The man in the high castle

[Sam1]

Fantastic TV show for those who like WWII / post war era movies.  Short version of the plot - starts in 1962 in America, but the Germans dropped an atomic bomb on Washington DC and won the war, split the USA in half between the German's on the east coast and gave the west coast to the Japanese.  Middle is free zone. People trying to get together to start an uprising and take back the country.  Only seen the first two episodes, rest isn't available until later this month.

 

Link to watch the first episode for free on Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.com/The-Man-In-High-Castle/dp/B00RSGIVVO?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

Not sure how it will play out, but the first two episodes start off pretty good.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Sam1

[Sam1]

Wanted to bump this, binge watched all 10 episodes over the past week.

 

If you like the atlas shrugged books (the movies sort of sucked), I can almost guarantee you'll like this series.  Short version of the plot is that there is an underground revolution growing among Americans that want to take their country back from the Japanese and Nazis after the Germans dropped a nuke on DC and took over the country during WWII.

 

Very few things I didn't care for much in the shows, there's definitely a great team of writers working on it.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Sam1

[Hozzie]

I meant to watch this. Thanks for the reminder.

[Mike.357]

I watched it but need to re watch it.   It left me very confused as to what was going on, especially the end.  I keep thinking I must have missed something along the way that makes it all make sense.

[No_0ne]

It's a good show, although the basic premise is not very plausible, i.e. the D-Day landings fail and that somehow leads to the complete victory in WWII of both Germany and Japan.  Having said that, a lot of very good shows require a great deal of "suspension of disbelief", this doesn't keep many, including myself, from enjoying the show ...

[Sam1]

It's a good show, although the basic premise is not very plausible, i.e. the D-Day landings fail and that somehow leads to the complete victory in WWII of both Germany and Japan.  Having said that, a lot of very good shows require a great deal of "suspension of disbelief", this doesn't keep many, including myself, from enjoying the show ...

 

This one does require a "great deal of 'suspension of disbelief'" because we kicked their asses :P

 

[No_0ne]

I watched it but need to re watch it.   It left me very confused as to what was going on, especially the end.  I keep thinking I must have missed something along the way that makes it all make sense.

 

My take on it, Tagomi is meditating in the square  and "wakes up" (or maybe imagines/sees/dreams etc.) in another reality in which the Japanese lost the war.  Since the films everybody are after obviously have to come from another reality, this is one possible way in which to get them.  I'm also guessing that the necklace either makes it possible to "see" or move to alternate realities as it's imbued with "wu" (same essence the Japanese lady thought she sensed in the Geronimo necklace) from the emotional state of Juliana as she watched the first film.  As far as I know, Amazon hasn't renewed this series for another season so we may never have any definitive answers to the many questions postulated by this season's episodes.

[Mike.357]

I am not sure they could do a second season.  

 

And that made me think that the Axis did not win, that the war only went as we know it to have gone.  And maybe Tagomi was imaging a reality that the show presented.

 

Why were the Americans collecting the movies and sending them to "the man in the high castle"  ( calling him that so as to not ruin that for people who did not watch yet.)

 

I really found it all confusing and want to re watch it.

 

If anyone is into revisionist history then read books by Harry Turtledove.   I have read a lot of his work and the books are impossible to put down.  Guns of the South was impossible to put down and is a stand alone book.  He also did a series that had the South winning the war and WW2 playing out in north America.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Mike.357

[Sam1]

By man in the high castle, you're talking about Bob Johnson, right?

 

<spoiler alert>

 

:cool:

 

 

To add on to it, there are some confusing spots in the plot, but I think it's because the writers are approaching the show from a long term perspective.  Looks like they are planning to milk this one as long as possible.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Sam1

[Clod Stomper]

I am not sure they could do a second season.

And that made me think that the Axis did not win, that the war only went as we know it to have gone. And maybe Tagomi was imaging a reality that the show presented.

Why were the Americans collecting the movies and sending them to "the man in the high castle" ( calling him that so as to not ruin that for people who did not watch yet.)

I really found it all confusing and want to re watch it.

If anyone is into revisionist history then read books by Harry Turtledove. I have read a lot of his work and the books are impossible to put down. Guns of the South was impossible to put down and is a stand alone book. He also did a series that had the South winning the war and WW2 playing out in north America.

+1 on Harry Turtledove. I liked Guns of the South. But the World War series is my favorite so far. In it, we are invaded by aliens in the midst of WWII. Then comes the Colonization series where the aliens' colonization ships arrive. And even past that. But I won't drop spoilers.

I need to pick up some of his other series.

And thanks for the heads up on The Man in the High Castle. I hadn't heard about it. Edited November 26, 2015 by Clod Stomper

[Mike.357]

By man in the high castle, you're talking about Bob Johnson, right?

 

<spoiler alert>

 

:cool:

 

 

To add on to it, there are some confusing spots in the plot, but I think it's because the writers are approaching the show from a long term perspective.  Looks like they are planning to milk this one as long as possible.

 

 

I don't know who Bob Johnson is

[Sam1]

I don't know who Bob Johnson is

 

 

Was being sarcastic, didn't want to actually ruin it for anyone :)

[Pete123]

It's a good show, although the basic premise is not very plausible, i.e. the D-Day landings fail and that somehow leads to the complete victory in WWII of both Germany and Japan.  Having said that, a lot of very good shows require a great deal of "suspension of disbelief", this doesn't keep many, including myself, from enjoying the show ...

 

I'm with you.  I count on Hollywood when I want entertainment.  When I want historical truth I watch documentaries and watch those with a skeptical eye.

[frankmako]

so far it is a good show/entertainment.  i am around number 7.  been thinking about going back and re-watch to pickup on things that i missed.  

[GlockSpock]

Want to watch it, but more interested in reading the books first.


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[hipower]

Want to watch it, but more interested in reading the books first.


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There's a book series? I'm way behind.

 

I've read a lot of Harry Turtledove over my reading history. I'm glad Mike.357 brought him up again, I'd like to re-read some of his.

 

Ditto the likes for Guns of the South and the Invasion series. I thought I still had copies, but I guess they were in the books lost in the '10 flooding.

 

Will be hitting the used bookstores again.

[No_0ne]

There's a book series? I'm way behind.

 

I've read a lot of Harry Turtledove over my reading history. I'm glad Mike.357 brought him up again, I'd like to re-read some of his.

 

Ditto the likes for Guns of the South and the Invasion series. I thought I still had copies, but I guess they were in the books lost in the '10 flooding.

 

Will be hitting the used bookstores again.

 

There is one book, "The Man in the High Castle", by P. K. Dick.  It also has some ambiguity in it, the author always claimed there was to be a sequel, but never wrote it.  The TV series is different enough that it's possible it will continue with a second season.  BTW, a lot of Dick's novels and stories dealt with alternate realities and different timelines, a major theme in many of them is that reality itself is subjective and impossible to prove.  The movies "Blade Runner", "Total Recall", "Screamers", "A Scanner Darkly", "Minority Report", "Next" and several others were all adapted from his works.

[hipower]

Thanks for the clarification. I had remembered Dick as the author, but was unsure about any sequels.

[dawgdoc]

I am not sure they could do a second season.  

 

And that made me think that the Axis did not win, that the war only went as we know it to have gone.  And maybe Tagomi was imaging a reality that the show presented.

 

Why were the Americans collecting the movies and sending them to "the man in the high castle"  ( calling him that so as to not ruin that for people who did not watch yet.)

 

I really found it all confusing and want to re watch it.

 

My take is the the Man in the High Castle really wants all the films, and he is willing to use both sides to get them.  It appears that he is willing to pay anything to get them, including doing things that would seem counter to his side's interest.  Maybe because he knows that their reality is not concrete, he doesn't really care what happens in the short term.

 

When I first started watching it, I assumed that the Nazis acquired (or were given from the future) some technology that allowed them to see the future, which altered their war plans to include a first strike on America using the H-bomb.  Perhaps they were just given films of their own, and having used them to change the world, they want every single one produced because of the potential power contained in them.  At first we thought the films were just alternate history, but apparently at least one film shows the future yet to be, so they could be scrambling to scoop them up to continue planning their next move.

[Mike.357]

There's a book series? I'm way behind.

 

I've read a lot of Harry Turtledove over my reading history. I'm glad Mike.357 brought him up again, I'd like to re-read some of his.

 

Ditto the likes for Guns of the South and the Invasion series. I thought I still had copies, but I guess they were in the books lost in the '10 flooding.

 

Will be hitting the used bookstores again.

 

the library can be your friend.  I read almost all of his works through the library.

[Mike.357]

My take is the the Man in the High Castle really wants all the films, and he is willing to use both sides to get them.  It appears that he is willing to pay anything to get them, including doing things that would seem counter to his side's interest.  Maybe because he knows that their reality is not concrete, he doesn't really care what happens in the short term.

 

When I first started watching it, I assumed that the Nazis acquired (or were given from the future) some technology that allowed them to see the future, which altered their war plans to include a first strike on America using the H-bomb.  Perhaps they were just given films of their own, and having used them to change the world, they want every single one produced because of the potential power contained in them.  At first we thought the films were just alternate history, but apparently at least one film shows the future yet to be, so they could be scrambling to scoop them up to continue planning their next move.

 

 

Your synopsis really makes me hope for another season.

 

The final episode blew my mind.  Loved the scene in the hunting cabin, then the phone call.

 

I want to know what happens to Smith's son.   The final solution has really evolved.  What the doctor told Smith and what he tried to give him was something else.  That alone needs to play out.

[hipower]

the library can be your friend.  I read almost all of his works through the library.

 

LOL There's not much by Philip K. Dick I haven't read. He was at the core of the best era of SF writing, in my opinion anyway.

 

Back in my younger days, all I did was work and read. It was almost the death of my marriage.

 

I would come home, eat a bite, and settle in with a book. I mean this literally.

 

There were times I would sit darn near all night and read, get a couple hours sleep and go back to work.

 

This went on for a long time. At least until some things changed.

 

But that's for another story and another time.

[Mike.357]

I was referring to Turtledove, but your post makes me ready to got the library and look for Phillip K. Dick books.

[hipower]

I was referring to Turtledove, but your post makes me ready to got the library and look for Phillip K. Dick books.

To me, his writing is a bit dated today, but the stories are still enjoyable.