Terra Nova

[Emperor]

The tale of humans from an ecologically ravaged (and “Blade Runner”-y) 2149 A.D. Earth who seek refuge via a one-way time-wormhole to the dinosaur era, the pilot for “Terra Nova” comes to us from “24” writer-producers Brannon Braga and David Fury, though Fury was replaced as co-showrunner post-pilot by Braga’s fellow “Star Trek” vet Rene Echevarria.

 

It stars Jason O’Mara (the ABC version of “Life on Mars”) as a cop who sneaks through the wormhole with his oversized family and Stephen Lang (“Avatar”) as the (benevolent?) ruler of Terra Nova.

 

The premise of this series, which I believe originated in the brain of a Londoner named Kelly Marcel, is such a good one I’m rooting for the project despite its clumsy exposition dumps, annoying characters and dopey plotting. It also helps that Echevarria, who went from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” to “Now and Again,” “Dark Angel,” “The 4400” and “Medium,” is aboard starting with next week’s episode.

 

The colonists who head back in time have to deal not only with hungry, building-size lizards, poodle-size leeches and python-sized centipedes but also with a renegade human group known as “the sixers,” the sixth batch of colonists who decided to break away from the main colony to pursue their own mysterious agenda. There are also mysterious man-made markings on rocks outside the Terra Nova compound.

 

By the way, we learn early on that the “time fracture” actually transports the colonists to an alternate universe’s timeline, so you don’t have to worry about killing your grandma by stepping on a butterfly.

 

I can’t really comment on the quality of the visual effects, because the ones on my screener are temporary.

 

I’ll absolutely be watching next week’s installment, and likely the one after.

 

Time says:

 

Dino-Snore ... A year and a half in the making and costing a reported $20 million, the pilot of Terra Nova has been through so many overhauls and management changes that its credits boast 12 executive producers. What's surprising is that none of them is a 5-year-old boy--because that's who I imagine scribbling the pitch, with crayon illustrations: I want to make a TV show about the future! It will have lasers and guns and computers and time travel! And but ALSO they are living in a jungle, and the bad people want to take them over! ...

 

TV Guide says:

 

... will win no prizes for its cardboard characters and clunky writing, but hey, it’s got CGI dinosaurs! ...

 

USA Today says:

 

... Luckily for Terra Nova, fans of the genre are often at least temporarily willing to overlook bad writing and performances if the battles are exciting and special effects convincing, and they are. That should buy the show time to improve.

 

The New York Times says:

 

... lavishly produced by television standards, at a level of visual and technical sophistication that was partly responsible for the show’s taking nearly two years to land on the Fox schedule. But it’s also so predictable that you might want to fast-forward through the domestic-drama scenes set inside the hilariously clean and orderly colony, stopping whenever you see something that looks like action or a dinosaur....

 

The Los Angeles Times says:

 

... Easily the most exciting show of the fall season ... manages to introduce a panoply of narrative threads and themes while telling a remarkably clean story, both in terms of plot line and tone; "Terra Nova" is whole-family friendly. … For all its excellent green-screen usage, "Terra Nova" is remarkably old-fashioned, rejecting the angst and existentialism of "Lost" to tell the exquisitely American story of colonists, strangers in a strange land come not so much to conquer as to flee, a familiar tale rendered here ferociously and gorgeously new once more.

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

 

... The special effects in a preview disc sent to critics ranged from glossy to mediocre CGI -- some tweaking remained to be done -- and eagle-eyed viewers will catch some plot holes no animated dinosaur can hide. …

 

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

 

... But let's get back to Spielberg. On the plus side, we can point to elements of "Terra Nova" that evoke some of Steven's Greatest Hits. If being chased by a salivating raptor, for example, inevitably evokes "Jurassic Park" in any film or TV show, it's because Spielberg did it so well in that movie, and does it equally well here. Perhaps we can't blame him for the lame dialogue, per se, but, wow, I haven't heard sentences this dumb since last week's episode of "Jersey Shore." ...

 

The Washington Post says:

 

... It’s all pretty dazzling, but with so much time spent on special effects, the characters seem to be factory-direct. The script gets wordy, as the cast hurriedly speak in bursts of dialogue meant to give viewers all the background that, frankly, we don’t need. Even with a lavish two-hour premiere, “Terra Nova” could stand to slow down and admire the world it has taken us to — Earth, 85 million years ago...

 

The Toronto Globe and Mail says:

 

... Every movie genre – the western, the cop drama, the teen-slasher flick, the family-reunited drama – seems to have been thrown into a blender and then some dinosaurs thrown into the resulting bland soup of storylines. Ah yes, the dinos. Big selling point. The dinos help take Terra Nova from bad to fabulously bad. ...

 

The Boston Herald says:

 

... excuse me if I’m skeptical about this show’s prospects. The pilot reportedly cost $10 million. Spielberg has a spotty record when it comes to television. “Amazing Stories” really wasn’t. TNT’s “Falling Skies” first season was notable for how the budget plummeted each week, to the point where the season finale centered on a battle that happened off-camera. So long as the dinos roam, “Terra Nova” has a future ...

 

The Boston Globe says:

 

… The pilot, with subplots featuring O’Mara’s teen kids, is Spielberg 101 - mainstream, iconic, inoffensively predictable. As a weekly series, the effects need to remain impressive and the writers need to avoid falling into “Lost’’ and “Walking Dead’’ band-of-survivors rehash. …

 

Variety says:

 

... boasts a muscular pilot, a serviceable plot and considerable ambition -- none of which, it should be noted, sustained the net's "Terminator" series. For starters, though, "Terra Nova" shines pretty brightly, even with the possibility it might wind up being remembered as another really expensive TV camping trip. …

 

The Hollywood Reporter says:

 

... has a lot to get fans excited about. It’s ambitious in scope, has a likable, far-ranging cast and appears to be planting enough storylines to lure in fans who are having Lost withdrawal. ...

[Nolder]

I haven't watched it yet

I want so badly for this to be good but my hopes are almost non existent at the moment

[Troilen]

I've seen the pilot, and I think it has potential, whether it will be realized or not, well that remains to be seen. If they don't focus on the special effects too much, and polish up the dialogue a bit, I think it could have a future. Oh, and not being so predictable too =)

[Feral]

Can't say it made a brilliant impression on me. Most of the actors seem unable to express emotion. The teen age son saying good bye to his girl friend forever, the mum going through the portal without knowing if her husband would follow...it was all completely flat. Where was the wonder at being millions of years in the past? At the dinosaurs? Why was the older daughter chatting up a boy when most of her family were in danger? The son meets a bunch of fellow teens who lead him astray and nearly get him killed...predictable. There were a few other things that really annoyed me at the time, but I've forgotten now. Anyway, will probably continue to watch this, but it's not amazing.

[Rufae]

I think I'll rename Terra Nova, "Mary Sue Land" until they improve the characters. So far, every character is perdictable annoying. We have the angsty teen falling in with angsty teen bad crowd, nerdy daughter, mysteriously innocent "third child", florence nightengale mother, and Jack Bauer for a ex-cop father. Not to mention the benevolent dictator and crew. The most interesting thing so far is the mysterious runes carved on the rocks. Other than that, it is Jurassic Park meets Lost.

 

The graphics are great as far as TV shows go, but hte writing / directing is terrible. Hopefully they will get the character arcs rolling soon.

 

 

[Vam]

it was moderately bad, but i think it could come good.

 

the first seasons of startrek NG and Babylon 5 were pretty ordinary - the later seasons were awesome.

[Guest jimbo92]

Well I disagree with the guy above about the graphics, I think they are awful mediocre at best, the CGI in Jurassic Park was far better and that is an 18 year old movie. Considering the first series has cost them $70 million the first two episodes have been terrible. The acting is awful as specially from the kids. None of the characters seem to have any emotions at all and no one seems to be bothered about each other apart from the generic oh noes my son is lost I must save him crap. Feral has a good point about the son saying good bye to his girl friend and seems like he's moved on already as he's already chasing the girl he met. I do hope the show improves will be sticking with it to see but the hype so far has been a complete let down in my opinion.

[Feral]

Well I disagree with the guy above about the graphics, I think they are awful mediocre at best, the CGI in Jurassic Park was far better and that is an 18 year old movie.

 

Exactly what my partner and I thought. Not that I'm an expert on that sort of thing.

[SBoydW]

I think it's entertaining, not great at the moment but could be...

[Horus]

Am reserving judgement at the mo. Has potential and I'm hoping that it can develop into something special.

[raitora]

Oh god, it sounds terrible. I don't think even the dinosaurs can save it at this point.

[Horus]

Well 4 eps down. Am enjoying it, have always been a sucker for high-tech in primitive surrounds. Of course the dino's help

[Basel Gill]

I just watched the second week's episode (the one with the pterosaurs) via on demand on my TV. I thought it was engaging, and really enjoyed it.

[Krakalakachkn]

Not loving it, but it's entertaining enough at the moment.

[Verbal32]

Not loving it, but it's entertaining enough at the moment.

 

I'm about in the same spot.

[Krakalakachkn]

Is it just me, or does the lead male character for this show look like a bigger-abs version of the lead from Walking Dead?

[SinisterDeath]

Is it just me, or does the lead male character for this show look like a bigger-abs version of the lead from Walking Dead?

 

He was the cop on Life on Mars. (US version)

Trust Me,

The Closer,

and

Band of Brothers.

[Rufae]

Anyone think of why the people jump back to High Age of DInosaurs? I mean, why not jump back to the time after the dinosaurs but before human development? I would think it would be much easier to live without having to share a couple million years with dinosaurs to look forward to.

 

But I guess then we can't get the cool Jurassic Park cgi, eh?

[Quazie89]

I'm a fan of the orginial Jurassic Park, and I was looking forward to seeing this show, but I haven't actually got a chance to watch it yet. I hope to check it out sometime soon, but from what I've heard about the characters,I don't know if they can draw me into the show or not. I wasn't expecting the graphics to be up there with the Jurassic Park movies, though, because this is a TV show and I didn't think they were not going to have as big as a budget as they would've on a blockbuster movie, but it's good, interesting characters that make me fall in love with a TV show, not the graphics.

[Basel Gill]

Anyone think of why the people jump back to High Age of DInosaurs? I mean, why not jump back to the time after the dinosaurs but before human development? I would think it would be much easier to live without having to share a couple million years with dinosaurs to look forward to.

 

But I guess then we can't get the cool Jurassic Park cgi, eh?

 

Maybe the humans had no control over what period the time fracture went back to? They went back to wherever it went, figuring that even a world full of dinos is better than the mess their own Earth has become.

[SBoydW]

Anyone think of why the people jump back to High Age of DInosaurs? I mean, why not jump back to the time after the dinosaurs but before human development? I would think it would be much easier to live without having to share a couple million years with dinosaurs to look forward to.

 

But I guess then we can't get the cool Jurassic Park cgi, eh?

 

Maybe the humans had no control over what period the time fracture went back to? They went back to wherever it went, figuring that even a world full of dinos is better than the mess their own Earth has become.

 

Yeah they said somewhere in the show that the fracture only led to one point in time.

[Blackhoof]

well, the first season has finished and i can say i liked it.

 

the typical spielberg "humans are evil and nature is important blah blah" moral was annoying. i was hoping it would end with just "oh, we polluted the earth, oh noes, lets deal with new problems now" but no, they had to continue it and make the entire plot centre around evil business men from the future trying to strip-mine terra nova.

[Nolder]

It's cancelled

[Feral]

Sad that this is cancelled, although I'm not too sure where they'd have gone with a 2nd series anyway.

[Nolder]

Netflix wants to restart TN

 

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/08/netflix-interested-in-resurrecting-terra-nova/