Tomorrow, When the War Began

A great story ruined by a terrible screenplay adaptation. I loved the books & thought that the earlier movie was a very good adaptation of the first book. But by the time I was watching the 4th episode I was laughing at the ridiculously far fetched alterations to the plot. Completely unrealistic scenes that at times reminded me of episodes of either Gilligan's Island, Skippy or even Hogans Heroes. What were the writers thinking?!! So much potential, so little delivery.

I am a native Californian, and Australia is my dream land. I love all Australians, the beautiful country, the beautiful beaches, the beautiful lakes, and the beautiful accents. I never read the books, but I did watch the movie that came out in 2010 and I loved it. THe only thing I didn't like was that they didn't make a second or third one! So when I saw that they made a series I was a little skeptical because they weren't the same actors, (so in a way, I guess I can imagine if you've read the books, you have a completely unique picture in your mind) but then I watched it, and I still loved it. I think they do an amazing job, the actors, the teens and the adults, even the invaders. I like how in the show, there are many more details than the movie alone. I think that TV shows based on books are GREAT for the people that enjoy watching TV more than they do reading. So all in all, if you've read the books, most likely nothing will be a better than or equal to what you've read. But for the rest of us who enjoy TV more, books converted to TV series are way better than books converted to movies. Plus TV series can include more, and go on to have many more seasons than the books themselves. Just look at the vampire diaries, started out from books but going strong over 7 seasons, or pretty little liars successful show going on for 9 plus seasons, and I've heard THOSE books were completely different as well.

Great story that is unfortunately started and never gotten back the first instalment. Quite sad really, one of Australia's best novel series. All in all the cinematography is quite good, but acting is so so.

Since I loved the film, I thought I would absolutely love this series. I've never been so wrong in my life.

The plot was dull. I just forced myself to watch the next episode in the idle hope it would improve. Then it didn't. The characters were boring and one-dimensional with an acting talent that can barely rival with that of a sea sponge.

However, I do love the actual plot and I think that the story has the potential to become an awesome series in the hands of a great director

So please, have another go at it with a decent budget/actors without distancing it too far from the actual story.

Kind regards

If you are a fan of the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, do not bother watching this. It does not stay true to the series, portraying the kids as typical city teenagers rather than the down to earth country kids described by Marsden. Little details like the scenery, seemed to be more set in a rainforest than country Australia.

The acting wasn't terrible, but was very much let down by the script and direction. It is hard to look past the cheesy happy scenes. If you can manage to overlook the many many inconsistencies between the book and this series, you've done better than I could.

Perhaps Marsden simply wrote a series of books that could not be successfully turned into TV series, as no one has achieved it so far. As a die-hard John Marsden fan, I found this series unsatisfying.