Terra Nova
It’s fair to say that Steven Spielberg is a Hollywood legend. From inventing the blockbuster with Jaws to breaking hearts with Schindler’s List and giving us all the fun we’d ever need with the Indiana Jones films, Spielberg’s left a permanent mark on the face of the cinema.
Over the last years though, he’s been tipping his hat at the world of TV. With his most ambitious project yet Terra Nova coming to DVD and Blu Ray next week, we take a look back at Spielberg’s biggest and best TV ventures.
Terra Nova –
The latest and biggest TV expedition saw us not only visit the future, but the very distant past.
Showing us a dystopian future (when is ever anything but trouble in the future), Terra Nova has scientists discovering a portal in time that allows people to, every now and again travel back in time. 85 million years back in time to be precise.
Fresh air, simple living in the Terra Nova colony, sounds great. Apart from the small matter of dinosaur attacks and a rebel tribe plotting against you.
Over the series, the show became a great slice of both sci-fi and drama with subterfuge, deception and revolution all take place against this deadly backdrop.
It really is unfortunate that nobody wanted to pick the show up for a second series, as with the right guidance, it could have been something truly special.
Smash –
Some may call it ‘Grown Up Glee’ but Smash is far more than that.
Smash is about the creation of a new Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Showing the highs, the lows, the infighting and the backstabbing, it show’s Broadway as the scrabbling battleground for supremacy that we all hear about.
With a second season of the show scheduled for next year, we can’t wait to see what Smash has in store for the cast of our favourite fictional musical.
United States of Tara –
A multiple personality disorder may not seem like the cheeriest jumping off point, but United States of Tara mixes both drama and comedy is a quite brilliant blend.
The show stars the always fantastic Toni Collette as suburban mum Tara, who seems completely normal apart from having a rather severe case of multiple personality disorder.
Created and overseen by Juno writer Diablo Cody, the show has a wicked sense of humour and has over the last three years only gotten better and better.
Falling Skies –
Another of Spielberg’s adventures in to sci-fi TV, Falling Skies, like Terra Nova, is incredibly ambitious, showing us a world conquered by an alien race, with only small pockets of resistance left fighting for humanity.
While the show’s still yet to make the very most of the fantastic potential, Falling Skies is still in the higher echelons of TV sci-fi on the airwaves right now. Spielberg’s touch is clear throughout though. From the focus on the family relationship to the grand scale, Falling Skies is trademark Spielberg.
If it can just hit the sweet spot, Falling Skies can become a classic.
Band of Brothers –
Almost a TV version of his Oscar winning film Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers was an astonishing TV accomplishment.
The origin of HBO’s enormous TV productions, Band of Brothers follows a platoon of soldiers throughout World War 2. From France, through to the snowy forests of Belgium all the way to Berlin, we see the fleeting moments of calm and the crushing lows and chaos of the world’s biggest conflict.
Amazingly put together with an all-star cast, Band of Brothers is heart-breaking, utterly riveting TV and still one of the best series to have ever graced HBO.
TERRA NOVA: THE COMPLETE SERIES is available to own on DVD and Blu Ray 24th September
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
Tagged in Stephen Spielberg TV