Online Series: Shogun (D+ and FX Feb 2024)

[HanSolo]

I like it, 7/10 .. but its a bit cheesy for me.

her husband miraculously lives (off camera) and makes some day time soap opera return? camera pans to adulturous housewife's face ..

bit contrived IMO

I mean. It's a little deeper than that considering their relationship. She probably would have hoped he'd stay dead with or without Blackthorne in her life.

 

[Jovavic]

Shit is starting to go down in episode 7

 

[Very Stable Genius]

Toranaga's son. Oof.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Shit is starting to go down in episode 7

can't wait to watch it during my plasma donation today. It's the perfect amount of time to fit in an episode.

 

[Hivemind]

Really surprised to see a 7/10 rating for this show TBH. It's a solid 11/10 for me. Can't remember a show I likd this much and was excited for every week since Game of Thrones first aired.

I'm much closer to the 7/10 than an 11/10.

The show is good. I enjoy watching it. I will continue watching it. But it's nothing groundbreaking.

 

[Jovavic]

I thought during the episode "it sure is raining more than normal"

 

[Osprey]

What an ending. My mouth was open for the final minute and a good bit of the credits.

My guess is that Blackthorne excused himself from the meeting to go to his ship and get it ready and, next episode, will use it to rescue Toranaga.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I'm much closer to the 7/10 than an 11/10.

The show is good. I enjoy watching it. I will continue watching it. But it's nothing groundbreaking.

It's just my own opinion, of course. I'm not saying he's wrong, i'm just really kind of obsessed with this show lol.

 

[Osprey]

This show may not be "groundbreaking," but I think that it does stand out. Too many recent shows feel like they're made for the sake of content, don't respect the audience and have uninteresting stories, unlikable characters, mediocre acting and/or poor dialogue. This show, however, feels like it was made with care and attention, respects the audience's intelligence and has an engrossing story, likable characters, strong acting and good dialogue. That shouldn't be a high bar, but, for whatever reason, it's seemingly become one recently. Also, we've been getting so many sci-fi/fantasy and superhero shows recently that a period/historical show of this quality is even more welcome right now.

 

[The Macho King]

This show may not be "groundbreaking," but I think that it does stand out. Too many recent shows feel like they're made for the sake of content, don't respect the audience and have uninteresting stories, unlikable characters, mediocre acting and/or poor dialogue. This show, however, feels like it was made with care and attention, respects the audience's intelligence and has an engrossing story, likable characters, strong acting and good dialogue. That shouldn't be a high bar, but, for whatever reason, it's seemingly become one recently. Also, we've been getting so many sci-fi/fantasy and superhero shows recently that a period/historical show of this quality is even more welcome right now.

It's also untethered to setting up universes or multiple seasons or anthologies or whatever. It's telling a story.

Admittedly it's adapting a very good book (and was made into a very good mini-series already), so the foundation was there, but competent execution counts for something.

 

[x Tame Impala]

The first three episodes were fantastic and I feel like the past 4 have been meandering a little too much with tone and character focus.

 

[Il Stugotz]

End of ep 7 got me pretty good. I had a hard time falling asleep afterwards

 

[sdf]

This show may not be "groundbreaking," but I think that it does stand out. Too many recent shows feel like they're made for the sake of content, don't respect the audience and have uninteresting stories, unlikable characters, mediocre acting and/or poor dialogue. This show, however, feels like it was made with care and attention, respects the audience's intelligence and has an engrossing story, likable characters, strong acting and good dialogue. That shouldn't be a high bar, but, for whatever reason, it's seemingly become one recently. Also, we've been getting so many sci-fi/fantasy and superhero shows recently that a period/historical show of this quality is even more welcome right now.

Shouldn't be a high bar? But it is a high bar to make some quality story and plots, that's probably main reason why many not ideal movies and series is even exist, but if this is not big deal for you, then you should launch your brilliant career in Hollywood scenario department and give us a lot of fantastic stuff, I can't wait

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Shouldn't be a high bar? But it is a high bar to make some quality story and plots, that's probably main reason why many not ideal movies and series is even exist, but if this is not big deal for you, then you should launch your brilliant career in Hollywood scenario department and give us a lot of fantastic stuff, I can't wait

I wouldn’t like to speak for @Osprey as I have quite a lot of respect for his views on media and wouldn’t like to presume I know what he’s thinking, but it seems to me that you’ve misunderstood his comment. I agree with his assessment that many recent productions seem to not respect the audience’s intelligence or insight, and respect for the audience, good dialogue, and a engrossing story with likable/relatable characters should be the standard, not the exception.

I’m not sure why you equate his criticism of general trend of entertainment that we all consume to him needing to launch a career in Hollywood.

 

[Osprey]

I wouldn’t like to speak for @Osprey as I have quite a lot of respect for his views on media and wouldn’t like to presume I know what he’s thinking, but it seems to me that you’ve misunderstood his comment. I agree with his assessment that many recent productions seem to not respect the audience’s intelligence or insight, and respect for the audience, good dialogue, and a engrossing story with likable/relatable characters should be the standard, not the exception.

I’m not sure why you equate his criticism of general trend of entertainment that we all consume to him needing to launch a career in Hollywood.

Thanks. I appreciate you speaking for me, since I have him on ignore and wouldn't have even seen it otherwise. I did just mean, as you said, that those things should be the standard, not the exception, or that the bar should be higher than it currently is.

 

[montreal]

great show, took me a little to get into after the 1st or 2nd episode but then I was hooked. Very well done all around.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I just want to say that @Osprey I appreciate you man. Keep doing what you are doing.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Shogun is a refreshingly good show, standards have dipped for sure over the years but that’s to be expected.

 

[NyQuil]

Thanks. I appreciate you speaking for me, since I have him on ignore and wouldn't have even seen it otherwise. I did just mean, as you said, that those things should be the standard, not the exception, or that the bar should be higher than it currently is.

It reminds me a bit of all of the hype around Mad Max: Fury Road.

Decent action flick, but a lot of plaudits based on something that used to be very standard.

"They did all their own stunts with no CGI!!!!"

"Yes, that's how they used to make all films."

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Thanks. I appreciate you speaking for me, since I have him on ignore and wouldn't have even seen it otherwise. I did just mean, as you said, that those things should be the standard, not the exception, or that the bar should be higher than it currently is.

Sure thing, buddy. I heard ya loud and clear and agree with your assessment, as usual.

 

[beowulf]

It reminds me a bit of all of the hype around Mad Max: Fury Road.

Decent action flick, but a lot of plaudits based on something that used to be very standard.

"They did all their own stunts with no CGI!!!!"

"Yes, that's how they used to make all films."

It has become novel so ya...not likely going to change soon outside of a few actors who like doing their own stunts and action scenes.

I don't mind CGI if done well and in some cases it is better than trying to use practical effects. But a movie with great practical effects and stunts is amazing to watch. Sort of like vinyl vs CD for music lol.

 

[Hivemind]

It reminds me a bit of all of the hype around Mad Max: Fury Road.

Decent action flick, but a lot of plaudits based on something that used to be very standard.

"They did all their own stunts with no CGI!!!!"

"Yes, that's how they used to make all films."

Sorry that this is going to launch me off on a bit of a tangent, but you're missing the implicit part of the excitement of those people.

They aren't really meaning "They did all their own stunts with no CGI!!!" - what they're really meaning is that "They did tremendous amounts of in-camera stunts and practical effects and managed to create an end-result that is spectacle-worthy and surpasses other major budget contemporary films." They don't say that bolded part out loud, but it's the implicit message that's coded into their excitement.

What they mean is Fury Road has tons of effects scenes, but they look like this:


Instead of this:


Road Warrior isn't bad, I love me Road Warrior. But it's obviously not nearly on par with Fury Road when it comes to visual spectacle and special effects.

Beyond that, Mad Max: Fury Road does use CGI. It uses TONS of CGI. So did Barbie, Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight trilogy, 1917, Top Gun Maverick, etc etc etc. There's a reason these movies have hundreds of CGI credits, and you can find plenty of VFX reels from the various studios involved in working on them.
Lest you think this film really did have stunt drivers and camera crews driving thru gigantic lightning dust tornadoes.

Fury Road is a masterpiece, because its a visual spectacle and that spectacle directly relates to the characters, their motivations, and the narrative of the film. It's a tremendous accomplishment, not merely because of practical effects and stunts, but because of those stunts and effects created something that was greater than the sum of its parts.

 

[HanSolo]

Man, that scene was so brutal and so well done.

Toranaga's game is beyond merciless here.

Spoiler

Also goddamn did Buntaro have a bad f***ing day. One thing that sort of bugs me is I understand the bones of Toranaga's plan to use Hiromatsu's seppuku to trick the council, but I feel like it has such potential to backfire if the rest of his vassals give up on him.

 

[Sad People]

Can someone explain the ending of this episode to me like I’m 5?

Spoiler

from Hiromatsus suicide after I got confused. Was this Toranags plan all along?

 

[LarKing]

Can someone explain the ending of this episode to me like I’m 5?

Spoiler

from Hiromatsus suicide after I got confused. Was this Toranags plan all along?

Spoiler

Yes, he's using his son and Hiromatsu's deaths to buy time/feign defeat. He knew the anjin would go to Yanushige. Now it seems he's about to unleash Mariko. I'm not sure if this is exactly how he expected everything would go down but he is still plotting for sure. I don't know if we can really call him a protagonist anymore though.

Another good episode. As much as I enjoy the dialogue and politics of this show, I'm a little disappointed there hasn't been a bit more action though.