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[MetalSlimeHunt]

So, after years of development hell, the four-part adaptation of Man In The High Castle has its first installment available for free on Amazon. And I have to say, it is quite possibly the best non-literature alternate history I've ever seen. I'm feeling fairly confident they managed to not fuck up something that everybody fucks up. It was an hour well spent as far as I'm concerned.

Beyond this point is my analysis, so I'd watch it before reading any further. The best part I'm seeing here is the worldbuilding. You've got the clear divisions of neglectful but colonial rule in Japanese America and the naked assimilation/extermination dynamic going on in Nazi America, but a third aspect which wasn't very emphasized in the book is that the Rocky Mountain Neutral Zone is rapidly going full wild-west stuck in between the aforementioned, with all the negative aspects that implies but also freedom for people who would otherwise be exterminated.

Characterization is in general is going pretty good, there are some background changes from the book but it mostly is faithful, or at least faithful enough for my tastes. The whole aspect of guerrilla espionage being necessary for acting outside the system is clearly present, and it's kind of like a spy show except all the spies are drifter civilians without goals of any systematic change. The otherworldly illusion aspects concerning Grasshopper Lies Heavy are getting introduced a bit early and clearly for me, but it's been bereft of any greater context so far, so I'll give it a pass.

Oh, and don't worry about the awful CGI in New York. That only really applies for the first ten minutes or so and then goes away.

I guess you could talk about the book here too if you're some kind of nerd or something.

[PTTG??]

Sounds interesting. I've always wanted to read Man in the High Castle, but never got around to getting a copy.

[Il Palazzo]

Holy cow, this came out of nowhere. I'll get back to you once I watched it.

[asciigod]

^^^ I concur! Never heard of this, never even consider it'd be a possibility. So, excuse my newbness, but this is meant as an ongoing series? If so, I'll probably wait until a few more episodes come out to get into it.

Also, I want to be nothing but optimistic, but it will be interesting to see how they stretch a relatively thin plot into a full series. Assuming they don't just use the "universe" of the book as a sandbox. Which would be fine too.

PTW

[Il Palazzo]

I revive this thread to bring news: apparently the series is completed and is coming out on Amazon next month.

[WealthyRadish]

Watched the first installment. I love it that even in a movie where the Nazis won they still can't aim for shit, like in that truck scene (though I guess that gets excused a bit at the end). Personally I found the intrigue-y spooky fascist spy stuff a bit amateurish, but maybe it's just because I reread 1984 recently and have too high expectations for totalitarian repression. Also being someone from Colorado who's been to Cañon City many times I just couldn't get over their pronunciation of it (I mean even without the tilde, you'd expect at least the lady from California to know it's not "cannon city"). And what's the deal with the Japanese minister and the oracle stuff? Was that ever a thing in Imperial Japan?

All that said though, it's a fun concept and the most important part for something like this is the world's background, which they do well. It gets a bit heavy handed at times, like with the, uh, "snow", but I think the design team did a great job on the scenery, props, and backgrounds.

[Sheb]

Yeah, I read the book recently and found it a bit "meh". Interesting setting, but nothing is done with it. I wonder how they'll manage on screen.