Harsh Realm - The Complete Series

Rating:
Summary: Potential not realized as series is cancelled too soon
Review: "Harsh Realm" was meant to be Fox's Great White Hope for the 1999 season. Created by "The X-Files" Chris Carter, the show borrowed pages from "The X-Files" and "The Matrix. General Santiago (O'Quinn) has taken over a virtual reality program named Harsh Realm. Originally developed by the military to give a realistic simulation of how the world would react to a terrorist strike, the military has sent in a number of operatives to take out the elusive Santiago but none have returned. Lt. Hobbes (Bairstow) plans on leaving the military in a month after serving for five years in war torn areas around the world. A hero for saving a friend at the expense of his own life, Hobbes is asked by his C.O. (Henriksen) to go into the game and beat Santiago bringing it to an end. He's told nothing else about Harsh Realm or about the "occupants" that exist there. What he finds is a virtual reality simulation of the real world. With the help of Mike Pinnochio (D. B. Sweeney) Hobbes must try and complete his mission and find a way out of Harsh Realm to his fiancé (Samantha Mathis) and the life he left behind.

Critically drubbed and abandoned by its audience within the first week of its premiere, "Harsh Realm" was a rare failure for Carter as it was cancelled after only airing three episodes. Carter and Fox also faced legal action when James D. Hudnall and Andrew Paquette the creators of the comic book series "Harsh Realm" sued Fox and won recognition that their work was the basis for Carter's series. While the basic premise and title were similar enough to suggest that Carter had been influenced by the comic book series, "Harsh Realm" the TV series departed radically from the initial premise of Hudnall and Paquette's creation.

It's sad, really, as the show has its moments and the supporting performances of D. B. Sweeney and Terry O'Quinn make even the weakest episode shine. Carter's initial premise had as much promise as another abandoned Fox show ("Sliders") in that it would have allowed him to examine many different issues in an "alternate" reality. "Harsh Realm" doesn't pick up steam or break any new ground like "The X-Files" or even "Millennium" did but the story potential for the series was great.

Although grainy newsreel like style used in "Black Hawk Down" bookends the first episode, the transfer is far from "harsh". The solid blacks and vivid colors are brilliantly realized and provide a sharp contrast to the gloomy scenes set in the virtual reality world. Although the box says the series is presented in 1.33:1 full screen mode, it's actually in what appears to be a 1.76:1 widescreen mode. It's evident how expensive the series was from the very first frame of footage. The stark sequences set in the former Sarevjo have epic big screen production values and the fine detail set in the destroyed city looks terrific. The 5.1 soundtrack, unlike most shows from the same time frame, uses the format pretty effectively. The result is that you feel like ducking whenever a helicopter swings by or someone shoots off a machine gun. The sound has considerable presence and depth as well.

The three disc set features all nine episodes of the series so, needless to say, there's not a whole lot in the way of extra features. On the other hand, Fox has priced this boxed set accordingly. The two featurettes mimic those of the "Millennium" set. We get a standard behind-the-scenes featurette about the creation and production of the series. I got the impression that Fox produced this while the series was shooting in anticipation of eventually releasing it to DVD. There's also a clever, well thought out featurette on the creation of the show's main titles much like a similar featurette for "Millennium".

Chris Carter and director Sackheim provide a single commentary track on the pilot. It's rather interesting as Carter discusses some of his casting decisions in the commentary track as well as the inspiration of the series (while avoiding the painful topic of the lawsuit he and Fox faced). While supposedly the lawsuit had no bearing on the cancellation of the series, I'm sure that it helped contributed to tension between Carter and Fox thus hasting the untimely demise of the show. Unfortunately, none of these issues is discussed (although its understandable as to why). It's too bad that there's no commentary track by writers/producers John Shiban and Frank Spotniz. Like Carter, both are veterans of "The X-Files" and "Millennium" and their episodes are, like Carter's initial ones, real gems that offered much promise for this critically attacked series.

Although it certainly couldn't live up to "The X-Files" (or, for that matter, "Millennium") due to its short life, "Harsh Realm" demonstrates that a great premise isn't necessarily the best springboard for well written television. The episodes included here indicated that "Harsh Realm" had developed an interesting story arc. "Homicide: Life on the Street" and even "NYPD Blue" didn't offer much originality in the "premise" department. It was the striking writing and character development that made those series so memorable. The same could have occurred with "Harsh Realm". I'd suggest giving the series a chance despite the fact that the cliff ending ninth episode leaves the series unfinished and hanging.


Rating:
Summary: interesting near-miss
Review: Because of this series being truncated so dramatically, part of me wants it to be one of those too-good-for-TV shows that was simply written over the heads of the hoi polloi. Alas, it's not the case, although Harsh Realm has some classically stylish moments that are savorable. It sort of wants to be a post-modern Combat (there's a dated TV reference!), through the weird filter of Chris Carter; and it kind of wants to be dystopian fiction, though the virtual reality artifice steals a lot of that particular energy.

That being said, I liked this show. It doesn't try to overreach the narrative too often, and the premise is thin (to say the least), but it has some entertaining moments that don't quite add up to a whole vision. I run hot and cold on D.B. Sweeney; he is very watchable in this. The hokey comic book bushido of the villain, Santiago, is a bit much, as is the spiritual overreaching in a couple of the stories.

If you want to watch interesting virtual reality fiction, head straight for VR5. Harsh Realm is an interesting failure that might have become something, if it had not been strangled stillborn by those mokes at the Network. And to Carter's credit, he approaches the difficult waters of war fiction and has a go at it. It is certainly the case that carter's failures are often more interesting than some other's successes.

Rating:
Summary: oh Harsh Realm, you will be missed
Review: Firefly, Dark Angel and now the Realm (Kill-FOX). The music score is really good, and the acting was far better than average. I am really impressed with the photography and characters. They Made this show great, even if it was (claimed to be inadvertently) a Matrix ripoff.

They managed to do it well and keep it pretty interesting though. Surprisingly too, on a budget probably far lower than Firefly, my personal Favorite Show Ever. I'm glad to own this set. It was a really slick show, that will keep fans of X-Files, Mad-Max, Matrix and Trek, something to chew on.


Rating:
Summary: X-FILES producers' series gets another chance in DVD
Review: For those of you who blinked and missed Chris Carter's series HARSH REALM, here's your chance to see all the episodes. Only 3 episodes originally aired on the network, although I understand that the FX channel aired the rest the following year. I'm not sure how a show can be expected to get an audience in 3 episodes, but from my perspective HARSH REALM really wasn't given an opportunity to develop. It's premise was simple enough - a mission into a virtual reality world which was created by the military, but which of course goes awry. But the shows' character and plot complexity rivaled X-FILES and I think those of us who watched were still trying to see what it was about when the plug got pulled. This DVD is a welcome release for all who wanted to see where the story was going. Although as yet unreleased, I'm giving the Fox people 3 stars just for having the clarity to release something they once deemed as a failure, from one of televisions most innovative writer/producers. I'm sure all fans of Carter's other shows, X-FILES and MILLENNIUM, look forward to it's release.

Rating:
Summary: Go Harsh Realm.....Buy this Series
Review: Good show but short lived. Chris Carter fans will love it. If this DVD sells The Lone Gunmen will come out!!! Buy...Buy...Buy!! Long live the Lone Gunmen!!!!!
Check out Millenium Too. WoooHooo!!!

Rating:
Summary: Wasted potential, thanks Fox
Review: Harsh Realm, created by X-Files and Milennium creator Chris Carter, was just one of many prime time sci-fi dramas that died a quick death on Fox. Three episodes were aired when it originally premiered in 1999, with the other six episodes aired on Fox's FX cable network the following year. The sad part about Harsh Realm, is that there was plenty of promise and potential, but none of it ever got to get off the ground thanks to yet another brilliant idea from the bigwigs at Fox. The story revolves around Army Lieutenant Tom Hobbes (Scott Bairstow), called back into action to supposedly test run a virtual reality war game called Harsh Realm. He becomes trapped inside, with hundreds of others who identify him as the "savior" they have been awaiting. Plenty of comparisons to the Matrix (which was released earlier that year) could be a turn off to some, but Harsh Realm was never given the chance to take off like it could have. The rest of the cast includes D.B Sweeney as a fellow trapped soldier, Milennium alumnus Terry O'Quinn as deranged Harsh Realm dictator Santiago, and Samantha Mathis as Tom's estranged fiance. Now that Harsh Realm is on DVD, it's worth checking out, and we can thank Fox once again for squandering good potential (Firefly anyone?).

Rating:
Summary: Should have saved my money
Review: I like Chris Carter's other shows (X-Files, Millenium, The Lone Gunmen) so much that I had to give this a shot even though most of the other reviews here were less than positive for Harsh Realm. That'll teach me! Please learn from my mistake and listen to the other reviewers who recommended not getting this show. Even a brilliant producer like Chris Carter can have a flop once in a while, and this is it. Stick with his other shows. The Lone Gunmen will be released on dvd soon, and while it was also cancelled early like Harsh Realm, it is worth buying. Other shows cancelled too soon, but that are worth getting are Firefly, Wonderfalls, and Freaks and Geeks.

Rating:
Summary: Loved Millennium, liked X-Files. Harsh Realm? Well...
Review: I really wanted to like Harsh Realm. Coming off of the disappointing ruining and cancellation of Millennium (the second season was one of the best ever in television), I was hoping for something new and different to watch. Realm certainly seemed to fit the bill: alternate (virtual) reality, D.B. Sweeney, Millennium's Terry O'Quinn (who is great in 'Lost', btw), Chris Carter... what could go wrong? Well... quite a bit, actually. I found myself somewhat disappointed with the pilot. The hero was, as several others have stated, rather dull. I didn't really feel any reason to care about him. As for Sweeney's character, he felt over-written, like they wanted to make it really clear that he wasn't like Hobbes, when just a word or look now and then would have been far more compelling. I liked the mute girl's ability to heal, and hoped that it would lead to the discovery of other characters who could manipulate the Realm in different ways.

What I was hoping for (and what I feel would have made for a more interesting plot) was a show in which Hobbes is told that a madman has taken over Harsh Realm and must be stopped, only to find out when he gets in that the people LOVE Santiago, that he's fashioned something of a Utopia within this virtual place, and that that's what the government is really afraid of. Imagine Hobbes having to try to get to Santiago past ordinary people who are willing to defend him with their lives because of what he's built. Hobbes can't get out until he kills Santiago (or so he's told), but increasingly finds he doesn't want to. What does he do? Destroy one world in order to return to the other? Abandon his life in the 'real' world and stay in the Realm with Santiago?

That's the kind of Harsh Realm I wanted to see... instead, I got the rather formulaic 'evil dictator' Santiago, inflicting cruelty for its own, rather pointless sake.

Ultimately, I think Chris Carter has a lot of talent. I don't know if this simply wasn't one of his best efforts, though FOX certainly didn't help matters any by cancelling it after three episodes (see 'Firefly' for another example of their brilliance). Maybe keeping X-Files going while coming off losing Millennium rattled him; I don't know. If you liked Harsh Realm, I'm really happy they released the series on DVD (I'm still waiting for Brisco County Jr., another FOX victim). If you haven't seen Realm, I'd recommend renting or borrowing it first, just to make sure it's worth it to you.

Rating:
Summary: Makes more Sense Now!
Review: Im not as critical of this show as others seem to be, especially reviews from what I would consider hard core gamers. I too have my questions, but because it was clipped short of ever truly developing we won't know. Hands down, DB Sweeney and the character "Florence" are my favorites. It has the despair vs. hope feel, and actually toward the last couple of episodes moved into the fantasy realm. Its too bad it shut down, because I kind of feel left hanging. Chris Carter favorites seem out of place. We never see Lance Henriksen again, and O'Quinn seems cut off until the last episode when we get a kind of "Apocalypse Now" feel for his character.

Rating:
Summary: All the classic Chris Carter elements make this a must see
Review: It doesn't take long to see the storyline comparisons between Harsh Realm and other Chris Carter series such as The X-Files. There's the overarching conspiracy, the mystery informant working for the bad guys, the quest to return to a loved one. Harsh Realm looks and sounds like other Ten Thirteen productions too, the stylized music of the early episodes soon making way for the usual Mark Snow sounds made famous on The X-Files. If you've enjoyed The X-Files and Millennium, you're very likely to take pleasure from this too. If nothing else it is comfortably familiar, and a reminder of how good it was to turn on the TV and catch a new Chris Carter episode every week. Highly recommended.