Utopia (Amazon Prime)

cdgalwegian

The HBO reboot of this British conspiracy thriller (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/utopia_2013) which was on Channel 4, was to be written by Gillian Flynn and directed by David Fincher for a 2015 release, but terminally stalled. It was revived and is now in post-production having been written by Gillian Flynn, as well as Dennis Kelly, the original creator.

Desmin Borges from You're The Worst, and Sasha Lane from American Honey, as well as John Cusack and Rainn Wilson to star.

No release date yet.
https://screenrant.com/utopia-series-amazon-release-date-cast-story/

S.M.B.

Interesting that Gillian Flynn has moved into the world of show running with this venture.

Man, I was sickened this didn't continue on channel 4..
Hopefully they do it justice here..

cdgalwegian

Deleted User wrote: »

Man, I was sickened this didn't continue on channel 4..
Hopefully they do it justice here..

Talking about justice, Neil Maskell's (who played Arby in the original) take on why it didn't continue
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/24/utopia-remake-amazon-gillian-flynn-channel-4


The Cristobal Tapia de Veer soundtrack. HOW are going to top that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O8hd0S-K8k

cdgalwegian

At last. Official teaser for Amazon Prime's version has arrived:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=nfMBkiPFh-k&feature=emb_logo

Thought this was never going to show up. Casting looks great. Early days yet; extremely high standard set by C4's original, but looks promising.

Hodors Appletart

it doesn't look as nice as the Ch4 version

pixelburp

Hodors Appletart wrote: »

it doesn't look as nice as the Ch4 version

Little does. As I said in the Channel 4 thread, this version looks "cinematic" but doesn't seem to actually have any singular, individual aesthetic about it. I'll still take a look, Gillian Flynn's penning of all episodes makes me think the script might make it worth it.

cdgalwegian

Utopia is set to unleash the story of a pandemic (to a 2020-worn audience who knows about that stuff all too well,) on Friday, September 25:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/utopia-release-date-trailer-amazon/
(trailer blocked here though).

Agent Coulson

Agent Coulson

Drops September 25th.

cdgalwegian

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Drops September 25th.

Stopped watching after 10 seconds as I don't want spoliers.
I had watched the first trailer though; the C4 original had some humour in it, but it looked like they were leaning more into it here, if the first trailer is anything to go by.
It's been a long wait. Obviously, there's going to be different types of changes, and lovers of the original really hope they do it justice; it looks great...but that doesn't mean anything. Multiple digits on numerous limbs crossed.

Basq

Released this morning.

Watching it at the minute... it's poor!

Quite glossy but full of wafer-thin forgettable characters!

Basq

Basq wrote: »

Released this morning.

Watching it at the minute... it's poor!

Quite glossy but full of wafer-thin forgettable characters!

(groans)

Birneybau

I can't imagine it having eye torture, and a school shooting would be too run of the mill for an American version.

gmisk

I really remember liking the original but its been a long time.

I enjoyed the first episode I have to say on its own merit, it doesn't follow the same beats as the original. I do find the casting a little odd, they seem to have purposely gone for people who look like the original cast especially wilson wilson. I will stick with it for a few more episodes.

Basq

gmisk wrote: »

.. they seem to have purposely gone for people who look like the original cast especially wilson wilson.

The actor who plays Arby looks about as menacing as a kitten.

I quit after 2 episodes... it's a pale imitation of the original.

gmisk

Basq wrote: »

The actor who plays Arby looks about as menacing as a kitten.

I quit after 2 episodes... it's a pale imitation of the original.

Is that the neil maskell character?
Yeah the equivalent isn't great in first episode.

Birneybau

Wrong. SO wrong.

MynamesColm

Am I missing something ... .or has this not been released on Prime Video Ireland yet?

NIMAN

Loved the original.

Are they doing the exact same story, or completely rewriting it?

Francescoli

Unfortunately its not a patch on the original.

Birneybau

MynamesColm wrote: »

Am I missing something ... .or has this not been released on Prime Video Ireland yet?

You must be, it is.

ixoy

Birneybau wrote: »

You must be, it is.

No, it's not. I can't see it either nor can others I've talked to.
Are you definitely with Prime Video Ireland not Amazon Prime or Prime Video UK?

Francescoli

ixoy wrote: »

No, it's not. I can't see it either nor can others I've talked to.
Are you definitely with Prime Video Ireland not Amazon Prime or Prime Video UK?

I'm on Prime Ireland and all 8 episodes are there.
I'm definitely not on UK version as the Premiership football isn't there.

Rasmus

It's not showing on Amazon Prime Ireland for me either. Anyone know what's going on?

MynamesColm

If I go into the amazon.co.uk site (not primevideo), I can search for it, and it will play.

However, it doesn't appear on primevideo.com, or any of the prime apps (on various devices).

Skerries

yeah I can't see it either but as Colm says you can get it on the UK site

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Utopia-Season-1-Official-Trailer/dp/B08CZ576NF/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=utopia&qid=1601314433&s=instant-video&sr=1-1

I'm a bit into the second episode, and so far it's pretty good I reckon..
Maybe I wasn't expecting much after this thread, but so far not bad IMO..

purple hands

Francescoli wrote: »

Unfortunately its not a patch on the original.

This!

Ok.. just finished it.. overall I thought it was pretty good..

Suitably different enough and similar enough to the original..

Wasn't as dumbed down and Americanised as I was expecting..

Solid effort I thought..

cdgalwegian

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok.. just finished it.. overall I thought it was pretty good..

Suitably different enough and similar enough to the original..

Wasn't as dumbed down and Americanised as I was expecting..

Solid effort I thought..

Half-way through, and similar thinking so far. Can't help comparing with original, obviously, which hampers enjoyment a little, but pretty good I think. Didn't expect it to be more violent tbh, and certainly didn't expect

Samantha's out-of the-blue killing by Jessica Hyde

; kudos on one level, but it felt a bit overly gratuitous, as a means to exemplify Jessica's character.
Defo missing Cristobal Tapia de Veer's music equivalent. Obviously the colour palette has shifted, but the music was standout in the original.

cdgalwegian

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Defo missing Cristobal Tapia de Veer's music equivalent. Obviously the colour palette has shifted, but the music was standout in the original.

I thought the music was done well.. like I said similar enough and different enough..

The first half of it was probably stronger than the second half..

ItsHoggie

Has this been taken off Prime?

cdgalwegian

ItsHoggie wrote: »

Has this been taken off Prime?

Utopia not on my special tv app, and got Prime free for 1/12- so finally got round to watching it. However, I found I can't get it on the Prime tv app, but I can on my computer, which is how I have to watch it.

ItsHoggie

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Utopia not on my special tv app, and got Prime free for 1/12- so finally got round to watching it. However, I found I can't get it on the Prime tv app, but I can on my computer, which is how I have to watch it.

Yeah it’s not on Prime on my phone or PlayStation, which is how I only watch Prime.

Francescoli

I have it on my phone and on the app on Nvidia Shield.

cdgalwegian

Releasing a conspiracy thriller concerning a virus, amid a pandemic, ordinarily might have boosted interest, but not so with Covid- people's instincts at this stage might be to avoid it like a plague, or a pandemic. Utopia then, is already on the back foot, before the inevitable frailties it's going to suffer from in comparison to the sleeper hit masterpiece that was the C4 original.
I thought it was pretty good- all the time trying not to make comparisons to the original, so as to try and take it on its own merits. There was lots of clever enough change-arounds, and obvious attempts at new emphases e.g. new "where is"'s, etc, but it did feel rushed. Part of the charm of the original was the time given to characterisation through dialogue, instead of relying on action as a means to maintain interest. That said, the action in this was pretty entertaining.
The biggest let-down was Jessica Hyde's role, played by Sasha Lane. I say role, rather than acting, as I think Sasha probably did what she was supposed to do;

her role was supposed to be psychopathic, just like all the others of 'the Harvest', due to her upbringing, but the saying "to understand is to forgive" just didn't seem to apply here- there was very little empathy for her

, so it was hard to root for her. John Cusack was excellent, Rainn Wilson was pretty good, as were most of the rest.
Although it does suffer in comparison, it has enough entertainment, and quirkiness that makes it refreshing, that I'd definitely like a second series.

magentur

This is very curious. A few weeks ago Amazon released a major new series . Available worldwide on Amazon Prime. Except for one country. Ireland. Where it is not available.

The plot relates to a global pandemic which is actually a ruse to persuade people to take a vaccine which sterilizes them. Leo Varadkar recently announced that he was hopeful that we would be the first country to be given a widely distributed vaccine for covid.

This is by the by. Who decided that this series could not be shown in Ireland.
The govt.. Amazon... The pharma companies.

MrStuffins

magentur wrote: »

This is very curious. A few weeks ago Amazon released a major new series . Available worldwide on Amazon Prime. Except for one country. Ireland. Where it is not available.

The plot relates to a global pandemic which is actually a ruse to persuade people to take a vaccine which sterilizes them. Leo Varadkar recently announced that he was hopeful that we would be the first country to be given a widely distributed vaccine for covid.

This is by the by. Who decided that this series could not be shown in Ireland.
The govt.. Amazon... The pharma companies.

I am a fan of the original show. The original series was available in Ireland the whole time. Its original C4 run, it was available to Netflix for a while afterwards.

Sorry, could you please substantiate your claim that the show has been banned in Ireland? Or have you just made that up?

Morathi

I literally just checked, available for me no problem.

magentur

MrStuffins wrote: »

I am a fan of the original show. The original series was available in Ireland the whole time. Its original C4 run, it was available to Netflix for a while afterwards.

Really. Could you tell me where. Not saying it wasn't available.
Just that this major new release in not available in Ireland

Morathi wrote: »

I literally just checked, available for me no problem.

Are you using a UK vpn or one from another country?

MrStuffins

magentur wrote: »

Just that this major new release in not available in Ireland

Well no, you're not just saying that. You're saying it's banned.

Could you substantiate this please?

magentur

This is the series I am referring to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(2020_TV_series)

Morathi

magentur wrote: »

Are you using a UK vpn or one from another country?

Nope.

magentur

Morathi wrote: »

Nope.

I don't believe you.

magentur

MrStuffins wrote: »

Well no, you're not just saying that. You're saying it's banned.

Could you substantiate this please?

Semantics. Let me rephrase. Who decided that this show was not to be available in Ireland?

Atlantic Dawn

Working fine for me too, no VPN.

Morathi

magentur wrote: »

I don't believe you.

XD XD XD XD

I guess you have to get Prime then, the only way to be sure.

magentur

Morathi wrote: »

XD XD XD XD

I guess you have to get Prime then, the only way to be sure.

I have a full prime subscription. You obviously do not.

Morathi

What an incredibly strange thread.