3 Body Problem - Netflix

Author
Discussion

Hugo Stiglitz

38,038 posts

217 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
I like it. I get it.

My question is what a monumental fk up by the first contact who warned her 'I'm the pacifist one, the rest aren't (I'm warning you about any further contact).

Will this first contact alien play a further part later on.

Clockwork Cupcake

75,920 posts

278 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
I read the first book a few years ago and found it derivative and full of junk science. I also found the use of multiple names for each character with no explanation (probably because it would be obvious to a Chinese person) confusing.

I did not feel compelled to seek out the subsequent books.

As a result of the above, I'm unsure whether I want to watch the TV show.

Lucas Ayde

3,713 posts

174 months

Saturday 30th March
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Watched the first episode and even though it's got more going narrative-wise than the (first) book, was reluctant to continue watching given I've read the book and it wasn't grabbing me.

The characters are a bit annoying though at least they have more to them (and there are more of them) than the original characters in the book. I took a look at various reviews of the Netflix series as a whole and it doesn't look like want to bother watching through it, at around an hour per episode.

I did however want to see what I thought would be the standout setpiece so I went to episode 5 and I have to say that they did it justice. Fair do's there. In the book the writer didn't make a big deal of it but the on-screen adaptation is done extremely well.

The problem is that the original book series was pretty dry - it was all about the big sci-fi ideas and grand philosophical concepts rather than characters and narrative and being a 'ripping yarn'. Netflix have spiced it up a bit (as well as added a dash of mandatory Netflix wokeness) but it's still pretty dry and uninvolving and their new/redone characters irritated me. I didn't bother reading past the first book but but have seen many synopses and they will have real problems making those books relatable as they really veer into full on esoteric scifi.

I notice that a lot of people have been comparing it to 'Lost' but in reality its nothing like that in the book. I think whoever did the adaptation decided to take that direction of making it more of a mystery box to make it more appealing so perhaps they will really veer off the source material even more substantially as the story moves on.

It's not a total disaster but they were always on to a bit of a loser given the serious and dry nature of the source material which doesn't lend itself to general entertainment and of course, the 'Neflix adaptation' factor which is almost always negative.

rallye101

2,200 posts

203 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Had man flu this week and have done the lot....odd but good and white addictive, so many questions re the Brain.
Then watched Dune and just thought it was a star wars knock off....

Clockwork Cupcake

75,920 posts

278 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
rallye101 said:
Then watched Dune and just thought it was a star wars knock off....
Which is ironic as it's actually the other way round; Star Wars is a Dune knock off

Actual

1,006 posts

112 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Hugo Stiglitz said:
I like it. I get it.

My question is what a monumental fk up by the first contact who warned her 'I'm the pacifist one, the rest aren't (I'm warning you about any further contact).

Will this first contact alien play a further part later on.
So it's about aliens?

Probably just like Resident Alien then and that's really good.

carl_w

9,495 posts

264 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Gets going from about ep. 4 or 5.

Hugo Stiglitz

38,038 posts

217 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
carl_w said:
Gets going from about ep. 4 or 5.
Yup

chemistry

2,396 posts

115 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Enjoyed episodes 1-5, but from episode 6 onwards it was increasingly dull and the finale was a total disappointment.

3/10

Hugo Stiglitz

38,038 posts

217 months

Saturday 30th March
quotequote all
Just finished. That was the right ending.


Or is it the ending. ..

rider73

3,434 posts

83 months

Tuesday 2nd April
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chemistry said:
Enjoyed episodes 1-5, but from episode 6 onwards it was increasingly dull and the finale was a total disappointment.

3/10
this.


ep1-5 good, grounded and realistic , then ep 5 opened up a ton of plot holes and then along came a lot of 2min meetings bringing in technology we are no where near, and ignoring any basic science and just descended into nonsense for us -
shame.

coldel

8,413 posts

152 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-687058...

Interesting news from China.

And agree with the above, the non sensical last few episodes killed what was already a pretty weak and poor plot.

stuarthat

1,078 posts

224 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
I really enjoyed it, different spin in the sci-fi world,hopefully more to come.

carl_w

9,495 posts

264 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
rider73 said:
this.


ep1-5 good, grounded and realistic , then ep 5 opened up a ton of plot holes and then along came a lot of 2min meetings bringing in technology we are no where near, and ignoring any basic science and just descended into nonsense for us -
shame.
I can't remember which ep was which but if I was wanting to accelerate something to 1/t0th of c I'd be looking at spacing out some atomic bombs on the flight path and using a lightweight sail.

WrekinCrew

4,888 posts

156 months

Tuesday 2nd April
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Is the nanofibre in the 2006 book? If so the idea of a super-strong invisible molecular chain that cuts anything is hardly an original idea - Larry Niven used exactly the same thing ("Sinclair monofilament") way back in the '70s in various stories, and the idea may well predate that.

clive_candy

695 posts

171 months

Tuesday 2nd April
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Had half an eye on this as others in the house have been watching it. Surprised one of the characters seems frequently to be shown smoking. Is it significant or is it simply promoting cigarettes in a way you can't anymore on terrestrial TV in the UK?

Clockwork Cupcake

75,920 posts

278 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
WrekinCrew said:
Is the nanofibre in the 2006 book?
Yes, it is.

WrekinCrew said:
If so the idea of a super-strong invisible molecular chain that cuts anything is hardly an original idea - Larry Niven used exactly the same thing ("Sinclair monofilament") way back in the '70s in various stories, and the idea may well predate that.
Exactly so. yes

I literally rolled my eyes and yawned when I got to that bit in the book. As I said, the book is pretty derivative.


dxg

8,708 posts

266 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
Clockwork Cupcake said:
WrekinCrew said:
Is the nanofibre in the 2006 book?
Yes, it is.

WrekinCrew said:
If so the idea of a super-strong invisible molecular chain that cuts anything is hardly an original idea - Larry Niven used exactly the same thing ("Sinclair monofilament") way back in the '70s in various stories, and the idea may well predate that.
Exactly so. yes

I literally rolled my eyes and yawned when I got to that bit in the book. As I said, the book is pretty derivative.
The "riding the nuclear staircase" concept is a real thing! One of the first thoughts for long distance space travel. Except that the vessel would drop the bombs behind it rather than using ICBMs to get them set up in a staircase for the rocket to travel past - which didn't make any sense (how long would the ICBMs take to get to those locations (i.e. why do the journey twice?) - and how do they navigate without atmosphere...?)

Edited by dxg on Tuesday 2nd April 22:29

Clockwork Cupcake

75,920 posts

278 months

Tuesday 2nd April
quotequote all
dxg said:
The "riding the nuclear staircase" concept is a real thing! One of the first thoughts for long distance space travel. Except that the vessel would drop the bombs behind it rather than using ICBMs to get them set up in a staircase for the rocket to travel past - which didn't make any sense (how long would the ICBMs take to get to those locations (i.e. why do the journey twice?) - and how do they navigate without atmosphere...?)
Do a search for Project Orion and prepare to go down a rabbit hole. biggrin

Here is as good a place as any to begin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nucle...

Fun fact: Second shout-out for Larry Niven, as he had an Orion spacecraft in his Sci-Fi book "Footfall". Also, in rather a meta move, in that book he had NASA (or whoever) assemble a load of Sci-Fi writers to come up with ideas for countering the aliens. hehe


Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Tuesday 2nd April 22:39

Tony Starks

2,199 posts

218 months

Wednesday 3rd April
quotequote all
clive_candy said:
Had half an eye on this as others in the house have been watching it. Surprised one of the characters seems frequently to be shown smoking. Is it significant or is it simply promoting cigarettes in a way you can't anymore on terrestrial TV in the UK?
Seems to be the standard for netflix programming. And alot of.the time you can tell the actors don't actually smoke as they look uncomfortable holding it.