razrmaxx73 Reviews

The 100 (2014–2020)

The Expanse meets Game of Thrones meets Mad Max in a forested post-apocalyptic North America.

[9/10 · 3 May 2020]

Alright, as you might know, The 100 is a CW production and most CW productions pull from the Vancouver Actor's Guild (my phrase) so you'll see a mix of familiar faces from other shows. And CW shows tend to focus around Millennials doing their thing. Which is OK, because given the quality of writing they can deliver.

Second, let me explain my Review title.

The Expanse. I mentioned this because The 100 deals with these very large space stations either in orbit, or crash landed. So it just gives the show a bit of the Expanse feel to it in that regard.

Game of Thrones. On the ground (planet Earth) there are 12 tribes of Grounders (apocalypse survivors) that are fighting each other and Sky Crew (our civilized group of humans) and all this has a bit of a Game of Thrones feel with all the political intrigue that goes with it.

Mad Max. Being that The 100 takes place 97 years after a nuclear holocaust wipes out the planet, the survivors (Grounders) adopt the survivalist look we all know from the Mad Max films. Except instead of taking place in a desert wasteland, it takes place in a heavily forested (nature has reclaimed the land) North America.

If you enjoy any of these types of genres/tropes, then you'll love The 100.

Hell on Wheels (2011–2016)

A 400 hour Western film...er, series.

[10/10 · 2 April 2020]

OK, first of all, I love Westerns. One of my favorite genres of filmed entertainment. I'm a history major and buff on top of that, so period pieces always have a soft and sweet spot in my heart. One of the things that always catch my eye in period pieces is the costuming. Is it authentic for the time period or not? And since this series takes place immediately after the Civil War in the late 1860s, because if I recall from some quick research about the Trans Continental Railroad, it was completed in either 1867 or 68, the costuming is pretty accurate as it includes some hold over Civil War uniforms.

The overall cinemaphotography is also top notch in this series. Since most of it takes place outside, in nature, and around the builder towns, the photography catches the beauty of the environment. I also thank the Gods that this was shot in the HD era, because it looks fabulous on Blu-ray and on a 4K TV. The upscaling looks fantastic. Really brings out the detail in the costumes, sets, and environment.

Now then, about the plot. I have the entire series on Blu-ray, but I've only seen thru Season 2, but am currently rewatching the entire series (in Season 2 now), but basically we have a Civil War vet on the Confederate side that has joined the Trans Continental Railroad construction effort who has had his family murdered and as as side plot is out for revenge. With this construction effort, you have politics, a lot of typical railroad tycoon shenanigans, and Native American interference. It's everything you could want in a Western. I saw a question on FB asking if someone had never seen a Western before, what would you show them? And I would say Hell on Wheels, along with Deadwood would be great start.

Into the Badlands (2015–2019)

Seasonal Story Arcs and Image Quality

[10/10 · 10 February 2020]

I won't bother you with all the artistic stuff that other reviewers mentioned other than this series on Blu-ray looks fantastic on a 4K television. Playing these discs on my Oppo BDP-103 standard Blu-ray player, it does 4K upconversion as well as does the TV, so the detail in every scene is exquisite. Which is important because the costume and set design is one of the highlights of the series. It really looks amazing.

Now then, the story arcs. We have three seasons...first with 6 episodes, second with 10, and the third with 16. The first season was so short because it was a feeling out/proof of concept deal for AMC to see if it worked. It ended with basically a minor cliffhanger, meaning that the series could have been canceled and what was shown in those 6 episodes would have been wrapped up sufficiently enough to satisfy fans, but fortunately we got a second and third seasons. The second season takes the series in another direction or in this case, setting, but maintains the same overall story arc of the first season. So in essence, you could combine the first and second season into a single season of 16 episodes and you'd be good. The third season introduces a whole new story with the people who control the "gift" and the setting is entirely different. However there are still storylines from the first two seasons in the third season such as the war between barons. But generally speaking, when blind watching this series from the beginning, just keep in mind to view Season 1 & 2 as one season, and Season 3 as another.

I haven't seen all of Season 3 as of this writing (I'm halfway thru) but from what I can remember from seeing a bit of it on broadcast, it wraps up the story pretty well.