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- AMC
- Mar 25, 2018
- AMC
- Mar 25, 2018
Summary The fictional account of the Royal Navy's expedition led by Sir John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds) in 1847 to locate the Northwest Passage is based on Dan Simmons's 2007 novel of the same name where the crew on the HMS Terror are trapped in the ice and attacked by an unknown entity.
Created By: Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo
- AMC
- Mar 25, 2018
- AMC
- Mar 25, 2018
Summary The fictional account of the Royal Navy's expedition led by Sir John Franklin (Ciaran Hinds) in 1847 to locate the Northwest Passage is based on Dan Simmons's 2007 novel of the same name where the crew on the HMS Terror are trapped in the ice and attacked by an unknown entity.
Created By: Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
76
85% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
15% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
76
85% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
15% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The storytelling here, from a team led by David Kajganich and Soo Hugh, gains strength from its slow burn. The utter desolation and horror of the series’ back half is made more potent by how relatively normal things are for the first few episodes, before reality starts to buck and heave like the ever-shifting ice.
This grueling but rewarding 10-part series from Ridley Scott's company is like a Masterpiece version of a classic horror movie: literate and philosophical, yet shocking but terrifically scary. [19 Mar-1 Apr 2018, p.12]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 178 User Ratings
7.9
83% Positive
148 Ratings
148 Ratings
7% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
10% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 178 User Ratings
7.9
83% Positive
148 Ratings
148 Ratings
7% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
10% Negative
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
Masterpiece. Amazing show. Up there with the very best single season tv series I've seen (Chernobyl, Fargo season 1 and Godless). Every aspect of the production is excellent. Incredible writing (characterisation, thematic development, plot and pacing) acting, casting, art direction and cinematography.
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SEASON 1
The Terror Season 1 was a bleak, stomach turning and harrowing experience to sit through and it delivers this with excellent acting from main and supporting cast. This hybrid of a True Historical Event wrapped in a thin veil of the supernatural is a good premise as long as the writing of the show remains grounded.
The Good
Jared Harris steals the show by a few meters by turning out the best performance amongst many other excellent portrayals in the season. The VFX felt terrifyingly real even though there was not a lot other than endless ice or endless land, it still feels like hell which is not even close to what the actual experience must have been.
And even though there is a thin layer of the supernatural, it is throughout the show a secondary problem in the face of the sheer human tragedy story that was born out of the real attempt at the Exploration. This woks well as the monster problem or if you want to keep it grounded Wild Bear was not as harrowing as watching the explorers make one tough decision after another heroic or otherwise all in the most understandable motivation of all 'Survival'.
The Bad
Very little can be taken as a negative. Maybe the length could be taken as a problem but this is such a nit pick because there is almost no time wasted since the script, screenplay and acting are tight and streamlined.
The Terror was a very harrowing experience to sit through but engaging and believable nonetheless, believable being relative if you consider the Giant Bear Theory over the show's light supernatural dressing.
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SEASON 1
The Terror is a gripping descent into a deviant heart of darkness, and those with a fondness for true-life enigmas embellished with midnight-movie flourishes will take to its unsettling comingling of the factual and fantastical. Better still, it places a premium not on grisliness but, rather, on the twisted passions and motivations of its fallible protagonists, here embodied by the commanding Hinds and the nuanced Harris.
There's an impressive confidence to the storytelling that will grab viewers with a taste for sophisticated horror. All-round terrific acting is a huge part of it, notably from Harris in his best role since Mad Men.
The Terror takes its time a bit too leisurely on occasion and likely would have been stronger at eight episodes, or maybe even six, but it’s a solid addition to this new trend of TV literary adaptations.
The final destination, alas, isn't particularly satisfying, but as binge-able concepts go, the getting there is still pretty intriguing.
Harris is especially terrific as a man growing into his own heroism even as forces mortal and not so mortal conspire against him. But as the 10 episodes unspool and the body count mounts, the only dread you may experience watching The Terror is that feeling you are wasting your time.
This survival horror show about the about a crew of two British exploration ships stranded in the Arctic is probably the best scary television program I've ever seen.
A problem with a lot of horror shows is that they just don't have enough material to stretch things out for multiple episodes, which results in some good scenes and a lot of awkwardness. (Even award-winner American Horror Story is uneven.) The Terror, however, has seldom a wasted moment. There is a gripping combination of British drama, survival against the elements, and a supernatural monster. The creature is actually used sparingly, as it isn't a match for the natural and man-made trials the crew faces, including the growing forbodingness as the elements take their physical toll and despair, desperation, and madness take hold.
Gore hounds may like it when the show gets truly violent, as the effects are amazing and surprisingly visceral in this regard. For those who don't aren't as big as fans of that sort of thing, the violence happens sparingly like many Guillermo del Toro movies. Things do get nasty, but it feels relevant to the plot and never needlessly exploitative.
The cast is all excellent here. I'm expecting awards nominations for some of them. Even though The Terror is partially a testament to man's hubris, the characters are fully fleshed out, never feeling like generalized tropes of the British empire.
The show operates on a TV budget, and it shows sometimes, but the sets and scenery still manage to create an impressive sort of bleakness.
A few caveats: The British cast can be a little hard to make out sometimes and you may want to use the subtitles. A lot of characters look and are dressed the same. (So many sideburns!) So, I got people confused sometimes. Lastly, they could have explained the creature a little more.
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SEASON 1
The book was weirder. Understandable why they cut most of it, but still, not very faithful. The lack of condensation coming out of the actor's mouths completely pulled me out of the show. It's supposed to be the arctic!
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SEASON 1
The Terror should be rated at like 9/10 except it makes gigantic repulsive mistakes.
Acting: 9/10
Terror: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Story: 5/10
Ending: 1/10
This show will scare you. Anyone who doubts that I dare to watch it alone at night. Around when madness starts to set in there is a horrible scene involving fire. The entire story tanks on the spot and never fully recovers. I cannot think of another show with such a top-shelf start that ends so disappointingly.
Near the last episodes some truly wild and mind bending things happen. The acting is absolutely convincing. I felt like I was there with the crew. You can't help but wonder, what would I do if I was there? - but all of them are ruined by a streak of unnecessary gore and brutality that spoils the immersion. The ending is both stunning and slap in the face let down.
Bottom line: Worth watching for the phenomenal acting, sets, effects, and fearful plot. When it starts to go haywire, skip or fast forward scenes for the win.
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SEASON 1
Nice cinematography, costumes **** the form cannot make us forget the very tired tropes and insufferable ciiches that have been seen in countless Victorian period dramas à la Mutiny of the Bounty (aloofness, arrogance, racism of the British upper class; second-in-command who cannot change the mind of the captain despite all common sense arguments etc etc...).
Even those so-called British A-list actors seem not to care, knowing full well that this is a money grab rather than a serious artistic work, and overact without any pretense of realism.
A nice waste of time
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SEASON 1
