This definitely stands up to repeated watching, on its own as well as part of the trilogy.
When I first watched it, with Trek as my main background, I was awed by the realism of the battle scenes, specially the existence of the blast gate, and the hand to hand fighting, the fact that the large guns appar to have recoil. Yes, and the fire extinguisher. Over a decade later, the same things still impress me. The aftermath of the on-station fighting is well-handled, wityh the wounded twitching between the bodies, and Garibaldi in shock; not the "clean" disappearance from view of the fallen pilots. And of course their number is also mentioned quite pointedly (and there is the funeral coming up, too).
If you tell a civil war story, you should include the poignancy of firing on people you know and like
Yes, and more attention to detail. The Abyssinian cat called Max. No preachy "we know them all" sermon, but the gently evoke image of two officers at a social do chatting about their families over a glass of wine. That's what makess the scene bite.
Corwin’s little character arc is nicely understated
I love his mild surprise at himself when he redlizes he's OK with it. But I also like the fact that someone does leave the bridge (and later, people leave the station, not only Nightwatch). Aything less would have been too good to be true (as selenak has also pointed out)
I love the moment when he thinks they're defeated and he crumbles (only to be saved moments later).
Me too. I nearly crumbled, too, first time round, and even knowing what's going to happen it is still quite moving.
The Mars bombing gives me the creeps, both the way teh announcement akes a probability an inevitability, and th scene itself. Not so much the anonymous pilot (even the dark helmet can be explained as glare protection, not just generic evilness), but th way we get to realise, just before teh cut, that (unlike on Earth) all it only takes those two missiles to kill the entire poulation of the dome.
no subject
When I first watched it, with Trek as my main background, I was awed by the realism of the battle scenes, specially the existence of the blast gate, and the hand to hand fighting, the fact that the large guns appar to have recoil. Yes, and the fire extinguisher. Over a decade later, the same things still impress me.
The aftermath of the on-station fighting is well-handled, wityh the wounded twitching between the bodies, and Garibaldi in shock; not the "clean" disappearance from view of the fallen pilots. And of course their number is also mentioned quite pointedly (and there is the funeral coming up, too).
If you tell a civil war story, you should include the poignancy of firing on people you know and like
Yes, and more attention to detail. The Abyssinian cat called Max. No preachy "we know them all" sermon, but the gently evoke image of two officers at a social do chatting about their families over a glass of wine. That's what makess the scene bite.
Corwin’s little character arc is nicely understated
I love his mild surprise at himself when he redlizes he's OK with it.
But I also like the fact that someone does leave the bridge (and later, people leave the station, not only Nightwatch). Aything less would have been too good to be true (as selenak has also pointed out)
I love the moment when he thinks they're defeated and he crumbles (only to be saved moments later).
Me too. I nearly crumbled, too, first time round, and even knowing what's going to happen it is still quite moving.
The Mars bombing gives me the creeps, both the way teh announcement akes a probability an inevitability, and th scene itself. Not so much the anonymous pilot (even the dark helmet can be explained as glare protection, not just generic evilness), but th way we get to realise, just before teh cut, that (unlike on Earth) all it only takes those two missiles to kill the entire poulation of the dome.
oops, gotta run!