I recently discovered the pilot for Nobility (on Amazon), which I'd recommend as a sci-fi story that tries to be different. However, despite its all-star cast, I was sad to find out that it never got picked up as a series. It's very campy, very low-budget, like a couple other cheap sci-fi things on Netflix and Amazon. At first my reaction was "ick", then it was "I'm bored", but I kept watching and I became very interested by the end. I realized I wanted more of this. I like high-budget, high-end science fiction just fine, like Star Trek: Discovery or The Orville. But sometimes I want to watch something unchallenging and soothing, the equivalent of baby food.
Starhunter gives me exactly what I was looking for. Be warned! The pilot is the worst episode by far. The rest make much more sense. The second one isn't as good as the others, but after that they quickly increase in quality and scope, with tons of things happening at once in each story.
Each episode so far has been divided with some people on the ship and some on the ground during a mission, but unlike something like Star Trek where the planet and the ship can feel like two completely different A and B stories, in Starhunter the two plots are much more tightly woven together, making a feeling that you're watching one continuous coherent piece of action. This creates a stunning sensation of breadth and unpredictability which I frankly find more exciting than a lot of big name sci-fi which has fancy lights and swearing but keeps the plot underneath far too safe and predictable.
If you're into video games, maybe I could say that instead of this being Star Wars Battlefront or Elite Dangerous, it's more like Evochron Mercenary or the X series of games. Meaning, rough around the edges, unapologetically ugly in the graphics department, but focused more on all the little details, all the little bits and bobs, than its more expensively produced cousins.
Instead of dragging you by the nose and then forcibly directing your eyes to the important attractions, Starhunter trusts you to figure out what you'd like to focus on, out of a menagerie of character traits and world details. It doesn't fight for your attention like modern stuff, it's understated. But I like that better. I never liked being told what parts I should care about (I'm looking at you, Killjoys).
To compare it to other series, I'd say it's a lot like Farscape but with self-contained plots, one for each episode. Farscape started having many-episodes long stories, almost like Dragon Ball Z in how some episodes would focus on a single conversation between hero and villain. None of that here. It's Andromeda but with more action (less likely to fall asleep, at least once you get past the first episodes), Lexx with more focus on actually doing things quickly, Crusade with more interesting situations, Earth: Final Conflict but camper (yes, campier. somehow.). Hopefully those comparisons give you some idea of what to expect.
Now I have to come to terms with knowing that there's never going to be any more of it. :( I didn't realize it was a remastering of one of the 2000s-era shows, I thought it was a complete reboot but in the style of early-2000s shows (including bad 3D scenes for authenticity). I thought it had a chance of being renewed and continuing. Sob. We could use a cheesy series like this in our all-too-serious world some days!
Conclusion: Don't go based on your first impression, second impression, nor your third, fourth, or fifth. Wait until you've come up with a half-dozen or so different reactions to the show. Reserve a weekend and watch at least three episodes. If you still don't like it, shake your fist and curse my review for misleading you. But I hope you'll find something you like. All I know is that I can PROMISE you won't know whether or not you like it until you've seen a few episodes. Expect sci-fi comfort food type fluff, and you won't be disappointed.
Starhunter Redux is totally fluff, but it's the fluffiest fluff I've found yet. :)
