Childhood's End

[mamooth]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

 

[JoeB131]

Always thought Clarke was overrated as a SF Writer.

 

[Mindful]

I hadn't realised a movie had been made of it.

Had read the book years ago, and grasped the notion of Clarke's concept of peace being imposed from the outside.

 

[Mindful]

Hope it comes to UK TV.

 

[longknife]

Missed the first but thank goodness for On Demand. On my list to view.

Arthur C. Clarke is the epitome of a Science Fiction writer because he is a scientist. That's what makes it real and worthwhile.

 

[September]

This is awesome and extremely well done.​

 

[Delta4Embassy]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

Been watching it. Not the Expanse though, missed the first episode and looking in on it last night with the second 'End it didn't strike me as something I could jump in in the middle of and get into.

End of CE-1 blew me away. And ya, it's not a ripoff of modern sci-fi so much as modern sci-fi's a ripoff of CE (written in 1954 remember.) Didn't read the novel so the show's all-new to me. Reminded me of "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage for the religious element. Though much more explicitly done in CE. Up until then it was just a first contact sorta movie. But by the end of last night's 2nd episode it's becomming clearer what's going on. Will stick to the OP's no spoilers post though and avoid speculating. But honestly, it can only go 1 or 2 ways now. And with the teaser of the 3rd and last episode, something 'Big Red' says kinda reveals what's gonna happen when put together with the 2nd.

Not horrible, but coulda been done better especially when resolved to have a mini-series length feature. Like how about a more in-depth earth resistance angle? We really just capitulated to aliens showing and dictating terms? I don't think so. I don't care how powerful they are, we're not gonna roll over and submit like we seemed to in the show. We have plans for this sort of thing no matter how theoretical. Probably didn't have them in '54 but still.

 

[Mindful]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

Been watching it. Not the Expanse though, missed the first episode and looking in on it last night with the second 'End it didn't strike me as something I could jump in in the middle of and get into.

End of CE-1 blew me away. And ya, it's not a ripoff of modern sci-fi so much as modern sci-fi's a ripoff of CE (written in 1954 remember.) Didn't read the novel so the show's all-new to me. Reminded me of "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage for the religious element. Though much more explicitly done in CE. Up until then it was just a first contact sorta movie. But by the end of last night's 2nd episode it's becomming clearer what's going on. Will stick to the OP's no spoilers post though and avoid speculating. But honestly, it can only go 1 or 2 ways now. And with the teaser of the 3rd and last episode, something 'Big Red' says kinda reveals what's gonna happen when put together with the 2nd.

Not horrible, but coulda been done better especially when resolved to have a mini-series length feature. Like how about a more in-depth earth resistance angle? We really just capitulated to aliens showing and dictating terms? I don't think so. I don't care how powerful they are, we're not gonna roll over and submit like we seemed to in the show. We have plans for this sort of thing no matter how theoretical. Probably didn't have them in '54 but still.

The guy does resistance. In the end. Motivated by boredom and curiosity.

Despite the aliens imposing peace and tranquility, economic stability on planet Earth.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

Been watching it. Not the Expanse though, missed the first episode and looking in on it last night with the second 'End it didn't strike me as something I could jump in in the middle of and get into.

End of CE-1 blew me away. And ya, it's not a ripoff of modern sci-fi so much as modern sci-fi's a ripoff of CE (written in 1954 remember.) Didn't read the novel so the show's all-new to me. Reminded me of "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage for the religious element. Though much more explicitly done in CE. Up until then it was just a first contact sorta movie. But by the end of last night's 2nd episode it's becomming clearer what's going on. Will stick to the OP's no spoilers post though and avoid speculating. But honestly, it can only go 1 or 2 ways now. And with the teaser of the 3rd and last episode, something 'Big Red' says kinda reveals what's gonna happen when put together with the 2nd.

Not horrible, but coulda been done better especially when resolved to have a mini-series length feature. Like how about a more in-depth earth resistance angle? We really just capitulated to aliens showing and dictating terms? I don't think so. I don't care how powerful they are, we're not gonna roll over and submit like we seemed to in the show. We have plans for this sort of thing no matter how theoretical. Probably didn't have them in '54 but still.

The guy does resistance. In the end. Motivated by boredom and curiosity.

Despite the aliens imposing peace and tranquility, economic stability on planet Earth.

Way it began kinda spoils the end. Taking into account who wrote the original story, and what his most famous saying is, it kinda points towards what's going on. Even used it in the show though slightly reworded. That and all the religious stuff it's obvious what's going on. But with a scientific explanation not supernatural.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Was kinda hoping it'd go a more Gnostic direction where the 'big guy' is a good guy and religions misrepresented that fact. But doesn't seem like it's gonna go there. Alas. Woulda made it so much better. Seems like he kinda is, his line in the barn about being a servant and alluding to greater forces reveals that.

Thinking "Knowing" is gonna be the most direct comparison. Unless I'm way off target. That'd be a nice surprise, but my experience is I'm rarely surprised by movies any more. Watch enough and you've seen every possible story because there's only about a dozen different ones.

 

[Mindful]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

Been watching it. Not the Expanse though, missed the first episode and looking in on it last night with the second 'End it didn't strike me as something I could jump in in the middle of and get into.

End of CE-1 blew me away. And ya, it's not a ripoff of modern sci-fi so much as modern sci-fi's a ripoff of CE (written in 1954 remember.) Didn't read the novel so the show's all-new to me. Reminded me of "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage for the religious element. Though much more explicitly done in CE. Up until then it was just a first contact sorta movie. But by the end of last night's 2nd episode it's becomming clearer what's going on. Will stick to the OP's no spoilers post though and avoid speculating. But honestly, it can only go 1 or 2 ways now. And with the teaser of the 3rd and last episode, something 'Big Red' says kinda reveals what's gonna happen when put together with the 2nd.

Not horrible, but coulda been done better especially when resolved to have a mini-series length feature. Like how about a more in-depth earth resistance angle? We really just capitulated to aliens showing and dictating terms? I don't think so. I don't care how powerful they are, we're not gonna roll over and submit like we seemed to in the show. We have plans for this sort of thing no matter how theoretical. Probably didn't have them in '54 but still.

The guy does resistance. In the end. Motivated by boredom and curiosity.

Despite the aliens imposing peace and tranquility, economic stability on planet Earth.

Way it began kinda spoils the end. Taking into account who wrote the original story, and what his most famous saying is, it kinda points towards what's going on. Even used it in the show though slightly reworded. That and all the religious stuff it's obvious what's going on. But with a scientific explanation not supernatural.

Haven't seen the miniseries, and I don't know if it will be shown in the UK.

But I read the (long) book many years ago, and several what I would call "essential truths" described so well by Clarke's narrative, have remained with me ever since.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Missed the first but thank goodness for On Demand. On my list to view.

Arthur C. Clarke is the epitome of a Science Fiction writer because he is a scientist. That's what makes it real and worthwhile.

Could probably have waited until the 3rd and last night then watched all 3 together. Did an encore of the 1st before last night's 2nd. Expect they'll do the same again tonight showing the 2nd before the 3rd, then all 3 on the weekend.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Too many gd commercial breaks though. And I swear the breaks are longer than the show segments.

 

[longknife]

Watched the first episode of Expanse and shut if off half-way through. Doubt I'll bother to watch any more.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Childhood's End mercifully ended. As an overall show it kinda sucked. Up until the very end you're left wondering wtf's going on? The fast-fowarding leaves you confused and detached from the characters, the allusions have you going one way, then the reality goes off another way. Maybe it was good novel, but the 3 part show sucked.

The only sorta redeeming bit about it was the humbling 'nothing you care about and fight over ultimately matters.' But the larger perspective's so there's this god and it only made the Earth to benefit itself, doesn't care one damn about you and what you want and when it gets what it's wanted all along it chucks the planet into oblivion. Like planets like Earth were a dime a dozen or something. You'd think it coulda done what it needed to do but left the planet intact.

Thing from the beginning still doesn't make sense either. One of the first explanations for why the aliens show up was Man was close to developing interstellar travel. And the aliens regard that as something to be prevented. Ok, can kinda see that. But then at the end of the show the astrophysicist stows away on one of the ships bringing animals back to the home world and experiences the problems of relativistic time dilation. So his 3 month or so roundtrip has 85 years pass back on Earth. Interstellar travel isn't possible in normal space at near light speed. It'd still take far too long to get anywhere. Didn't they say the aliens world was 111 ly away? Something like that. That wouldn't be a 48 day journey but ~111 years and a lot more than 40 years back on Earth. Only way to go 111 ly in 48 days is at some high warp velocity. But if travelling via warp you don't experience time dilation (since you're not travelling through regular time-space but rather enclosing your vehicle in a bit of static space then moving that through regular space, a 'bubble' of warped space.) Bit of a plot hole there.

 

[September]

If I was in that astrophysics dude's position I would have accepted their offer and gone back with them and lived in their planet. It looked so beautiful.

​

 

[NYcarbineer]

I watched some. For some reason I found the 'monster' hilarious looking.

 

[hortysir]

It's a 3-part miniseries of Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 science fiction novel. It premiers Monday 12/14 at 8 PM on SyFy.

Reviewers are saying good things about it, and that it sticks very closely to the book. And that's good. After SyFy butchered Earthsea so badly, people were wondering if they could do an adaptation that doesn't suck.

It's not a ripoff of Independence Day. That movie and everything else that used the "huge alien spaceships suddenly appear over earth's cities" thing took that idea from the Childhood's End novel.

If it sticks to the book, then it will have the book's ending. Without giving too much away, it's not a classic happy ending. Whether that ending is a good or bad thing for humanity, that's what people have had arguments about for over 60 years. Tends to bring out strong opinions, some saying they loved the book, some saying they hated it.

And along with "The Expanse", this shows a good trend at SyFy. That is, they're actually starting to do some actual scifi again. Yeah, Sharknado was fun, but come on, enough is enough, they were getting as bad as The History Channel. More scifi is in the works, such as adaptions of "Brave New World", "Hyperion", and "3001: The Final Odyssey".

Just saw this. Will have to browse on-demand....thanks

 

[rdean]

When they said Jennifer was the last child, I didn't understand. Did she absorb the rest? Didn't make sense to me. I thought they were going to join the overmind in a group.

 

[hortysir]

Found it......dude is from Under the Dome