L'eternauta

A bit of context for American folks: You're used to seeing sci-fi productions set in your own towns. Your industry is huge-Hollywood, whether through independent or commercial films, has explored every movie genre there is. But for us Argentinians, sci-fi is a largely unexplored genre, and large-scale productions like this are extremely rare.

El Eternauta is an adaptation of a 1957 graphic novel. In this part of the world, you don't usually see major apocalyptic events happening on our soil-every alien in the universe tends to invade the first world first. But in El Eternauta, the catastrophe happens right here. That's why it's so compelling and special for us to see the streets of Buenos Aires covered in toxic snow (it has only snowed twice here in the last 100 years!) or our local buses overturned by giant beetles.

And please, don't watch it dubbed.

Much respect to dubbing actors, but every show or movie feels less authentic when dubbed. Subtitles don't hurt, seriously. We've been reading them for years and it really changes the experience.

That being said-WOW!

I didn't know we had this level of FX and makeup artists in my country! The costume design, the effects, the production design, the makeup, the script-it's all incredible. I couldn't be prouder. Amazing performances, amazing storytelling. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for even a second. I was nervous, totally immersed in the story-and that's a rare feeling to have while sitting in your own living room.

The acting was excellent, with just a couple of exceptions. For example, Carla Peterson-I've seen her in many TV comedies, but she doesn't quite work for drama, in my opinion. Her delivery didn't feel natural. But the rest of the cast? Outstanding! I loved seeing both familiar faces and completely new ones.

I also read that El Eternauta was filmed using StageCraft (the same production technology used by Lucasfilm for The Mandalorian). There are only three studios in the world with that technology-and one of them is just a few blocks away.. That makes me even prouder.

In short: an amazing and incredible show. I can't wait for the next season!

The first 3 episodes burn a bit slowly with lots of personal affairs and getting to know our band of heroes. But once the puzzle pieces fall into place around episode 4, things begin to unfold on a larger stage. The atmosphere is such that I expected jump scares most of the time, it's quite tense, and of course it is, nobody really know what's going on, and yet you get the feeling many times that something isn't quite right.

I can highly recommend anyone that enjoy "War of the Worlds"/"V" style shows and movies to give this one a go. It's not quite like anything I've seen before, and I really look forward to following seasons as of course season 1 ends with a bit of a cliffhanger.

Amazingly this was done with a 15 million dollar budget. Every dollar was excellently spent. I found all the effects quite good and it's not unnecessarily gory or bloody.

I'll be looking forward to the next season.

The Eternaut has never been seen on a film or series until now due to nobody having the guts and funds to do it. Fortunately, Netflix allowed Bruno Stagnaro to take on this challenge!

Turning this into audiovisual content is not something easy as it's from a comic with different sci-fi elements but guess what? The director managed to make things go smoothly.

Now, do you need to read the comic? Well, I'd say it's similar to The walking dDad, "the main problem" the characters deal with in the story is the same just like in the comic but, there are new events that take place and most importantly: THE YEAR.

In the comic, it's literally the 50s-60s, whereas in the show, they even have phones.

As for the pacing, there are some episodes that will feel slow. However, they make up for this by bringing instant-action when needed.

Yet, I think this only gives the series more potential and it's actually great because if you enjoy the show, you can go and give the comic a read to see how the story goes on and what is exactly different.

My review may be biased due to being from Argentina but trust me, this is a post-apocalyptic show than anybody in the world can enjoy and will also allow you to learn more about Argentina's locations, costumes and so on.

Last but not least, Robert Kirkman (creator of TWD), said that he was inspired by The Eternaut and just then started drawing and writing The Walking Dead.

I thought it was good. I binged watched all the episodes. (They're only 6.) But it wasn't a 10 to me. My main problem was the characters. None were really appealing. More specifically, they argued and fought constantly. It was very annoying. This is not the group I would want to be stuck with, in an emergency.

Otherwise, the story was good. The special effects were good. And other than the constant fighting, the dialogue was good.

Minor criticisms and observations

• That Alfredo had some crazy eyes. He didn't look like someone I could trust to keep his head on straight in an emergency.

• That Omar stole the groups' only vehicle in the beginning just because he selfishly wanted to get out. And later on, when they find themselves together again, he accuses them of being untrustworthy? Another person I wouldn't want to be stuck with in an emergency.

• That young boy they rescued from the closet at the school was so disrespectful, insulting and offensive. Whatever happened to "respect your elders"? I would have left him to fend for himself.

• The female characters were so anti gun, it's illogical. You're stuck in a disaster where there are obvious deadly criminal threats. And no law and order. And you refuse to protect yourself and others in your group?

I read the comic as a child and then reread it as an adult, and let me tell you, this Netflix adaptation is much better than I expected.

Darin doesn't disappoint, and the rest of the cast is up to par. The effects are excellent, and the setting and filmmaking are also very well done.

While some key points differ from the original story, it's understandable given the complexity of adapting it to our times, but I didn't notice any unforgivable flaws in the script.

Overall, I really liked it. At times, it seemed a bit slow, but it's still enjoyable. A series that entertains without resorting to clichés.