time travel and dinosaurs, but it's not sci fi
- Thread starter Temis the Vorta
- Start date
The trailer looks horribly lame. Nice looking dinos, but the plot is just stupid.
We fucked up Earth so let's go back in time 85 million years to change our history? Couldn't they just go back a few thousand? What happens when we run out of bullets? Not like we can make more and more.
We fucked up Earth so let's go back in time 85 million years to change our history? Couldn't they just go back a few thousand? What happens when we run out of bullets? Not like we can make more and more.
I didn't think it was about changing history, so much as resettling. (Which of course would result in changing history, that's just not the goal.)
^ I would imagine the point of settling so far back and before a mass extinction event is precisely to avoid changing history.
I saw the trailer online, and I'm reserving judgement. The dinosaur effects look amazing, however briefly seen; but I'm rather ill-disposed to what I've seen of the human element. "We're starting over--as a family"? Fuck me sideways. Other than police procedurals dressed up with genre trappings, is there anything as trite as domestic melodrama dessed up with genre trappings?
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
I saw the trailer online, and I'm reserving judgement. The dinosaur effects look amazing, however briefly seen; but I'm rather ill-disposed to what I've seen of the human element. "We're starting over--as a family"? Fuck me sideways. Other than police procedurals dressed up with genre trappings, is there anything as trite as domestic melodrama dessed up with genre trappings?
Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Because of ALL of the genre domestic melodramas?
It's an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. But, I don't think there's been a TON of genre domestic melodramas... not like police procedurals.
Because of ALL of the genre domestic melodramas?
It's an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. But, I don't think there's been a TON of genre domestic melodramas... not like police procedurals.
SCIFI genre? Or domestic melodramas, period? Because there's a lot of family out there in scifi land....
Because of ALL of the genre domestic melodramas?
It's an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. But, I don't think there's been a TON of genre domestic melodramas... not like police procedurals.
SCIFI genre? Or domestic melodramas, period? Because there's a lot of family out there in scifi land....
really? I'm not being sarcastic, but I'm just trying to think of any... No Ordinary Family fits the bill, Caprica?... that's SORTA a domestic melodrama, but it's more Dallas. Smallville? that's a teen drama. the Cape? Sarah Connor Chronicles? None of those really fit Domestic melodrama to me.
To me, we're talking about scifi shows where the family is sorta the center of the drama....
While I was mildly curious when I first heard of Terra Nova, I soon stopped caring when I heard Braga was involved. Since I've seen the promo, my enthusiasm has completely evaporated. This must be the most high concept flop Spielberg put his name on since Seaquest. it looks and sounds increasingly rediculous. Not sci-fi? What did you expect from the guy that didn't want to name his Star Trek prequel Star Trek.
Checkmate
Commodore
So the idea is to avoid a possible mass extinction for them or their future offspring (rather than using this uber tech to clean it up) by traveling back in time and guaranteeing that they or their offspring will deal with one that they can't do anything avoid? To, uh, preserve history?
I'm pretty sure if they can survive even 10,000 years in that 20 million year window they would be out in space by then finding another planet..And, if they do find another planet and develop an advanced society, 85 million years later they may be visiting us, and we may think were seeing aliens, when in actuallity there really us.. god, I can see the BSG style Coda coming now.. lol
Well, most genre television of the last thirty years or so.
Lots of dinosaurs, and Stephen Lang shooting at them. This promises to be entertaining, however briefly, and I'll gladly put a few weeks of that on the scale opposite - oh, all of Smallville and the last seven years or so of anything called "Stargate."
So the idea is to avoid a possible mass extinction for them or their future offspring (rather than using this uber tech to clean it up) by traveling back in time and guaranteeing that they or their offspring will deal with one that they can't do anything avoid? To, uh, preserve history?
they should of gone with a Quantum Leap esq plot...opps our fancy science device didn't work properly and we've been thrown further away than planned. Not original but actually half decent.
Don't think am going to bother with Terra Nova.
All the speculation about the plot is rather premature.
Maybe their time gate thing can only go back to one point in history(Ala Turtledove's Guns of the South).
Maybe their scientists have told them they're going back to a the past in a parallel universe since we can't change the past in our own universe. Maybe they believe in multiple time-lines. Who knows what techno babble will get thrown at us.
The real problem for the show is much more physical. They're going to need a huge budget to make this show work on a week to week basis. Which means they will try to make it appeal to the mainsteam audience, which means family-based drama(doesn't work on No Ordinary Family, The Cape or any other genre flavored show currently, and it won't work in Terra Nova).
A thrilling struggle for survival against dinosaurs while the humans fight amongst themselves as they set up their new society? I'll watch that in a heartbeat. It won't be what we get however.
It'll last a handful of episodes and get yanked quick.
Maybe their time gate thing can only go back to one point in history(Ala Turtledove's Guns of the South).
Maybe their scientists have told them they're going back to a the past in a parallel universe since we can't change the past in our own universe. Maybe they believe in multiple time-lines. Who knows what techno babble will get thrown at us.
The real problem for the show is much more physical. They're going to need a huge budget to make this show work on a week to week basis. Which means they will try to make it appeal to the mainsteam audience, which means family-based drama(doesn't work on No Ordinary Family, The Cape or any other genre flavored show currently, and it won't work in Terra Nova).
A thrilling struggle for survival against dinosaurs while the humans fight amongst themselves as they set up their new society? I'll watch that in a heartbeat. It won't be what we get however.
It'll last a handful of episodes and get yanked quick.
Trailer looks servicable enough. Other than Stephen Lang and Christine Adams, I'm not sure if the cast are the kinds of actors who can compete with dinos. But as long as Lang is there to chew the scenery and the dinos chew everything else, I don't see how this can lose. 
