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Foundation (Apple TV+) - Jared Harris Goes to Space... Again [SEE STAFF POST]

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Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,234
kevin1025 said:
It's a little odd, but Apple did provide critics the entire season, which is promising as they don't do that super often.
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The way Apple do embargo's generally is odd. They provide the full seasons but embargo's for each episode is lifted as they drop weekly, so reviewers would watch the full season (sometimes without all the effects being finished) can can't talk about later episodes.
 
Vico

Vico

Member
Jan 3, 2018
6,376
I was wondering why nobody was talking about it.

Seems like it has potential to be an "event" series. I can't wait to see the reviews tomorrow.
 
Smoothcb

Smoothcb

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,081
Epic SF visuals. About the start episode 2

**edit** ability to skip intro in the second episode
 
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Neece

Neece

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,200
What specifically was strong about the first episode?

Really debating subbing to Apple+ for this.
 
hordak

hordak

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,539
Anaheim, CA
they should really make space elevators out of stronger material or make it detachable, and maybe don't put windows on the elevators :O
 
TheNatureBoy

TheNatureBoy

Member
Nov 4, 2017
10,813
Should just rock with this as the OT.

A couple of reviews

www.rollingstone.com

New Formula for 'Foundation' Doesn't Add Up

Apple TV+ take on Isaac Asimov's classic stories adds characters, romances, and rivalries, but falls flat. Alan Sepinwall's review
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Jared Harris in Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation’: TV Review

David Goyer and Josh Friedman adapt Isaac Asimov's landmark sci-fi book series about the multi-century quest to stave off a galactic catastrophe, with Lee Pace and Lou Llobell among its stars.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com

Not the strongest recommendations, but I still plan to check it out to see if it grabs me more.
 
Saifu

Saifu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,875
TheNatureBoy said:
Should just rock with this as the OT.

A couple of reviews

www.rollingstone.com

New Formula for 'Foundation' Doesn't Add Up

Apple TV+ take on Isaac Asimov's classic stories adds characters, romances, and rivalries, but falls flat. Alan Sepinwall's review
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Jared Harris in Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation’: TV Review

David Goyer and Josh Friedman adapt Isaac Asimov's landmark sci-fi book series about the multi-century quest to stave off a galactic catastrophe, with Lee Pace and Lou Llobell among its stars.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com

Not the strongest recommendations, but I still plan to check it out to see if it grabs me more.
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Hmm...damn so the show gets boring?
 
Jarmel

Jarmel

The Jackrabbit Always Wins
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,330
New York
This clearly had a blank check when it came to budget.

This might be the most expensive looking scifi TV series I have EVER seen.
 

Ashhong

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,614
Timbuktu said:
The way Apple do embargo's generally is odd. They provide the full seasons but embargo's for each episode is lifted as they drop weekly, so reviewers would watch the full season (sometimes without all the effects being finished) can can't talk about later episodes.
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Seems smart from their point of view. They don't want people to just not watch a show when a reviewer gives the season a mediocre score. Would rather people give it a chance in the beginning first
 
Weegian

Weegian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,732
I really enjoyed the pilot! Even though it moved at a million miles per hour, it looks great, and some of the casting decisions are working for me.

Mule name drop in the intro!
 
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,234
Ashhong said:
Seems smart from their point of view. They don't want people to just not watch a show when a reviewer gives the season a mediocre score. Would rather people give it a chance in the beginning first
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i understand that it's a bit more unusual in that they let the reviewer see the whole/part of a season,and then when they review the episodes as they come out they have to pretend they haven't seen the later episodes.
 
RDreamer

RDreamer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,106
First episode was pretty fantastic. The art direction and costuming were especially inspired. I have no experience for the book but am still pretty excited for the series. So far so good.
 
TooFriendly

TooFriendly

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,028
I watched the first 2 eps.
The visuals are really incredible, the space visuals in particular look amazing on an OLED.
Some of the ships have that cool 70s sci-fi spaceship art book look.
The costumes and fabrics are extremely detailed. Difficult to make those kinds of costumes work unless they are expensive. Kind of like a period film, but in the future. Space shots were looking great. Basically it looks very expensive.

The tone and spirit match the books, so it's pretty cerebral so far, rather than action. Lots of talk about psycho history and maths. I'm liking it a lot.
 
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,186
This kind of reminds me of early expanse in that people may find it slow to start due to world building and the payoff will come later.

Also, yes, this is possibly one of the best looking shows I have ever seen.
 
leng jai

leng jai

Member
Nov 2, 2017
15,118
Promising start but I can tell I'm going to be overwhelmed by all the sci-fi stuff pretty quickly. They obviously had a blank cheque to make this so it's a little curious they didn't hire any mega stars to play the leads since that's what they did for virtually every other show on Apple TV. Surely has to be be the most expensive TV show ever made already and it's just the first season. Every frame looked insanely good watching it in Dolby Vision.
 
D.Dragoon

D.Dragoon

Member
Mar 2, 2018
1,310
leng jai said:
Promising start but I can tell I'm going to be overwhelmed by all the sci-fi stuff pretty quickly. They obviously had a blank cheque to make this so it's a little curious they didn't hire any mega stars to play the leads since that's what they did for virtually every other show on Apple TV. Surely has to be be the most expensive TV show ever made already and it's just the first season. Every frame looked insanely good watching it in Dolby Vision.
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I doubt mega stars would want to sign up for a show that could go for multiple seasons. Mega stars usually go for limited run series so they aren't shackled to a tv show for a long period of time.
 
Nooblet

Nooblet

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,632
I hope this doesn't get cancelled in the future. That's always a big issue with high concept stories, they can be esoteric while costing a lot to make. I can already tell that not many people will talk about the show here.
 
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rsfour

rsfour

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,767
The show looks fucking stunning. Just wrapped up ep 1.

I haven't read much of the book, maybe a fifth of the way through, so I don't remember too much, but the show feels quite different from what I do recall. So I've got no complaints either way.
 
BobHarris

BobHarris

Member
Dec 20, 2017
189
Watched the first two episodes. Incredible visuals and production design, though there's one Scene in the 2nd episode that looked noticeably cheap compared to everything else and stood out like a sore thumb (mostly some very flat lighting).

The world building is top notch, but definitely requires a lot from the viewer in terms of information processing. More show then tell rather than show not tell.

Only doubts so far are from casting. While Pace and Harris kill it, there's not too much charisma with some of the other principal characters, but there plenty of room for development there.

The score is fantastic too, but the credit theme is kind of forgettable and would have benefitted from some kind of memorable hook ala Game of Thrones, but that is quite nitpicky of me.
 
-Pyromaniac-

-Pyromaniac-

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,369
This show hits right man, just the visuals alone. Definitely early days so I'll reserve any real commentary until the end of the season.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,802
64% on RT and 63 on MC so far

www.rottentomatoes.com

Foundation: Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes

Based on the award-winning novels by Isaac Asimov, this story chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire.
www.rottentomatoes.com www.rottentomatoes.com

www.metacritic.com

Foundation season 1

Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) and a small group of believers seek to preserve human knowledge and save civilization after he predicts the end of the Galactic Empire in this sci-fi series based on the novels by Isaac Asimov.
www.metacritic.com www.metacritic.com
 
Jarmel

Jarmel

The Jackrabbit Always Wins
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,330
New York
First episode was great. 2nd episode not so much. Pacing in second episode just crashed and plodded along.
 
iosefe

iosefe

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,932
Where the sun shines
I found it to be a good start.

i do wonder exactly what the series will cover though. my first guess was maybe 2 episodes per major section of the book, but not i'm not sure. at least we have the early season 2 confirmation, but still.
 
Fatoy

Fatoy

Member
Mar 13, 2019
7,225
Mcfrank said:
Maybe this show is just made for me, but I really don't get those reviews. For All Mankind and Morning Show also got middling reviews but are really good to me.
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I'm late to watching For All Mankind, and I can't imagine how anyone would rate it anywhere near the middle of the pack. It can be a little slow, but it's well-written, well-acted, with a unique premise, strong production values, and a bunch of other positive attributes. I haven't watched The Morning Show, but my wife is a fan and I trust her opinion.

Foundation looks to be exactly my kind of thing, and I'm excited to watch the first two episodes this weekend.

Generally speaking, Apple TV+ shows seem to be given a lot of room to breathe. Perhaps that's because they seem to have greenlit second seasons of basically everything ahead of time, so the creators don't feel as rushed as they might if they thought the season finale could be the end of the show as a whole. I'm not sure what the reason is, exactly, but none of them seem to be in a hurry - which I kind of enjoy.
 
Quinton

Quinton

Specialist at TheGamer / Reviewer at RPG Site
Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,276
Midgar, With Love
I'm glad to finally see a DS9 character back for modern Star Trek. Puzzling that Bashir seems to think he's a lawyer but I'll take it.
 
Retrosmith

Retrosmith

Member
Mar 2, 2020
833
Don't know much about Foundation outside the basic premise.

Watched the first episode. It was very good in my opinion. This show has eaten a lot of money. The acting was good. Love Harris and the middle emperor was menacing. Looking forward to more!
 
Saifu

Saifu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,875
Goyer seems to want to give this a 8 season run like GoT.
Let's hope that this will do well enough for it to pan out that way.
 
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