Strike Back

[HellsBells]

I haven't seen this yet, but your comments are really interesting Aria, because in his interviews RA said he wanted to make John Porter a more rounded character with emotions. It does not sound like he has managed to do that.

[tyme4t]

I have watched all 4 episodes and I really enjoyed SB! I probably never would have heard about SB if RA hadn't been involved - so glad he was. I thought the 4th ep was particularly good.
Because this is a 6 part series, they can't really flesh out everything about the characters in the first eps - they want people to come back for more!
Looking forward to eps 5 & 6 and disappointed there are not more.

[Aria]

So I watched the final 2 episodes of Strike Back last night and I am sort of sad that its finished. Finally we had some emotion from RA, crying manly tears and showing anger at Collinson's treachery. Ewan Bremner was Baisly like as the PTSD suffering computer genius. We even had Toby Stephens giving Genevieve O'Reilly a run for her money as worst American accent. There were some good performances from Andrew Lincoln, Jodhi May and Alexander Siddig. The ending was left wide open so we have the possibility of another series.

[YourFutureMuse]

yeah I really enjoyed especially the last two, there were moments I had to remind myself I wasn't watching Spooks haha.
I loved the ending with Collinson :'(
And I have decided that Andrew Lincoln and Richard Armitage are the most gorgeous men on the planet so will definitely be watching repeatedly hahaha

[femaleBertieWooster]

(20-05-2010 03:55 PM)Aria Wrote:  So I watched the final 2 episodes of Strike Back last night and I am sort of sad that its finished. Finally we had some emotion from RA, crying manly tears and showing anger at Collinson's treachery. Ewan Bremner was Baisly like as the PTSD suffering computer genius. We even had Toby Stephens giving Genevieve O'Reilly a run for her money as worst American accent. There were some good performances from Andrew Lincoln, Jodhi May and Alexander Siddig. The ending was left wide open so we have the possibility of another series.

I thought Toby Stephens did an amazing job with the accent.

The ending was a surprise as he drove off and probably made everyone think the same--more to come.

[Tea Lady]

I am a bit behind here so I have not read the last few posts. I have just finished watching the 3rd and 4th episodes. I thought the 3rd episode was quite good but the 4th episode was so OTT, I found it difficult to watch. No way would you compromise an entire mission to go and save a handful of children and a nun. Also every time someone got shot in this episode they just seemed to put a sticking plaster on the wound and after a bit of grunting, carried on. I know it's fiction and there is a bit of artistic licence there, but there were so many holes in the story I stopped enjoying it. Again, RA did ok, but just ok.

[Tea Lady]

Bit late here but just finished watching episodes 5 and 6. I have to say that I thought they were pretty poor and very similar to the other 4 episodes. RA was once again left to drag a friend/foe (never sure which one they are and depends on which way the wind is blowing) across the desert after being double crossed. RA was once again beat up and tortured but was ok after a little while and Jodhi May saved the day once again (she was really good in it.) I thought the end was just ridiculous where Andrew Lincoln managed to hitch a ride to Afghanistan, get himself an open top un-armoured jeep, and drive himself to the RV point through hostile taliban country with mines everywhere, all in a few hours. I know the rest of you on this thread quite liked it, but this really was Channel 5 quality drama, not Sky 1, IMO.

[LucasNorthFan]

I didn't see there was a thread for SB here...

I *don't* like this kind of movies, I run away from anything that says macho-hero-killing machine (maybe that doesn't make a good reviewer)but I watched this because of RA. I found myself actually enjoying it especially since ep2 and adding the fact stated above, my general impression/vote is 'I liked it a lot'.

I liked 3&4, liked Mazuku and the friendship they developed. Felt it had more 'hard' scenes than the previous ones. Thanks God John saved that boy in the prison and I was glad John could save those kids after he encountered all those dead(bloody) bodies of the other kids. I've read some opinions the nun and children subplot was too imposed, I too somewhat felt the nun chastizing John for killing so easily was too...obvious ¿?.

Basic plot of 5&6 is similar to 3&4, I overlooked it because I enjoyed watching Ewen Bremmer, although sometimes I didn't understand him completely . The ladies with the sofa in the middle of the desert, I was 'they're soldiers, they'll kill them!', when the didn't I went 'A *sofa* in the middle of th dessert...' and then 'Afghani (sp?) X-Factor...lol'

My fav story is the first one, I think action hero-sensitive man is more balanced, of course RA's scenes with Orla are great!

As 'support' characters I liked Layla and Collinson. I think Layla has potential for a good female character, while Collinson was the baddie of the main plot (yes, the twist was not that misterious).

I think RA taking this role could be about be able to play different types of characters, not to be typecasted and show he can do it. This might not required much acting talent from him as much of physical talent (there's a reason for those muscles *grin*) but I think he was believable and acted the part.

There was a part in ep 6 I think, when at section 20 weren't doing such a good job on finding and getting back both Porter and 'Baisley' (can't remember his name right now) and thought 'Bring on MI5 and you'll see how is done'

LNF

(Edited 'cause I pressed the post button before I finished)

[Tea Lady]

(28-05-2010 03:35 PM)LucasNorthFan Wrote:  I overlooked it because I enjoyed watching Ewen Bremmer, although sometimes I didn't understand him completely

I put the subtitles on when he was speaking

[tyme4t]

Seen all 6eps now - I enjoyed it but I wouldn't bother re-watching the complete series or buying the dvd. I will probably watch another series, hoping for a bit more development of characters - I also like Johdi May's character and thought Toby Stephens was great! Is it just me or did he remind anyone else of Bradley Whitford a la West Wing...

There are enough screencaps & fanvids out there to satisfy my need for viewing RA as John Porter ...