Day Of The Triffids (2009) (2 Discs)

I've been waiting for a creepy, modern bigger budget remake of what was a remarkable 1980's adaption, back in the era of Threads, and all that proper "fear of the end of civilization" stuff back then - truly the stuff of nightmares. But invariably, 1980's Day O The Triffids started to looked a little - well, cheap and dated pretty quickly. So I awaited this version eagerly but was bitterly disapointed. It goes recklessly off John Wyndham's unimprobavable plot apparently on some whim believing this is how to cater for the modern audience. The triffids look great, but are hardly in it (although to be fair that is the case in the book too) but are not really an improvement on the BBC 1980's version which were menacing, if a little unlikely looking. The casting however, is really quite good though I had assumed that Dougray Scott would play Coker, and Izzard was going to be a brave re-imagining of the part of Bill Masen. In style and content, the show looks more like Charlie Brooker's… more »

I've been waiting for a creepy, modern bigger budget remake of what was a remarkable 1980's adaption, back in the era of Threads, and all that proper "fear of the end of civilization" stuff back then - truly the stuff of nightmares. But invariably, 1980's Day O The Triffids started to looked a little - well, cheap and dated pretty quickly. So I awaited this version eagerly but was bitterly disapointed. It goes recklessly off John Wyndham's unimprobavable plot apparently on some whim believing this is how to cater for the modern audience. The triffids look great, but are hardly in it (although to be fair that is the case in the book too) but are not really an improvement on the BBC 1980's version which were menacing, if a little unlikely looking. The casting however, is really quite good though I had assumed that Dougray Scott would play Coker, and Izzard was going to be a brave re-imagining of the part of Bill Masen. In style and content, the show looks more like Charlie Brooker's excellent Dead Set (you know - most of it shot in the Dark!) , but sadly lacked that series' wit or menace. Meanwhile BBC's remake of Surviors continues to remind me nostalgicly of the original BBC Day Of The Triffids, making me wish we could have a long running creative exploitation of Wyndams classic there in it's stead, where perhaps deviations from the source material might have seemed more justified over a longer, more courageous run. 2 for effort., but it falls short due to thinking it can improve on Wyndham. Overall, a missed opportunity. Avoid.