omg & wtf!
Added 3/23/2009
i bought this dvd set at a huge discount. i remember the series was out years ago and never followed it. and i got to say, what a mess. although based on a graphic novel, or comic, it seems like oliver stone's answer to Twin Peaks that finished up earlier. stone was clearly trying to imitate Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet and bombed in so doing. i'm amazed at how many positive reviews this has. none of the actors were strong, the music was over dramatic, using everything from Bethoven's 7th to the Animals and Rolling Stones. angie dickinson as a thug? come on! it was embarrassing to watch her: gouge someone's eyes out, bitch slap and gut punch another. cattrell was equally miscaste and her dramatic cry of "it's my baby!" was laughable. in trying to be bizarre, it failed miserably. there isn't any level that i would recommend this series. buy it used if you must waste your money.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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4:3 and grainy. Well... I guess it's better than my VHS set.
Added 4/7/2008
What's there to say about Wild Palms that hasn't been said a hundred times before?
With that, I'll stick to the DVD itself: despite the back proudly proclaiming "High Definition Transfer", the picture quality is pretty bad. I'm not sure what the master was on this, but there's a lot of color bleeding, and a lot of blur -- more than the intentional soft focus that many scenes were shot it.
The picture itself is 4:3, which isn't completely unexpected, given that this was a miniseries... but it's disappointing nonetheless. And unfortunately, the audio was a bit neglected, as well.
For the price, I can't really complain. But since I own the VHS set and the Australian import DVD set, there wasn't very much to gain here.
Since so many people draw parallels with Twin Peaks, I can say that the picture and sound quality of the Twin Peaks DVD's are incredible by comparison. David Lynch showed a LOT of love on those. Sadly, Wild Palms seems unloved by MGM and Oliver Stone.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Dark View of Cyberspace
Added 3/17/2008
Oliver Stone's dark take on cyberspace, computers and the tech future. Again, the familiar thread of conspiracies, forces at work that want to change and control the world fighting the forces that want to help and save humanity. Sound familiar? Well, it's a thread that runs through the history of storytelling from the Greeks in their plays, Hans Christen Anderson in his fairy tales and George Lucas' stories in Starwars. This series is a bit long and involved. Take it in small doses, a chunk at a time over several nights or an entire weekend when you have the time. After watching this movie, reaffirm the light in the world by going out to the beach and enjoying yourself or something equally life-force invigorating like a family get together.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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liked it then, like it now, though dated
Added 10/28/2007
I first discovered Wild Palms in the back of Details magazine in the early 90s. I had a college roommate at the time who liked Details; I just liked the comic :). Anyway I was intrigued by the comic and read it every month.
In 93 I was again surprised, this time when I found out that what I thought was a little-known comic was now an Oliver Stone miniseries. I found it engrossing in a the-world-sucks-and-it-oughta-end-but-just-wont-and-religion-sucks-william-gibson way, which was right up my alley then and still is today.
Buy it if you like Gibson or cyberpunk or any sci-fi that's more-or-less set today, slightly in the future, and shows reality for the crap that it really is. Really! I'm not making this up!
-Chuck.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Modern Film Noir
Added 10/12/2007
Very good example of modern film noir that leaves you gessing even after it's over. A brilliant blending of different eras to create a timeless setting as compelling as it is surreal.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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omg & wtf!
Added 3/23/2009
i bought this dvd set at a huge discount. i remember the series was out years ago and never followed it. and i got to say, what a mess. although based on a graphic novel, or comic, it seems like oliver stone's answer to Twin Peaks that finished up earlier. stone was clearly trying to imitate Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet and bombed in so doing. i'm amazed at how many positive reviews this has. none of the actors were strong, the music was over dramatic, using everything from Bethoven's 7th to the Animals and Rolling Stones. angie dickinson as a thug? come on! it was embarrassing to watch her: gouge someone's eyes out, bitch slap and gut punch another. cattrell was equally miscaste and her dramatic cry of "it's my baby!" was laughable. in trying to be bizarre, it failed miserably. there isn't any level that i would recommend this series. buy it used if you must waste your money.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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4:3 and grainy. Well... I guess it's better than my VHS set.
Added 4/7/2008
What's there to say about Wild Palms that hasn't been said a hundred times before?
With that, I'll stick to the DVD itself: despite the back proudly proclaiming "High Definition Transfer", the picture quality is pretty bad. I'm not sure what the master was on this, but there's a lot of color bleeding, and a lot of blur -- more than the intentional soft focus that many scenes were shot it.
The picture itself is 4:3, which isn't completely unexpected, given that this was a miniseries... but it's disappointing nonetheless. And unfortunately, the audio was a bit neglected, as well.
For the price, I can't really complain. But since I own the VHS set and the Australian import DVD set, there wasn't very much to gain here.
Since so many people draw parallels with Twin Peaks, I can say that the picture and sound quality of the Twin Peaks DVD's are incredible by comparison. David Lynch showed a LOT of love on those. Sadly, Wild Palms seems unloved by MGM and Oliver Stone.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Dark View of Cyberspace
Added 3/17/2008
Oliver Stone's dark take on cyberspace, computers and the tech future. Again, the familiar thread of conspiracies, forces at work that want to change and control the world fighting the forces that want to help and save humanity. Sound familiar? Well, it's a thread that runs through the history of storytelling from the Greeks in their plays, Hans Christen Anderson in his fairy tales and George Lucas' stories in Starwars. This series is a bit long and involved. Take it in small doses, a chunk at a time over several nights or an entire weekend when you have the time. After watching this movie, reaffirm the light in the world by going out to the beach and enjoying yourself or something equally life-force invigorating like a family get together.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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