When a friend recommended me a classic SF series, I was excited. The story of some soldiers defending Earth somehow promised a lot. But I don't think I've ever been more disappointed with a series. It was bad. It had a lot of potential, but never delivered. I started calling it the "almost"-series, because it was almost cool. Almost good. It almost had a good ending, good characters, a good story. But it didn't.
After half the series I really didn't expect much anymore. But it still managed to disappoint me. I just kept watching because I wanted to know how it ended. It had to get better near the end, right? Hardly.
It's tempting to suggest how this show could have been much better, but I won't. I'll just point out why I (and my brother) didn't like this show.
The acting is decent at best. The characters are not interesting enough and there is almost no character development. Two or three go through some changes at one point, but that's all. Overall, they lack something that you just expect marines to have: attitude. Our heroes are supposed to be the best of the best. Yet they run around like some school boys playing with toy guns. Did the writers of the show really think that shouting 'booyah!' every now and then would make them cool enough? The script has a lot of potential, but never achieves full glory. Some of the story lines are truly glorious, but somehow they managed to mess up most of them. Either the acting is subpar, the music suddenly stops when it needs to be dramatic as possible, or the characters utter the most silly and cliché words imaginable. The aliens are uninspired and lack intimidation. You need a lot of imagination to see something else than suited people. Every episode consists of a short story, but it only takes a while before you realize none of them seem to matter. Nothing big ever happens. They're sent out on a mission, run into trouble and barely make it back. They receive a medal and that's the end of the episode. With some notable exceptions, you might as well watch the first 2 and the last 2 episodes of the whole series.
I understand that it holds a lot of nostalgia value for many people and I don't mean to offend them. There are some pretty good episodes, but they could have been so much better, even for the mid 90s. Most episodes are just not worth it.
I had to go through a lot of trouble to find this series. I had to go through a lot more to finish watching it. o through in order to finish it.
After half the series I really didn't expect much anymore. But it still managed to disappoint me. I just kept watching because I wanted to know how it ended. It had to get better near the end, right? Hardly.
It's tempting to suggest how this show could have been much better, but I won't. I'll just point out why I (and my brother) didn't like this show.
The acting is decent at best. The characters are not interesting enough and there is almost no character development. Two or three go through some changes at one point, but that's all. Overall, they lack something that you just expect marines to have: attitude. Our heroes are supposed to be the best of the best. Yet they run around like some school boys playing with toy guns. Did the writers of the show really think that shouting 'booyah!' every now and then would make them cool enough? The script has a lot of potential, but never achieves full glory. Some of the story lines are truly glorious, but somehow they managed to mess up most of them. Either the acting is subpar, the music suddenly stops when it needs to be dramatic as possible, or the characters utter the most silly and cliché words imaginable. The aliens are uninspired and lack intimidation. You need a lot of imagination to see something else than suited people. Every episode consists of a short story, but it only takes a while before you realize none of them seem to matter. Nothing big ever happens. They're sent out on a mission, run into trouble and barely make it back. They receive a medal and that's the end of the episode. With some notable exceptions, you might as well watch the first 2 and the last 2 episodes of the whole series.
I understand that it holds a lot of nostalgia value for many people and I don't mean to offend them. There are some pretty good episodes, but they could have been so much better, even for the mid 90s. Most episodes are just not worth it.
I had to go through a lot of trouble to find this series. I had to go through a lot more to finish watching it. o through in order to finish it.