Amazon's 'The Man in the High Castle' |OT| Man, that is a high castle...

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I finished the first 2 episodes and really enjoyed it. Production value is really top notch. I'm excited to finish it. Talk about a low key release though.


This thread is starting to look like a declassified government page.
 
Krappadizzle said:
I finished the first 2 episodes and really enjoyed it. Production value is really top notch. I'm excited to finish it. Talk about a low key release though.


This thread is starting to look like a declassified government page.
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Krappadizzle posted on NeoGAF at 4:41 pm GMT regarding the documentary The Man in the High Castle.

His actions will continue to be monitored for signs of subversive behavior.
 
exmachina64 said:
After Joe mentions what he saw on his film, they're confused as to whether the films are depicting one world, multiple possible worlds, or just random (and fictional) possibilities.
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I wonder what the characters actually think these films depict. That is, whether they actually think these are real, different worlds that exist parallel to their own. I somewhat doubt that they already made that connection -- to me, they simply don't know what they really are.

Stalin being alive is used as a somewhat convincing argument against these films being anything than a fantasy. Yes, by Joe, but still. And if they are just depicting a parallel world, why would that make Juliana and Frank suspicious of Joe?

Also, I don't quite get why Juliana and Frank are saying "this is different" before they see Frank and Joe in it. What's so different about that film compared to the other both have seen?
 
Going to ask again. Does the show tell the full story of the book or will we have to wait for a second season/read the book to find out the ending?
 
Binged this all of Sunday. It was pretty good. I won't say great, but I do hope it continues.

I have to say I didn't really like Joe or Juliana at all. Frank, Tagomi and John Smith were by far the most interesting and worthwhile characters in the series. Ed was pretty terrible too. The curio shop owner was pretty interesting as well, but didn't get much play.

Felt like a whole lot of time was wasted in the show. But again that's partly due to my dislike for Juliana and Joe, and the fact that
their entire character arcs were pointless and featured the most shallow, if not empty and nonexistent, character development. Both were continually naive, selfish and downright stupid from start to finish. Continually doing things that ruined other people's lives and just made everything worse. Making choices based on no semblance of logic or reasoning with total disregard for everyone else around them.
 
Asturie said:
Going to ask again. Does the show tell the full story of the book or will we have to wait for a second season/read the book to find out the ending?
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It covers the book but it certainly has a lot of unique elements to the series while also missing stuff from the book.
 
exmachina64 said:
We have no reason to believe Joe's film wasn't set in our timeline; he watches it while he's in Canon City.
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Actually we have. Joe says his film was (direct quote) "Soviet propaganda for Josef Stalin from 1954". Stalin died in 1953. Since the show is very accurate in relation to historical details I suppose that's a hint that Joe's film is from another timeline.
 
Irminsul said:
I wonder what the characters actually think these films depict. That is, whether they actually think these are real, different worlds that exist parallel to their own. I somewhat doubt that they already made that connection -- to me, they simply don't know what they really are.

Stalin being alive is used as a somewhat convincing argument against these films being anything than a fantasy. Yes, by Joe, but still. And if they are just depicting a parallel world, why would that make Juliana and Frank suspicious of Joe?

Also, I don't quite get why Juliana and Frank are saying "this is different" before they see Frank and Joe in it. What's so different about that film compared to the other both have seen?
Click to expand...

Good point, I was chalking "this is different" to the use of nukes.

Milchmann said:
Actually we have. Joe says his film was (direct quote) "Soviet propaganda for Josef Stalin from 1954". Stalin died in 1953. Since the show is very accurate in relation to historical details I suppose that's a hint that Joe's film is from another timeline.
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Ah, good catch. I see your point. That makes things more interesting.
 
I feel so weird about this, but I liked Hitlers portrayal at the castle. In the scene you expect and old and out of touch man, but he has his wits about him and is still playing the game quite well despite what other high ranking officers may think.
 
Just finished Episode 6.

This show is definitely getting better and better (definitely an entertaining show overall), although to me the series still has a couple of notable flaws. Most notably, I'm finding the character's of Juliana and Joe rather bland and uninteresting. In the case of Joe, I get the character is supposed to be something of an enigma, a blank slate, but he's such a "blah" character it's really hard for me to get too invested in his story. His actor is sort of giving me Hayden Christensen vibes as well. Very good looking but not particularly charismatic or engaging.

Speculation: I've been personally suspecting we're going to find out Joe was a Resistence double agent who was working against the Nazi's the whole time, but we'll see. Feels way to obvious at this point, especially with how this particular episode ended.

Also, the John Smith character isn't really doing anything for me as the central villain either. Just too clean cut and matter of fact without giving off the impression that he's got all that much depth to me.

I really like the character of Frank though. His story has proved to be the most interesting by far for me, and his actor is putting in some great work. Looking forward to how his character continues to develop going forward.[/SPOILER]

Definitely enjoying the show in general.

Oh shit, and did Juliana actually go ahead with giving that crusty old Japenese guy that blowjob? Juliana, girl, you better than that.
 
(full season spoiler)
I'm in the camp that thinks Hitler is the Man in the High Castle. Either the resistance is delivering the films to him or the Nazis themselves. Win-Win.

Am I the only one who thinks that Tagomi is somehow involved in producing this films or bringing them over from his visits to alternative worlds?
 
Vyer said:
Yeah, I kinda agree.
a little too cartoonish. I also don't get why in 'the neutral zone' some bounty hunter would get a whole town to be ok with him giving orders. I guess a kind of old west parallel? Maybe it's explained in later episodes.

Enjoying the show so far though.
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Yeah my thought as well. [ep3]
if the neutral zone is truly a lawless place you'd think that every shopkeeper would have a gun under the counter. It seems unlikely that people would let themselves be pushed around so easily.
 
I finished it and Im pretty disappointed. The show spent too much time going nowhere. The build up never paid off in any satisfying way. Characters glide from one scene to the next, never really pushing any plot point very far. I was hoping for something that I never got. What a shame.
 
I enjoyed. Best streaming service release since Daredevil.

Will say that rooting for Hitler was a really, really weird feeling and a testament to the quality of the show.
 
SpaceWolf said:
Oh shit, and did Juliana actually go ahead with giving that crusty old Japenese guy that blowjob? Juliana, girl, you better than that.
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No.
She clearly rushed out implying she was shocked and rejected his... offer. Also, I interpreted the whole thing as the girls who did that were seen as higher quality women, and as such their application was forwarded to the other guy.
 
Napoleonthechimp said:
No.
She clearly rushed out implying she was shocked and rejected his... offer. Also, I interpreted the whole thing as the girls who did that were seen as higher quality women, and as such their application was forwarded to the other guy.
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Personally, I interpreted that as her running out in shame after doing the deed but yeah, you're probably right. Thankfully.
 
Just finished Episode 9.

giphy.gif


The new film was showing a potential future war with Japan vs Germany, right?
 
teruterubozu said:
What? Ignore it? Tagomi is constantly consulting the I Ching in the show.
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The book is much heavier with it. After the pilot I didn't really notice it much until the last few episodes. Might just be the nature of TV versus a book. It has to be spelled out in the book, the show naturally just shows it. And Tagomi's plot line wasn't always as prominent as the others.
 
Well yeah, it doesn't go into details about the hexagrams and versus like the book. But it does play a central role with the character in the show so it's hardly ignored.
 
Just finished the series.

By and large, I've really enjoyed this show and will definitely be tuning in for a second season if it happens.

Overall thoughts:

-Fuck you, Julianna. Fuck you. Just totally run out of patience with this character. I get the impression that we were supposed to actually be pleased that she let Joe go or something? This woman just seems to blunder around, fucking up people's lives for no particularly good reason and she doesn't even seem to care. I have absolutely no investment whatsoever in Joe either. He's just so bland, not to mention a bloody Nazi. If this show decided to kill those two off immediately and just follow Frank till it's conclusion, it would be a hell of a lot better for it, in my opinion. Or at least a hell of a lot less irritating.

-Ed is a damn hero and I hope to god Frank seizes the chance to bust him out of Japanese custody at the soonest opportunity. Probably the best wingman ever. Really like that character.

-Agree with the general consensus in here that it would initially appear that Hitler is TMITHC, although considering we've only just finished Season One, it would seem way too early to blow the lid off the central mystery. So I'll guess we'lll wait and see how that plotline develops.

-As someone who was familiar with the book, I totally saw the final scene coming, but it was very well done all the same. I love how the Trade Minister seems to have arrived in the most American street imaginable to drive the point home. "HOT DOGS! GET YA HOT DOGS HERE!"

Good show. Looking forward to more!

EDIT:

Milchmann said:
It seems I missed something essential. Full season spoiler:
Where/when has it been hinted that Hitler could be Joe's father?
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exmachina64 said:
It's only speculation, but his father was a high-ranking Nazi official that had access to sex with numerous women and is someone Obergrüppenführer Smith holds in high esteem.
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Also, the fact that in all of scenes where Joe was hanging out in the Nazi Headquarters, that Hitler portrait would always dominate the frame whenever his character was in focus. Seemed like very, very heavy foreshadowing to me.
 
So I started watching this yesterday. 2 Episodes down.

two things kind of bug me currently and I hope they give decent explanations for them.

- All the smoking everywhere and all the time... urgh...
- Why did the Japanese authorities let
whatshisname live and go, after killing his family
? I will be utterly shocked to find out that
he goes off and joins the resistance....
[/s]
- Why would a
movie
depicting
an alternate reality
be such a threat to the system? In our real world a
what if the Nazis won scenario is not even remotely a threat to the power that be.

Apart from that I am digging the world and eager to watch on.
 
This show is at its best when it focuses on political intrigue of the Japanese and Nazi governments and intelligence agencies. The Oppengrumfuhrer and Tagomi steal the show. The stuff with Blake and Jules is pretty weak in comparison, and the shootouts and karate stuff just doesn't work.
 
i'm amazed that some of this was filmed in Seattle. Also impressed they got to put
Nazi flags on an Austrian castle. (don't think this is really a spoiler, but just in case)


It's very slow, but I think overall it was really well done. I wanted a little more action and intensity towards the end, but i'd gladly watch more.
 
Full Season Spoilers

You guys saying "Hitler is the Man in The High Castle", what makes you believe this? Is it because of his large film collection? Why would he be supporting the resistance?

Also, who do you think are making these and getting them out in to the wild?

I have a belief that if we're dabbling in alternate universes/timelines with the show, then someone in the universe we've seen is likely not a native and if we can use alternate timelines, why not time travel as well? Man from Timeline A travels back in time and assists the Axis powers in developing the atom bomb and leads to the axis victory. Timeline diverges and splits off allowing for Timeline B to exist alongside Timeline A. Who's to say there aren't loads of different timelines outside of these two we know of, and that communications from each of these are being intercepted and distributed in the form of the films due to a tear in the fabric of the universe due to the timeline hopping of the man in question.

Now, who is this man? Have we met him?

Joe and Julianna were my least favourite characters, but thankfully the rest of the cast/suppoorting cast, Smith, Tagomi, Inspector Kido and especially Wegener, were extremely well played..
 
The last two episodes were so good, it made the middle boring half okay. I wonder if there will be a season 2,
couple loose ends that haven't been wrapped up. And what is up with that ending, was he dreaming, or tripping on something to see what life is really like today?
 
FliXFantatier said:
- All the smoking everywhere and all the time... urgh...
Click to expand...
I mean, that's easily explained with "it's the 1960s", isn't it?

jonno394 said:
You guys saying "Hitler is the Man in The High Castle", what makes you believe this? Is it because of his large film collection? Why would he be supporting the resistance?
Click to expand...

I'll just quote myself:

Irminsul said:
Oh, I'm pretty sure it's (full series spoiler)
Hitler. Not just because of the cabinet, but everything around the handling of these films only makes sense if it's him or some other high-ranking Nazi. Where else would the Resistance get their information from? Also, it's quite interesting that it's said these films "help" the Resistance but no one watches them. Why does this rule even exist? Except of course there's someone at the end who's interested in not letting that information out.

And of course he literally is "The Man in the High Castle".
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Also, whether that actually supports the resistance besides giving them a fall guy once in a while remains to be seen.
 
Watched first two episodes last night I am digging it so far. Nice to see the bad guy from the Mortal Kombat movie in this.
 
Irminsul said:
I mean, that's easily explained with "it's the 1960s", isn't it?
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It bugged the hell out of me in Baader Meinhof Komplex too.

Historically accurate in a show where the USA is governed by Nazi's - my ass!
It would have been very plausible for the Nazis to ban smoking as it harms the arian race... The show would be no less entertaining or engaging if they weren't constantly puffing away...
 
I like the idea that maybe
The premise was that the films will somehow help the resistance win but in actual fact the films are what Hitler is using to prevent the reality they show from coming to pass, the existence of the tapes is what caused the allies defeat and everything else

As to where the tapes come from...have they said where Einstein is? Is it not just going to end up being him locked up in a Nazi basement somewhere accessing alternate realities?
 
This show kind of just plods along, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. I liked most of the characters except Juliana half the time. It is remarkable that they managed to get me to show sympathy towards come nazi and Japanese oppressors. Actually, the whole season reminded me of that one season of the Fringe.

I don't like the piss filter they put over the whole show, but I got used to it.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on
the trade minister seemingly having magic powers and being able to see into the alternate universe
 
Having previously read the novel, and now watched the full season.


Related spoiler/ramblings to the novel and full season:
It's quite different in parts and at the same time very similar. Neither has a real traditional ending but I'd argue the novel fucks with your mind more than the show does.

That said, a second season to this would be very interesting considering it would likely entail new material since season one pretty much covers the entire novel outside of adaptation differences.
 
I was intrigued by the concept, I thought the show fell kinda flat though. its still good, i just feel like there was some depth missing to it. never read the book, but
based on what i've seen, the book doesn't really have an ending. if this comes back for a second season, i would love to see what they can do with it
 
First episode was OK. Thought that one line from the highway cop
oh on Tuesday they burn cripples, terminally ill...
was super on the nose. That could've been handled way better and been quite chilling.

I'm reading an actual history book on ww2 at the moment so I'm not sure I'll be able to watch this.
 
I've just finished it and thought it was incredible. Every episode was fantastic.

I love the stuff they used directly from the book and also the bits they twisted slightly for TV.

I liked Tagomi in the book and I loved him on this, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is an amazing actor. And the ending... oh my god, I was hoping they would use that scene because I've always wondered how someone would pull it off in live-action. Very satisfying.

The twist that
Hitler is literally the Man in the High Castle was genius. I started to think that around episode 6 or 7 but mainly thought that would be a funny twist if they did take the literal meaning yet the reveal was perfect
.

I actually liked Joe and Juliana and their story. They were sort of the main focus in the book so I was expecting to spend a lot of time with them. The outcome being
Joe leaving on a boat to Mexico was surprising. I half expected him to meet the same fate as Joe did in the book
.

In regards to the films and the
possible multiple universes, I'm pretty sure no one on screen is actually from another universe and Hitler isn't the one making the films. I have no idea who is or where they're coming from though. I don't see this show going full science fiction and having characters travel from one timeline to another
.

Rufus Sewell and Joel de la Fuente were also amazing. Being new characters, Smith and Kido, that are not in the book made me really intrigued to what their role was and they both nailed it.

Everyone just totally nailed their roles. I can't think of a character I didn't actually like.

I'm just super excited to see where they go from here because now they've covered the book they have free reign to go in whatever direction they want.

10/10 Amazon, good job.
 
Dmax3901 said:
First episode was OK. Thought that one line from the highway cop
oh on Tuesday they burn cripples, terminally ill...
was super on the nose. That could've been handled way better and been quite chilling.

I'm reading an actual history book on ww2 at the moment so I'm not sure I'll be able to watch this.
Click to expand...

That stood out to me as well, it was really unnecessary and clunky. It's definitely one of the issues the show has so far but overall I'm still really impressed. I love the setting and pretty much all of the supporting actors. Joe and Julianna are fine if a bit generic. The slow pacing is one of the show's strengths imo, it gives the world time to shine an makes sure the characters I like get enough screen time. Really interested to see where this goes.
 
Sooooo I get the inkling that Hitler hordes/is obsessed with studying the films because his complete knowledge of them and a familiarity with how things transpired in the future (our timeline) is what enabled him to win the war and create the show's timeline.

So rad.
 
PastorOfMuppets said:
Kinda funny how Canada is literally the only country left on Earth that is independent of either Germany or Japan here. Does the novel ever explain why?

Also, what happens to Italy in this Universe?
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Other countries remain independent, such as Spain and Sweden. I don't know why that map didn't name them. Italy has its own empire spawning much of Northern Africa.

Also, that map is somewhat wrong, in the sense that it shows the Mediterranean basin completely drained instead of just part of it.
 
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