Good Omens - Amazon

bnt

The reviews are all over the place, but I quite enjoyed the series - just finished it now. The story is streamlined from the book, but the essentials are there. I'm surprised at one omission: when the Four Horsepeople meet up at the biker café, they have a run in with four other bikers - Hell's Angels. When one of them asks which chapter they're from, Death answers "REVELATIONS. CHAPTER SIX". :eek: The Four Groupies of the Apocalypse then try to follow the Four Horsepeople, but come to a fishy end:

Thud. Thud. Thud.
Splat.

Some American reviews see the ending as setting things up for a sequel, but I can't see where they got that idea. Newton asks Anathema "do you want to be a descendant for ever?", and in the show we also see her burning the new batch of Agnes Nutter's prophecies to end the cycle. Gaiman has said there will be no sequel:

I think even talking about a sequel is wrong in some ways because the way I want people to see Good Omens isn’t, “Ah it’s the first season of Good Omens.” I want them to see Good Omens and get the idea that basically what we set out to make is a six hour long movie.

steve_r

Fairly disappointed with this, and found it a bit of a chore.

Felt Sheen and Tennant were decent but everyone else was fairly poor.

I don't think 6 episodes was the right way to tell this story. Everything felt really compressed and we didn't spend that much time with the secondary characters.

Narration didn't bother me as much as others but I can absolutely see how it would have annoyed others.

is_that_so

FunLover18 wrote: »

Very disappointing IMO, which is a shame considering the cast. The narration was far too heavy handed, at times literally explaining what characters on the screen were doing. Either trust your audience to follow what's going on or find a better way to show it. The captioning of locations and how long until the end of the world also got really annoying,

Thought it was OK when they were in it but very flat in places otherwise. Suffered from pacing and plotting issues IMO but at least it was only 6 episodes.

sky88

finished the 4th episode last night and god its just a big load of meh really. i dont really care how it ends seems to have really wasted a good supporting cast with jon hamm etc. Obly bit of enjoyment is when tenant and sheen are on screen together

very dissapointing

Sonics2k

I enjoyed it over all, which surprised me considering Good Omens is in my top 3 favourite books.

Casting was well done and the scenes were well placed.

This article however gave me great amusement.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/20/petition-netflix-cancel-amazon-prime-good-omens-christian-neil-gaiman-terry-pratchett

Mr E

I was just going to post that. What a story. Not one of them has seen it I'd say.

pixelburp

Well that's my favourite story of the week; what utter, pearl-clutching morons

As to the show, I've enjoyed it but it has been a little rough in places; the narration settled down eventually but it could have done with some bettering pacing.

Oh and the FX were surprisingly terrible in places, really poor CGI here and there. Wonder if this was finished in a rush...

The Black Oil

Heh.

https://twitter.com/PrimeVideo/status/1141829004560723969

jester77

Sonics2k wrote: »

I enjoyed it over all, which surprised me considering Good Omens is in my top 3 favourite books.

Casting was well done and the scenes were well placed.

This article however gave me great amusement.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/20/petition-netflix-cancel-amazon-prime-good-omens-christian-neil-gaiman-terry-pratchett

hmmm, or maybe just a bit of very clever marketing!

Sleepy

Watching this with the kids and enjoying it so far (only one episode in).

TheIrishGrover

Apparently Netflix stated they would stop production and Amazon stated they would stop production of "Stranger Things"

As for the show: I thought it was OK. I was a big fan of the book and I missed the other Horsemen as mentioned above.

I thought it was....... OK. I don't know why I didn't think more. Sheen and Tenant were perfect in the parts as well as John Hamm

"I'm the Angel F*cking GABRIEL!

. I don't think it gave enough time to Pulsifer and Anathema Device was distractingly attractive. You know, everyone was relatively normal looking and then you have this American model thrown in there.

The kids barely featured and it missed one of my favourite lines from the book:

Base Guard as the kids cycle past:"Hey, did one of those kids have what looked like a friendly-looking turd in his basket?"
Pulsifer:"No"
Base Guard:"Then they are in some SERIOUS trouble!"

Maybe I was just expecting too much as I loved the book and knew it so well.

JP Liz V1

icdg wrote: »

It’s due to get an airing on BBC Two later on in the year too.

BBC 2 on Wednesday January 15th at 9pm

Harry Palmr

bump for tonight. Should I bother?

Zaph

I'm a big fan of the book and I really enjoyed the series. As much for Sheen and Tennant as anything, they're perfectly cast.

pixelburp

It's only 6 episodes long, so not a huge investment It loses a lot of its momentum and kinda stumbles to its end, but is fairly faithful to the original book. The casting was spot on.

Harry Palmr

Weird to have cast an American for the narration, as the script is colloquial British English.

nuttyboy79

It's getting a 2nd season

https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2021/06/really-bloody-excellent-omens.html?fbclid=IwAR2IA4HHvC8zxrymYqfIxTDimur8T047cF8Rg7vQhTdXU1dfuEVX69FbnUc

nuttyboy79

nuttyboy79 wrote: »

It's getting a 2nd season

https://journal.neilgaiman.com/2021/06/really-bloody-excellent-omens.html?fbclid=IwAR2IA4HHvC8zxrymYqfIxTDimur8T047cF8Rg7vQhTdXU1dfuEVX69FbnUc

Interesting. I must be one of the few people that really enjoyed the show after reading the book.

nuttyboy79

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

Interesting. I must be one of the few people that really enjoyed the show after reading the book.

I thought it was great too. Obviously it could have had been better just with the inclusion of the Hell's Angels that become the 4 groupies of the Apocalypse would have made it for me.

pixelburp

At first blush I was disappointed to hear this; I don't think we needed a second series. But then the actual adaptation kinda ran out of steam a little so maybe unburdened by maintaining accuracy to the novel could free things up a little.

nuttyboy79

nuttyboy79 wrote: »

I thought it was great too. Obviously it could have had been better just with the inclusion of the Hell's Angels that become the 4 groupies of the Apocalypse would have made it for me.

Really missed the Elvis joke and yes, there were parts that missed. Overall though, stayed mostly faithful and delivered

Mickeroo

I really liked season 1 and thought it was a good adaptation, not sure how I feel about a sequel. At least the first season is faithful enough to the book that it works on its own so not a big deal if they screw up a follow up.

Zaph

I would have been of the opinion that a second series was unnecessary. But having read that Pratchett and Gaiman actually worked up a plot and that Gaiman is involved with the sequel I'm optimistic. It's when people take over completely from an author after they've died and try to replicate their style that problems begin. Specifically I'm looking at you Eoin Colfer and that abomination of a Hitch Hikers book you wrote.

Zaph

Zaph wrote: »

I would have been of the opinion that a second series was unnecessary. But having read that Pratchett and Gaiman actually worked up a plot and that Gaiman is involved with the sequel I'm optimistic. It's when people take over completely from an author after they've died and try to replicate their style that problems begin. Specifically I'm looking at you Eoin Colfer and that abomination of a Hitch Hikers book you wrote.

Best not watching the US version of the watch

Zaph

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

Best not watching the US version of the watch

I've made a point of avoiding it.

Agent Coulson

Season 2 opening credits and it's due to start on July 28th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiGqWuSHW80&ab_channel=PrimeVideo

pixelburp

First trailer for this second season: if nothing else I'm very interested to see how and where this goes.

https://youtu.be/9GljnUA6Ll0

pixelburp

Season 2 dropped today

LambshankRedemption

Binged Season 1 on Wednesday night. Absolutely loved it.

My only criticism was Anathema. First time in my life Im going to criticiize a woman for being hot, but I found her distractingly attractive. The book is one of my all time favourites and have read it countless times. It never occurred to me that Anathema would look anything other than a normal, regular person.

Is it just me or does she look a bit like Megan Merkel?

pixelburp

Caught the first episode of Season 2 and enjoyed it; no voiceover this time around, while the focus was squarely on Aziraphale & Crowley so there was none of that sense of muddle the first season could have. (bar a slightly random-feeling distraction of two women in a coffee shop: not sure where that's meant to go & how it ties into the plot)