terryshilo

This was a low budget 16 episode filler in Australia at it's release. It was popular enough that it went into production of two progams a week for 7 series/seasons. I believe as it's popularity caught on, the budget went up for it's time. The actors and showrunners were excellent in the coverage of subject matter and personal stories that are very much still at issue today. There is some dated material/subjects tho it makes it a bit more endearing. There's a good dose of comedic interaction between the prisoners and their guards/governors. I started to watch and thought, I'll do the 16, then it was 100, 200, etc. Difficult not to become attached to the characters and care about them. It does have some violence that would have made it a bleep fest in the USA back in it's time. Tho, tame by today's standards. I'm not one for "soap operas" (daytime anyway) tho I fully admit I fell right in. One of my favorite relationships is young Doreen and elderly Lizzy.. you'll have you favorites too. I give it high marks for becoming (decades ago) an international cult show which you can binge or view an episode at a time. Like most long running shows, you will miss some characters who leave over the years as you meet new ones. I didn't think I'd like it, yet I can say I became a fan.

After viewing one episode; I won't be watching anymore. I had thought decades later the show might grow with life as it is today, have a bit of societal edge. The original was disappointing when I was younger and thought it akin to overdosing to syrup of ipecac in it's overtly cleansed, laugh tracked, sugary diatribe reminiscent of '50s sitcoms. At a minimum Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best can mindfully be placed into the societal time frame they were made. Actually in some situations they were a bit more edgy considering they were produced 50+ years ago. While I believe it's good to have programming for conservative Christian viewers.. doesn't this audience rely heavily on years of re-runs; or the Disney Channel and Nick; as well as Christian networks that run older Andy Griffith, Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, etc., fare. Some of the tame new shows on these networks at least take place using current societal situations and at a minimum are new and different. This really has a flavor of the short run original cast remakes of Leave It To Beaver, Gilligans Island, etc. You have a chance to see the aged actors evoking the original with little change. It doesn't work. Think of several remakes like the Addams Family.. re-imagined with new actors and freshened to a current time. My review may not be fair considering I was not an original fan.. though I wanted to be a new fan of this "new" rendition.

There was great atmosphere, talent, CGI and graphics in general. The story could have made sense, it did not. I think the best acting was Dev Patel and the actor that bought "Chappie" alive. High ratings and fairly positive IMDb user reviews.. what could be wrong. The ENTIRETY of the media this is stored on. Majorly disappointed. Overall I trust IMDd contributors and am not usually led astray. I must be missing something to be so at odds with the majority here. Why the level of celebrity was utilized in such a shockingly bad venture must certainly have been done for the respect they had with a ranking executive, simply for the paycheck or a favor they owed the producer/director for a past job they've been chosen for. If not, I have no idea why they chose this script/project. Chappie isn't a film that a majority of parents would allow for very young audience due to violence, language and it's visual reference to language throughout. It's somewhat limited to an older teen to twenty something audience and this might be why I didn't find it worth the two hours I watched it. Though it does have some comedic value, it's not a comedic film. I have become ever more interested in Sci Fi and this tag might have been what pulled me in. The genre is certainly enjoying a high point lately continuing on the large screen as well as extremely good programming on the small screen.