Into The Badlands

[NextExit]

Anyone watch the premier last night? I thought it was really good. I'll definitely be watching again this Sunday. :)

[frankmako]

not yet it on the dvr.

[hipower]

I did, but will have to watch again as I got distracted during it.

 

Seemed like it could be interesting.

[LagerHead]

I really liked it. Seems to be well done and has a pretty interesting story line with some interesting characters. Hope they don't ruin it.

[z0mbies fear me]

It seemed pretty cool to me, I'll tune in again next week!

[Caster]

I watched, it was pretty cool with some nice choreography.  

 

I will go in record as saying, this HAS to have been written by some hippie.  Denial of a creator and the complete absence of of firearms?  Not a very believable scenario.  I can believe everything I've seen on the Walking Dead before I believe I'll see a southern plantation ran by a fella with a Georgian accent and not a single gun on the premises.  

[hipower]

Yep Caster, we agree. When I heard the into on it, I thought...hmmm, no guns at all? 

 

Anyway, might prove to be lightly entertaining as a WD replacement for a while.

 

It is kinda slick and stylized in a way that reminds me of Blade Runner.

 

Or maybe I'm just strange.

 

BTW, I did go back and re-watch it. I like it, but won't worry if I never see all of it.

Edited November 18, 2015 by hipower

[JAB]

I don't have cable and watch The Walking Dead with some friends at their house.  I don't need to get interested in another show to keep me out even later on Sunday night so I purposefully avoided sticking around to watch it (not sure if they did or not.)  Maybe I will catch it later when/if it comes out on DVD if the overall verdict from folks whose opinions I trust is that it is worth watching. 

 

The whole, "Absolutely no guns," thing didn't sit very well with me, either.  As Caster said, I will believe that Rick Grimes' group can make 100 yard head shots on walking corpses with rifles that have no sights before I will believe that there are no firearms in a society where they did, at one point, exist.  My first thought on hearing that was, "Bull****.  You're telling me that they don't have pipes, wood, matches or lighters and the basic materials to make gunpowder just like the Chinese did thousands of years ago?"  I mean, I could buy that there are no ARs or that sort of thing.  I can even accept that there might not be any 'repeaters' such as autoloader pistols/rifles, lever actions and so on (even though having seen videos about black market gun makers in Pakistan who create pretty good forgeries of modern firearms using mostly hand tools even that is a bit of a suspension of disbelief.)  But they expect me to believe that no one has put together a "smoke pole" or a pole cannon with simple touch holes or wicks?  Maybe even something like a Brown Bess?  I saw in the previews that one character (the main character?) was riding a motorcycle.  If they have the technical and mechanical knowledge/skills and equipment to build a motorcycle or even to build parts to maintain a motorcycle then they can darn well build single action revolvers and could certainly build flintlocks (which wouldn't even require being able to manufacture cased ammo.)

 

Of course, the possible 'good' side of the idea of 'no guns, whatsoever' is that the show appears (based on the previews) to be set in a pretty violent, dystopian society so the message could, I suppose, be, "Guns are a means to an end, not the source of violent behavior.  People can and do slaughter each other just fine without them."

Edited November 18, 2015 by JAB

[crossfire]

 

Of course, the possible 'good' side of the idea of 'no guns, whatsoever' is that the show appears (based on the previews) to be set in a pretty violent, dystopian society so the message could, I suppose, be, "Guns are a means to an end, not the source of violent behavior.  People can and do slaughter each other just fine without them."

You may want to read this take on it.

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/erik-soderstrom/2015/11/16/amcs-badlands-imagines-world-without-guns

[NextExit]

I don't even know what era it's supposed to be in this show.  No electronic devices (TV, radio, etc) and no modern vehicles.  I won't read to much into the "no guns" theme, after all it's just a show and if it's entertaining, then I'll watch it.   :popcorn:

[Oh Shoot]

Finally watched the premiere.

 

Meh. Seen so many quality Asian martial arts films in last few years that part just doesn't grab me much. Chopsocky got elevated to high art at least 15 years ago, so that part is a pretty high bar to stand alone, and the story itself didn't grab me enough either.

 

I'll probably watch one more to see if the story and characters speak to me more, but I'm doubting it.

 

- OS

[dawgdoc]

I don't even know what era it's supposed to be in this show.  No electronic devices (TV, radio, etc) and no modern vehicles.  I won't read to much into the "no guns" theme, after all it's just a show and if it's entertaining, then I'll watch it.   :popcorn:

 

The division of the Badlands into baronies occurred several generations after an unspecified war, I believe.  The banishment of guns appears to have happened long before any of the current events.  It appears that they have some electricity and internal combustion but not microchips, hence what appears to be 1930-40s type technology.  They made refence to using oil to fuel opium factories in the previous episode.  Tonight they used an X-ray machine.  So they have available technology but it is not widespread, presumably due to the lack of parts and such.

[Oh Shoot]

Finally watched the premiere.

 

Meh. Seen so many quality Asian martial arts films in last few years that part just doesn't grab me much. Chopsocky got elevated to high art at least 15 years ago, so that part is a pretty high bar to stand alone, and the story itself didn't grab me enough either.

 

I'll probably watch one more to see if the story and characters speak to me more, but I'm doubting it.

 

- OS

 

Opinion unchanged. The Kill Bill sequence of offing the 50 or so baddies was cool and all, and I do like seeing bad ass chicks slice and dice, but been dere done dat quite a lot, and story still ain't grabbing me.

 

Only the Baron is interesting to me as a character as he's soooo uber mean and all with a Southern accent, but ...

 

- OS

Edited November 23, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[NextExit]

So far, I like it.  I know they're still developing the characters so I'll give it a few more episodes to see where it goes... besides, The Widow (Emily Beecham) makes it worth watching. ;)

I'll agree that some of the fight scenes, like him defeating a warehouse full of baddies, was a bit over the top. 

[hipower]

Staying with my first impression and comment. It's interesting and sort of cute, but I won't lose any sleep over missing it.

 

It will probably get a lot of viewers following TWD for now, but will it hold on after next week and TWD break?

 

As for me, I think I'll just go back to watching Quantico. 

[NextExit]

Still like it. Was anxiously awaiting it after that lame mid season finale of TWD....

[Mike.357]

I don't even know what era it's supposed to be in this show.  No electronic devices (TV, radio, etc) and no modern vehicles.  I won't read to much into the "no guns" theme, after all it's just a show and if it's entertaining, then I'll watch it.   :popcorn:

 

 

I have only watched this show briefly, but I could have swore I saw a radio on a shelf during the first few minutes of the show last night.  Dunno what else it could have been,  Looked like a radio out of the 60's or early 70's very similar to one that was in our house.

 

I am not really a fan of this type of show anyway, but i find not having guns as unbelievable, especially after seeing a mechanized vehicle and that radio,

Edited November 30, 2015 by Mike.357

[enfield]

I don't even know what era it's supposed to be in this show.  No electronic devices (TV, radio, etc) and no modern vehicles.  I won't read to much into the "no guns" theme, after all it's just a show and if it's entertaining, then I'll watch it.   :popcorn:

Sounds like Cuba or North Korea!

[dawgdoc]

Here is the intro:

 

The wars were so long ago nobody even remembers. Darkness and fear ruled until the time of the barons, seven men and women who forged order out of chaos. People flocked to them for protection. That protection became servitude. They banished guns and trained armies of lethal fighters they called Clippers. This world is built on blood. Nobody is innocent here. Welcome to the Badlands.

 

I think the technology is supposed to be what could be salvaged and recreated without microchips, so it will look like tech from the 70's or before.  The "no guns" thing was due to the treaty among the barons, and it may be so long ago that modern firearm technology is lost.  Blackpowder technology may be brutally suppressed.  It may be inspired by the Japanese feudal system that persisted long past the rest of the world has move on in technology.

 

Perhaps they are an oasis surrounded by a nuclear wasteland, and the original barons were able to completely eradicate firearms from this relatively limited geographical area.  Don't we always talk about how governments disarm the people in order to consolidate their power?  The current barons are enjoying the benefits when they can pick and choose who gets trained to fight while everyone else is just a "cog."

 

It seems like the show is a great example of what happens when the common man is disarmed--a bleak dystopia in which there a few masters and everyone else is a slave.  If you can't defend your property, then eventually it will be taken from you.

Edited December 1, 2015 by dawgdoc

[NextExit]

Really like how the show is developing.  Maybe I'm in the minority but I'm a fan! :popcorn: :pleased:

[Oh Shoot]

Really like how the show is developing.  Maybe I'm in the minority but I'm a fan! :popcorn: :pleased:

 

I bit thrice, but it just didn't hook me, didn't even think about watching it tonight, so I'm out.

 

- OS

[jdd65]

I am watching the show and, while I enjoy it, I definitely don't "look forward" to it every week like I did with shows like Walking Dead or Breaking Bad.  I usually record the episodes and then watch it while I am working in my art studio.  It is not a show you really have to follow intently.  The fight scenes are extremely entertaining and the female characters (the Widow and the blonde clipper chick) are really incredible. 

 

Good show, but if it was canceled tomorrow, I wouldn't mourn too much.

[Chris]

I just started watching it. Not bad at all.

Kung-fu, samurai, western... sorta.

I'm a sucker for a well choreographed sword fight so I'll watch for that alone.

[LagerHead]

I like it too. It's definitely unique among the shows on TV right now. I also like the post-apocalyptic, alternate universe, retro, kung fu genre. At least I do now that it exists. :D