Tomorrow, When the War Began

Despite only reading the book series for the first time when I was well out of the 'young' adult age bracket, I adore the books. I was so looking forward to this series but, having now watched 4 of the 6 episodes, I'm really disappointed. I get that things have to be changed to work on television and I get the inclusion of the events happening behind the fence with the families but there are far more changes made than were at all necessary. New sub-plots introduced that add nothing to the story and detract from the overall drama and suspense, as well as changes that would mean the rest of the story (as per the books) couldn't possibly pan out. Despite having the benefit of 6 episodes to work with, the characters aren't developed in a way that makes you empathise with them or care what happens to them and somehow, despite the visual medium, the pace and tension of the book is lost and each episode for the most part drags. Unlike some of the other reviews here, I don't think the acting is terrible, I think it's actually the directing that is at fault - the long, drawn-out shots held on a character are no doubt meant to seem poignant and convey the emotion the character is feeling but instead they feel staged, fake and stilted. Ultimately, this series had huge potential and I feel it failed John Marsden pretty badly.

I read the books as a kid and have good memories of them, although I can't remember enough specific details to draw direct comparisons between them and this TV series. I have read that they have changed certain details, but I am sure those are ultimately minor and irrelevant to the overall quality of this series as they have got the fundamentals of storytelling and character development so badly wrong.

The entire first episode is like a long sequence of short indie music clips tied together. Lot's of slow motion scenes of laughing when they should have been building tension or showing at least some suitable level of character development. The characters all seem to have the same shallow, fake, annoyingly positive, Triple J presenter-esque personality. I found them all completely unmemorable, unlikeable and almost indistinguishable personality-wise from each other.

The multi-cultural cast is also entirely unconvincing as a bunch of Australian country kids. They dress, act and talk like a bunch of city kids. To think that this group of ignorant hipsters would be even remotely capable of starting an armed resistance against an occupying foreign army requires far more suspension of disbelief than I was able to manage. That is, until you see the absolute incompetence of this ridiculous army in action.

They try hard to give emotional weight to particular scenes early on, but they have never earnt these moments. They are superficial and unconvincing, just like this entire production. Everyone involved should be ashamed of their work, except for the camera crew. They actually did some nice work.

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.

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.

Love the books and even loved the movie, but unsure why the writers felt the need to change this up and add so much storyline's regarding the parents.