Snowpiercer TV Series (TNT)

Trond · December 27, 2020, 12:09:58 AM

Holy smokes, this show is great. IMO it is MUCH better than the movie. This despite the fact that I always thought the central premise is a bit....odd, albeit very interesting, I have been getting really into this, and I can be pretty hard to please.

For those who don't know the premise: the world has gone into a deep freeze, and humanity's survivors are all stuck on a train in perpetual movement, driven by some sort of eternal engine that also keeps them warm. Passengers are strictly divided into 1st-2nd-3rd class, and then you have the "tail" people who actually strong-armed their way on board and have been treated like garbage ever since.

The TV show feels much deeper and more complex than the film (again IMO)

Warder · December 27, 2020, 06:49:04 PM

Well, i tried to get into it. Seems i have to try again. $:-\$

..But i will forever see it as a Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory sequel, no matter what continuity or form, nobody can take that away from me.

Trond · December 27, 2020, 07:50:55 PM

Quote from: Warder on December 27, 2020, 06:49:04 PM
Well, i tried to get into it. Seems i have to try again. $:-\$

..But i will forever see it as a Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory sequel, no matter what continuity or form, nobody can take that away from me.

To be fair, I give up on things easily, but my wife got hooked to it. Then I realized I actually really like it.

Shrieking Banshee · January 02, 2021, 06:22:19 AM

I found snowpiercer the film misanthropic and utterly retarded.

If you figured out water-fission reaction- who the fuck builds a world loop train for that? By that point you can trivially go to space (or have mega human metropolises that can be heated forever). Congratulations human race, nearly infinite energy has been discovered.

And with a dull and stupid 'Dem evil fat cats oppressin the poor' plot, how the fuck do they stretch that out for a series?

Trond · January 02, 2021, 11:43:43 AM

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 02, 2021, 06:22:19 AM
I found snowpiercer the film misanthropic and utterly retarded.

If you figured out water-fission reaction- who the fuck builds a world loop train for that? By that point you can trivially go to space (or have mega human metropolises that can be heated forever). Congratulations human race, nearly infinite energy has been discovered.

And with a dull and stupid 'Dem evil fat cats oppressin the poor' plot, how the fuck do they stretch that out for a series?

The first bit is still fuzzy and weird. It's just an excuse to be on an ever-moving train.

The last bit is much better in the series. If you follow it you'll soon find that there are no clear cut good guys and bad guys.

Shrieking Banshee · January 02, 2021, 12:07:07 PM

Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 11:43:43 AMThe first bit is still fuzzy and weird. It's just an excuse to be on an ever-moving train.

Which I just find an inexcusably stupid concept. It exists almost singularly for verbal gags of 'Class Passengers'. Which makes no goddam sense on a train where nobody is producing anything.
Something this stupid doesn't warrant a grim or self-serious setting.

What the hell could the plot be about? The known world is a bunch of passenger cars. What can they squabble about except 'Hey lets stop this stupid fucking train'.

HappyDaze · January 02, 2021, 12:17:14 PM

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee link=topic=43068.msg1158771#msg1158771What can they squabble about except 'Hey lets stop this stupid fucking train'.

So it's like.a really bad RPG campaign?

Shrieking Banshee · January 02, 2021, 12:55:47 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on January 02, 2021, 12:17:14 PM
So it's like.a really bad RPG campaign?

Yes, where the GM is a commie.

Trond · January 02, 2021, 01:20:58 PM

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 02, 2021, 12:07:07 PM
Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 11:43:43 AMThe first bit is still fuzzy and weird. It's just an excuse to be on an ever-moving train.

Which I just find an inexcusably stupid concept. It exists almost singularly for verbal gags of 'Class Passengers'. Which makes no goddam sense on a train where nobody is producing anything.
Something this stupid doesn't warrant a grim or self-serious setting.

What the hell could the plot be about? The known world is a bunch of passenger cars. What can they squabble about except 'Hey lets stop this stupid fucking train'.

Not wanting to watch an " inexcusably stupid concept" I can understand. I'm like that with many concepts (almost all superheroes or "mutation" movies).

Apart from that, you sound a bit like an old man yelling at a cloud. Why are you complaining about something you haven't seen?

EDIT: oh yeah the original movie; didn't like it. As I said: the series is good the movie not so much.

Pat · January 02, 2021, 01:21:12 PM

The train is a metaphor for social class/wealth. It's ever moving, ever circling and can't be escaped. That's why the ending is literally derailing the train. The problem is they chose a technology as a metaphor, and then decided that meant the movie had to be science fiction. Which confused things, because with science fiction we expect scientific answers, not ones couched in dream logic. They would have been better off if they made it a lot more surreal and fantastic.

Trond · January 02, 2021, 01:27:20 PM

Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:21:12 PM
The train is a metaphor for social class/wealth. It's ever moving, ever circling and can't be escaped. That's why the ending is literally derailing the train. The problem is they chose a technology as a metaphor, and then decided that meant the movie had to be science fiction. Which confused things, because with science fiction we expect scientific answers, not ones couched in dream logic. They would have been better off if they made it a lot more surreal and fantastic.

Science fiction does this quite often though, see my thread on "mushroom fiction".

Pat · January 02, 2021, 01:52:29 PM

Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 01:27:20 PM
Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:21:12 PM
The train is a metaphor for social class/wealth. It's ever moving, ever circling and can't be escaped. That's why the ending is literally derailing the train. The problem is they chose a technology as a metaphor, and then decided that meant the movie had to be science fiction. Which confused things, because with science fiction we expect scientific answers, not ones couched in dream logic. They would have been better off if they made it a lot more surreal and fantastic.

Science fiction does this quite often though, see my thread on "mushroom fiction".

The problem is they sent mixed messages. There's a difference between The Martian and something by Jodorowsky.

Trond · January 02, 2021, 01:57:04 PM

Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:52:29 PM
Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 01:27:20 PM
Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:21:12 PM
The train is a metaphor for social class/wealth. It's ever moving, ever circling and can't be escaped. That's why the ending is literally derailing the train. The problem is they chose a technology as a metaphor, and then decided that meant the movie had to be science fiction. Which confused things, because with science fiction we expect scientific answers, not ones couched in dream logic. They would have been better off if they made it a lot more surreal and fantastic.

Science fiction does this quite often though, see my thread on "mushroom fiction".
The problem is they sent mixed messages. There's a difference between The Martian and something by Jodorowsky.

They did? How so? And again, are we talking about the movie or the series here?

Pat · January 02, 2021, 02:18:01 PM

Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 01:57:04 PM
Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:52:29 PM
Quote from: Trond on January 02, 2021, 01:27:20 PM
Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 01:21:12 PM
The train is a metaphor for social class/wealth. It's ever moving, ever circling and can't be escaped. That's why the ending is literally derailing the train. The problem is they chose a technology as a metaphor, and then decided that meant the movie had to be science fiction. Which confused things, because with science fiction we expect scientific answers, not ones couched in dream logic. They would have been better off if they made it a lot more surreal and fantastic.

Science fiction does this quite often though, see my thread on "mushroom fiction".
The problem is they sent mixed messages. There's a difference between The Martian and something by Jodorowsky.

They did? How so? And again, are we talking about the movie or the series here?

We must be talking past each other, because explaining that was literally the whole point of my first post about the train as a metaphor. If it helps, replace every instance of "science fiction" with "hard science fiction".

Movie, haven't seen the series. But it should apply to both, unless they ditched the train and class differences.

Trond · January 02, 2021, 02:27:38 PM

Quote from: Pat on January 02, 2021, 02:18:01 PM

We must be talking past each other, because explaining that was literally the whole point of my first post about the train as a metaphor. If it helps, replace every instance of "science fiction" with "hard science fiction".

Movie, haven't seen the series. But it should apply to both, unless they ditched the train and class differences.

Well I disagree. I don't think the presence of a train (whose mechanism is not explained in the series) implies hard sci-fi. Maybe they were aiming for that in the marketing of the movie though, I honestly can't remember.