MovieChat Forums > Childhood's End (2015) Discussion > The Overmind *warning, potential spoile...

The Overmind warning, potential spoilers

posted 9 years ago by boudicea1967
11 replies | jump to latest

So far, I am pleased with how Sci-Fi has done this one. Some things were left out I think more due to them being obsolete and having to make it a part of the present and near present timeline.

You have to remember, when the THREE great science fiction writers wrote a lot of their novels, we had not yet put a man on the moon and we had Astronomic engineers, we had not yet "invented" Astrophysics in it's place. I know this because my family is full of engineers, including Mike Collins who was one of the astronauts on the moon landing flight. That being said, these guys could make up whatever they wanted because of the limitations in that area of science during their time. If you read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, it had Earth men being able to land on Mars and breath the air, something we know cannot happen.

The story ends on a bittersweet note, but I would have thought by now that there would be some mention of the Overmind and the situation with them and how and why the Overlords cannot be part of it. I really hope Sci Fi does not leave that out.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Naldoman 9 years ago

Butterscotch.

[–] boudicea1967 9 years ago

That'll work.

[–] darkness_surroundz 9 years ago

ok....semi-sweet; finally a non american everything tidied up by the end HAPPY ENDING

[–] ydobon-1 9 years ago

So far, I am pleased with how Sci-Fi has done this one. Some things were left out I think more due to them being obsolete and having to make it a part of the present and near present timeline.

It's been many years since I read the book, but I don't remember it being so overtly sinister, nor do I remember any big dramatic scenes where the overlords forced people to participate in strange rituals.

Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I could have sworn that the overlords mostly just watched and guided humanity as the change happened, rather than directly implanting women with babies and sending kids on nightly astral projection trips.

This is a THREADED message board. Please reply to the proper post!

[–] dantso 9 years ago

Yes the Overlords watch humanity evolve, interfering as little as possible to keep it safe. The astral trips are part of the INHERENT abilities of humans, along with other psy-powers, as the prospects of joining with the Overmind becomes nearer. It's why humankind will go where the Overlords cannot.

[–] nyarlath 9 years ago

Yes scientific knowledge was different back then. They have to tread lightly on the 'science is dying' idea cause it just ain't so. a visitation from a few ETs won't kill it. If anything it would enhance it. A lot gets done without multimillion dollar grants. With so much free time it would explode. I have my own personal critiques about the show but it seems to be trying to get a lot of the book on TV. But a lot of it seems to be using tropes borrowed from other films. Did you notice how that situation room resembled the war room in Dr. Strangelove?
http://www.thetvjunkies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/situation-room.jpg
http://40.media.tumblr.com/477789701c50e708feb67a47bbf33979/tumblr_nuox38Y9Xj1uopkdio1_1280.jpg

I'm also pleased they borrowed the animal rescue idea from Keanu Reeves' Klaatu in the Day the Earth Stood Still remake. Back then few cared about animal rights. I jarred me to think that 3.5 billion years of evolution would go poof just because one species ah, trancended. I presume Karellen will transplant his 'ark' to other worlds and the miracle of terrestrial life will continue...minus humans.

[–] Coven_Darke 9 years ago

I haven't read the book If you think about it the Overmind is kinda evil as it makes the overlords evolve other species to add to it. I'd say the Overmind probably prevents the Overlords from joining them because they need them to help it grow and possibly there are still aspects of the Overmind which partially dislikes the overlords for their role in the destruction of its former species.

[–] LibertarianSoldier 9 years ago

The overmind did not force any evolution. It just knew when a species was on the brink of the evolution process. They then sent the overlords to ensure that it happens without a hitch and to make those that would not evolve as comfortable as possible in the mean time.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

But many more people now know that evolution doesn't work that way (?). We are more scientifically literate about evolution (???) than in 1953. Maybe.

That changes the tone of the story, for me it's clear this evolution isn't natural. I don't buy it no matter what the movie or the book says. Without natural selection and some kind of fitness criteria to select for psychic abilities, you don't get a full generation of psycics. That is not how evolution works, ever.

So the overmind induced this forced evolution to harvest the collective consciousness of our children. A bad choice btw because they haven't even been to high school.

The story changed it's meaning maybe simply because we can't suspend our disbelief in certain areas.

[–] 8 years ago

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The Overmind *warning, potential spoilers*

The Overmind warning, potential spoilers