Dark Angel - Schmaltz or smarts??

POSTED BY: Zoot
UPDATED: Thursday, August 18, 2005 23:10
VIEWED: 15427
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CHRISISALL

Monday, June 20, 2005 9:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sickdude:
James Cameron will always be known in my mind for that masterpiece, Aliens.

Do you have it on dvd? And if so, do you watch the theatrical version or the director's cut?
This might sound wierd, I watch the director's cut but skip from just before you see Newt's family in thier vehicle to the next scene where Ripley is sitting in the rear-projected garden. I think the pace of the director's cut works better that way.

Chrisisall, the film editor

CYBERSNARK

Monday, June 20, 2005 11:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
I think you're probably right in that it would make a damn fine movie ....

When you're done, you may wanna track down the novel trilogy: Before the Night, Skin Game, and After the Dark (I'm going by memory, so I likely have the first and last titles wrong. Can't recall the author, either).

The first is a prequel that shows exactly how Max arrived in Seattle, while the second and third are set just after the finale (and give closure to White & the Breeders).

And I guess I'm the only one who really liked the second season. Joshua was fun. And I still quote Alec's "naming ceremony."

. . . 'cause my next choice was "Dick."

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Monday, June 20, 2005 11:32 PM

I have been a DA fan since the pilot, and while I love the concept, I have mixed feelings about the show in general. I think the idea of an inherently flawed superheroine rising from the practice of science, fearful of her past and all too human in her reluctance to grasp a higher meaning to her life is a genius concept. The first few episodes that stayed true to this theme were brilliant, but as they moved further from this the show declined.

The sexual tension between Max and Logan was often overplayed and in many ways unimportant, and while there were many fans who seemed to thrive off this, I found it tiresome. As the first season progressed Max became more of a classical superhero, flawless in her morality and efforts and in many ways less human. I felt that episodes like “Flushed,” where Max’s personal struggle with the conditions of her special genetic nature and the haunting memories of her past, set against the destitute and militant politics of a post-apocalyptic world was where Dark Angel was best. I would have liked to have seen more episodes like this where Max’s genetic conditions weren’t used as an opportunity for sexual adventure. Something that played a little more realistically to the deep emotional and physical struggles of genetic abnormalities. There were so many untapped stories to exploit the ironic nature of the superhuman that is only superior because she suffers from genetic deformities. I would also have liked to have seen more stories focusing on Max’s derelict lifestyle. In the pilot we see her as a cat burglar, exploiting her enhanced nature in the pursuit of criminal activities, which I admit subtracts from the moralist view of the classical superhero, but it also adds a degree of reality. Dark Angel could have been so much smarter.

By the second season, almost the entire concept of Dark Angel’s original concept had been dropped in favor of clichés that ranged the gambit from mysterious ancient alien societies to typical “monsters.” It was almost as if the people who wrote the second season had never even seen the first season. There is speculation that Dark Angel’s second season may have been a victim of political circumstances, which I suppose is understandable. I don’t think that the second season was bad, but I don’t feel that it worked with the first season, and I certainly don’t think that it held true to the original theme. Then again I began to loose interest in the second season and there were many episodes I didn’t see.

In any event, I definitely recommend the first season, but the second will probably not be of much interest unless you really liked the first.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

PBI

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:40 AM

I'd have to reluctantly agree with Finn's general assessment. Season 1 was okay, but Season 2 was a totally different (and hideous) show. I'd venture to say that Cameron is/was so used to wrpping everything up in a 2-3 hr movie, he couldn't handle developing a plot over the course of several years. If only they'd taken 2-3 seasons to get to where they ended up at the end of Season 1...but they didn't :(

If you can survive death, you can probably survive almost anything.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 1:27 AM

Yeah I think that would have helped a lot. Stretching out the first season. Getting a little more acquainted with Max and her personal demons: her struggle with her condition, her struggle with her lifestyle and social attitude. Giving the Max-Logan thing a little time to more plausibly develop. Giving Lydecker a little more time to as the “big bad,” (to coin a buffy term.) The first season is like a collection of episodes taken from several seasons. Things went too fast.

Lydecker was a brilliant villain. He was duplicitous, calculating, subtly psychotic yet sympathetic and even admirable. John Savage was a fantastic actor, probably the best actor on the show.

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Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

PBI

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 3:08 AM

No arguments there. Would have been nice to have seen the grittiness of the first few eps be maintained throughout, too. After a while, it got more and more difficult to believe the US was still struggling in the aftermath of the Pulse. *sigh* Also would have been great to have seen Savage given the chance to really develop Lydecker. One of the best villians to come down the pike in a long while.

If you can survive death, you can probably survive almost anything.

ZOOT

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 8:15 AM

Yes, gotta say, although I can totally see why Jessica Alba was a big hit (and I ain't even a man), she's not the best actor in the world ever!!

Going back to a much earlier post though - I now take back what I said about it never being funny - Just watched I And I Am A Camera and whilst I agree it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the show and presumably is simply providing a vehicle (no pun intended) for Logan to get back on his feet, I did laugh out loud (take note Chrisisall) ....

Especially the line (I amy not be qouting correctly) :

MYSTERY MAN: Aw...damn, got a screw loose.

MAX: No argument there.

MYSTERY MAN: Ah, ha...there. Hate when that happens. It's so embarrassing. Okay. So, what's the chair do? I mean...

MYSTERY MAN ( imitates shooting )

MYSTERY MAN: Or are your powers mostly mental?

LOGAN: Mostly mental, yeah.

Worthy of the Bufster ....

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Okay, I'm lost, I'm angry, and I'm
armed.

SICKDUDE

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 4:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Do you have it on dvd? And if so, do you watch the theatrical version or the director's cut?
This might sound wierd, I watch the director's cut but skip from just before you see Newt's family in thier vehicle to the next scene where Ripley is sitting in the rear-projected garden. I think the pace of the director's cut works better that way.

Sorry, Chrisisall, for not replying sooner; my workplace lost power right as I started typing a reply yesterday.

Some extended version in between, which is the way I like it. It has the garden-projection scene and the stuff with the smartguns, but not the stuff about Newt's folks, thankfully. When I read the book I thought that portion and the part where Ripley finds Burke cocooned were way dumb. I have to admit, though, a friend has the Quadrology box set, and that is majorly nice! What does it have, 129 discs?!?

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 6:43 PM

Finn, your assessment of the series is, as ever, well thought out and expressed. I agree with every word. The first season made me such a diehard fan that I bought the second season anyway, and even targeted the best episodes to watch, the ones that still retained at least a faint taste of what the first season was all about (see the '2nd season eps that don't suck' thread). I have to admit, though, the 2nd season finale, while heavily entrenched in the 'nomolies' junk, was slick and well directed, I guess I'm forgiving a lot just to see Max in action, if not in much of an interesting story.
White was a serviceable enough villain, but nothing compared to Lydecker. The whole "You have her eyes" thing in the end of the first season was so intense, and Max striking him for it was mind blowing to me.
I've even put some thought to editing the S1 finale to have a happy ending, as if it wasn't a dream- but I'd always know that it couldn't end there...

Feline in my cocktail Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 7:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zoot:
MYSTERY MAN: Or are your powers mostly mental?

LOGAN: Mostly mental, yeah.

Worthy of the Bufster ....

I think it's interesting to note that at least one writer and one director from DA went to work on Firefly after the DA cancellation. Good writers and directors don't disappear, they just jump on the next cool project.
Please let us know what you thought about the S1 finale, 'And Jesus brought a casserole', although that's probably a day away or so.

Maximum Chrisisall

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