Are you a fan of Liu Cixin’s “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy? Did you think season 1 of “3 Body Problem” did it justice? Are we ready to forgive David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (NO)?? Let me know what you think about this new Netflix series!
Think season 1 did alright. The book had weak characters to begin with. I think Chen and Will Tianming's story vastly improved. The big issue was Auggie and Ye was a slight issue. Problem with Ye was they cut the entire faction war which also cut a lot of the story that went into Ye's complicated motivations of turning against the aliens. Problem with Auggie is Wang's story was split to different characters, but while everyone else had other character's story mixed in, Auggie just got like 1/4 of Wang's story and nothing else.
Definitely ready to forgive them for the awful GoT finale. I loved the books and I think the series did a fantastic job maintaining the essence of the books. I definitely believe that the show does benefit from the deviations from the books. The Three Body Chinese adaptation was an almost shot for shot adaptation of the book which made it extremely long, slow, and a bit confusing. So knowing that, I most definitely appreciate the changes. Also, the fact that they are making this a series that will follow all three books and have already combined several characters and story lines from all 3 books (not just the 3 body problem and dark forest) was a smart choice and will allow for things to develop quite nicely over several series without having to be as long as so as to loose the attention of the audience.
The Auggie character is just a plot device. She's there to challenge the all-out response to the threat which (metaphorically) breaks a lot of eggs. Unfortunately, with her griping, pouting, and stomping off, she doesn't really come off as a world-class scientist.
I don't know, maybe you have a too strict preconception of what a ""word-class scientist" looks like and behaves. I believe it's very improbable that a world-class scientist is beautiful because it's like winning 2 independent lotteries at once, but it's a movie - we know everyone looks better and speaks more clearly than in RL.
@@blaubeer8039 Thought of what would actually happen if resources was properly put to use in our world, using the who knows what hidden and factories not in use, 3d printers, assembly line of threading like how we make metal wiring? Like what would happen if a factor had focus instead of many parts working their own agenda. :)
@@blaubeer8039 they did not synthesize it in the lab, they tested its potential and strength on the square in the machine forboding for what to come, we will see those wires again. Think of it slightly how carbon fibers are made or how a spider produces silk. With resources such can be setup really quickly. Heck we now have silk worms producing kevlar silk threads by altering their genetics. 🤗
I totally agree with your take on the characters and the unnecessary romantic tension between 4 of them, it was so out of the place and teen drama, which unfortunately became such a drag for me to sit through. I have never read the books and I could see that somewhere from ep 4 onwards the series started to flop. Things started to get ridiculously surreal (resources access way too easy, consensus between countries reached in a matter of days, and you know, the quality of those screws in billions dollar projects etc.). So after binging all 8 episodes, my only thought is that maybe I should read the books instead 😂😂😂
I feel a little differently but ultimately came to the same result of feeling stuff was missing from the books. I don't mind some romantic tension but my issue is that it doesn't go anywhere. Auggie just seem so indirect with Saul and Saul just seems so unbothered it and about everything really. Will had the most emotional punch but felt like that's the only reason he is there and his relationship with JIn seemed so late in the game. My issue with the group as a whole is they all felt lacking urgency besides Jin later on. I would think they would have a bit more scientific curiosity in what's happening. The later parts is ridiculous on a logitics standpoint but I actually like those parts more given that it started the ball rolling in treating these events with some urgency. My issue is really Saul still acting so unbrothered about everything.
@@phantomzxro1 the thing is romance subplot in itself isn't a problem. The problem is that it wasn't done well and only there for the tag and soap opera drama. It's shallow and kind of reinforcing the idea that in a sci-fi/fantasy-focused show, romance element isn't important. I'm sorry but when done well, it's icing on the cake, and when done badly, it could ruin the whole show, in the case of me and my friend. Auggie basically keep Saul as her backup bitch, ok. She calls when she need and gets jealous when she found him fucking someone. And Saul is just simp lord behaviour. While, Will tho. "I have never seen anyone who love Jin as much as you do". And you think women don't know?? Dudeeeee. It makes the whole "I realized I love him" after his death a bit surreal and just there for the plot drama. Tbh, terrible woman figures in relationship
I'm nine episodes into last year's Chinese 'Three Body' series. You could criticize it for its pacing but overall its just better crafted than the Netflix show. Better cinematography, better casting. The Netflix cast gives off a 'random assemblage of actors for Netflix movie' vibe, like if they hadn't got hired for this they would have been cast in the next Fast And Furious' movie.
The Chinese version of it was a lot better. And still wasn’t good enough, it was a bit too detailed or dragged, down to the line as on the book. Disappointed. Anyways it’s Netflix and Dumb and Dumber, what did I expect.
What I liked most in the first book was the "buddy detectives" vibe between Wan Myao and Da Shi. The Netflix version completely trashed that part and made Da Shi not nearly as likable as in the book. I also don't like that they made Judgement Day a floating kindergarten just to make it more tragic.
@@Squarecubez in the books the ship was more like a work place "naval ship" than noah's ark. So it wouldn't make sense that there were dozen of children.
I discovered Benedict in Covenant. His role was small, but something about him captivated me. I've followed his work ever since, and was thrilled he was cast in this show. ❤
@@krixpop I ended up watching it and he was everything I hoped he would be. He carries something more than just talent. Can't put my finger on it, but he emanates some kind of strength, intensity, focus and kindness that is wildly appealing. Even with the weight, I still think he's a babe. ❤️ I first noticed him in Prometheus. It was a small part, but I said... Who's THAT? 😝 I will immediately seek out Marco Polo. Thank you for the reminder!
I could not agree more with the way the Oxford 5 characters were written and indeed miscast. Does anyone believe even for a second that Eiza Gonzalez would be a nanotech wunderkind or that you’d have a philandering acid dropping weed smoking black theoretical physicist from Oxford? Have the writers ever met real theoretical physicists? I don’t think so and thats why these characters are not believable, not to mention just flat. Worse is that the audience is constantly reminded in dialogue how much the ethnically diverse characters (Jin, Auggie, and Saul) how brilliant they are but the compliments are conspicuously absent for Will and Jack. It’s obvious why. Moreover, these are Oxford PhDs, the audience knows they’re smart and don’t have to be reminded every 30 seconds. Show us how smart, don’t tell us how smart.
I found these character far more entertaining than the book characters. The characters in the book were just props to move the big story along and were amazingly flat. So I give them props for at least giving them some life if even if stereotypes.
@@michaelebert9163how is it that a character that keeps waking up with women in his bed, always smoking weed or talking about drugs, “breathing life” into a character? You think anyone reading an alien invasion story wants to read about this guy running around and screwing all the time? I’m sure average looking guys like the character portraying him just wake up feeding themselves with hard bodied redheads all the time. It’s like a gooner twitch take on 3 Body. 🙄
I personally could not stand auggies character, she was always annoyed or angry at someone, especially towards the end when she declined Saul's phone call. It felt like they tried to do too much with her character but it fell so flat.
Maybe since the Chinese tv show was so overlong (it was longer than the audiobook), they compensated in the wrong direction? I did miss a turkey animation, lol.
Before I started watching the series, I was already warned that book 2 and 3 would be included. I fully expected to see the next centuries at the end of the season and was relieved that they "took their time".
It's a good show, but the chinese version is exceptional, especially about the character's development and about how they let the story grow. This condensed netflix version makes it more accesible but it leaves many things behind, like the Red Coast base, that works like another character in the books and in the chinese series. Here Ye Wenjie goes from being a prisoner to getting access to the antenna in the blink of an eye, we have no mistery about the base and no Wenjie's character's development there. On the good side, some character's interpretations are really good (Da Shi, Evans, Wade, Jin), I loved the dynamic between Jin and Wade, both characters from the 2nd book but very-well integrated into the first season of this show. Tatiana is a new character that works really well being a younger but more radical version of Wenjie, kind of replacing the adventists/redemptionists counterpart present in the books and in the chinese version, the two faces of a movement that follows a fake god. What worries me is that they condensed the story too much, in the 5th episode they were done with the 1st book...at this pace most of the season 3 stuff will be written by Benioff and Weiss, and that's bad news, that's for sure. I strongly recommend reading the books, and if a slow-paced story is not a problem for you, watch the Tencent chinese version, it really worth it.
I have a different opinion, the first book dragged on, even for the murder-mistery style it went for, the chinese series managed to drag it on even more and introduce even more inconsequential characters. Liu is not great at writing characters, just by giving them all a connection at the start, the series already managed to up the emotional weight by a lot and down the line it will be a lot more impactful to see the future events. I will miss wallfacer Rey Diaz tough
@@ElMarcoh really? Doesn't it make the show smaller? Like U.K and the 5 Oxford rangers depicted that early is going be tricky to introduce new global character.
@@snowshock8958yeah, I think they dropped the ball on the wallfacers reveal, but that could be solved easy by making the real wallfacers be "secret" besides the black dude, and the ppl shown are just decoys. I would love to have deep dives on their stories and their interactions with the wallberakers, they could make it like a sort of spy movie, adding to the paranoia, there's potential. Also in the books the only real new character is AA, no nothing is lost I think.
I totally agree......The chinese version was better..... They mixed and split the characters, they omitted crucial points ( e.g. the revelation of the true form of the tri-solarians ep.30 of the chinese version ) , they went to the second book very quickly......The timing for everything that was happening was just not right......As a fan of the books, ( although I believe that from the second half of the second book the writter struggled to finish the trilogy ), I will wait for the second season and I hope things will get better......
chinese was too long, 28 episodes, each an hour just to get to the ship slicing part, and beating around the bush for weeks as if audience doesn't know it's aliens comm the base is being used for
I prefer the tencent version though it was a bit long. Da Shi, Wang Miao, Wenjie, the titular characters were done a lot better. I get the changes cultural differences directed and can see how it would work for English/western audiences.
Auggie took me out of the story. Dressing the character in tank tops with no bras, but then putting her in a bra and panties to run around drunk, was humiliating. We need more female showrunners.
😢buttons doesn't mean it's greatly done. I think it's nevertheless a terrible normal Hollywood filmmaking that is not showing any filmmaker creativity . And I think it shows that D&D were total overrated and not genius and GoT 1-5 was so good despite them not because of them
I thought, "wow, finally a decent tv show reviewer." Then I noticed your channel was relatively new. Thanks for making a concise engaging review, you earned yourself a subscriber.
I adore the book series and the tencent first season was great. I absolutely love this version. The changes to condense the epic story were all pretty smart.
@ImpressionBlend that's tough... the tencent version is much closer to the book, but that's not necessarily a good thing for a TV show. It's a lot of epsiodes, I found it to be at least 6 episodes too long. Honestly I think I prefer Netflixs version. The books largest weakness was the characters imo, and I think they did a great job at not only remedying that, but accelerating the plot by splitting one character into 5, and giving us some continuity by merging some of those 5 with characters that appear much later in the books. I remember being bummed when I started the dark forest and none of the characters I had become attached to were around anymore! I'm really looking forward to sticking with these characters for the rest of this version. The only thing that worries ME is the eye in the sky event. In the books of course, that event happens TO the san-ti ... which carries such massive implications I was totally confused why they changed that to the san-ti doing that to humans... 🤨🤔
@@ImpressionBlendthe plot moves slowly, really slow, watching chapters 8 to 18 doesn't feel like there is much to see as there are only slight clues of what is happening but after that, everything begins to fall into place. The build-up for the last 4-5 chapters is pretty epic, I got more involved with the characters and their motivations in the Tencent Version, also watching Chinese actors is pretty good as I imagined being that way, I like how you can feel their WorldView collapses fragment by fragment. How everything began to move in a spiral that stirs the calm water of the ignorant human civilization, there is the feeling of Great Scale, meanwhile Netflix Adaptation I feel like is too small as it's shallow like I don't even care of what is happening to them as they are the classical Western heroes that will beat the aliens in an Independence Day Way, like, is totally the opposite narration.
The Tencent version is 30 1 hour episodes with a ton of exposition and people talking in rooms. Considering the attention span of the average person today (TikTok), I totally understand why Netflix’s version is the way it is. Quinn Streams’ channel his latest video goes into detail what this adaptation does well.
I am so happy they already began production on season two. Ep1-5 was basically book one and 6-8 touched on book 2. Hold on to your seats. Season two is going to be a blast.
@@snowshock8958 Im pretty sure when D&D went to Netflix. They made sure to work in at least 3 seasons. I mean these are the guys that did GoT. They have a set budget for each season as well with some wiggle room. This show looks and feels expensive. The books are already done so im sure they already have all the seasons and their budget laid out.
@@luzekiel9343 it was on point imo, is full of Chinese proverb references and historical periods and figures, those are concept that it can be seen boring for Dumb and Dumber who barely know how to read.
Since I haven't read the books, my comparison is based solely on the Tencent series, which I've watched. I appreciate both adaptations for their individual merits and strengths. Tencent remained faithful to the first book, "The Three-Body Problem," with its 30-episode arc. While Wang Miao largely navigated his journey alone for his sanity, Ye Wenjie's narrative, though less brutal than Netflix's portrayal, was spread out over the first season. Netflix condensed much of her backstory. Interestingly, Netflix used the original novel's name for the aliens, "San-Ti Ren," before it was translated to "Trisolarian." I also appreciated Netflix's depiction of the Judgement Day tanker, showcasing it filled with families and children, while Tencent portrayed it as carrying criminals like mercenaries and Mike Evans, the traitor to humanity. These are just a few observations, highlighting the differences between the two adaptations.
@@elmohead The same is valid with the source. From what I know of the four Wallfacers, the American is a traitor; the Swiss went about the wrong way; the Venezuelan was killed by the people, while Luo Ji, the Chinese, is the savior of humanity. Perspective is who is telling the story.
Moreover, in the original work, Ye Wenjie never had any intimate interactions with Bai Mulin or Evans; she was also never a bitter character driven by motives of hatred. The alterations made in the Netflix adaptation have completely destroyed the depth and complexity of this character.
OMG when Jin Cheng said "What are we, some kinda Oxford Five tryin to solve some kinda three body problem?" I got goosebumps, it was a genuine avengers assemble moment right there. Whose ready for sequel ''Four body problem''
Oxford Five...Assemble. Nano tech armors, Iron Legion, Hulks truly real scientist powers. Cannot wait for that epic scene that need to be depict in s3 whoa.
Nah, I loved it. They made my favorite book of all time alive. And with all the changes it was more interesting to watch. And Oxford Five was great, although I didn't like Auggie that much.
Hated this. It was jumbled and not engaging so everything you are saying makes a lot of sense to me about it’s flaws. I would add that the pacing also really blows.
It seems like put all major charactors in a small group saves time to introduce them? But it falls to a pattern that a small group of elites/heros save the world. Also many charactors were merged made the group even smaller. All the major charactors were not strong connected in the books and each book has to introduce their own major charactors. But that is more realistic: every person from different areas and backgrounds has their own actions trying to save the world. Some of them failed but left some legacy which contributed the people in the future. That makes the books gave you a feeling of great scale with so many generations get involved.
There's a Chinese version called Three-Body on Peacock and free on Plex that is 30 episodes long with a higher production value that is really good for anyone interested. It's subtitled just fyi.
I’m not sure if the production value was higher, but there’s definitely more content there - the sub is better than the sun so it’s like re-reading the book, but the Netflix avoids that problem by being in English.
@@ImpressionBlendI'm only on episode 4 so overall I can't say. I have a friend who loves the books and watched both versions and he preferred the Chinese one.
By far the best review on youtube. I got same feelings about the character building and their interactions. I guess it is more for the production purposes that they merged the characters from all three books into one small group. It is easier to follow one leading character (Jin, she is already the merge of part Wang Miao and Cheng Xin, I bet they will even down play Saul, Luo Ji in the second season and put Jin still on the lead) than following 3 totally different characters for 3 seasons, and it is much easier to find casting.
haven't read the books and I enjoyed the show (which made me start reading the books) and although even without reading the books I agree that it could have been better, I don't think D&D are to blame here, but that Netflix is the biggest and main culprit. Netflix isn't interested in a 6 seasons show and they want there shows (whatever the genre) to be the most accessible/mainstream possible to everyone and everywhere and be done with it in 2 or 3 season tops. that's the "memo" D&D had to work with if I could say ;) I sincerely think that the show would have been way different and probably better (less condensed as you said and more developed) had it been made for any other streaming service (max, apple, amazon...) Have you watch the 2023 Chinese adaptation ? it's on RUclips, I intended to watch in the next few weeks.
I’ve watched both Chinese version and Netflix one, the Chinese one sticks to close to the book and everything goes way too slow on screen, but Netflix one went way too fast, some times there were no logic explained behind choices characters made
As a fan of the books my expectations were not high. Not because of the people behind it but because the books are more hard Sci-Fi of big ideas and not necessarily a character driven story that transports itself easily. But honestly, I mostly enjoyed this version. Not everything works, but all in all I think many of the changes make sense to construct an accessible show. I do wonder though if people who only know this version really get to understand why many of these concepts are so fascinating. I am not sure it is possible to really understand the fascination of things like the Wallfacer concept to name just one. And I am wondering about some scenes. Like .. the scene on the graveyard from The Dark Forest, which establishes the axioms of cosmic sociology, one of the most fascinating concepts in the books to me, is already there. But ... they talk about something different in the show and I have no idea what that was all about ... Also, I really liked Jess Hong as an actress and her character. Didn't know her before, but she really stood out to me
@@shitmandood I feel the same. When I read the original book, I was still in high school, ranking towards the bottom of my class in terms of grades. However, I didn't encounter any difficulties in understanding it and found myself completely absorbed. Seeing so many foreigners claim it's challenging, I can't help but question their level of education.
@@shitmandood Oh, hard scifi doesn't mean hard to understand. The "hardness" is about how much it bends the rules of known science and logic for its narrative. Hard SciFi tries to stick closely with what we think is at least possible scientifically and often has those rules as major plot points. In 3BP see for example that no one just steps in their spaceships and jumps a few lightyears. It is hard work to even get to a fraction of lightspeed, which is part of the story. "Soft" SciFi doesn't really care about that and bends or ignores the rules we know to tell its story.
@@tjw2469 again, the hard in hard sf does not mean hard to understand but hard in terms of bending known rules of science and logic. Hard sf tries to stick to the rules we know and develops new concepts from there and makes that part of the plot. "Soft" sf bends or ignores them to tell its story. In hard sf it is a struggle to accelerate a tiny object to a fraction of the speed of light and how they do it is in itself part of the story. In soft SF they just hyperjump because they can. The how is not the point. Different approaches to telling a stories
@@Olphas Thank you for your detailed explanation of the distinctions between hard and soft science fiction. I appreciate the depth of your insight into the genre specifics, which I'm actually quite familiar with. However, it seems my initial comment might have been misinterpreted, possibly due to my own misunderstanding of @shitmandood's use of quotation marks and the context in which the novel was first introduced to readers. My original point was centered on the readability and accessibility of the book from a reader’s perspective, not necessarily on its classification within the science fiction genre. The novel's original categorized as a "children's book" in China adds an interesting layer to this discussion, as it contrasts sharply with the international perception of it being hard to read due to its dense scientific concepts and philosophical depth. I was reflecting on why there seems to be a disparity in how accessible the book feels to different audiences. I found it intriguing that it's now often discussed for its complexity and the challenge it poses to readers unfamiliar with hard science fiction, despite my own experience of it being quite engaging and understandable, even to someone like me who was not at the top of my class academically.
I cannot agree more with your comments on the character design. As a book reader, post-Ep5 is still interesting, but I don't think it can amaze non-readers. Auggie's design is a complete mistake as she only shows her upset side to the audience. I feel bad for the beautiful actor taking such a shallow character. It's evident that Auggie is adapted to Will's wife Zhuang Yan in the book, but again, this is another shallow character. I hope the writers of the 2nd season (if any) could read your comments and come out with a solution.
Here's why I understand why they split the character Wang up: As a whole, the "meat" of the story is the Crisis Era and beyond. The events with Wang in the first book are merely setup for the actual, proper story covered in books two and three. If season one started with a single Wang character and Da Shi, there would be no real connections between the major characters in the later books. In order to make the series a cohesive whole, these major characters must have an anchor in the first season. It was a logical decision considering the first book feels so disjointed from the other two. As for being so abridged, that's just the nature of adaptation with source material of this breadth. To properly adapt all narratives from the last two books would require ten times the running length of the estimated 24 remaining hour-long episodes - an impossibility given the cost and time. As long as the major events and ideas from the books are successfully adapted, then it serves its purpose. People that want to go deeper will read the books. As for the flatness of the characters - with the scope of the first book established, this gives them room to evolve and grow as the series progresses. They're blank slates gradually being painted as events in the story unfold. My bottom line is that this series is meant as an abstraction over the books meant to appeal to the widest audience possible. If people want to get more in depth, then they can read the books. And they will.
They’ve done it once again. They ruined it. How shocking! Wake Disney style adaptation. Got rid off the main character (happens to be a male) switched it into a girl, added blacks, Asians, whites, for the sake of it. Packed everything…. We’ll have to continue waiting or just read the books. This version is over simplified, the Chinese version is too detailed to the point of getting boring. Disappointed. Read all the books and extra books (both in English and mandarin) and I’m once again left wondering why Dumb & Dumber had to take onto the gig one my lifetime’s favorite. Gross.
The bell curve representing the speed at which a show can burn and still retain enough viewers to be profitable means that stories like this can’t justify a pacing that will satisfy the sort of viewers that watch channels like this (I mean that as a compliment). Cancelled shows like 1899 are evidence of this. Most people want something that turns its pages quickly and Netflix focuses on meeting their needs more than ours. Having said that, I really enjoyed this show and am now reading and enjoying the books. Kind of glad I did it in this order.
Netflix has yet to upload content to bring me back, nearly a year now that I've been unsubscribed and it should have been longer. The majority of content being released on most streaming platforms these days, is just mediocre in my opinion and I'm sort of glad that they're helping me save money. (money being spent on older books, blurays and video games 😅😂🤪)
I agree with everything you said. I just can't get over the idea of this global challenge and apparently 5 friends from Oxford are involved in everything and the leader of the opposition on earth lives right up the street. Right.
The Chinese tv series was way too slow （30 eps, all on the 1st book). While the netflix was way too fast. There are good and bad acting on both versions. The problem I have with the Netflix version is the character development. I did not feel the hopeless despair that Wenjie felt that led to her decision to reply to the trisolarians. The love child between her and Mike Evans was completely meaningless. The coolest part of the first book for me was how the sophons and the multiple dimensions were explained. The show completely skimmed through it. I think we can all agree that this show is trying to be a thriller, rather than sci-fi.
Havn't read the books. I mostly agree with your sentiment on the characters. The boat sequence was definitely the highlight. Last two episodes were kind of a slog to get through. Not really sure I will continue with season 2. I didn't hate it but I just wasn't feeling it.
Someone please tell me if I should give the books a try. About me: I haaate long technical explanations, which is why many modern books of the genre are not my thing at all. But I love the early sci-fi novels by H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley because they focus on ideas and implications rather than technical details and know how to hook me emotionally. Nothing turns me off more than a 10 page (or more!) description of a space ship. I've watched only half of the Netflix adaptation but so far I'm liking it and have already thought about getting the audio book but I don't want to get into a story that at some point will only get lost in logical explanations I don't really care about. If that is the case with the books, I guess I'll be better off just watching the show?
Hmm that's tough. I would say if you watch the show and you want more details or have questions - read the books. Personally I think the books are absolutely brilliant, instant all-time favorites for me, and the way Liu Cixin writes science and ideas is very easy to understand, even when they're pretty complex. There are no excessive technical descriptions of things, but there is a lot of science (once again, very digestible the way it's written). They're the kind of books that expand your mind and make you look at things differently, but it's not because of the characters. I would suggest at least giving them a try, especially since after watching the show you'll have some visuals in mind for what's going on. Hope this helps.
I read the book together with Litcharts chapter summaries; after I finish reading every chapter in the book I read that chapter's summary. It really help me visualize and understand the hard science and it's what made me see the genius of the story. Give it a try!
Yes - the books are entirely focused on the sci-fi concepts and have some of the poorest character writing and development that I’ve ever read. The characters just exist to explain and do things, the story isn’t actually about any of them.
I never saw a lengthy description of a spaceship that I couldn’t skim over on my first reading without ruining the story. Just try the books and if a few pages bore you, fast forward your eyeballs to the next section
I loved the books, and I suspect that I will feel the same as you do about it. Your negatives were my concerns going into it, so I haven't actually sat down and watched it yet. But I will watch it in a week or two just to check it out. More than likely, I will just want to read the trilogy again.
Sounds like my kind of show! I'm glad it's good. Edit: As someone who knows nothing about 3 Body Problem I really enjoyed this show. The only negative sides are that I don't feel emotionally involved with these characters, even though they each have their characteristics, I don't find myself rooting for them to win or care if they die. The other negative aspect is that time seems to move incredibly fast, to the point that it's always difficult to tell how much time has passed in each century. Still I think this is a solid 7/10 and I hope season 2 spends more time establishing the characters.
I found myself phasing in and out of this series. I didn't really like many of the characters that much (Saul, Auggie and Will seemed off to me) ... there didn't seem to be much to them and the episodes with their scenes seemed to really drag. The episode with the ship was awesome however... overall I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10... still can't believe they spent $20m per episode... A lot of the CGI seemed dated.
I thought it was decent to strong adaptation for a medium that strives for wider appeal - a solid B. I agree with your points about over-simplification. But the midway point was great TV. The books and Tencent version were committed to the high philosophical/hard sci-fi - which is not for everyone. Your review was insightful.
I absolutely loved the books and thought they did a great job adapting it tbh, it was pretty much exactly what I expected it would be. I’m fine with the dips into books 2 & 3, I thought that was a nice surprise and makes me curious for how they’ll weave books together in future seasons. Given that the religious and social impact storylines become even greater in the next two books, it feels more appropriate to dive into that in future seasons as well. Overall I’m cool with what was/wasn’t disclosed this season, except I wish they did more to show how the aliens created the sophon - that part of the book was so vivid and interesting to me. And of course more of the cultural revolution storyline would have been welcomed. But I’m optimistic for what the future seasons can bring. It felt like they had to stay somewhat grounded this first season, but they have no other choice than to go wayyy bigger in anything that might follow this haha. Hoping it generates more interest in the books too!
My imagination as I read the first book was better than this hot garbage they spent $80 million an episode to make. Talk about flushing money down the toilet lol
I bet they don't really want to film the first book but they like the 2nd book. It feels so rushed from point to point, just want to go through the major scenes. I believe they can do a good job in season 2 (also, it is hard to do bad given the mind-bending concepts), but season 1 should have been better than it is now.
I thought the first 5 episodes were really good! But the last 3 episodes felt liek there wasn't much left to hold on to. Many questions had already been answered. And the big twist/mission complication at the end could be seen coming a mile away. I didn't feel surprised when that mission went awry. I hope there's a season 2, but I also hope they regain tension and character development.
I think they had to include parts of the later books because the first book was slower paced and really a set up for the scary later books. The one character i thought was unnecessary was jack.
I'm very torn on their approach to the VR. On one hand it always took me out of it that a world with otherwise largely modern tech had fully immersive virtual reality. Like...they just had it. And it was apparently popular despite how much people playing Call of Duty definitely don't want it to feel like a real war. On the other hand, Trisolaris would not provide their technology for something on this order. They just wouldn't
@@TheanHooYew Wouldn't go that far. It's never confirmed that it allows for anything more than collecting data, and ultimately you have to participate in even that of your own volition
@@rudolfambrozenvtuber The VR headsets are able to read minds and stimulate the users' five senses, allowing the users to move about in the VR worlds, seeing and hearing and touching things while sitting down in the real world. That's a lot more than collecting data. The sophons have shown their capability to produce images in someone's vision. I don't think it's a stretch for a sophon to read someone's mind if they could build a VR headset with that capability. And who built the headsets? Humans? Sophons? For Wallfacers to ignore even the possibility is just bad writing. The writers could have used a regular VR setup, like the one in the Tencent adaptation, and avoided this inconsistency altogether. Bad writing.
Wasn’t like that in the book. They just turned it into a macguffin in this tv show…they made the aliens too powerful and the tech too godlike. It’s going to end with a little girl stabbing the night king in the back with the greatest of ease. 😆
@@TheanHooYew 1. "Regular VR setup" What the fuck do you think modern VR is capable of? It can't do Three Body. As the show actually mentions (one of the things I appreciate) that sort of full feeling is well beyond us. 2. You just repeated what you said the first time more extensively. That doesn't make it any less unsubstantiated by the media itself 3. Saul never put on a helmet anyway far as I remember so...what of it regardless?
Read the books and loved it, but disagree in that the books were ‘far superior’. The writing in the books were mediocre at best, characters were flat and uninteresting, and all the flashbacks were confusing at times. The appeal of the books were the ideas, the science and technology. Lui Cixin was an engineer, so it completely makes sense that his writing and characters were not strong (not to mention we’re reading a translation), so to say the books were ‘far superior’ is typical book reader elitism. So far, the show is better than the books in every way: characters are more interesting and likeable, story flow is better and less confusing, and all the major ideas of the books are captured and conveyed quite well.
The writers invented five characters and put the personalities that they think are eye-catching to these new characters. They should consult some in the particle physics field about how real scientists live. For example, in the book Saul majors in sociology so it is understandable that his personality is quite different from the physicists. He has a Chinese name, Luo Ji, which has the same reading as logic, which implies his future significant discovery. In this show, Saul is a physicist with a personality you never see in physicists in real life. The same issue applies to Auggie, too. Jin is the one close to the book and real life (some aspects of the book are also far from real life). Overall, creating new characters is good strategy, but the development in the show feels a little forced. For Season 2, the writers really need to invite some real physicists to join.
Bruh what are you talking about you do you think you need to be a Sheldon to study physics? Physicist personalities can be anything from the most introverted people to the most extroverted people I have ever met
People not agreeing with the stereotypes of physicists. Its like complaining on television that the programmer character isn't either an awkward geek or a gloomy introvert. But but this isn't how programmers act!! I know some people in their respective fields who are unlike their stereotypes. Programmers are usually stereotyped for being not athletic and don't take care of themselves yet there is many who simply aren't the case and are very much extroverted & fit. Trust me I've met many of them.
The characters lacked likeability and were not believable. Especially Saul who has supposed to be the smartest of all but in the series he's always smoking pot and drinking beer. For me the series started to be interesting from episode 5. Up until then the series lacked any real emotion. Then the story doesn't make much sense especially when the San Ti stop trusting humans. I can't believe that Evans was talking to them for 20+ years and only now they find out that humans lie and can be deceitful. Weird. All in all the show is mediocre but like I said, for me it started being interesting from episode 5 and I would like to see the story continue so I hope they make a season 2.
I think the point on pacing is really relevant. The story progresses at a quickened pace at the start of the series, which I kinda liked to be honest. I thought it was well executed But then you get to episodes 6 and 7 and it feels like it slowly WAAYYY down and almost nothing at all is happening.
IF they make a Season Two, hopefully they spend way less time on each character and more on the sci-fi aspect of the story. I got REAL bored watching this, almost quit in the middle of it. To much like a soap opera to me. Of course that just my opinion.
FOR === GREEN ROOM 2015 === A GIRL REVIEWING SUCH A FILM IS SOMETHING FANTASTIC BECAUSE I LIVE IN A COUNTRY CALLED ROMANIA AND WOMEN HAVE A STRANGE SENSIBILITY, WOMEN IN ROMANIA AVOID THIS KIND OF FILM, IN OUR COUNTRY THE MAJORITY WATCHES SOUTH AMERICAN LOVE SERIES AND COOKING SHOWS. I RESPECT YOU A LOT FOR HAVING STRONG NERVES. FOR EXAMPLE MY GIRLFRIEND QUIT WHEN A CHARACTER WAS STILL BREATHING BEING BITTEN BY THE FACE OF THAT DOG. I LOVED THIS FILM EXTRAORDINARY, THE SHOCKING FOR ME WAS THAT I ANTICIPATED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING UNTIL THE END. THE CHARACTERS WERE NOT SPARE, THEY WERE ELIMINATED AS IN THE TARANTINO GENRE, EVEN HARDER THAN THIS. I WISH ONLY GOOD IN YOUR LIFE
You hit the nail on the head. The Oxford Five characters are a misstep, with the single exception of Jin. Saul (née Luo Ji) SORT OF won me over in the final episode, but only because I know what's coming for that character. Auggie is a completely nonsensical character and horribly miscast, and Jack Roony felt almost contractually shoehorned in. The whole "five smart and interesting friends" angle fell flat for me, and like you said, took up so much of the runtime that I couldn't help thinking about everything they left on the table from the book. That said, I'm kind of hoping they pick up the pace and rethink the Dark Forest storyline. To me, that's the essence of the trilogy, and the best book in the series with the biggest and best ideas. So, yeah, it's pretty, pretty, pretty good. Not good enough.
No spoil but it make sense why Jin had a lot of screentime since her character is from book3. Saul though, if you know Luo Ji you know. Depending of how many seasons it get and stretching they do.
I don’t think people will understand the Netflix version unless they watch the Tencent version which follows the book more closely. And, omg, how are they going to film the dark forest ?
One thing I love about the books is that they take you "outside" of this one human life perspective of time. In the books, to start handling the situation they have to think transgenerationally, and there was nothing of it in the series. Everything happened so fast, losing significance.
The change about the Lie thing is a bit dumb for me, as if they wouldnt know humans lie. Its like the main trait of Humanity ffs. Surely they know how horrible we are to each other.
remembrance of earth's past is one of my favorite books. I watched the chinese tv show as well. Gotta say Netflix did not do a bad job at all. There were changes but they were made for a reason and mainly to make the adaptation better. Not to mention the chinese show (that people point to in every review) has quite a lot of changes as well.
Maybe as an experiment watch the 30 part Chinese adaptation that's free on RUclips. Now tell me again is was necessary to change the plot. I guess it's necessary for US audiences w a tik tok attention span but really it isn't. This adaptation is mediocre but I guess that's what we can expect at best from NF
you DO know that last few seasons of Game of Thrones didn't have books to work from ... right? the "condensed" feel to this show is more Netflix - the budget for this had to be through the roof and I'm sure they want to make sure there is an audience for it ... I HATE what D&D did to the last season of GoT ... BUT ... I'm aware of why the issues were there - the last few seasons they were flying by the seat of their pants - the last season they just wanted out and we saw that result ... I actually like these characters actually ...
Some of the episodes written by them do have examples very skilled choices chopping down a huge body of work to 8 episodes. Not the work of obvious hacks. But once they start to fill it out themselves after the changes, they start to show their season 8 reputation. Frustrating. Liam Cunningham as Thomas Wade is the stand out. The guy you absolutely would want in charge of planetary defence. Extremely smart, runs circles around his "employees" ruthless, brutal.
I know the show came out, didn't watch it, because I want to read the books. It's not necessary I know but in this case I want to and see if I will enjoy the books series. So that I can added to my book collection to expand sci-fi genre.
Fun Fact: the Producers spoke with Liu Cixin about an adaptation and it was Liu who suggested what the D&D producers were already thinking that making the main characters diverse and even gender swapping would reach the widest audience.
It was too many characters. And nobody in the real world has such a diverse friend group…except maybe rich and famous ppl. It’s probably why they alluded to weed, LSD, and Xanax in the movie. They were all a bunch of drug abusers that found each other through their pusher.
I haven’t read the books yet(going to be picking it up hopefully soon) but I do have a lot of basic knowledge from Quinn’s Ideas videos on them. For me I generally love the show but I wholeheartedly agree with your criticisms on the Auggie character for me she was by far the worst part of the show. I get why they did some of the decisions with her character to build what they think is moral conflict and drama but for me most of her decisions came off as dumb emotionally selfish childish and in conflict with her supposed goals which is even more annoying given these five are basically made out to be some of the most promising scientists. I also found it frustrating how easily she would go back on her decision especially the one Will helped influence especially in his condition for the greater good. I really also disliked how they tried to make her decision at the end out to be a good decision and positive when we all know by her doing that and not using her talent elsewhere she is essentially crippling the hope humanity has. Bar that I don’t mind them dipping into the other two books to establish thing I think they did it for ease and familiarity sake as it could be jarring for viewers to have to see these events as flashbacks in later seasons and I personally loved Will his story was tragic beautiful and moving and he felt like how I would expect these promising scientists to act in this environment especially with his self sacrifice physically and emotionally so that everyone was where they were needed.
But I have to say they did a good job with the Yun Tianming / Will Downing character. It is the only character that reflected the depth of the novels. In fact - I would begin the whole Season 2 with the fairytales of Yun Tianming and the meeting he had with Cheng. Shoot the fairytales he told in SFX and let the audience ponder wtf do they mean.
@@Gos1234567It's a double clue. Spoilers below, read at your own peril: The joke is a warning not to play with God and a hint for the dark forest theory. Don't make a sound you don't want God to notice you and come and play with you. Because God won't play. God will directly destroy you. She is trying to hint that there are God like or much more powerful beings than the Tri-solarans. Against them, the Gods, you want to stay silent and not get noticed. It's also a clue about where he needs to look for help. Pay attention to where Ye Wenjie leaves the books prior to her meeting. Right on that shelf was a bust of Einstein. The joke therefore also guides Saul to Einstein and to the books that might help him understand the sociology of the cosmos.
They did the same thing with Frank Schätzing's "The Swarm". If the author walks away from the miniseries you already know it must be bad. And it was. Sad that "The 3 Body Problem" met the same faith. I love the novels, but i had to fight through the series.
Are you a fan of Liu Cixin’s “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy? Did you think season 1 of “3 Body Problem” did it justice? Are we ready to forgive David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (NO)?? Let me know what you think about this new Netflix series!
I’ve never read the book or books 📖 but since I just resubscribed to Netflix and seen the trailer I’m gonna give this show a watch 📺
The Trisolarans forgot about the Iron Fleet. The end.
@@smith4407 Makes sense why they torched King's Landing after that
Think season 1 did alright. The book had weak characters to begin with. I think Chen and Will Tianming's story vastly improved. The big issue was Auggie and Ye was a slight issue. Problem with Ye was they cut the entire faction war which also cut a lot of the story that went into Ye's complicated motivations of turning against the aliens. Problem with Auggie is Wang's story was split to different characters, but while everyone else had other character's story mixed in, Auggie just got like 1/4 of Wang's story and nothing else.
Definitely ready to forgive them for the awful GoT finale. I loved the books and I think the series did a fantastic job maintaining the essence of the books. I definitely believe that the show does benefit from the deviations from the books. The Three Body Chinese adaptation was an almost shot for shot adaptation of the book which made it extremely long, slow, and a bit confusing. So knowing that, I most definitely appreciate the changes. Also, the fact that they are making this a series that will follow all three books and have already combined several characters and story lines from all 3 books (not just the 3 body problem and dark forest) was a smart choice and will allow for things to develop quite nicely over several series without having to be as long as so as to loose the attention of the audience.
I haven't even watched 2 Body Problem yet.
Well, at least you watched the 1 Body Problem, right?
Well then you need to start with the prequel - No Body, No Problem.
@@kelwinkwel you're right, that one was a surprising hit
of course when body has one problem,you would go to hospital to fix it.
@@kelwinkwel bruhhh 😂😂😂
The Auggie character is just a plot device. She's there to challenge the all-out response to the threat which (metaphorically) breaks a lot of eggs. Unfortunately, with her griping, pouting, and stomping off, she doesn't really come off as a world-class scientist.
shes hot. thats the reason shes there
I don't know, maybe you have a too strict preconception of what a ""word-class scientist" looks like and behaves. I believe it's very improbable that a world-class scientist is beautiful because it's like winning 2 independent lotteries at once, but it's a movie - we know everyone looks better and speaks more clearly than in RL.
I dunno, irl scientists nowadays are like models too.
I agree, she came across as a child.
@@bananianEveryone is a scientist and engineer these days, so sure.
Being a renowned physicist? No
You hit upon my exact issue with the show. The Idea that they set up the atomic bombs and the space shot of the probe in mere months
Yea amazing with most of the worlds top scientists not bothered about an alien invasion 😂 “I don’t have kids why should I care “
Also handy theyve set up a minefield of atomic bombs in space due to a "design flaw" of bolts undoing themselves on a trillion dollar space toboggan.
@@Woodkin007 Thought of sabotage?
@@blaubeer8039 Thought of what would actually happen if resources was properly put to use in our world, using the who knows what hidden and factories not in use, 3d printers, assembly line of threading like how we make metal wiring?
Like what would happen if a factor had focus instead of many parts working their own agenda. :)
@@blaubeer8039 they did not synthesize it in the lab, they tested its potential and strength on the square in the machine forboding for what to come, we will see those wires again. Think of it slightly how carbon fibers are made or how a spider produces silk. With resources such can be setup really quickly. Heck we now have silk worms producing kevlar silk threads by altering their genetics. 🤗
Jin Chang vs Wade was my favorite parts of the show. It was so charming the way they'd get each other to do things.
Easily the most interesting dynamic in the series, so far!
I totally agree with your take on the characters and the unnecessary romantic tension between 4 of them, it was so out of the place and teen drama, which unfortunately became such a drag for me to sit through.
I have never read the books and I could see that somewhere from ep 4 onwards the series started to flop. Things started to get ridiculously surreal (resources access way too easy, consensus between countries reached in a matter of days, and you know, the quality of those screws in billions dollar projects etc.). So after binging all 8 episodes, my only thought is that maybe I should read the books instead 😂😂😂
I feel a little differently but ultimately came to the same result of feeling stuff was missing from the books. I don't mind some romantic tension but my issue is that it doesn't go anywhere. Auggie just seem so indirect with Saul and Saul just seems so unbothered it and about everything really. Will had the most emotional punch but felt like that's the only reason he is there and his relationship with JIn seemed so late in the game. My issue with the group as a whole is they all felt lacking urgency besides Jin later on. I would think they would have a bit more scientific curiosity in what's happening. The later parts is ridiculous on a logitics standpoint but I actually like those parts more given that it started the ball rolling in treating these events with some urgency. My issue is really Saul still acting so unbrothered about everything.
@@phantomzxro1 the thing is romance subplot in itself isn't a problem. The problem is that it wasn't done well and only there for the tag and soap opera drama. It's shallow and kind of reinforcing the idea that in a sci-fi/fantasy-focused show, romance element isn't important. I'm sorry but when done well, it's icing on the cake, and when done badly, it could ruin the whole show, in the case of me and my friend.
Auggie basically keep Saul as her backup bitch, ok. She calls when she need and gets jealous when she found him fucking someone. And Saul is just simp lord behaviour.
While, Will tho. "I have never seen anyone who love Jin as much as you do". And you think women don't know?? Dudeeeee. It makes the whole "I realized I love him" after his death a bit surreal and just there for the plot drama.
Tbh, terrible woman figures in relationship
I'm nine episodes into last year's Chinese 'Three Body' series. You could criticize it for its pacing but overall its just better crafted than the Netflix show. Better cinematography, better casting. The Netflix cast gives off a 'random assemblage of actors for Netflix movie' vibe, like if they hadn't got hired for this they would have been cast in the next Fast And Furious' movie.
oh that sounds interesting. Where are you watching that?
In my view, creators should produce the series as intended, and leave the speed adjustment to the viewers. I watched the Chinese series at 2x speed.
The Chinese version of it was a lot better. And still wasn’t good enough, it was a bit too detailed or dragged, down to the line as on the book.
Disappointed. Anyways it’s Netflix and Dumb and Dumber, what did I expect.
@@davelewis8270it’s free on RUclips. There’s a channel called Migu.
@@yesyes9698 The Chinese version was like watching paint dry.
What I liked most in the first book was the "buddy detectives" vibe between Wan Myao and Da Shi. The Netflix version completely trashed that part and made Da Shi not nearly as likable as in the book. I also don't like that they made Judgement Day a floating kindergarten just to make it more tragic.
Auggie and Jin were the central characters in ep1-6. And yeah they missed the mark with "buddy detectives".
D&D couldn’t pass up a chance to kill a bunch of kids for dramatic flare…if that’s what you call it.
@@Squarecubez in the books the ship was more like a work place "naval ship" than noah's ark. So it wouldn't make sense that there were dozen of children.
The ship was barely even a plot point in the book, basically an afterthought...
It doesn't even matter
@@Digger-Nick "The Lord doesn''t care"
I might watch it just for Benedict Wong
He’s the best character,not too hard though as the rest are assholes
His insufferable son getting his rear tore open while calling his father a loser is bad. The books did his character way better.
I discovered Benedict in Covenant. His role was small, but something about him captivated me. I've followed his work ever since, and was thrilled he was cast in this show. ❤
@@truthprevails4895
Maybe the most underrated Actor, imho ...
He was titanic, to say the least, in Marco Polo ! ! !
@@krixpop I ended up watching it and he was everything I hoped he would be. He carries something more than just talent. Can't put my finger on it, but he emanates some kind of strength, intensity, focus and kindness that is wildly appealing. Even with the weight, I still think he's a babe. ❤️
I first noticed him in Prometheus. It was a small part, but I said... Who's THAT? 😝 I will immediately seek out Marco Polo. Thank you for the reminder!
One of the many reasons I love Impression Blend, her honesty. Doesn’t join the hype train if undeserved.
I could not agree more with the way the Oxford 5 characters were written and indeed miscast. Does anyone believe even for a second that Eiza Gonzalez would be a nanotech wunderkind or that you’d have a philandering acid dropping weed smoking black theoretical physicist from Oxford? Have the writers ever met real theoretical physicists? I don’t think so and thats why these characters are not believable, not to mention just flat. Worse is that the audience is constantly reminded in dialogue how much the ethnically diverse characters (Jin, Auggie, and Saul) how brilliant they are but the compliments are conspicuously absent for Will and Jack. It’s obvious why. Moreover, these are Oxford PhDs, the audience knows they’re smart and don’t have to be reminded every 30 seconds. Show us how smart, don’t tell us how smart.
The moment she pulled out her lightsaber and demonstrated the Force without any prior training, I knew she invented nanotech.
@@TheanHooYew LOL that's "THE MESSAGE" as the Critical Drinker likes to say.
I found these character far more entertaining than the book characters. The characters in the book were just props to move the big story along and were amazingly flat. So I give them props for at least giving them some life if even if stereotypes.
@@michaelebert9163how is it that a character that keeps waking up with women in his bed, always smoking weed or talking about drugs, “breathing life” into a character? You think anyone reading an alien invasion story wants to read about this guy running around and screwing all the time? I’m sure average looking guys like the character portraying him just wake up feeding themselves with hard bodied redheads all the time. It’s like a gooner twitch take on 3 Body. 🙄
I personally could not stand auggies character, she was always annoyed or angry at someone, especially towards the end when she declined Saul's phone call. It felt like they tried to do too much with her character but it fell so flat.
Maybe since the Chinese tv show was so overlong (it was longer than the audiobook), they compensated in the wrong direction? I did miss a turkey animation, lol.
We really needed that ten minute turkey animation to make a point 😂
Before I started watching the series, I was already warned that book 2 and 3 would be included.
I fully expected to see the next centuries at the end of the season and was relieved that they "took their time".
It's a good show, but the chinese version is exceptional, especially about the character's development and about how they let the story grow.
This condensed netflix version makes it more accesible but it leaves many things behind, like the Red Coast base, that works like another character in the books and in the chinese series. Here Ye Wenjie goes from being a prisoner to getting access to the antenna in the blink of an eye, we have no mistery about the base and no Wenjie's character's development there.
On the good side, some character's interpretations are really good (Da Shi, Evans, Wade, Jin), I loved the dynamic between Jin and Wade, both characters from the 2nd book but very-well integrated into the first season of this show. Tatiana is a new character that works really well being a younger but more radical version of Wenjie, kind of replacing the adventists/redemptionists counterpart present in the books and in the chinese version, the two faces of a movement that follows a fake god.
What worries me is that they condensed the story too much, in the 5th episode they were done with the 1st book...at this pace most of the season 3 stuff will be written by Benioff and Weiss, and that's bad news, that's for sure.
I strongly recommend reading the books, and if a slow-paced story is not a problem for you, watch the Tencent chinese version, it really worth it.
Tatiana is meant to be the second swordholder i think
I have a different opinion, the first book dragged on, even for the murder-mistery style it went for, the chinese series managed to drag it on even more and introduce even more inconsequential characters. Liu is not great at writing characters, just by giving them all a connection at the start, the series already managed to up the emotional weight by a lot and down the line it will be a lot more impactful to see the future events.
I will miss wallfacer Rey Diaz tough
@@ElMarcoh really? Doesn't it make the show smaller? Like U.K and the 5 Oxford rangers depicted that early is going be tricky to introduce new global character.
@@snowshock8958yeah, I think they dropped the ball on the wallfacers reveal, but that could be solved easy by making the real wallfacers be "secret" besides the black dude, and the ppl shown are just decoys. I would love to have deep dives on their stories and their interactions with the wallberakers, they could make it like a sort of spy movie, adding to the paranoia, there's potential. Also in the books the only real new character is AA, no nothing is lost I think.
@@ElMarcoh The Wallfacers relied on the aliens' inability to read minds, but their VR has already demonstrated that capability.
I totally agree......The chinese version was better..... They mixed and split the characters, they omitted crucial points ( e.g. the revelation of the true form of the tri-solarians ep.30 of the chinese version ) , they went to the second book very quickly......The timing for everything that was happening was just not right......As a fan of the books, ( although I believe that from the second half of the second book the writter struggled to finish the trilogy ), I will wait for the second season and I hope things will get better......
chinese was too long, 28 episodes, each an hour just to get to the ship slicing part, and beating around the bush for weeks as if audience doesn't know it's aliens comm the base is being used for
Hard disagree it has constant flashbacks of scenes we already watched. Repetitive dialog. Cheesy musical montages
I prefer the tencent version though it was a bit long. Da Shi, Wang Miao, Wenjie, the titular characters were done a lot better. I get the changes cultural differences directed and can see how it would work for English/western audiences.
Auggie took me out of the story. Dressing the character in tank tops with no bras, but then putting her in a bra and panties to run around drunk, was humiliating. We need more female showrunners.
I personally loved the show. Can’t wait for season two
😢buttons doesn't mean it's greatly done. I think it's nevertheless a terrible normal Hollywood filmmaking that is not showing any filmmaker creativity . And I think it shows that D&D were total overrated and not genius and GoT 1-5 was so good despite them not because of them
@@llothar68 I had an aneurysm reading your comment.
Who asked?@@llothar68
It's Average Sh*t.
I hate the way they make these TV Shows nowadays.
"i personally loved the show"
"excuse me, you are wrong. its actually terrible"
wtf is wrong with you people?
I thought, "wow, finally a decent tv show reviewer." Then I noticed your channel was relatively new. Thanks for making a concise engaging review, you earned yourself a subscriber.
I adore the book series and the tencent first season was great. I absolutely love this version. The changes to condense the epic story were all pretty smart.
I've heard some very mixed things about the Tencent adaptation, so I haven't watched it yet. Which do you prefer?
@ImpressionBlend that's tough... the tencent version is much closer to the book, but that's not necessarily a good thing for a TV show. It's a lot of epsiodes, I found it to be at least 6 episodes too long. Honestly I think I prefer Netflixs version. The books largest weakness was the characters imo, and I think they did a great job at not only remedying that, but accelerating the plot by splitting one character into 5, and giving us some continuity by merging some of those 5 with characters that appear much later in the books. I remember being bummed when I started the dark forest and none of the characters I had become attached to were around anymore! I'm really looking forward to sticking with these characters for the rest of this version. The only thing that worries ME is the eye in the sky event. In the books of course, that event happens TO the san-ti ... which carries such massive implications I was totally confused why they changed that to the san-ti doing that to humans... 🤨🤔
@@ImpressionBlendthe plot moves slowly, really slow, watching chapters 8 to 18 doesn't feel like there is much to see as there are only slight clues of what is happening but after that, everything begins to fall into place. The build-up for the last 4-5 chapters is pretty epic, I got more involved with the characters and their motivations in the Tencent Version, also watching Chinese actors is pretty good as I imagined being that way, I like how you can feel their WorldView collapses fragment by fragment. How everything began to move in a spiral that stirs the calm water of the ignorant human civilization, there is the feeling of Great Scale, meanwhile Netflix Adaptation I feel like is too small as it's shallow like I don't even care of what is happening to them as they are the classical Western heroes that will beat the aliens in an Independence Day Way, like, is totally the opposite narration.
The Tencent version is 30 1 hour episodes with a ton of exposition and people talking in rooms.
Considering the attention span of the average person today (TikTok), I totally understand why Netflix’s version is the way it is.
Quinn Streams’ channel his latest video goes into detail what this adaptation does well.
@@josephkatz1982 do you think they could do s2 and beyond with the same budget 160m to 200million?
I am so happy they already began production on season two. Ep1-5 was basically book one and 6-8 touched on book 2. Hold on to your seats. Season two is going to be a blast.
Do you think D&D could produce s2 with the same budget?
@@snowshock8958 Im pretty sure when D&D went to Netflix. They made sure to work in at least 3 seasons. I mean these are the guys that did GoT. They have a set budget for each season as well with some wiggle room. This show looks and feels expensive. The books are already done so im sure they already have all the seasons and their budget laid out.
I think I’ll skip that crap and just read the books
VR part is so goofy. In book, VR is real life simulation.
I agree, the whole point is that it feels like real life but they make it much more like a video game in the show
VR in the three body problem tencent version was even more worse? but somehow no one was complaining about that?
@@luzekiel9343 it was on point imo, is full of Chinese proverb references and historical periods and figures, those are concept that it can be seen boring for Dumb and Dumber who barely know how to read.
Watched like an Adam Sandler x The office
The Wallfacers relied on their inability to read minds, and yet their VR demonstrated that capability very well.
I like how the VR goggles look like speedos leftover from a bodybuilder competition.
Hahaha !! Also how did those headsets make it to Earth? They beamed them thru the quantum thing,sophon was it?
@@Gos1234567 the ETO made them.
I would give the show a 7/10 and I haven’t read the trilogy. Now, I’m very interested because I have questions! 😂
If you have questions - I guarantee they will be answered by the books. They go into ALL the science and context.
Since I haven't read the books, my comparison is based solely on the Tencent series, which I've watched. I appreciate both adaptations for their individual merits and strengths. Tencent remained faithful to the first book, "The Three-Body Problem," with its 30-episode arc. While Wang Miao largely navigated his journey alone for his sanity, Ye Wenjie's narrative, though less brutal than Netflix's portrayal, was spread out over the first season. Netflix condensed much of her backstory. Interestingly, Netflix used the original novel's name for the aliens, "San-Ti Ren," before it was translated to "Trisolarian." I also appreciated Netflix's depiction of the Judgement Day tanker, showcasing it filled with families and children, while Tencent portrayed it as carrying criminals like mercenaries and Mike Evans, the traitor to humanity. These are just a few observations, highlighting the differences between the two adaptations.
Good guys always have western names. Bad guys have Chinese names.
@@elmohead The same is valid with the source. From what I know of the four Wallfacers, the American is a traitor; the Swiss went about the wrong way; the Venezuelan was killed by the people, while Luo Ji, the Chinese, is the savior of humanity. Perspective is who is telling the story.
Moreover, in the original work, Ye Wenjie never had any intimate interactions with Bai Mulin or Evans; she was also never a bitter character driven by motives of hatred. The alterations made in the Netflix adaptation have completely destroyed the depth and complexity of this character.
OMG when Jin Cheng said "What are we, some kinda Oxford Five tryin to solve some kinda three body problem?"
I got goosebumps, it was a genuine avengers assemble moment right there.
Whose ready for sequel ''Four body problem''
Lol
I like when all of them say "Is 3 body problem time!" and then all of them laughed their arses off.
Oxford Five...Assemble. Nano tech armors, Iron Legion, Hulks truly real scientist powers. Cannot wait for that epic scene that need to be depict in s3 whoa.
Considering the amount of garbage Marvel tier "humor" on this show, you're not too far off.
Nah, I loved it. They made my favorite book of all time alive. And with all the changes it was more interesting to watch. And Oxford Five was great, although I didn't like Auggie that much.
Liam Cunningham as Wade is great.
If you like Liam, Mark Strong & Brendan Gleeson I highly recommend the movie ‘The Guard’ 👍
Hated this. It was jumbled and not engaging so everything you are saying makes a lot of sense to me about it’s flaws. I would add that the pacing also really blows.
It seems like put all major charactors in a small group saves time to introduce them? But it falls to a pattern that a small group of elites/heros save the world. Also many charactors were merged made the group even smaller. All the major charactors were not strong connected in the books and each book has to introduce their own major charactors. But that is more realistic: every person from different areas and backgrounds has their own actions trying to save the world. Some of them failed but left some legacy which contributed the people in the future. That makes the books gave you a feeling of great scale with so many generations get involved.
Wasn’t a fan of casting and agree about Auggie, terribly miscast, she was not just annoying but not convincing at all as her character.
There's a Chinese version called Three-Body on Peacock and free on Plex that is 30 episodes long with a higher production value that is really good for anyone interested. It's subtitled just fyi.
Would you say it's better? I've been considering watching it
It was on RUclips too. May still be.
I’m not sure if the production value was higher, but there’s definitely more content there - the sub is better than the sun so it’s like re-reading the book, but the Netflix avoids that problem by being in English.
@@ImpressionBlendI'm only on episode 4 so overall I can't say. I have a friend who loves the books and watched both versions and he preferred the Chinese one.
@@NefariousKoelYeah, I just noticed that it is there as well 👍🏻.
By far the best review on youtube. I got same feelings about the character building and their interactions.
I guess it is more for the production purposes that they merged the characters from all three books into one small group. It is easier to follow one leading character (Jin, she is already the merge of part Wang Miao and Cheng Xin, I bet they will even down play Saul, Luo Ji in the second season and put Jin still on the lead) than following 3 totally different characters for 3 seasons, and it is much easier to find casting.
haven't read the books and I enjoyed the show (which made me start reading the books) and although even without reading the books I agree that it could have been better, I don't think D&D are to blame here, but that Netflix is the biggest and main culprit. Netflix isn't interested in a 6 seasons show and they want there shows (whatever the genre) to be the most accessible/mainstream possible to everyone and everywhere and be done with it in 2 or 3 season tops. that's the "memo" D&D had to work with if I could say ;) I sincerely think that the show would have been way different and probably better (less condensed as you said and more developed) had it been made for any other streaming service (max, apple, amazon...)
Have you watch the 2023 Chinese adaptation ? it's on RUclips, I intended to watch in the next few weeks.
I’ve watched both Chinese version and Netflix one, the Chinese one sticks to close to the book and everything goes way too slow on screen, but Netflix one went way too fast, some times there were no logic explained behind choices characters made
As a fan of the books my expectations were not high. Not because of the people behind it but because the books are more hard Sci-Fi of big ideas and not necessarily a character driven story that transports itself easily. But honestly, I mostly enjoyed this version. Not everything works, but all in all I think many of the changes make sense to construct an accessible show.
I do wonder though if people who only know this version really get to understand why many of these concepts are so fascinating. I am not sure it is possible to really understand the fascination of things like the Wallfacer concept to name just one. And I am wondering about some scenes. Like .. the scene on the graveyard from The Dark Forest, which establishes the axioms of cosmic sociology, one of the most fascinating concepts in the books to me, is already there. But ... they talk about something different in the show and I have no idea what that was all about ...
Also, I really liked Jess Hong as an actress and her character. Didn't know her before, but she really stood out to me
I don’t know why they call it “hard” as I thought it was pretty easy to follow and figure out. Hard sf ain’t what it used to be.
@@shitmandood I feel the same. When I read the original book, I was still in high school, ranking towards the bottom of my class in terms of grades. However, I didn't encounter any difficulties in understanding it and found myself completely absorbed. Seeing so many foreigners claim it's challenging, I can't help but question their level of education.
@@shitmandood Oh, hard scifi doesn't mean hard to understand. The "hardness" is about how much it bends the rules of known science and logic for its narrative. Hard SciFi tries to stick closely with what we think is at least possible scientifically and often has those rules as major plot points. In 3BP see for example that no one just steps in their spaceships and jumps a few lightyears. It is hard work to even get to a fraction of lightspeed, which is part of the story. "Soft" SciFi doesn't really care about that and bends or ignores the rules we know to tell its story.
@@tjw2469 again, the hard in hard sf does not mean hard to understand but hard in terms of bending known rules of science and logic. Hard sf tries to stick to the rules we know and develops new concepts from there and makes that part of the plot. "Soft" sf bends or ignores them to tell its story. In hard sf it is a struggle to accelerate a tiny object to a fraction of the speed of light and how they do it is in itself part of the story. In soft SF they just hyperjump because they can. The how is not the point. Different approaches to telling a stories
@@Olphas Thank you for your detailed explanation of the distinctions between hard and soft science fiction. I appreciate the depth of your insight into the genre specifics, which I'm actually quite familiar with. However, it seems my initial comment might have been misinterpreted, possibly due to my own misunderstanding of @shitmandood's use of quotation marks and the context in which the novel was first introduced to readers.
My original point was centered on the readability and accessibility of the book from a reader’s perspective, not necessarily on its classification within the science fiction genre. The novel's original categorized as a "children's book" in China adds an interesting layer to this discussion, as it contrasts sharply with the international perception of it being hard to read due to its dense scientific concepts and philosophical depth.
I was reflecting on why there seems to be a disparity in how accessible the book feels to different audiences. I found it intriguing that it's now often discussed for its complexity and the challenge it poses to readers unfamiliar with hard science fiction, despite my own experience of it being quite engaging and understandable, even to someone like me who was not at the top of my class academically.
I cannot agree more with your comments on the character design. As a book reader, post-Ep5 is still interesting, but I don't think it can amaze non-readers. Auggie's design is a complete mistake as she only shows her upset side to the audience. I feel bad for the beautiful actor taking such a shallow character. It's evident that Auggie is adapted to Will's wife Zhuang Yan in the book, but again, this is another shallow character. I hope the writers of the 2nd season (if any) could read your comments and come out with a solution.
Here's why I understand why they split the character Wang up: As a whole, the "meat" of the story is the Crisis Era and beyond. The events with Wang in the first book are merely setup for the actual, proper story covered in books two and three. If season one started with a single Wang character and Da Shi, there would be no real connections between the major characters in the later books. In order to make the series a cohesive whole, these major characters must have an anchor in the first season. It was a logical decision considering the first book feels so disjointed from the other two.
As for being so abridged, that's just the nature of adaptation with source material of this breadth. To properly adapt all narratives from the last two books would require ten times the running length of the estimated 24 remaining hour-long episodes - an impossibility given the cost and time. As long as the major events and ideas from the books are successfully adapted, then it serves its purpose. People that want to go deeper will read the books.
As for the flatness of the characters - with the scope of the first book established, this gives them room to evolve and grow as the series progresses. They're blank slates gradually being painted as events in the story unfold.
My bottom line is that this series is meant as an abstraction over the books meant to appeal to the widest audience possible. If people want to get more in depth, then they can read the books. And they will.
Exactly!
Well said, and I couldn't agree more 👏
Fantastic commentary. Frankly, I loved the show.
Thank you. This was rushed. We shouldn't get all the answers by episode 5 this is a series not a mini show
Agreed, episode 5 should have been one of the final episodes
This series is the perfect definition of a 7/10.
They’ve done it once again. They ruined it. How shocking!
Wake Disney style adaptation. Got rid off the main character (happens to be a male) switched it into a girl, added blacks, Asians, whites, for the sake of it. Packed everything….
We’ll have to continue waiting or just read the books.
This version is over simplified, the Chinese version is too detailed to the point of getting boring.
Disappointed. Read all the books and extra books (both in English and mandarin) and I’m once again left wondering why Dumb & Dumber had to take onto the gig one my lifetime’s favorite.
Gross.
what do you think is their reason for splitting the main character into 5?
After long time you come with body problems, it's impressive 🤓
Liam Cunningham is one of my favorite actors. He was a bright spot in last years vampire thriller, The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
He’s destined to play M one day.
It’s like he’s playing the same role as he did in got 😆
The bell curve representing the speed at which a show can burn and still retain enough viewers to be profitable means that stories like this can’t justify a pacing that will satisfy the sort of viewers that watch channels like this (I mean that as a compliment).
Cancelled shows like 1899 are evidence of this. Most people want something that turns its pages quickly and Netflix focuses on meeting their needs more than ours.
Having said that, I really enjoyed this show and am now reading and enjoying the books. Kind of glad I did it in this order.
Netflix has yet to upload content to bring me back, nearly a year now that I've been unsubscribed and it should have been longer. The majority of content being released on most streaming platforms these days, is just mediocre in my opinion and I'm sort of glad that they're helping me save money. (money being spent on older books, blurays and video games 😅😂🤪)
Yeah you’re not missing out. I’d say if you saw Altered Carbon season 1, then you’ve seen the last great show Netflix had. lol.
@@shitmandood They did Altered Carbon so dirty.
I agree with everything you said. I just can't get over the idea of this global challenge and apparently 5 friends from Oxford are involved in everything and the leader of the opposition on earth lives right up the street. Right.
The Chinese tv series was way too slow （30 eps, all on the 1st book). While the netflix was way too fast. There are good and bad acting on both versions. The problem I have with the Netflix version is the character development. I did not feel the hopeless despair that Wenjie felt that led to her decision to reply to the trisolarians. The love child between her and Mike Evans was completely meaningless. The coolest part of the first book for me was how the sophons and the multiple dimensions were explained. The show completely skimmed through it.
I think we can all agree that this show is trying to be a thriller, rather than sci-fi.
Havn't read the books. I mostly agree with your sentiment on the characters. The boat sequence was definitely the highlight. Last two episodes were kind of a slog to get through. Not really sure I will continue with season 2. I didn't hate it but I just wasn't feeling it.
Someone please tell me if I should give the books a try. About me: I haaate long technical explanations, which is why many modern books of the genre are not my thing at all. But I love the early sci-fi novels by H.G. Wells and Mary Shelley because they focus on ideas and implications rather than technical details and know how to hook me emotionally. Nothing turns me off more than a 10 page (or more!) description of a space ship.
I've watched only half of the Netflix adaptation but so far I'm liking it and have already thought about getting the audio book but I don't want to get into a story that at some point will only get lost in logical explanations I don't really care about. If that is the case with the books, I guess I'll be better off just watching the show?
Hmm that's tough. I would say if you watch the show and you want more details or have questions - read the books. Personally I think the books are absolutely brilliant, instant all-time favorites for me, and the way Liu Cixin writes science and ideas is very easy to understand, even when they're pretty complex. There are no excessive technical descriptions of things, but there is a lot of science (once again, very digestible the way it's written). They're the kind of books that expand your mind and make you look at things differently, but it's not because of the characters. I would suggest at least giving them a try, especially since after watching the show you'll have some visuals in mind for what's going on. Hope this helps.
read the books!read the books!read the books!
I read the book together with Litcharts chapter summaries; after I finish reading every chapter in the book I read that chapter's summary. It really help me visualize and understand the hard science and it's what made me see the genius of the story. Give it a try!
Yes - the books are entirely focused on the sci-fi concepts and have some of the poorest character writing and development that I’ve ever read. The characters just exist to explain and do things, the story isn’t actually about any of them.
I never saw a lengthy description of a spaceship that I couldn’t skim over on my first reading without ruining the story. Just try the books and if a few pages bore you, fast forward your eyeballs to the next section
I went in knowing nothing best tv I've watched in ages & now I'm googling all about the problem theories & relativities. Looking forward to season 2
I loved the books, and I suspect that I will feel the same as you do about it. Your negatives were my concerns going into it, so I haven't actually sat down and watched it yet. But I will watch it in a week or two just to check it out. More than likely, I will just want to read the trilogy again.
Sounds like my kind of show! I'm glad it's good.
Edit: As someone who knows nothing about 3 Body Problem I really enjoyed this show. The only negative sides are that I don't feel emotionally involved with these characters, even though they each have their characteristics, I don't find myself rooting for them to win or care if they die. The other negative aspect is that time seems to move incredibly fast, to the point that it's always difficult to tell how much time has passed in each century. Still I think this is a solid 7/10 and I hope season 2 spends more time establishing the characters.
wow! best review i've heard so far. thank you!
Thank you! Glad it was helpful!
Great review. For books about the universe the series feels enclosed.
I found myself phasing in and out of this series. I didn't really like many of the characters that much (Saul, Auggie and Will seemed off to me) ... there didn't seem to be much to them and the episodes with their scenes seemed to really drag.
The episode with the ship was awesome however... overall I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10... still can't believe they spent $20m per episode... A lot of the CGI seemed dated.
Angie was the worst!
I thought it was decent to strong adaptation for a medium that strives for wider appeal - a solid B. I agree with your points about over-simplification. But the midway point was great TV. The books and Tencent version were committed to the high philosophical/hard sci-fi - which is not for everyone. Your review was insightful.
I absolutely loved the books and thought they did a great job adapting it tbh, it was pretty much exactly what I expected it would be. I’m fine with the dips into books 2 & 3, I thought that was a nice surprise and makes me curious for how they’ll weave books together in future seasons. Given that the religious and social impact storylines become even greater in the next two books, it feels more appropriate to dive into that in future seasons as well. Overall I’m cool with what was/wasn’t disclosed this season, except I wish they did more to show how the aliens created the sophon - that part of the book was so vivid and interesting to me. And of course more of the cultural revolution storyline would have been welcomed. But I’m optimistic for what the future seasons can bring. It felt like they had to stay somewhat grounded this first season, but they have no other choice than to go wayyy bigger in anything that might follow this haha. Hoping it generates more interest in the books too!
My imagination as I read the first book was better than this hot garbage they spent $80 million an episode to make. Talk about flushing money down the toilet lol
I bet they don't really want to film the first book but they like the 2nd book. It feels so rushed from point to point, just want to go through the major scenes. I believe they can do a good job in season 2 (also, it is hard to do bad given the mind-bending concepts), but season 1 should have been better than it is now.
I thought the first 5 episodes were really good! But the last 3 episodes felt liek there wasn't much left to hold on to. Many questions had already been answered. And the big twist/mission complication at the end could be seen coming a mile away. I didn't feel surprised when that mission went awry. I hope there's a season 2, but I also hope they regain tension and character development.
I really liked this show a lot. Got me very interested in reading the books. Ordered the trilogy as soon as I finished the last episode 👌
After you read the books the show is gonna look like bollocks 😂
I think they had to include parts of the later books because the first book was slower paced and really a set up for the scary later books. The one character i thought was unnecessary was jack.
I'm very torn on their approach to the VR. On one hand it always took me out of it that a world with otherwise largely modern tech had fully immersive virtual reality. Like...they just had it. And it was apparently popular despite how much people playing Call of Duty definitely don't want it to feel like a real war.
On the other hand, Trisolaris would not provide their technology for something on this order. They just wouldn't
Their VR technology demonstrated their ability to read and perhaps to influence minds, and yet the Wallfacers relied on their inability to do that.
@@TheanHooYew Wouldn't go that far. It's never confirmed that it allows for anything more than collecting data, and ultimately you have to participate in even that of your own volition
@@rudolfambrozenvtuber The VR headsets are able to read minds and stimulate the users' five senses, allowing the users to move about in the VR worlds, seeing and hearing and touching things while sitting down in the real world. That's a lot more than collecting data.
The sophons have shown their capability to produce images in someone's vision. I don't think it's a stretch for a sophon to read someone's mind if they could build a VR headset with that capability. And who built the headsets? Humans? Sophons? For Wallfacers to ignore even the possibility is just bad writing.
The writers could have used a regular VR setup, like the one in the Tencent adaptation, and avoided this inconsistency altogether. Bad writing.
Wasn’t like that in the book. They just turned it into a macguffin in this tv show…they made the aliens too powerful and the tech too godlike. It’s going to end with a little girl stabbing the night king in the back with the greatest of ease. 😆
@@TheanHooYew
1. "Regular VR setup" What the fuck do you think modern VR is capable of? It can't do Three Body. As the show actually mentions (one of the things I appreciate) that sort of full feeling is well beyond us.
2. You just repeated what you said the first time more extensively. That doesn't make it any less unsubstantiated by the media itself
3. Saul never put on a helmet anyway far as I remember so...what of it regardless?
Read the books and loved it, but disagree in that the books were ‘far superior’. The writing in the books were mediocre at best, characters were flat and uninteresting, and all the flashbacks were confusing at times. The appeal of the books were the ideas, the science and technology. Lui Cixin was an engineer, so it completely makes sense that his writing and characters were not strong (not to mention we’re reading a translation), so to say the books were ‘far superior’ is typical book reader elitism.
So far, the show is better than the books in every way: characters are more interesting and likeable, story flow is better and less confusing, and all the major ideas of the books are captured and conveyed quite well.
It’s not near as bad as people are making it out to be (including this video)…
Agreed. Episode 5 was definitely one of the most intense episodes I've ever seen in a series. The critics just need something to piss and moan about
I literally said it was good, and specifically praised episode 5. What video did you guys watch?
The writers invented five characters and put the personalities that they think are eye-catching to these new characters. They should consult some in the particle physics field about how real scientists live. For example, in the book Saul majors in sociology so it is understandable that his personality is quite different from the physicists. He has a Chinese name, Luo Ji, which has the same reading as logic, which implies his future significant discovery. In this show, Saul is a physicist with a personality you never see in physicists in real life. The same issue applies to Auggie, too. Jin is the one close to the book and real life (some aspects of the book are also far from real life). Overall, creating new characters is good strategy, but the development in the show feels a little forced. For Season 2, the writers really need to invite some real physicists to join.
Bruh what are you talking about you do you think you need to be a Sheldon to study physics? Physicist personalities can be anything from the most introverted people to the most extroverted people I have ever met
People not agreeing with the stereotypes of physicists. Its like complaining on television that the programmer character isn't either an awkward geek or a gloomy introvert. But but this isn't how programmers act!!
I know some people in their respective fields who are unlike their stereotypes. Programmers are usually stereotyped for being not athletic and don't take care of themselves yet there is many who simply aren't the case and are very much extroverted & fit. Trust me I've met many of them.
The characters lacked likeability and were not believable. Especially Saul who has supposed to be the smartest of all but in the series he's always smoking pot and drinking beer.
For me the series started to be interesting from episode 5. Up until then the series lacked any real emotion.
Then the story doesn't make much sense especially when the San Ti stop trusting humans. I can't believe that Evans was talking to them for 20+ years and only now they find out that humans lie and can be deceitful. Weird.
All in all the show is mediocre but like I said, for me it started being interesting from episode 5 and I would like to see the story continue so I hope they make a season 2.
I think the point on pacing is really relevant.
The story progresses at a quickened pace at the start of the series, which I kinda liked to be honest. I thought it was well executed
But then you get to episodes 6 and 7 and it feels like it slowly WAAYYY down and almost nothing at all is happening.
The review is spot on. I would rate this adaptation of the series as a 7 out of 10.
IF they make a Season Two, hopefully they spend way less time on each character and more on the sci-fi aspect of the story. I got REAL bored watching this, almost quit in the middle of it. To much like a soap opera to me. Of course that just my opinion.
FOR === GREEN ROOM 2015 === A GIRL REVIEWING SUCH A FILM IS SOMETHING FANTASTIC BECAUSE I LIVE IN A COUNTRY CALLED ROMANIA AND WOMEN HAVE A STRANGE SENSIBILITY, WOMEN IN ROMANIA AVOID THIS KIND OF FILM, IN OUR COUNTRY THE MAJORITY WATCHES SOUTH AMERICAN LOVE SERIES AND COOKING SHOWS. I RESPECT YOU A LOT FOR HAVING STRONG NERVES. FOR EXAMPLE MY GIRLFRIEND QUIT WHEN A CHARACTER WAS STILL BREATHING BEING BITTEN BY
THE FACE OF THAT DOG. I LOVED THIS FILM EXTRAORDINARY, THE SHOCKING FOR ME WAS THAT I ANTICIPATED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING UNTIL THE END. THE CHARACTERS WERE NOT SPARE, THEY WERE ELIMINATED AS IN THE TARANTINO GENRE, EVEN HARDER THAN THIS. I WISH ONLY GOOD IN YOUR LIFE
Got 99 problems but 3 bodies ain’t 1.
Excellent review Marianna. Really enjoyed it.👍
You hit the nail on the head. The Oxford Five characters are a misstep, with the single exception of Jin. Saul (née Luo Ji) SORT OF won me over in the final episode, but only because I know what's coming for that character. Auggie is a completely nonsensical character and horribly miscast, and Jack Roony felt almost contractually shoehorned in. The whole "five smart and interesting friends" angle fell flat for me, and like you said, took up so much of the runtime that I couldn't help thinking about everything they left on the table from the book. That said, I'm kind of hoping they pick up the pace and rethink the Dark Forest storyline. To me, that's the essence of the trilogy, and the best book in the series with the biggest and best ideas. So, yeah, it's pretty, pretty, pretty good. Not good enough.
No spoil but it make sense why Jin had a lot of screentime since her character is from book3. Saul though, if you know Luo Ji you know. Depending of how many seasons it get and stretching they do.
I don’t think people will understand the Netflix version unless they watch the Tencent version which follows the book more closely. And, omg, how are they going to film the dark forest ?
This should have been directed by Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my gold standard for sci fi series
One thing I love about the books is that they take you "outside" of this one human life perspective of time. In the books, to start handling the situation they have to think transgenerationally, and there was nothing of it in the series. Everything happened so fast, losing significance.
I cannot imagine how they are possibly going to pull off the rest of the series, seems pretty unadaptable to me
the scene at the ship kinda reminds me of ghost ship
So true!!
The change about the Lie thing is a bit dumb for me, as if they wouldnt know humans lie. Its like the main trait of Humanity ffs. Surely they know how horrible we are to each other.
remembrance of earth's past is one of my favorite books. I watched the chinese tv show as well. Gotta say Netflix did not do a bad job at all. There were changes but they were made for a reason and mainly to make the adaptation better. Not to mention the chinese show (that people point to in every review) has quite a lot of changes as well.
Maybe as an experiment watch the 30 part Chinese adaptation that's free on RUclips. Now tell me again is was necessary to change the plot. I guess it's necessary for US audiences w a tik tok attention span but really it isn't. This adaptation is mediocre but I guess that's what we can expect at best from NF
The tencent show changed tons of things. The changes made for the netflix show were suggested and approved by Lu Cixin himself.
Agree with everything in your review, it really feels like they brush over and rush through so much what makes the books fascinating.
you DO know that last few seasons of Game of Thrones didn't have books to work from ... right? the "condensed" feel to this show is more Netflix - the budget for this had to be through the roof and I'm sure they want to make sure there is an audience for it ... I HATE what D&D did to the last season of GoT ... BUT ... I'm aware of why the issues were there - the last few seasons they were flying by the seat of their pants - the last season they just wanted out and we saw that result ...
I actually like these characters actually ...
Finally! Been missing you lately. I wanna give you a chef’s kiss 💋for another wonderful video today Marianna!
Tencent one just needs better audio and CGI and it will be Magnus Opus Material.
Some of the episodes written by them do have examples very skilled choices chopping down a huge body of work to 8 episodes. Not the work of obvious hacks.
But once they start to fill it out themselves after the changes, they start to show their season 8 reputation. Frustrating.
Liam Cunningham as Thomas Wade is the stand out. The guy you absolutely would want in charge of planetary defence. Extremely smart, runs circles around his "employees" ruthless, brutal.
I know the show came out, didn't watch it, because I want to read the books. It's not necessary I know but in this case I want to and see if I will enjoy the books series. So that I can added to my book collection to expand sci-fi genre.
Fun Fact: the Producers spoke with Liu Cixin about an adaptation and it was Liu who suggested what the D&D producers were already thinking that making the main characters diverse and even gender swapping would reach the widest audience.
The Oxford Five worked really well for me.
This is odd? Did he thought the western "widest" audience cannot related to chinese characters or majority asian characters?
@@christopherflux6254 Although I feel 3 or 4 would have been better for character dev.
It was too many characters. And nobody in the real world has such a diverse friend group…except maybe rich and famous ppl. It’s probably why they alluded to weed, LSD, and Xanax in the movie. They were all a bunch of drug abusers that found each other through their pusher.
Lol, Liu is just being sarcastic about political correctness. It's not something hard to predict after all.
I haven’t read the books yet(going to be picking it up hopefully soon) but I do have a lot of basic knowledge from Quinn’s Ideas videos on them. For me I generally love the show but I wholeheartedly agree with your criticisms on the Auggie character for me she was by far the worst part of the show. I get why they did some of the decisions with her character to build what they think is moral conflict and drama but for me most of her decisions came off as dumb emotionally selfish childish and in conflict with her supposed goals which is even more annoying given these five are basically made out to be some of the most promising scientists. I also found it frustrating how easily she would go back on her decision especially the one Will helped influence especially in his condition for the greater good. I really also disliked how they tried to make her decision at the end out to be a good decision and positive when we all know by her doing that and not using her talent elsewhere she is essentially crippling the hope humanity has. Bar that I don’t mind them dipping into the other two books to establish thing I think they did it for ease and familiarity sake as it could be jarring for viewers to have to see these events as flashbacks in later seasons and I personally loved Will his story was tragic beautiful and moving and he felt like how I would expect these promising scientists to act in this environment especially with his self sacrifice physically and emotionally so that everyone was where they were needed.
Why would you do that? You’ve spoiled the books. The impact from reading them isn’t going to give any satisfaction.
But I have to say they did a good job with the Yun Tianming / Will Downing character. It is the only character that reflected the depth of the novels. In fact - I would begin the whole Season 2 with the fairytales of Yun Tianming and the meeting he had with Cheng. Shoot the fairytales he told in SFX and let the audience ponder wtf do they mean.
Knew it was a D&D show when the last thing old Ye Wenjie tells Saul is a joke about Einstein's balls. Wtf was this writing
Lol wtf was she babbling on about.Supossed to be some deep meaningful insight but it was ridiculous.
That’s guys character is shite anyway
The tried to add comedy. Very badly executed.
@@Gos1234567It's a double clue. Spoilers below, read at your own peril:
The joke is a warning not to play with God and a hint for the dark forest theory. Don't make a sound you don't want God to notice you and come and play with you. Because God won't play. God will directly destroy you. She is trying to hint that there are God like or much more powerful beings than the Tri-solarans. Against them, the Gods, you want to stay silent and not get noticed.
It's also a clue about where he needs to look for help. Pay attention to where Ye Wenjie leaves the books prior to her meeting. Right on that shelf was a bust of Einstein. The joke therefore also guides Saul to Einstein and to the books that might help him understand the sociology of the cosmos.
That went completely over your head then because I read the books and thought they actually Improved that scene
@@jeffbachman2949 Thank God for D&D! Their frat boy humor is so funny
I really liked it 🤷♂️
Extremely disappointing. Just reread Death’s End to prepare for the Netflix series. What a waste of time!
They tricked me with the Radiohead music in the trailer!
Yeah I really hated the music selection. Jesus.
Ehhh, I didn’t love it. But I think the entire franchise is overrated.
Best review so far! Bravo!
The Ye Wenjie character was well written and amazingly acted. The only character I like except for Ser Davos.
I really enjoyed the first season! I didn't read the books and saw no previews. I kind of want to read the books now.
You should! The books are great!
Yeah, you nailed it.
They did the same thing with Frank Schätzing's "The Swarm". If the author walks away from the miniseries you already know it must be bad. And it was.
Sad that "The 3 Body Problem" met the same faith. I love the novels, but i had to fight through the series.
Thank you for exposing the weaknesses of this “not good enough” show, the most cruicial of them: the characters (especially Auggie).