This show meanders a bit too much and doesn't seem to get to a specific point but it's a decent watch. I just wish they would kill off that traitor collaborator Joe Blake, that dude pisses me off so much.
One thing is all the swastikas make me violently angry. After every episode, I boot up Call of Duty 2 or Wolfenstein to get a cathartic release via killing as many of those virtual fascists as painfully as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxjP_ncAlyE
Press 4 repeatedly for great justice.
I have a very different reaction to the show and to the swastikas.
I just really, really appreciate the skills of the set design crew.
I'm watching the show at least partly because I love the aesthetics. I love how they seamlessly create believable versions of a Nazi East Coast, a Japanese Empire west coast, and a Neutral Zone, and they do all this on what's probably a very low budget.
As i watch each scene, I am sitting there thinking, "How did they do that / wow that's amazingly well done / how much did that cost / how much is real and how much is cgi / boy movies have come very far."
The scene that upset me the most was the murder of Frank's sister, niece, and nephew. that was handled with such subtlety and yet it was so moving.
http://www.amazon.com/Save-Send-Delete-Danusha-Goska/dp/1846949866
I too appreciate the set design. I'm a history buff as well and I really like how they evolved the uniforms to the early 1960s look.
I would actually love to see a documentary on the creation of the aesthetics of this film. I think they did everything right.
Even down to the vent in the ceiling through which the zyklon B was dropped. At first it looked like such an innocuous vent, but ... oh, Lord. Painful.
And they could have done so much wrong. But they didn't.
I guess one minor complaint -- the mountains in the Catskills were too high and peaky.
http://www.amazon.com/Save-Send-Delete-Danusha-Goska/dp/1846949866
How they evolved the uniforms to an early 60's look?
They look to me like they haven't changed since the 40s - the Japanese are especially retro - look to be still carrying Arisaka bolt action rifles from WW2.
Sometimes you see some German extras wearing what looks like repurposed DDR "rainfall" camouflage.
But, in general, everything looks very frozen in time. Probably to save on the costume budget. And, to keep the "bad guys" easily recognizable.
Also, since neither Imperial Japan nor Nazi Germany survived to the 60s in our world, we have no idea how their uniform looks might have changed. I wish the show had the budget to explore that.
But, some might find it confusing.
They look to me like they haven't changed since the 40s - the Japanese are especially retro - look to be still be carrying Arisaka bolt action rifles from WW2.
The show depicts Nazi Germany and the Greater Reich as having equipment and technology about equivalent to West Germany of the 1960s.
Just as an example, a few scenes show German guards and MPs carrying G3 rifles - a design that was in its early stages in the last years of the war, and eventually was completed and adopted by West Germany in the mid 1950s.
Same was done with the Japanese, who are outfitted with historically accurate gear for this era - e.g. Howa Type 64 rifles.
Most equipment and technology shown in the show was in active development during WWII or immediately thereafter.
It would actually be easier and cheaper to source old surplus 1960s-era Japanese and West German equipment and vehicles than it would be to source the same equipment from 1940s Nazi Germany, and this appears to be exactly what the production has done.
I feel the same way. Whoever designed the Nazi sets, uniforms, equipment nailed it. It's actually sort of uncomfortable to watch because it looks and feels so damn real - this is probably exactly what Germany and a Nazi-controlled America would have looked like.
Whoever did the German military equipment and uniforms looks like they just copied whatever west Germany had in the 1960s and applied Nazi aesthetics and style to them, which would be accurate given that most west German equipment and designs in that era were still Nazi-era designs.
Even the soundtrack used in some of the Greater Reich scenes seems accurate - American culture and music stuck in a 1940s or 1950s aesthetic and sound well into the early 1960s, as the rebellious elements at the core of early rock and roll would probably be crushed by the Nazi-controlled society.
Though I am surprised so far by the level of attention given to the details of what the Nazi regime is like, compared to very little information shared about the Japanese. It does lend to the feel that the Japanese have advanced scientifically and culturally much less so than the Nazis have.
It's also noticable that the Nazis have much more successfully absorbed American society into their own, while the Japanese are more at odds with west coast American culture and do not really understand Americans - after all, Americans were far more similar to Europeans in that era. This is in a way disturbing, in the way the show depicts how readily some Americans have adopted Nazi culture into their lives - though it is obviously strongly suggested that many Americans were slaughtered by the Nazi invasion forces to achieve this level of submission.
The set design depicting large parts of America as being run down, dilapidated, and developmentally stunted are accurately portrayed. After all, in this timeline, America never became the superpower that it did as a direct result of the allied victory and destruction of Europe.
Overall the show at times makes me feel really uncomfortable and uneasy.. At times it really feels like this alternate timeline could have easily happened, if only a few key events during WWII had been different. Just as an example, the Germans nearly beat the allies to the development of the atomic bomb. There is no way we would have won the war had the Germans reached that goal, and allied surrender would have likely been immediate and unconditional.
Seeing Hitler alive and well is also a very strange feeling, and the actor portraying him does a great job at emulating his mannerisms and speech patterns. Old Hitler is creepy beyond words.
Above all else, every time I watch the show the intro gives me goosebumps. The display of icons of American patriotism and history superimposed by footage of invasion forces, the off-key rendition of Edelweiss... Too well done. Particularly the moment where the bald eagle statue is shown being overpowered by the projection of the Nazi eagle emblem. Gets me every time.
It actually makes me feel a little sick to my stomach to see the loss of America depicted this way. Have you ever had a horrible nightmare where someone you loved died, and you woke up from that nightmare only to find that you couldn't stop thinking about it throughout the day, even though that person is still alive? That's pretty much the feeling.
This show deserves an incredible amount of attention just for the design and production alone.
Just as an example, the Germans nearly beat the allies to the development of the atomic bomb.
First of all it is just a show and secondly playing a video game as an adult to release this kind of anger seems very very weird to me.
Go talk to a recruiter join a branch of the military and if you play your cards right they'll provide you all the opportunity in the world to help get rid of some bad people. The benefit is you get in great shape and become lifelong friends the bad part is no matter how bad the bad guy is you'll never forget what you did.
Still better than playing a video game.
An alternative is to put on a pair of whatever kind of shoes you run in and go for a long run.
On second thought go for the run I am not sure dudes who get cathartic release via killing things as painfully as possible on a video game is just either the nerdiest thing I have ever heard or a super unhealthy way to do things.
No real disrespect intended it just seems REALLY unbalanced to get angry and turn to a video game for relief. Safe, easy, comfortable but really weird.
How do you know the poster is an adult?
I kind of get it. Seeing Nazi symbols on the US flag and landmarks is like a gut-punch for me. It doesn't make me angry, but it upsets me and......well, makes me a bit angry I guess. It provokes a visceral reaction.
But I agree with the others, too, that the production value and design is remarkable. Whoever handles that aspect - the whole team - are very gifted. Ridley Scott is known as a genius at "world creating" and he doesn't disappoint here.
[deleted]
Dude your a f cking jarhead, which means you most likely have an IQ of around 100.
Why do you think you guys are sent in first? Because you're fodder....NOBODY cares about you or what you think.
Millennial = Homo Sapiens born 1990 or after; Losers who think they know everything but don't
I like how you suggest that the topic creator sign up to kill people as a means of stress relief while you deride the much healthier outlet of video games as "weird".
Newsflash: adults of all backgrounds play video games. It isn't 1985 anymore.
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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .
The show definitely has some drastic, very vivid imagery.
But, it isn't upsetting to me. It's a work of fiction.
I'm hopeful the creators expand a little on Oberguppenführer Smith. He is a very complex and dynamic character and I feel like he best personifies, or at least shows flashes of humanism, compared to many of his comrades. I think there's hope for him to eventually do what's right. We will see...
But, we also have seen similar behavior from other characters, even a Nazi or two.