapse as foretold by an inscrutable mathematician.
Foundation review – a galaxy of money can’t save Apple’s Star Dreck
With a huge budget, a starry cast including Jared Harris and explosive interplanetary plot, this new sci-fi epic wants to be taken seriously. What a shame it feels so earnest and ropey
Then I saw this article which wasn't encouraging.
David Goyer the showrunner says the novels were concept driven, but that doesn't work on a small screen. (Actually means he doesn't know how to make it work). So he is re-writing everything as an emotional laden and emotionally driven story. Well that is just great I hope he is a good writer. You know capable of writing a new story as compelling as one of the giants of Sci-Fi among its best ever writers. So they should have named it something else and it should have been labled "insprired by the acclaimed Foundation novels".
Well another in a very long list of great novels where the film guys knew how to write better stories or so they tell us. Maybe it will be a worthwhile to watch series, but it isn't Foundation. They've jump the shark on that one in the 2nd episode.
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The story after 2 episodes? .... Slow and slumbering... For one I am annoyed: The Heroin starts as an ostracized person from a backward planet, a bit shy and unsure, brought in by her parents... After a travel which involved a "jump" to a new place in the galaxy, she is already at ease in front of an Imperial court and/or a star mathematician... No growth arc.. She simply is.... In the second episode. she is even more grown psychologically and emotionally .. Another thing which is , to me , cringeworthy : She looks like she is barely 15.. The relationship with the much older ... without any warning they just are/were in the ship and already a couple ... They could have done better on this department...
My hopes are so far dashed.. I am not expecting things to get much better.. There will be a lot of time/period flashbacks and jumps to explain things but .. "The Expanse" , it is not so far, and likely will never be...
Peace.
My hopes are so far dashed.. I am not expecting things to get much better.. There will be a lot of time/period flashbacks and jumps to explain things but .. "The Expanse" , it is not so far, and likely will never be...
Peace.
Well, a very mixed bag really. I had just started the audiobook a while ago, but the first thing I noticed was: well, that's different! The deviations from the original story are quite significant already.
All in all, far too much of the modern woke writing that already destroyed Dr Who, Star Trek, Star Wars and many others. Too many feelings, too little real story. The problem with all those feelings is exactly as @FrantzM describes: they only work with proper storytelling!
On the other hand, the visuals are absolutely stunning, and even though the story deviates significantly it's quite engaging. So for now, I'll give it the benefit of a doubt... We'll see how it progresses...
All in all, far too much of the modern woke writing that already destroyed Dr Who, Star Trek, Star Wars and many others. Too many feelings, too little real story. The problem with all those feelings is exactly as @FrantzM describes: they only work with proper storytelling!
On the other hand, the visuals are absolutely stunning, and even though the story deviates significantly it's quite engaging. So for now, I'll give it the benefit of a doubt... We'll see how it progresses...
Nattage
Member
They Said Foundation Couldn't Be Filmed, and It Still Hasn't Been
In 1966, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy was voted the best science fiction series of all time at the Hugo Awards. In 2021, the first live-action adaptation comes to Apple TV+. io9 reviews the TV show starring Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, and Leah Harvey.
gizmodo.com
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