RPGCrazied
Member
Usually not the type of show I watch, but I will say the first episode was fantastic. Really cool to see what life would be like if the Japanese and the Germans running America.
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Amazon's 'The Man in the High Castle' |OT| Man, that is a high castle...
- Thread starter RatskyWatsky
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Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Well he's poised to become one of the most menacing and iconic antagonist in serialized storytelling from tertiary content providers.
Season two announcement when?
RPGCrazied
Member
It has like 22k 4.5 rating. I think its safe to say its getting a season 2.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
I don't understand the relationship between two characters (episode 7):
The Trade Minister seems way too friendly to Julianna. Just ecause Julianna showed some compassion about his dead wife he gives her the location of Trudy's body. Unless this is some ploy, the abrupt trust is taking me out of the story.
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
By your own admission its not good as several things. I'll add to the list and say its also not good at character development. Besides being good at world building what exactly is good about the book from your perspective?
I'm genuinely curious hearing it from someone who does enjoy it. I feel like I'm missing something since its generally so well regarded.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
first 2 episodes were good enough (although the scene where
. however, with that said, i find myself disliking the girl
and the guy who helps her
. their whole dynamic comes off as generic to me and neither one are very good actors.
the girl throws the guy off the bridge was hilariously bad)
(with the footage)
(the nazi in disguise)
FlyStarJay
Member
started watching this few days ago. Will probably resume it next week from wednesday. Really good. i like it, like the reverse
Look up HDCP. I've had this issue using DVI cables.
End of Episode 2
Not one for binge watching but I'm certainly in to finish the rest of the season at some point. Too much TV.
Agreed. I love the book. Helped spark my interest in scifi as a kid.
The Japanese inspector telling Frank they killed his sister and niece/nephew earned an audible "What the fuck" from me. While the Japanese aren't nice people in the book, they're certainly portrayed as being nicer than the Nazis. Guess they're going full on "both sides are tremendously evil".
Still won't stop me from rooting for the Nazi commander.
Still won't stop me from rooting for the Nazi commander.
Not one for binge watching but I'm certainly in to finish the rest of the season at some point. Too much TV.
Agreed. I love the book. Helped spark my interest in scifi as a kid.
It's very artfully done.
I think the prospect of the Axis ruling America is extremely far fetched. I think an Axis victory would've more realistically involved a reality where the Germans and Italians are able to conquer and hold onto western Europe with or without (more likely without) the control of the UK.
Still, if they had gotten the A-Bomb early, all bets are off.
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Considering what the Japanese were up to during WWII, let's just say that's a piece of revisionist history we're okay with leaving out.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Streaming it on PS4 via a power line connection. It has been rock solid.
3 episodes in, I know, not much since I watched the pilot when it debuted. Good stuff, as expected. Burn Gorman is totally unexpected. And I'm not supposed to like Rufus a much as I do, am I?
Edit:
Frank is the actor from Hellboy. That's why the name and face seemed so familiar.
Jason Frost
Member
Wasn't Robert Knepper in the show?
I love the subtle hints that indicate about how much the Nazi's have warped American popular culture over the years. Like in Episode 2 where on the television in the background, Dragnet has ended up becoming Reich Police.
"But who would do such a thing? Stealing money from the trust, that's like stealing from the Reich itself!"
I'm a sucker for the creepy little details like that in alternate history stories.
"But who would do such a thing? Stealing money from the trust, that's like stealing from the Reich itself!"
I'm a sucker for the creepy little details like that in alternate history stories.
Guerrillas in the Mist
Member
It immediately made me think of "Storm Saxon" in V for Vendetta.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Philip K Dick novels are never really 'good', he is good with ideas and strange ways of viewing the world, but his writing is best in short story form. However, if you found the 'real' history to be a letdown, then I think you probably did miss any deeper meaning.
I think you misunderstand. Nothing can be good as something it is not meant to be. Lord of the Rings would be fairly awful as a romance story if that's what you expect out of it, but people generally don't.
Philip K Dick's stories tend to be pretty passive on the dramatic front, and instead present a situation and scenario to the reader in a matter of fact way, but with enough care put into the setting such that it is immediately obvious that while the narrative treats everything as the norm, it is something very different from the sort of world the reader would be familiar with.
A lot of that is good world building, sure, but the execution of the actual situations and how they fit into the overall narrative are not slapped together carelessly or without thought either. They might be mundane in nature, but that's part of the point. Dick does not write exciting stories with dramatic hooks for readers to be invested in, he's a different sort of author, and he writes to express his own observations, commentary, hopes, and fears through fantastical settings.
In the case of A Man in the High Castle, it is a contemplation of geopolitics in society, and how the globalization of culture, commerce, and freedom of expression could differ had the Axis powers won the war instead of the Allies. What would different people in various walks of life feel, how would their lives be, and what decisions might they make and how could these be influenced by various other cultural factors?
If you were expecting a more proactive story of narrative, where characters and actions are all linked in a way towards some goal or climatic event, then I think it is natural to be disappointed. But that's not what the story was ever really about.
I absolutely agree that he excels in the short story form. Even his novels are not really all that long. But the qualifier for 'good' here is really a perspective thing. I'll say that his style of writing is definitely "outdated" in terms of the taste of scifi readers in the current generation though. This thread proves as much!
teruterubozu
Member
I disagree. A Man in the High Castle was an early PKD work and hardly representative of his later, more celebrated stuff - after his divorce, alcoholism, drugs, "Pink Beam of Light" religious experience, etc. His later stuff gets into more about the psyche, hallucinations, the nature of reality, alien psychosis, Gnosticism, etc. As a hardcore PKD fan, A Man in the High Castle was one of my least favorite reads. It's steeped in the old school 50s/early-60s pulp form sic-fi. He got an award for it (his only award) and in some ways it destroyed him and made him a better author.
Technosteve
Banned
Can i just buy this show on Amazon? I don't want to subscribe to Amazon i just want to buy it and watch it.
Just finished it.
I paid £5.99 for one month of Amazon Prime Video, which you can stop after the month is up. I think that's pretty good value with 10 episodes of this show I got to watch, plus quite a few other shows I'm interested in seeing.
I think the pacing really slows down from episodes 5-10 and whilst 10 certainly has a few important moments, it doesn't really feel like a finale. I did enjoy the show though, so I'm looking forward to season 2.
I paid £5.99 for one month of Amazon Prime Video, which you can stop after the month is up. I think that's pretty good value with 10 episodes of this show I got to watch, plus quite a few other shows I'm interested in seeing.
GavinUK86
Member
You could just start a free trial of Prime just to watch the show.
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
I appreciate you explaining your opinion duckroll. You're right I went into this book expecting it to be something completely different. This was my first time reading PKD so I am not familiar with his style. I think what threw me the most was the very abrupt end of the book. I expected this book to fit a certain mold and it didn't.
VistraNorrez
Member
I read MitHC after A Scanner Darkly, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, Our Friends From Frolix 8 and The Man Who Japed (the first novel of his I read), and of course a wealth of his short work. The short collections were the first of his works I ever read. Since MitHC I've read Ubik, The Crack in Space, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and, most recently, Dr. Bloodmoney. I think MitHC fits in pretty well with his "later works".
The way duckroll describes how PKD's narratives "treats everything as the norm" is exactly what is so appealing about them. Nothing of his I've read felt like a fantastical work. It was all as if the world within the book was real and this piece of fiction was by someone from that reality. It is all very matter of fact.
The "pink beam" experience wasn't until 1974. Dick claims he wrote all of his books published before 1970 while on amphetamines. But between the "pink beam" experience and his 4th divorce, Flow My Tears was largely composed. Can't really tell if he was sober for that, but probably not. He did attempt suicide in 1972, after which he was most definitely sober for the composition of A Scanner Darkly (composed in 1973). My research indicates that those 2 works may have received minor revision after the "pink beam". He only produced 4 complete novels after the "pink beam". Those 4 were Radio Free Albemuth, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and of those 4, Radio Free Albemuth was reconfigured into the VALIS trilogy. I believe most his writing after 1974 was devoted to the Exegesis. He produced very little short fiction after the 1960s.
All that info is there just to show you how relatively little fiction he produced in the 1970s, the latter part of his career. And to show that those themes that teruterubozu highlights, "the psyche, hallucinations, the nature of reality, alien psychosis, Gnosticism, etc." were all heavily explored in his "early career". He was most certainly always concerned with the "nature of reality". One of his first shorts Roog (comp. 1951) and his 1st published novel, Solar Lottery (comp. 1954) both deal with that theme. So it's always been apart of his work. And his first work to fully explore religion was The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965).
Also Flow My Tears won the John W. Campbell Award (also nominated for the Hugo and Nebula) and A Scanner Darkly won the British Science Fiction Award and the Graouilly d'Or. The Hugo for MitHC did almost nothing to advance PKD's career.
teruterubozu
Member
Well, you're more hardcore than I am, what can I say. I've read almost everything, but I do prefer his 70s work - the VALIS trilogy, Flow My Tears, Scanner Darkly, etc. Call me crazy, but I think The Transmigration of Timothy Archer was one of the most beautiful things he ever wrote. I guess just personally I do not prefer MiTHC, but I will watch the show of course.
Mercury Fred
Banned
Does anyone know if the pilot is changed from when it originally aired? I know Transparent's pilot was tweaked a bit between its pilot season debut and when the series was released.
I wasn't a huge fan of the pilot when it aired but the critical praise is making me curious again.
I wasn't a huge fan of the pilot when it aired but the critical praise is making me curious again.
exmachina64
Banned
In this version of history, the war and America's position are far different. America literally didn't get out of economic depression until after the Nazis conquered. Without the economic and military build-up during FDR's administration, I find it more plausible. But if you or anyone else, has an argument for why it's still unlikely the Axis could conquer America, I'd be interested.
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.
A-Bomb TV spoilers:
Nazi's are the only ones with the bomb in the TV show. It's mentioned they dropped it on DC.
VistraNorrez
Member
It's pretty hard to find modern critical acclaim of MitHC. It just isn't that well regarded anymore. Even people that bring it up, it's because of its importance to the genre rather than that they find the book good. My guess for its current reputation is because there has been a lot of alt WWII fiction since that goes far deeper into the intricacies and are far better researched. PKD wrote that book only 15 years after the war. And we have learned much more since then. And like duckroll said, he was more concerned how the ordinary person would live in that world. Most people seeking alt WWII fiction want as much information on how it could have happened and what the differences would be. Lots of action always helps, too. MitHC doesn't really offer that. It's far more about the philosophical side. I mean where else does the I Ching get that much exposure? The 4 episodes of the TV show I've seen basically ignore it.
Of the PKD books I've read, I'd put MitHC somewhere in the middle, but contrary to most people I really love the ending. Would have been great if PKD ever got that sequel done.
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Ep 3 Spoiler: I may have missed this somewhere but
EDIT: lol, well there it is.
Where is Frank's brother in law? Why does Frank have to be the one to confirm his sister and nephew/niece's identities?
EDIT: lol, well there it is.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I assume for the sake of alt-History, this book is seen more as a precursor to the Harry Turtledoves of the world.
I think that is what happens in the book...
The Germans get nukes earlier than the U.S and destroy Washington
massivekettle
Member
Had the Nazis gotten the A-bomb first, then they would have won. As simple as that. Therefore them ruling America is not exactly farfetched. What's farfetched, IMO, is that they let the Japanese rule half of America 15-20 years after the war (or whenever MITHC is taking place).
Have just finished Episode 2. Amazing thus far. I love the attention to detail and production values. Good acting, too. Shame that this is taking a backseat to Jessica Jones...
Finished it. I liked it very much, but then I'm rather easily interested in alternative history. But I don't think whether the scenario is realistic is all that important to the series. Or let me say it another way: I see the baseline (Axis won the war, they partitioned the US and it's now the early 1960s) pretty much as exogenously given and just judge whether everything on that basis seems to be realistic.
For example, the Concorde-like aeroplanes are a very nice touch. It's not just about "oh you Germans are so proficient in technology!", it's also that having these things is very much a prestige thing and I think that's exactly what the Nazis would have (or any dictatorship, really). It also nicely clashes with the state of technology for the "ordinary" population.
I also hoped we would get a shot at (location spoiler)
, and thankfully we did. (Same location spoiler)
Sadly, I can't really praise the German used in the series all that much. Some sentences just don't sound "native" at all, but pretty obviously translated from English rather literally. It's hard on the edge of being grammatically incorrect in some cases. But at least it's understandable I guess
And now something ONLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FINISHED THE SERIES AS WELL
For example, the Concorde-like aeroplanes are a very nice touch. It's not just about "oh you Germans are so proficient in technology!", it's also that having these things is very much a prestige thing and I think that's exactly what the Nazis would have (or any dictatorship, really). It also nicely clashes with the state of technology for the "ordinary" population.
I also hoped we would get a shot at (location spoiler)
Berlin
It seems the series creators did their homework and knew what Speer had planned for it after the war.
Sadly, I can't really praise the German used in the series all that much. Some sentences just don't sound "native" at all, but pretty obviously translated from English rather literally. It's hard on the edge of being grammatically incorrect in some cases. But at least it's understandable I guess
And now something ONLY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FINISHED THE SERIES AS WELL
I'm really wondering who knows that "The Man in the High Castle" is actually Hitler himself. I mean, maybe it's no one, could be. I guess it's probably harder for him to leak information to the Resistance than getting the films.
Oh, and of course the question is how the obvious connection to the "real world" will be used in the second season and how it even looks like.
Oh, and of course the question is how the obvious connection to the "real world" will be used in the second season and how it even looks like.
I'll second whoever mentioned the slowdown in the second half. overall decent enough, but had hoped for more.
oh and I hate the intro, the way they mispronounce edelweiss as weich or weisch.
edit: yeah Berlin was great, as was all of the nazi architecture. very much in line with actual buildings and their grand plans. and the german was good to great for the most part.
oh and I hate the intro, the way they mispronounce edelweiss as weich or weisch.
edit: yeah Berlin was great, as was all of the nazi architecture. very much in line with actual buildings and their grand plans. and the german was good to great for the most part.
Baroquemantic
Member
Is this the first time Amazon has released all episodes of a season at once like Netflix? Didn't they used to release one a week? It's been a while since I've watched an Amazon original, so just wondering.
Anyway, about to watch the pilot. I hope it's good.
Anyway, about to watch the pilot. I hope it's good.
No, they've always released their shows in a binge.
Baroquemantic
Member
Ah ok. I could've sworn when they first started the original content thing it was once a week. I must be thinking of something else then. Thanks.
umop_3pisdn
Member
Nazi Americana never ceases being strange.
GavinUK86
Member
Just finished watching the first 5 episodes and bloody hell, this show is really well done. I'm super impressed.
For some reason though, watching Amazon video through the PS4 app gives me some terrible audio balancing. Music and sfx are loud as fuck yet it t's like everyone is whispering. Ended up watching it through the PC via the browser on the living room TV.
Really excited to watch the rest tomorrow.
Not a big fan of the book so I'm glad the show is pretty different. Nice little nods here 'n' there though which I appreciate.
For some reason though, watching Amazon video through the PS4 app gives me some terrible audio balancing. Music and sfx are loud as fuck yet it t's like everyone is whispering. Ended up watching it through the PC via the browser on the living room TV.
Really excited to watch the rest tomorrow.
Not a big fan of the book so I'm glad the show is pretty different. Nice little nods here 'n' there though which I appreciate.
Baroquemantic
Member
Episode 1
Wow, that was really, really damn good. I love alternate history stuff like this. It's so crazy seeing how different America is.
Question/Speculation:
Wow, that was really, really damn good. I love alternate history stuff like this. It's so crazy seeing how different America is.
I guess I wasn't paying much attention to the trailers, but I thought only the Nazi were involved. I didn't know Japan would play such a big role, but it makes sense given what happened in WWII.
I thought the twist was done really well too. It didn't even cross my mind that the new recruit was a spy.
Question/Speculation:
Is this show also sci-fi, like alternate worlds or something? That's the only way that film reel makes sense to me. No way it's just a movie.
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