Even though Falling Skies was originally on from 2011-2015 I just recently got around to watching it. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I actually binged all 5 seasons pretty quick. It has a solid cast that includes Noah Wyle, Will Patton, Moon Bloodgood, Sarah Carter, and a handful of other solid actors. There are plenty of alien invasion shows out there to choose from but if you're a fan of the genre then I recommend you give this a chance. There is plenty of action and drama to keep you entertained and the production value is good for a cable tv show without a big budget.
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Supermanfan-1313 December 2023
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Rob133129 September 2022Falling Skies is a show that takes places in the wake of an alien attack the has changed the world. It follows groups of survivors as they fight back against these aliens. They're led by former Boston history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and his three sons. They join another group that called themselves the 2nd Massachusetts and their led by commander Weaver (Will Patton). Those two then lead a the resistance against the aliens as they plan a series of attacks on them. If you like sci-fi shows about aliens invading earth that has plenty of action, drama, mystery and intensity then Falling Skies is for you. Is it the best sci-fi show ever? No, but it's still pretty good and keeps you engaged throughout its entire series run.
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Season 1 was pretty good for a low-budget sci-fi. There was a family dynamic, there was true tension, and there were constant alien attacks. Out of all of the seasons, the first was the most realistic.
Season 2 was pretty good, too. A trek to Charleston, political infighting, aliens winning the war. Season 2 was probably the best. However, the writing was on the wall, and the decline was inevitable. People began developing "relationships," random events were becoming more and more fortuitous, and the purpose of the 2nd Mass seemed to disappear.
Season 3 was a significant decline in the quality of the story. With the introduction of the bubbleheads, plot lines became cheesy, the characters became idiots, and the storytelling style began to resemble Parenthood more than War of the Worlds.
Season 4 is in line with Season 3. I think the series has jumped the shark with the Lexie storyline. Not only is it highly derivative (see the Adria storyline from Stargate:SG1), but poorly written. Not only that but you get GI Jane version of Dr. Glass, insane zealot Lourdes, blind to reality Tom, and cardboard sidekick Weaver, but you also get plasticky bubbleheads that have similar personalities to the Asgard of SG1. I can't overemphasize the fact that Season 3, and especially Season 4 feel like poor remakes of Stargate:SG1.
I'm not sure that I'll stick around for season 5. I loved Season 1, I liked Season 2, I was OK with Season 3, and I'm bored with Season 4. In the end, I'm afraid of season 5. -
scarhavok11 September 2011Having read so many "reviews" which consist of watching 1-5 episodes I would like to comment myself having watched the entire series. This is not one of the best sci-fi series i've ever watched. However it is much better than anything else out there now. I wasn't too sure about the series after the first couple episodes and it had a strong Stargate Universe feel to it. I'm not going to post any spoilers but I can say the story significantly improves in my opinion and so does the care factor for the characters and where its all going by the end. The finale is a blast and had my girlfriend look at me with her mouth wide open after the ending and that we need to wait until next summer for the follow up... She wants to see it right now! As do I. The season ended very well and the show has been massively underrated on here.
If you haven't seen the show or you've seen a few episodes and aren't sure. I encourage you to use your own opinion and give it a chance i'm sure you will like it much more by the end. -
StoicBlade10 August 2011I do not understand why so many people are being so harsh regarding this show. Yeah, its basically "The Walking Dead", except with aliens...but I think this is a good thing. Unlike "V", this is a show that focuses on the survivors. Many reviewers have said that the characters are clichés. However, I would simply call them archetypes and I thoroughly enjoy watching most of the characters when they are on screen. It seems that many reviewers have based their opinions on the first 2 episodes. However, with so many characters, it takes time to get to know them. The show definitely starts off at a slow-burn. I think many people are having the same problem with this show as they did with "48 Days Later". Many people wanted to see a zombie horror movie. However, once they realized that the movie was a human drama and the zombies where more of a situation that humanity had to deal with, the reviewers whined that the movie sucked. "Falling Skies" is the same way. The show is not about aliens. The alien invasion is just the situation. The show is about the human drama that is the result of the situation. Watch more than just 2 episodes before you form an opinion. I think that you will enjoy it.
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marinwiki10 August 2011At first, I have to say that I really had some expectations for this show. I mean, yeah, the plot was nothing revolutionary but i still hoped to get some good post-apocalyptic/drama/sci-fi TV out of it. Oh God was I wrong.
The acting was awful. The actors were stiff as boards, not as nearly depicting the situation they were really in. Combine that with truly annoying characters and you have the recipe for a disaster (man did I hate that religious girl). And the babbling about history and great battles in the past where smaller armies defeated much larger ones? Well how many times in history did armies wage war against aliens? *facepalm*
The writing was so cheesy and full of clichés that at one point, I actually hoped that the aliens were just gonna nuke them or something, just to put an end to it. An awful soppy family drama with huge holes in the plot.
But nevertheless, I continued to watch, hoping that it might get better. Well, it didn't. It just got worst, the season finale being not worth watching and insulting my intelligence. As user idonotexist wrote on the message board, the scene where the aliens tell Tom that they didn't expect such resistance, well I "wanted to peel my eyes off".
p.s Who the hell gave money to do a season two!? -
Jobbe927 July 2011Normally not one to watch many TV-series but this one caught my eyes. The storyline was simple enough: a group of people trying to make ends meet in a post-apocalyptic world in the aftermath of alien invasion. Simple! But oh my was I ever wrong.
The show will probably not change your viewing-habits but it will leave you with an deep impression of the great care the creators worked by. The characters are well-written and well-acted, they have emotions and soul, personality. They seem real. The story is paced moderately and the show rarely focuses on one element, like pure action or spacey Sci-Fi-phenomena, for long but manages to find the balance between these genres, making a show everybody should be able to sit through. And enjoy :-) The setting, mood and world is believable (as believable a post-apocalyptic world would be to me) and the atmosphere reaches a point of realism yet maintaining the fourth wall. The aliens are charming and sounds like the velociraptors from 'Jurassic Park' (actually a good thing), but they are more than meets the eye. We want to know more of them, yet the show keeps them at bay. They blend seamless into the world of chaos thanks to the before mentioned care by the creators. This is not one of those series that rely on cheap jokes, puns, mundane stereotypes, half-cooked morale and whathaveyou, but rather depicts a world not unlike your own: clever and natural.
Check it out :-) BTW, my first review ever on IMDb so be gentle with the rookie :-) -
carinnalowther1 July 2022First couple seasons were awesome would have rated them as a 9. But then drama and other weird plot developments started to take over. Later seasons are more like a 4.
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The first few seasons were great - I would rate them 8/10, but my goodness is it let down by most of season 4 and season 5.
Season 5 is just painful to watch. The plot lines they've concocted feels so disjointed from the first 3 seasons and gives the show a completely different vibe. I think the problem is they tried so hard to hold on to the original cast that they came up with these wacky subplots to keep them relevant.
It just doesn't work and make any sense. And don't get me started on Popes character development - totally thrown out the window. Ended up disliking pretty much all of the main characters in the end. A shame. -
woodyteegra-118 July 2014A show that started out showing us how a group of Americans were resisting an alien invasion in a post-apocalyptic world just appears to have completely lost its way and become about how many times we can save Tom Mason's family. Who really cares anymore?
In Season 4 it appears that Earth's only surviving group of resisters are in about 4 camps. One of them is lead by Anne Glass, Tom Mason's partner who leads them all on a merry go round searching for her daughter (like they all don't have missing family of their own). Another of the groups is now lead by said daughter - who have laid down all arms by the way. A third group has just escaped from an alien camp and have the unfortunate deal of having 2 Masons in their group. Father Tom goes off to search for his youngest son leaving first son in charge of the rest of the resistance who have to wait for him risking alien abduction. The final group are being indoctrinated by the Aliens with the 4th Mason Matt being one of the only resisters.
Its fascinating how some of the aliens have gone from being indestructible with guns in season one through to being killed by knives in season 4. Completely lost its way in my opinion. Lets get back to Earth Council, organised resistance, real military not all led by Masons (is there a hidden message there?) and please is there any other resistance anywhere else in the world? If the future of the world depends on this group of 100 odd people led by Masons, then the aliens might as well kill them all off now! -
astorm8826 October 2012There has been a good amount of bad reviews on this TV show. I, however, disagree with them on the merit of this show. I remember first hearing about this show and being intrigued by the fact that Spielberg was creating and producing a TV show about an alien invasion. Let's be honest, this is not an original script or idea. The alien invasion/end- of-the-world/post-apocalyptic genre is not something lacking in modern entertainment. There has been and currently is a myriad of movies and TV shows the fit this genre. So yes, if you are looking for a TV show that is completely original and new this is not necessarily the show you are looking for.
However this show is very unique in the way that it tells this age-old story of aliens invading and taking over Earth. It begins 6 months after the aliens have already taken over the world. I really like that start because it skips over what most TV shows and movie(V, Skyline, War of the Worlds, Battle: Los Angeles) completely focus on. It focuses on the struggle for survival of a group of soldiers and civilians (2nd Mass).
This show does an incredible job of showing the reality of the daily struggles these people go through to survive in an alien-occupied world. Everything from getting food, to medical supplies, to transportation and gas, and places to hide and stay is a real struggle they have to face in the show. I love the gritty reality of the show. You really see struggle these characters go through for basic things.
A lot people also complain about the characters saying they are flat and not developed. Let me counter it by saying this. You can't compare this TV show (which only gets 10 episodes a season) with another show that gets 20-24 a season. They have WAY less time to tell story and develop characters. They do a great job with the little amount of episodes they get. The 2nd season vastly improves on the first season and amps up the stakes on all levels.
I would recommend this show to any SciFi fan. It's a fun show to watch and I find myself loving the characters and wanting to see how they survive not only the aliens but also the daily challenges placed before them for basic survival.
Don't write it off because of what other people say. Try watching it for yourself, you won't regret it. -
kosmasp21 May 2020So I'm not familiar with the source material this is based on. Never read any of that and I'm making this known from the get go. So I can't really give you an insight about any differences about any comparisons there. Having said that, the general theme and the idea behind the show is quite nice.
Human survival and struggle is something we can identify with. Aliens on the other hand may be a stretch for some - though let's keep it real, with such a big universe out there ... who is to say if there isn't any other lifeform out there. But if there is, would that be how things played out? Probably not. From a very engaging and quite draining (in a good sense) beginning ... well this takes some directions that I would not always agree with.
Too many coincindences, too convenient at times and quite a lot of cliches storylines combined. But it is still possible to get you, to make you care to quite an interesting degree. You get accustomed to the characters after a while and even the wildest ups and downs - you just get with them. Having a very bad apple becoming a part of the group, as backup to stir things up every now and again ... it's either clever or cheap writing.
Science Fiction - you may like the soap opera elements or not. But you can have fun (to a degree) with this -
b_imdb-912-11349714 July 2014I do not know what happened behind the scenes leading up to Season 4, but something major changed back there.
I would assume I would have heard about a major writers strike, but whatever the reason, this show is now sunk, in my opinion.
There is a dramatic shift in tone moving into Season 4, something which is executed in an extremely clunky manner. The context, pretext, and everything else about this season is so very amateurish.
The character & plot evolution that happens should have taken a season in and of itself, but is crammed into a single episode. Mild mannered characters are suddenly expected to be accepted as Rambo. Other characters change Race with no explanation (no joke). Major opponents shift tactics in a seriously fundamental way. (Nazi Germany, to Starship Troopers) Honestly, it's as if there's an entirely different crew behind making this show... and they're all interns.
Throw out all the knowledge you've built up during the first 3 seasons, suspend your disbelief, and you might just enjoy it. -
pontram23 February 2015Some movies and shows are a mystery to me. Why are they appreciated and loved and high rated by a community which claims to have high standards and no easy 'suspension of disbelief' ? OK, maybe I have too high expectations from that community, namely the SF-lovers. I am at least one, but luckily no part of a community.
I had no high expectations from 'Falling Skies', when it started, but they were lowered in an instant after watching the first episode, as I had to realize, that this show is not about Aliens, Science Fiction, or war, or even surviving the ultimate invasion, but about the American Dream, which is a dream since it isn't allowed any longer to be lived out: Adults and teens (male only in the past, but now also female) running around in then open, wavering and shooting all kinds of guns in a so-called situation of self-defense.
That means complete freedom, no more fences, no more tax payments, no more traffic rules. A world full of rednecks, even some with academic degrees (at least those who can yield a gun fast enough), more or less united against the common enemy, some more or less willfully collaborating.
And so it stayed, for the full first season, the full second season, the full third season, and the full fourth season. That is continuity, I said to me, at least.
Maybe some people who get permanently bashed at work can come home, watch this show and go to sleep thinking about their lead role against foreign invaders like...everyone, in case of an invasion, of course.
It doesn't do the show any good that Steven Spielberg is involved. On the contrary, it seems that a work of Spielberg today does mostly look for satisfying the smallest common denominator of the biggest number of viewers. There he failed with 'Terranova', which was one step above 'Falling Skies', but at least delivered some good CGI, some interesting theories and strange characters.
Which 'Falling Skies' doesn't. It is a straight-to-beer-can delivery and grabs random pieces from the third-class storytelling wasteland of pulp magazine, that should never see the light of the telly in order to store the cockroaches where they belong.
After unbelievable four seasons, that 80ies-like torture of an SF show will hopefully come to an end with the final 5th season. Oh, it's a shame, many will cry, there would be so much more to tell....
The only satisfaction that came to me is the idea that the story of the show has some parallelism with the US Iraq adventure. There, they devastated the country, too, tried to install a submissive government, which failed, too. Conversion of the society to western standards failed also. Because at gunpoint, such things usually do not work out very well. Which Israel could have told them long ago (if she would have had realized that, eventually).
However, the season 4 finale was actually so massively ridiculous, predictable and stupid, I thought I would have maybe completely missed the subtle humor (or horror) of all four seasons. Am I a damn idiot, I asked myself ? Yes, I answered, it was idiotic alone to watch this show, hoping it would improve a bit in time. -
michaelfredrickson29 July 2011It pains me to see so many negative reviews. Unlike many of the other opinions, I find this TV show to be fresh take on an old story. I enjoy the gritty depiction of humanities struggle for survival, yet their ability to unite together in such odds. I enjoy the progressive discovery of how the aliens think and feel. They don't dumb them down and make them simply a tyrannical race that is out to destroy the world, nor do they make them unbeatable. The Visual effects have some very strong moments. They are not afraid to show the aliens and they also do not steer in any open ended directions. They meet questions that arise head on.
There are weak points in some of the machines CGI, however. Nevertheless I find it subtle enough to where I can take the show seriously without noticing any flaws. I rarely discover a show that I am able to get so involved in. I feel I can insert myself into the story when watching and be apart of the adventure that is unfolding, and at the end of the day they tie in hope. Some people have issues with the religion that is rarely thrown in. I personally find it refreshing. It is in dire times that people turn to faith. Realizing that there may be something beyond themselves. It gives hope, not matter what you believe in, and hope is what gets you through. Rather than taking an offended stance I enjoy watching the integrity of those who maintain faith, and the respect given for the differences we all have in such walks of life.
Rather than going into specifics about the show I encourage you to watch it yourself and form your own opinion. There, at present, are only 7 episodes so it will not be hard to watch in order to form an opinion. In closing I find this show fresh, gritty, yet filled with hope and strength. I have enjoyed every aspect of it and I hope to see more seasons to come! -
I love post-apocalyptic stories. I love sci-fi. Given those two statements I was, naturally, looking forward to this series with a great amount of anticipation.
But oh my! On the strength of the two episode pilot, I am sadly rather underwhelmed.
I expected Walking Dead with Aliens. Instead I got an unhappy mix of the War of the Worlds TV show, Battlestar Galactica and the Brady Bunch. There's altogether far too much "family drama" and not enough action/grim reality on display here. Token nods to reality, in the form of "we need to find more food" and such-like comments, do little to increase the believability of the show.
Acting is passable, on the whole, but the show has what appears to be low production values. I'm sure this wasn't the case, but it just looks cheaply put together.
In addition, though the Earth has apparently been conquered by the aliens, there seems to be no real sense of menace to the group. The aliens appear, but only here and there. Somehow, I would think the aliens would take a little more interest in a group of three hundred people trolling about the countryside. Instead, the aliens seem intent on "lurking" wherever the humans might conceivably go. Logistically, this is a nonsensical idea that is clearly a plot device, however idiotic.
Likewise, along with the lack of menace, there is a total lack of urgency displayed by the group. They appear in no rush to move away from the infested city, no doubt in part due to the seeming lack of interest on the aliens part in rooting them out.
A whole boat load of "family crisis" has been unloaded into this pilot. So much so that even those with a particularly sweet-tooth will find themselves feeling sickly at the sugary niceness of it all.
Another rather irritating thing....along with the family melodrama comes one of the most cringe-inducing melodramatic scores I've heard for a long time. It's just overdone to a terrible extent. I'm sure it was meant to evoke sympathy for the plight of the poor citizens, but all it did for me was to make me, by turns, scowl or chuckle at the screen.
The characters are thinly drawn and somewhat stereotypical. Grizzled War Vet, knowledgeable Professor, Lady Doctor, Annoying teen brats etc, etc. Of course, they all display the typical TV show lack of intelligence when it comes to dealing with their situation. So, for instance, a discussion in which they wonder why the "Skitters" have six limbs and the mechs are bipedal, doesn't end with any kind of speculation on the nature of the invading force, just a shrug.
There's a whole military vs. civilian friction dynamic that simply shouldn't exist. An "us and them" mentality that is beyond foolish. The opening child's narrative points out that all the soldiers were killed and "then the mummies and daddies had to fight". Except...apparently not every mummy and daddy. It's a world invasion....shouldn't everyone be a warrior now?
On the plus side, the series started out with a low, so things can only get better from here. Right? I certainly hope so, else this show isn't going to survive long enough for us to find out much about the aliens.
SUMMARY: Looks cheap, stereotypical characters, no sense of menace or urgency, enough saccharin sweetness to give you Diabetes five times over. Will not survive the first season unless things improve greatly.
EDIT: Episode 5 was the worst yet.....so much sentimentality and melodrama...I'm drowning...help! Help! Some TV company throw me a frickin lifeline here! There must be better things to watch......gurgle.
EDIT, EDIT: Oh God! There's to be a season 2! Here's hoping they listened to what was wrong with season 1.
EDIT FOR OPENING OF SEASON 2: Well, it IS better... but there is still the tendency to drop into piano-music accompanied melodrama at the drop of a hat. You have to be a real cheese lover to enjoy this. Hopefully it will improve, but then, I've been saying that since the first episode of season 1, so....
EDIT FOR END OF SEASON 2: Yes. I watched right to the end! It is getting better and I will tune in to Series 3 when it airs. I've even given it an extra star. But no more! I have my limits!
EDIT FOR SEASON 3: Ah, what to say. Opening episode skips 7 months of time. New alien at the end of S2 are now allies with no attempt to show how that all came together. The tendency to melodrama and over sentimentality has returned with a vengeance. For God's sake stop with the piano music. It takes more than that and having the main character cry or be angry in turn if you want the audience to connect with your hero. Speaking of which... get rid of Noah Wyle. Get somebody new in or at least have the guts to kill him off and do away with the whole vomit-inducing "Family is everything" shtick. It got old in season 1 guys! Stop with the formula writing crap already! -1 star for failing to shoot the piano player!
END OF SEASON 3: It got better! Oh no, wait... I started watching Revolution, which is so bad it makes this look better. Falling Skies... better than Revolution! There is a ray of sunshine on the horizon!
SEASON 4 EDIT: It is much better! To the point where I've given it another star! It's a little over the top, plot-wise, but enjoyable. I'm actually now a little sad that it is finishing after season 5. -
ham-7176028 October 2023Aside from the Expanse this show was one of the best. It started in 2011 so the CGI isn't as great as the Expanse but the story is really good. After looking for it for quite awhile it suddenly showed up on Prime.
The story is much different from most SCI-FI. Much more involved and good character development. The videos we see on tv that have been made recently are cheaply made with unknown actors and bland story development. Most it appears are made during COVID. What a disappointment to someone who has been reading science fiction since I was 10 yrs old.
It's now 2023 and I'm enjoying again and I can binge it.
I really liked the actors especially Noah Wiley. All the rest of the actors are interesting.
I would recommend it to any science fiction video buff. Not that many are good let alone excellent. -
wanosd28 March 2013Pros: 1) It's an alien invasion movie.
Cons: 1) Acting is really bad. Fake emotions like attempting to be sad/distraught, but failing horribly at it.
2) Unrealistic - large number of humans roaming around, without being found by super aliens who had the technology to build HUGE ships (thousands of times larger than super aircraft carriers) and to come to earth, crossing hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands of lightyears. Humans riding motorcycles loudly and not being tracked? Laughable.
3) Scripts are cheesy and totally fake.
Thoughts: This is 2011 folks. The camera work has to be much better than this. Even Star Trek Voyager from 15 years ago did a better job. The camera purposely moves away from certain scenes/shots so that whoever is responsible for special effects doesn't need to do it. Trying to cut a few pennies here and there. Compared to The Walking Dead, this one is a copycat and, really, there is nothing from this show to compare.
I don't usually question things when a good or movie show is running. But when you are asking questions every 5 to 10 mins, something's clearly wrong. -
ssvfolder-126 June 2011After seeing the first episode, I was quite skeptical about this series. Spielberg's latest era trademark plot of saint like good vs absolute evil exists here in its most ugliest of forms. The good are too good - girls are pretty, people are honorable and nice. The bad are spider like alien creatures(definite arachnophobia symptoms).The story is simple, way too simple - Alien attack, people run and looking for the ways to take back the conquered world and a way to kill them (I guess that numerous alien movies had taught us nothing - even if electronics is dead than, some kind of big spider poison would be suitable or any other kind of biological warfare - They probably will discover it later in the series). By this logic, the season finale will be one of three ways - either the group will reach safe haven, or they will find a way to kill them and mother ships will arrive, so there is even bigger problem at hand. The acting is mediocre at very best.... Well enough of bad stuff. just like every Spielberg movie, somehow you start watching it, and even if it didn't capture us at first - you keep on watching and it's difficult to detach yourself from screen. There was a thought that captured my attention: If they are spider like, why would they create robots that are human like..? There is something to it. After this I kept on watching, and amazingly enough for some truly unknown reason I can't wait for next episode. It's really rare that I have this feeling. Last time I had it, it was Lost, and Rome. Therefore I gave this one 8 ( actually i wanted to give 7.5, but the site wouldn't allow me). I'll keep on watching it...
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yorkmont16 January 2021I disagree with the negative comments about the show. This show is about family and the lengths that one man will go to provide and protect his family. It just happens to be set to the backdrop of an alien invasion and global armageddon.
There are a few points in which the writing/editing seems a bit choppy and confusing, specifically at season changes three to four and four to five. In both instances a perceptive viewer will catch up. The show flows much better watching it without commercials and in three hour segments than it did on its original airing on TNT. The commercials and episodic gaps made tough to watch. I recommend rewatching it on HBO without commercials.
In closing, it is a fun show with good baseline values shared by very flawed people whom are facing the everyday challenge of making difficult choices that others are unwilling or unable to make. -
pphatsoull31 August 2015After watching the entire show - honestly, after S2, continued to watch just because I really respect Steven Spielberg - gave it 5 out of 10 stars because it's average in just about every category. There is no clear story line, most of the key events happen randomly, out of nowhere, and the pace also seems to be changing at random. Also, you just know, since day one, which characters are expendable, and which ones will survive. No matter what happens, no matter how cornered they appear to be, the Masons always manage to pull out easily. Surrounded by 1000 Skitters? No problem, there's probably a subspace turbomodulator buried right under their feet. There's a top secret enemy agenda that could turn the tide of the war at the last moment? No problem, there's a random orange semi-sphere, made by the enemy, that has only one purpose: to transmit those super-secret messages to those who touch it. Sorry, I HONESTLY believe I wrote smarter sci-fi stuff back when I was a 14-year old kid. As sci-fi as a genre declines even further, the audience seems not to care at all about the quality of the shows anymore. Honestly, I'm surprised by the number of people calling this show a good, fresh or smart one. It's really not.
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seansservicesllc24 February 2023Finished series with my kids (2023). As good or better than anything on TV / streaming now. The changes brought after the first two seasons helped advance the story and characters. Very entertaining. Special effects are good enough if not spectacular. Successfully deals with the effects of insurgence warfare on people. The villains turn out to be more complex and interesting as the show progressed though there are no characters really from that side. Starting with third season treats the female characters much better without being obvious about it. Has really aged well. You can watch with your kids/teenagers without worrying about inappropriate content. Worth watching again.
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zidangus15 November 2014Well I really liked seasons 1 to 3, although there were some plot holes, there was nothing major that put you off watching the show, in fact seasons 1-3 were quite enjoyable, and I was really looking forward to season 4. However, from the first 5 minutes of season 4 it was quite clear that something went wrong with the plot, indeed I can only guess that the script writers lost the plot, literally. Nothing that happened really made that much sense, and the story became very disjointed, confusing and at times patronising. I watched every episode of season 4, and it seemed to get a little better after episode 6, but still no where near as good as season 1-3. I lost count the number of times I asked myself, why would they do that, or can the Aliens be really that stupid ? I can only hope they sacked the season 4 script writers for the final season and hired people who can actually write a story that makes sense.
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drfinchsince197731 August 2015This series started off good, took a weird and barely entertaining turn in season 4, and ended with a dud. I spent 5 summers watching this show only to have the climatic victory last around 10 minutes. They tried to introduce too many new characters and story lines with very few episodes left, leaving the last season feeling crowded and unfinished. The aliens entire reason for the invasion might be one of the stupidest moments I've seen on TV, right up there with the Rachel/Joey romance and that weird ending to Lost with all it's flash forwards and sideways crap the last few seasons. I mean come on, earth defeated the aliens once with sticks and rocks and it took these guys 5 years to do it? I'm not buying it. Like I said I enjoyed the show early on but I only hung around the last few seasons to see how it would end, and now I'm glad it's over.
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eljefemartin15 July 2011I'm not sure why people are complaining for the wrong reasons. Some seem to think Science-Fiction means "Babylon 5" - Aliens, Space...lots of costumes. So you can't really say "this is Sci-Fi" from ten years ago. No, this is Sci-Fi today.
And yes, there is a lot of dramatization and overacting, but overall a pretty decent plot is strung around it. There are some parallels to the "Walking Dead" and other series. I'm still struggling to call "Falling Skies" original. It's a lot of things at this time and we have to see how it works out. It certainly has the Walking Dead feel, where characters are replaced along the journey to keep the human tragedy fresh. Always new despair to be recalled and told about - some of which may be pretty interesting to see.
I'm not sure - I'd say a decent 7 points for this one, depending on how it develops. Pacing is really a problem in the series. You never feel like a huge amount of people is on the move or anyhow involved in this. It feels like some people sitting in a school and crying a lot (which is what it is).
If this is another show trying to make the viewer cry and emphasize with the protagonists - don't! Writer's don't do it, please! We are not interested in sad stories per se, we want to see a world that is bigger than a schoolyard, one that has deeper stories to tell. I'm giving this 8 show points in hope of a deep plot and fewer emotional problems. We know they are there, but unless these problems are plot-defining, they are really, really boring; so cut it short.No more filling up minutes with pathos.