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I know this is going to open me up to all sorts of abuse, but what the hell, aye?
So what is the draw about Lexx?
After seeing that all things Lexx were worshipped with abandon on these hallowed pages, I went down my local HMV and got the Lexx Movies on DVD (Am I right in saying these are essentially Eps 1 and 2?). I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.
I am a firm believer in don’t judge a series on the first few Eps, cos the actors are still finding their roles (take B5 as an example, first 1/2 of Season 1 was wooden, but my god did it get better!!!!). But I really wasn’t bowled over by what I’ve seen. The acting was, lets face it, bad. The script was a bit naff. The visuals were (at times) cheesy.
So, not wanting to blow huge amounts of cash on more of the DVDs only to find that this is as good as it gets, does it improve? Do they just bimble round the Dark Zone annihilating any planet that offends them? How do they string out a decent story line with so few principal charaters?
In short… What is so special about it?
Oh, and is it my imagination, or is Lexx completely devoid of seating?
Lexx is a bit like “Marmite”. You either love it or hate it.
I love Lexx but agree with all your criticisms. The acting is sometimes bad, the effects are cheesy and sometimes the storylines are a bit weak but thats half the charm of the show. And whilst all these things are true the show is also Exciting, Different and you really care about the characters and situations that they get themselves in.
Stick with it…it grows on you (like a nasty foot infection).
It’s just a totally wacked out show. It’s not “mainstream” sci-fi, if there is such a thing. Sure, some of the episodes were just so-so, but there were a lot of great ones too. I appreciate the humor in the show too. It’s too bad that I found out about it when it was almost over with.
Give it time rag, it grows on you.
Lexx was unique as it was totally different from the endless sci-fi series that were just rehashed ideas.
For me it’s charm lay with the three blokes who decided to do a series their way, no major backing from big movie studios, just three guys who did something that was fun and original.
But it is an aquired taste, many people just thought it was weird, and if you caught it mid season you wouldn’t know the hell was going on. The humour was bizarre but funny, but it’s major plus was that is was original and it didn’t care who it offended.
Look around at other Sci-fi series, Lexx put’s them to shame as they were so formulaic and were made to order, i.e they made a series that could not go beyond traditional sci-fi ideals…but Lexx did.
I think the best way to describe Lexx is too compare it with Star Trek of the 60’s, very camp tongue in cheek humour, with plenty of sexual references to maintain the idea that this was adult sci-fi.
No one expected this odd mix in a sci-fi series and it was a breath of fresh air, but it did keep that difficult balance of keeping you interested in what happened.
It’s difficult to reflect on it now, as at the time everyone had so much too talk about when the new eps came out.
I think you’ll find it difficult to get your head round it first time out, many of us caught the show 2-3 times before we finally became to love it, and I suggest you do the same, there’s no point going back to it right now as you don’t feel so good about it and will have you’re mind set as too what you think, give it a couple of weeks and treat each episode with an open mind, and if possible watch it once a week as if it were still running.
It’s a fine piece of Sci-fi, but it may not be for you, if it isn’t then that’s fine, many of the Lexx fans have had people who don’t get it asking where the charm lies, so long as you don’t come to the board rubbishing it!!!
ADMFor my 2 cents, LEXX didn’t really start firing on all pins until the second season. Even though I picked up on the series with the first films (there are 4, actually, what you saw were the first 2 films), I didn’t think that the actors really fell into their roles until then, nor did I think that the tone of the series was successfully worked out. Things hit their stride, I think, a couple of episodes into the second season. The second season ventures more explicitly into satire and genre parody, and more successfully blends its humor into the mix. There’s a continuing storyline over its 20 episodes, but it’s mostly taking place in the background while “stand-alone” stories take precedence. It’s definitely worth checking out, even if you don’t find the first season to your liking.
–Aleck
I still think movies 1 and 4 are some of the best stuff ever.
How “bout the essential LEXX guide for newbeans that would outline those eps that either answer the most questions or most Lexxians appreciate, or the ones that give you the most info in arcs.
I’ll start it. Now these are my humble opinions my sweeties okay?
Series One IWHS—Ya got to start somewhere; it sets the whole smack up. good sci-fi story; characters do seem to try to feel their place . I’d have to buy and watched it again to really have a handle on it. I have not watched it in a year or so or the last time it was on Prime-time sci-fi.
Let’s skip to 1.4 Gigashadow; 2 and 3 had moments and some specials; but for story movement; and entertainment got to go with Gigashadow. The insect effects are good; etc…
That’s all for me; everyone jump in there. I think it would be a good review of the show that would be a consensus of what is good about it; besides I like to hear what peeps like and why.
Am I opening a can of worms? probly.
Lexx is cheeky
I really didn’t like Lexx for a long time — I’d watch five minutes of the show and turn it off (I found 790 particularly irritating, but of course 5 minutes here and there is not really enough time to develop a valid opinion of a show). Then I didn’t watch it at all for maybe a year and heard that there was going to be a Lexx Marathon on Canada’s Space Channel, and for some reason I was really excited about it. It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that show grew on me in the most insidious manner while I was away from it.
It’s a shame that you didn’t like the first movie, I Worship His Shadow, because that is my favourite and it is that episode that made me a real Lexx devotee.
The reason I really, really like Lexx is because of the humour (black comedy). There’s very black and macabre humour in Lexx, and brilliant moments. Remember the elderly man on the slab who was accusing Stanley Tweedle of being a traitor? Then the slab fell over and squished him. It was gross but funny because of Stan’s reaction — not a sense of horror upon seeing such a horrible death (the prisoner was going to die anyway, and horrible deaths are commonplace on the Cluster), but he was simply embarassed by the taunts from the prisoners. Sorry, I haven’t described the scene well, but you’ve seen it, you’ve seen the expression on Stan’s face.
Oh and BugBomb from IWHS (my favourite Lexx character) was hilarious, however I was devastated when they killed him off (I never saw that one coming!
). As for the special effects, I’ve never really cared about that very much in any series.Perhaps the main reason I like Lexx is because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, unlike many other sci-fi shows. Oh, and Stan is an absolute fave character of mine (I would’ve loved to have seen an episode where he meets Arthur Dent and the Prisoner — ah, one can dream).
Yep, Lexx has very tongue-in-cheek humour, and this acts as a nice segue into answering your final question Rag. The Lexx does have seating. It has a lovely toilet which gives tongue-in-cheek a whole new meaning … ah, I guess that should be tongue-in-cheeks!
Now how cheeky is that?BTW, some of my favourite episodes are IWHS, Eating Pattern, Mantrid, Lyekka, Lafftrack, Brigadoom, and End of the Universe. I’m not so big on Season 3 and haven’t seen Season 4 yet.
Logan
PS I wouldn’t worry about being overly critical of the show. I think that a show’s forum stagnates when you only have “fans” posting. It’s fine to be critical of the show just as long as you’re not being critical of people because they like the show — it’s really just down to a matter of taste (personal preference), and if we have different tastes I won’t hold it against you, and I expect that you won’t hold it against me. And like any other show, Lexx could not objectively be called perfect or total crap. Also, it’s like religion, I’ve always felt that if your faith isn’t strong enough in a show that one feels terribly affronted when someone is critical of it, then your faith is probably misplaced in the first place; and even the “fan” (how I hate that word) should still have a critical eye.
logan, sweetie honey baby; don’t be dissin’ the prairie, dawg. with Melissa Gilbert’s teeth would could be talking exactly that
That was required Midwestern wholesome family viewing with St Michael (Landon) at the helm.
Please excuse my long-winded digression
quote:
Originally posted by mandara k:
logan, sweetie honey baby; don’t be dissin’ the prairie, dawg. with Melissa Gilbert’s teeth would could be talking exactly that That was required Midwestern wholesome family viewing with St Michael (Landon) at the helm.
I guess you’re cross-referencing my recent statement in Becka’s thread here
I may not be a prairie boy, but I would never diss a prairie dawg, at least not to its face. They’re scary little critters with razor sharp teeth. Still, people be tellin’ me that that furry rodent’s bark is worse than its bite, unlike Melissa Gilbert’s — her overbite is way worse than her bark.
😛Yep, the prairies aint all bad. Shellfish are my favourite food, “Oh give me a home where the prairie oysters roam…” and all that. But I got to say, they aint nothin like the oysters round these here parts.
Yessiree Bob (praise him), I like all them prairie animals, from prairie wolves to prairie chickens — they’re cluckin’ delicious! The only thing that tastes better are them buffaloes wings, “Oh give me a sty where the buffaloes fly….” (or is it only pigs that fly?)
As for Little House on the Prairie (LHotP, or LHOP), I have attended many a LHOP convention (LHOPCon) with my Hell’s Angels homeboys. The only thing they like better are the Little Horse on the Prairie Conventions; they’ve got free pony rides, and a man just aint a man without a big Harley or a little horse between his legs (at least that’s what they tell me)!
Anyway, I never meant to be direspectful to Little House on the Prairie when I said, “…say something really controversial like ‘Little House on the Prairie rocks, and if you don’t think that it was the best sci-fi show ever then you don’t know sh-t about sci-fi’, or maybe that’s just more weird than controversial….” It’s a good show, but it aint sci-fi. Okay, I have to admit that I may be a little biassed against the show, but that’s only because I had a really bad experience that tainted my perception of it, or more specifically, LHOP fans. The whole sordid story is here (it’s got a Lexxian twist): The dead do not give speeches at conventions.
Logan/FunkET (windbag extraordinare)
Cheers people. I think the general response is more than enough for me to give it a go. Just have to wait until I get a HUGE pay rise before I can go out and buy em all.
I didn’t actually dislike the first 2 movies. I was more confused than anything else (it doesn’t take much). The slab toppling scene did have me quietly chuckling (looks like I have the right sort of sense of humour then).
One last question before I rush off to blockbusters then…
Am I right in saying that Season 1 was just 4 movies? Or at least a number of Eps that have been stuck together into movie form for the purposes of the DVD releases? I’ve had a bit of a surf, and can only find reference to season 1 movies and season 2 box sets.
Once again, thanks for all your enthusiastic replies. I’ll let you know as soon as I have been converted to the cause. It won’t be long. I’m a will power free zone.
(and Logan – you really don’t want to be tempting me into a theological debate [well you mentioned religion, that counts in my book]. I love em, but they do tend to drag on. 6 1/2 hours is the current record. It was light when we left the pub
)quote:
originally posted by Rag
…The visuals were (at times) cheesy.
For some reason, I can’t resist:
A huddle of cats stand in the snow. One large black and white one says to a little one: What are you? A cat or a mouse?
the little one says: I like cheese.
And that’s why I like Lexx.
[ 20-12-2002: Message edited by: trillian ]
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