Brave New World

You'll notice a lot of the negative reviews come from people who didn't make it past the pilot episode. The pilot isn't reflective of the series as a whole and if you find your way to the end of the next episode, you'll be hooked. Having read the book, don't expect a like for like adaption but the series is still rewarding with some great acting talent, intriguing characters/plot and some lovely visuals. Well worth a watch.

Are better left alone. I don't understand why they don't make something new and give it its own name. This is so loosely based on the book, I feel the people behind it read the wiki plot summary and that's it. And even that summary was mostly ignored. Most of what made Brave New World so significant as a work of fiction was lost here.

As a sci fi show it isn't even half bad. If it would stand on its own, I would give it a 7 or 8. But as an adaptation of Brave New World, it's a 3 and that is generous.

Fans of the book can happily skip this. It might be loosely based on Aldous Huxley's groundbreaking book but it never manages to have the same impact as it. Making a 9 episode series out of a book that has a little bit over 300 pages, while avoiding the most thought-provoking parts of it, also didn't help.

There are things to like: good actors, the sets are gorgeous and the first three/four episodes are interesting enough.

There are also things to dislike: the writing is not always on point, the subject matter is watered down and after a promising beginning it becomes a soap set in a dystopian future. Especially episodes 6, 7 and 8 are just filler with an abundance of (modest) sex scenes and character development that feels forced.

When I was a college film student I used to think about how I would film Brave New World, which is to say I have a vision for it. Part of that vision would involve actually following the structure, plot, and character development of the original, as opposed to what this miniseries does, which is to take the character names and a handful of loose concepts and turn them into an entirely different story that is more World World than Brave New World.

The story involves a futuristic caste society where a couple of high-caste citizens go slumming and wind up adopting an angry young man who proves incompatible with the society. There's lots shootings and stabbings and orgies and some mystery involving the society's origins.

So, not the book.

I read a review which complained that Brave New World was not a good entity for 2020. This may be true for the book, which was based on the idea that technology could be effectively used to make most people happy and that people in power would actually do that. But in an age where we're seeing the limits and dangers of technology, this adaptation smartly grabs the worries of today and plugs them into this story from yesterday.

Unfortunately the makers don't design their society with the same rigor as Aldous Huxley. The idea that this entire city could basically be run on drugs is unpersuasive. The concept of the Savage Lands makes no sense, in that the people there didn't choose to be there and there's no explanation of how society was bifurcated in that way.

Still, it's all really interesting and admittedly much more viscerally exciting than the book (although less intellectually exciting).

The cast is good and the story is compelling. The final episode is the least satisfying part, giving us a rather nonsensical ending and then a mysterious box that I feel if there is a season 2 to explain it will prove to be a disappointment. But in spite of its flaws, and my constant sense that wait, *that's* not how it happened in the book, I recommend this.

What gives with all of the negative reviews -- most of which appeared within minutes of the show dropping? There is no way the reviewers could have seen all 9 episodes. Maybe they just want to complain that this is not a transcript of the novel but rather a loosely-based adaptation.

Great production design, sound, music make this a terrific viewing experience whether you agree with the story choices or not. Excellent cast - Alden Ehrenreich is always a pleasure to watch as John the Savage, a far cry from Hobie in Hail, Caesar. Even though I know the story (at least Huxley's version), I found myself having to keep binging episodes to find out what happens next. I'm glad I did.