Tacticalin
An absolute waste of money
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Rio Hayward
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
philaulman
I thought this adaptation was in large, good. I was only 5 when the original was on TV, so couldn't remember much about the story, save the giant man-eating plants and some blind people.I thought the actors did the best they could with a less-than-brilliant script. Dougray Scott was good as the main protagonist as was Eddie Izzard in his antagonist role.The real surprise in this version though was Joely Richardson. Although a talented actress, she must have been suffering an off-day, as her acting was dreadful. Could've been the script, but then again, most of the other actors managed okay. Top marks for the BBC though for managing to secure Brian Cox and "A Redgrave".All in all, good fun but with a few weak bits.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
This 2009 mini TV series of "Day of the Triffids" is actually the first encounter I have had with the Triffids. I only just found out that there are older movies out there, when I went to write the review here on IMDb.Anyway, being unfamiliar with this franchise, I had no expectations as to what this TV series should deliver or live up to. I have to say that I found it to be adequately alright.The CGI effects were nice to look at, which really is the carrier of the series. The effects in here is what carries the show. But flesh-eating plants that move around? Well, I had a bit of a problem with that. Not really something within my field of interest. But I will not let that drag my opinion down.As for the cast and acting, well I thought it was alright. There were some fairly good faces on the casting list, and they did manage to provide sufficient entertainment throughout the entire series. Normally I do not like Jason Priestley, but he actually managed to shed his 90210 shackles in this production. So that was a great plus, for me at least.Now, what was halting here, in my opinion, was the overall story. Sure, there was a red line throughout the story, but there are just so many things that makes you go "hmmm, now why would that happen?" or "yeah, that is what would happen in a situation like that". And that was bringing the overall experience of the TV series down.I do not consider this 2009 remake of the "Day of the Triffids" to be a bad experience, it actually came off quite alright, and it was worth sitting through it, although I did doze off once or twice along the way.If you like sci-fi, and if you like movies that are not heavy on plot or requires all too much thinking, then you might find "Day of the Triffids" right up your alley. And I suspect the same goes if you are a fan of really old sci-fi flicks that have been brushed up and put up to speed with the current date and technology, then you might want to sink your teeth into this.
David Phillips
The makers of this two-part sci-fi mini-series, whilst bagging an iconic premise that has yet to be remade to death, must have wished they'd set their stall out to make this so much sooner. Having seen Survivors make a return to our screens and the 28 Days/Weeks later movies already capitalise on the startling imagery of a post-apocalyptic UK, this mini-series seemed to be jumping on that same bandwagon. However, the source novel ensures the originality of the plot devices to get the world into a state where carnivorous plants roam free amongst a population mostly disabled by blindness. The story is given a slightly "topical" twist. Although the original novel does mention the spread of Triffids across the world is due to its oil. This story takes that one step further and has the Triffids universally harvested for their oil as a replacement for fossil fuel. The Triffids are known to be dangerous and are therefore kept under high security conditions. Of course, all this goes to pot once the solar light display, watched by most of the world, renders anyone who watched it blind. Unfortunately, from pretty good beginnings, the show spirals downhill dramatically - almost as quickly as London descends into chaos following the blinding lights. Seemingly within minutes, the whole city is panicking with sighted people, once revealed, chased for help even if forced at gunpoint. This seemed to be an attempt to inject some frights and thrills into a slow part of the show and seemed like a direct rip-off of 28 days later. Amongst the chaos we have sighted people bumping into each other with such regularity, you might think they were blind. Dougray Scott is Bill Mason, the scientist who despite working for the Triffid oil company, spends his time trying to understand how they communicate and live. This obsession is helped by unremarkable flashbacks to the death of his mother at the hands, or should that be leaves, of the Triffids. He was having an eye operation following an earlier Triffid attack (in case you were wondering why he missed the light show). Joely Richardson is quite possibly the most famous radio broadcaster the UK has ever seen, given everyone's ability to recognise her voice (she was in a tube station, although seemingly everyone else in there died). Eddie Izzard (yes, Eddie Izzard!) was asleep beneath an eye mask on a plane. He survives the plane crashing by inflating half a dozen lifejackets in the toilet. He then harbours a rather bizarre desire to rule the UK or possibly the world. Even more bizarre is that people actually bother to follow him as their leader. What should be notable, but are actually pedestrian, cameos are:Ewen Bremner as an animal/plants rights campaigner who breaks into the secure Triffid facility. Jason Priestley as a US air force pilot who I can only think was cast in an effort to get some US network interest. Vanessa Redgrave – crazy nun. Brian Cox as Bill's estranged father – who happens to still be researching Triffids. Unfortunately, despite what on paper appears to be a good cast, the whole story evolves at a snails pace. There are no surprises or moments of tension at all. It's B-movie standard at best. It actually makes Survivors look good. I'd recommend the 80's mini-series or the original 1962 movie with Howard Keel for more thrills. see more at www.writeronthestorm.wordpress.com
siderite
I started with all possible good intentions: it was a BBC production and I am a fan of Doctor Who and even Torchwood; I have seen the original Day of the Triffids and I liked it (even if I thought the premise to be pretty hard to believe) and I was prepared to enjoy it as a holiday release, with not much substance in it.This being said, I really enjoyed the start, even if clearly beset with budget issues. I replaced the set in my mind and went on. The premise was a bit ridiculous, but that was in the book, so OK. Then Joely Richardson entered the scene and it all went bad. I have seen her in other movies and she was a decent actress. So either my memory plays tricks on me or the director messed it up. Badly! All her lines were out of place, her behavior like taken from a blond girl joke and her acting appalling. Eddie Izzard did a decent role as the psychopath trying to take over London, the rest of the stars just played average and mostly pointless roles, roles which could have been played by any other actor.The ending was a chaos of irrational behavior, bad acting, predictability and pointless narration supposed to "open our eyes". The ending really messed things up, both from the standpoint of character development and end feeling.Bottom line: decent effort, but ultimately a failed one.