Terra Nova

The problem with the new TV season is that you're inundated with new programmes to watch and it becomes hard to find time for everything. Terra Nova is one of the new shows I've been interested in this year but it took me a while to get around to watching. Any attempt at new science fiction television I'll will give a chance as there is never enough of that. It's safe to say that with Steven Spielberg plus dinosoaurs there has been a lot of hype surrounding this series. The only reason I wasn't more excited about this is all the rumours of trouble during production; re-writes, re-shoots, budget problems and the fact that the pilot came in short because there wasn't enough story! I don't know how much is actually true but it's not a good sign.

So now I've seen the opening double episode and the one following that, what do I think? The first issue I have is with the budget which was apparently very large. However I just don't see it in the final product. I felt the set and the vehicles looked pretty flimsy. There was a nice CGI future opening but that wasn't anything above or beyond the usual TV standard, especially for a pilot. There was some nice CG shots of Terra Nova as well but they will be able to use over and over as establishing shots. So I presume most of the cost went in to the dinosaurs but I found those to be the least impressive part. They seemed particularly bad during the Rex chase part which was in daylight. They were much better at night with rain and shadows to blend with. This is something they will have to work on.

The second issue I have is with the Shannon family. I didn't really like any of them. Perhaps they will grow over time but I didn't connect with them at all. Their motivations seemed unclear and it felt like they became too important in the settlement far too quickly. I found myself far more interested in the people already living there. Commander Taylor, Lt. Washington and Skye all caught my imagination much more than any of the Shannons did.

I did generally enjoy it though. It will depend on where the focus goes. If it focuses on the Shannons and the dinosaur of the week type format it will probably lose me in the end. However if we get more on the the mystery of Taylor's son and the Sixers I think it could be okay. I'll be keeping up with this for sure but it is not vying for favourite status yet.