TV/Movies Megathread

[The Brain]

What was the one season show about war with aliens, maybe 20 years ago? At season's end they had an alien general captured I think, but of course no second season was made. Random memory: I think there was a squadron of Fighting Finns mentioned.

Falling Skies? Though there were subequent, worse, seasons.

I don't think so, older than that, and it was mostly space combat I think.

[Syt]

What was the one season show about war with aliens, maybe 20 years ago? At season's end they had an alien general captured I think, but of course no second season was made. Random memory: I think there was a squadron of Fighting Finns mentioned.

That sounds a lot like Space: Above and Beyond. I really liked the show, though its premise owes a lot to Haldeman's Forever War - human colonists being attacked by an alien race, leading to all out war between humans and "chigs". Itw as a bit weird that the unit were both ace fighter pilots AND ground troops, but I can overlook that. It had some interesting premises/backstory - humans created AI "silicates" (androids) as workers and soldiers. Of course the Silicates rose up in a global war ... so the humans started creating cloned soldiers.  That war was over, but the clones are struggling to fit into society, while being resented by "normal" humans. The show had some pretty good space combat for mid-90s TV, and while I enjoyed it, some of the plots/dialogue were lifted straight lifted from various (anti-)war movies and books, and it was big on pathos. I still love the opening theme, though.

[Syt]

Foundation is pretty good.

Haven't watched it yet; but it's on my list - does it capture the scope of the books (and hopefully update some of the outdated stuff in them)?

Ever watch Lexx back in the days of yore?

Of course.

Another Life? Had its issues, big ones, but decent enough core plot.

Might have a look at that, though it seems to not get great reviews?

That you've never watched Stargate though...SG1 is awesome. And very episodic with the large scale story not needing too much attention to follow so you can watch it and zone out a lot.

That's mostly because I'm generally not too fond of shows that have their space adventure set in present day Earth, I guess. I liked the movie, but never watched the show. I caught a few episodes of Universe or Atlantis on SyFy ages ago, and those seemed ok.

[Josephus]

Yeah, I always preferred Atlantis to the original SG. Not sure why, exactly. I think I never liked the Goa'uld.

[celedhring]

Another Life has some interesting hooks let down by pretty embarassing writing, I couldn't last more than a few episodes and that was only because of the Sackhoff+Sci/fi combo.

It was also cancelled after two seasons, but it seems the main arc was more or less concluded.

[crazy canuck]

What was the one season show about war with aliens, maybe 20 years ago? At season's end they had an alien general captured I think, but of course no second season was made. Random memory: I think there was a squadron of Fighting Finns mentioned.

Falling Skies? Though there were subequent, worse, seasons.

I don't think so, older than that, and it was mostly space combat I think.

Space Above and Beyond

[Syt]

Another Life has some interesting hooks let down by pretty embarassing writing, I couldn't last more than a few episodes and that was only because of the Sackhoff+Sci/fi combo.

It was also cancelled after two seasons, but it seems the main arc was more or less concluded.

It sounds like my experience with Killjoys. I was intrigued by the solid concept - bounty hunters in a star system run by a  mega-corporation getting involved in machinations much bigger than them. But the dialogue in the first episode seemed to hit so many clichés that I ended up merely cringing and rolling my eyes.

[Josquius]

That's mostly because I'm generally not too fond of shows that have their space adventure set in present day Earth, I guess. I liked the movie, but never watched the show. I caught a few episodes of Universe or Atlantis on SyFy ages ago, and those seemed ok.

I don't think Stargate falls down too much on that, its rare they go off-base and I can recall some of the few episodes where they do being quite enjoyable for being so different.
In general the plot is start on a military base that is recognisable earth, go off on a wonderful sci fi adventure that wouldn't be out of place in star trek, return home for a debrief.
One thing I love about it is that though the early series have a real small pathetic Earth against the big bad vibe which is really enjoyable, they don't just get stuck on this and instead develop as time goes on- because of course that thing they find in series 1 doesn't just stay locked in a warehouse forever, it gets studied and then some series down the line something comes of it and the shape of the plot changes. There's real development across the course of the series.

Another Life has some interesting hooks let down by pretty embarassing writing, I couldn't last more than a few episodes and that was only because of the Sackhoff+Sci/fi combo.

It was also cancelled after two seasons, but it seems the main arc was more or less concluded.

I found that the overarching plot, though holed, was pretty interesting and not the sort of thing you typically see on TV.
The character-plots on the other hand were pretty shocking, more One Tree Hill and that sort of thing than Star Trek. Groan worthy but not so all dominant you couldn't just check your phone and wait till they were done.
It would never show up on my best shows ever list but it was decent.

Better in Netflix sci fi was Travellers. Now that was awesome. Albeit not about space.

[The Brain]

What was the one season show about war with aliens, maybe 20 years ago? At season's end they had an alien general captured I think, but of course no second season was made. Random memory: I think there was a squadron of Fighting Finns mentioned.

That sounds a lot like Space: Above and Beyond. I really liked the show, though its premise owes a lot to Haldeman's Forever War - human colonists being attacked by an alien race, leading to all out war between humans and "chigs". Itw as a bit weird that the unit were both ace fighter pilots AND ground troops, but I can overlook that. It had some interesting premises/backstory - humans created AI "silicates" (androids) as workers and soldiers. Of course the Silicates rose up in a global war ... so the humans started creating cloned soldiers.  That war was over, but the clones are struggling to fit into society, while being resented by "normal" humans. The show had some pretty good space combat for mid-90s TV, and while I enjoyed it, some of the plots/dialogue were lifted straight lifted from various (anti-)war movies and books, and it was big on pathos. I still love the opening theme, though.

Yeah, that's the one. Cool.

[viper37]

I have yet to finish Nu-Galactica (got to mid-Season 2, and my interest kinda fizzled out). I have not started on any of the Stargate stuff (and the number of episodes is daunting; and I know that plenty actors from other shows end up on the various series - tbf, the Atlantis/Universe stuff looks more interesting to me than the "base" series). I started on Killjoys, but I couldn't make it through the pilot because I couldn't stand the writing.

Nu-Galactica is great until the beginnin of season 3.  The first 4-5 episodes are pretty good, afterward, it becomes a drag until the very end of the season.  S4 is so-so and the ending, you either love it or you hate it.

Killjoys was a great tv show, but it's not really space opera, even toward the end, it's still about inter personal relationships in a sci-fi context.  Like Friends, but with guns and drama

Dark Matter, airing concurrently to Killjoys became great space opera toward the middle of season 3, then it got cancelled.  The first season was ok, but filled to the rim with cliches.  Second season was marginally better, imho, but critics had a much higher opinion of it.  Third season was way better until the very end of the series.  It's a shame it didn't start like that sooner, it might have finished that run.  Plagued by both bad acting and lazy writing in the beginning.  But that was a space operat for sure.  Despite its unresolved cliffhanger, you might like it, if you can get past S1.

[viper37]

That's mostly because I'm generally not too fond of shows that have their space adventure set in present day Earth, I guess. I liked the movie, but never watched the show. I caught a few episodes of Universe or Atlantis on SyFy ages ago, and those seemed ok.

Atlantis was good, but it tried too much to copy SG1.

Team discovers a new device that lets them travel to distant world.  In this case, an 8th chevron on the stargate that opens travel to another galaxy.

On the very first mission, an important crew member is captured by the enemy  and subsequently dies as the medical team is unable to save him.

Then they meet an alien warrior who joins their forces, except she's female instead of male, but later on, they meet a warrior dude who as stong as Teal'c and also joins them after some reluctance as a way to avenge his people (Teal'c wanted to free his people).

But, I'll give it to this show, they had some very interesting characters and some very funny moments, much more than SG-1.

[Tonitrus]

What was the one season show about war with aliens, maybe 20 years ago? At season's end they had an alien general captured I think, but of course no second season was made. Random memory: I think there was a squadron of Fighting Finns mentioned.

That sounds a lot like Space: Above and Beyond. I really liked the show, though its premise owes a lot to Haldeman's Forever War - human colonists being attacked by an alien race, leading to all out war between humans and "chigs". Itw as a bit weird that the unit were both ace fighter pilots AND ground troops, but I can overlook that. It had some interesting premises/backstory - humans created AI "silicates" (androids) as workers and soldiers. Of course the Silicates rose up in a global war ... so the humans started creating cloned soldiers.  That war was over, but the clones are struggling to fit into society, while being resented by "normal" humans. The show had some pretty good space combat for mid-90s TV, and while I enjoyed it, some of the plots/dialogue were lifted straight lifted from various (anti-)war movies and books, and it was big on pathos. I still love the opening theme, though.

Yeah, that's the one. Cool.

I especially enjoyed that the show had Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann. 

[Syt]

Rowan J. Coleman has a good 10 minute video about the show (and I recommend his channel in general if you like sci-fi TV):

EDIT: I forgot that Dale Dye had a small role in the show



That was before he was a consultant (and actor) on Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.

[mongers]

Anything worth a viewing on Amazon Prime?

So far I've only  encountered 'The Night Sky' which one episode in seems OK.

[CountDeMoney]

Anything worth a viewing on Amazon Prime?

Too Old to Die Young. 

If you like your David Lynch mainlined straight into Travis Bickle with a neon noir syringe with all the dopesick that comes with it, that's the 11 hours for you.