I finished 1983. I think it is really, really good, and surprising, and I’m still thinking about all the things revealed in the last episode.
Yeah, I liked it pretty well overall (I’m a sucker for alt-history premises). Just wish it had gotten more of an audience and thus a chance at a second season.
Since it’s fresh in your memory, I have a couple of questions, if you’ll indulge me:
Summary
First, is the opening scene set in 1983 supposed to be set in the our-world Poland of the time (during the repression following the imposition of martial law by the Jaruzelski-led junta)? And then the terrorist attack was somehow orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies? Why, if it apparently backfired by strengthening the Party’s control? I’m not clear on whether said strengthening extended to the rest of the East Bloc, though–did the Soviet Union collapse and all that? And what is the plot by the generals about? They want to give their nukes to Israel or something in exchange for ??? (honestly that last part is what I ended up most confused about) . Do the generals want to take over running Poland from the civilian Communist government?
In restrospect, I might have remembered things better if I’d just watched the English dub (assuming there was one, heh). ;-)
Question for anyone, is there any hidden setting whereby I can get Netflix to NOT immediately minimize the damned end credits after an episode? It drives me bonkers.
After seeing some good reviews, we watched The Last Czars. It is…weird. A sort of hybrid documentary / dramatization that reminds me of nothing so much as bad History Channel fare. The actual information content isn’t bad, but they manage to omit some pretty critical stuff, e.g. that the Germans deliberately sent Lenin into Russia and gave him funds to make trouble. The dramatization never really gets off the ground, as the constantly reappearing talking heads break it up, and the different voices narrating one point or another quickly get annoying. And the dialog is quite strange; the writers deliberately use modern language and colloquialisms, perhaps in an attempt to extend their reach, but the result is thoroughly unbelievable. Its best entertainment value comes from the talking heads themselves, who seem to have been chosen for their campy, arch, over-the-top delivery.
Thanks for sharing, was thinking of giving it a go, but will not.
Edit: reason
On the one hand: Cuphead animation, of course!. On the other hand: King Features.
I watched the first episode of 1983. I didn’t care for it. I might have given it more if I was commuting or something, but at home on the couch? It’s certainly not a better investment of my time than the dozens of video games I could be playing instead.
If you chose to watch it, change the language to the native Polish with English subtitles. I stayed with the poor English dub and that was a mistake.
That’s what I did. It meant that I really had to keep my eyes glued to the screen, though, since I don’t speak a word of Polish.
Yes, that’s definitely the way to watch it. The dubbing is as bad / lame as ever.
I liked 1983. Stupid algorithm thought it was a 53% match.
By the end you see the CIA seal team, they were the dudes that blew up the buildings. The thing that’s a bit weird is how the mother survives, that needs to be explained later.
The general with the blue uniform? I think he’s head of strategic arms or chief of staff. He’s doing a lot of things not fully explained… 1) claiming to CIA that he’s undergoing nuclear disarmament 2) selling nukes to Iran 3) probably planning to take out the rest of the leadership somehow.
Israel is not the person they are giving nukes to, it’s Iran. The pretty US army lady is secretly Mossad (wheels within wheels). They don’t want a nuclear-armed Iran, that’s all.
We watched The Last Czars for about 15 minutes and bailed. All the actors have English accents and the cutting to talking head academics and authors didn’t work for us. We wondered if they too were actors. Maybe it gets better?
It does not get better.
Thanks, @wisefool, Scott brought me up to speed via PM. Of course I was misremembering who the nukes were being transferred to–it makes sense then, that the one DoD lady is actually an Israeli agent.
New Netflix sci-fi debuting later this month, starring Katee Sackhoff. Looks good.
Anything Katee Sackhoff is in with scifi is something I need to watch. She earned that with BSG.
Is that Selma Blair in there too!? Awesome!
I just finished two seasons of Marcella, a British police procedural starring Anna Friel. It’s good! It won’t make anyone’s all-time top-five list, but it’s worth checking out.
I remember enjoying the first season and then forgot it existed.
I finally started watching this a couple of days ago. Wow, it starts off really strong. I’m on Episode 6 now and it’s still a great show, though it has slowed quite a bit. At first I thought the whole show would be be like the first two episodes. But the complications that have happened since took the show in an unexpected direction. Still digging it though. The young actress who plays Alyssa is so good.