'The Midwich Cuckoos' was an excellent novel, and very well filmed as 'Village of the Damned' in 1960. That film kept it short at 1 hour 17 minutes and maintained tension throughout.
This version must have lasted about 6 hours overall, and followed the familiar pattern of recent TV series - re-imagining a classic story and spinning it out. Finally it looked just like so many other recent series, completely losing its original charm and impact. Many scenes far too long, and many unnecessary characterizations whilst important characters were hardly developed.
I enjoyed the first episode which set the modern-day scene well, but it got long-winded in episode 2 and continued in that vein to the end. Even the climax, which had some tension in it, was no match for the 'battle of minds' portrayed in both 'Village of the Damned' feature films.
Sadly, many people praised it, showing the effect that countless similar TV productions has had on viewers.
I certainly agree with another reviewer who likened it to a Dr Who series, for these reasons.
This version must have lasted about 6 hours overall, and followed the familiar pattern of recent TV series - re-imagining a classic story and spinning it out. Finally it looked just like so many other recent series, completely losing its original charm and impact. Many scenes far too long, and many unnecessary characterizations whilst important characters were hardly developed.
I enjoyed the first episode which set the modern-day scene well, but it got long-winded in episode 2 and continued in that vein to the end. Even the climax, which had some tension in it, was no match for the 'battle of minds' portrayed in both 'Village of the Damned' feature films.
Sadly, many people praised it, showing the effect that countless similar TV productions has had on viewers.
I certainly agree with another reviewer who likened it to a Dr Who series, for these reasons.