Harsh Realm - The Complete Series

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy "Matrix" knockoff
Review: The premise of the show sounded interesting, so I bought the set out of curiosity, since many good shows have gotten cancelled before they could find their audience.

The pilot started off well, right up to the point where they kick the poor hero into the "Harsh Realm". From that point things went downhill in a hurry. The Realm made no sense logically OR techno-logically. Nobody explains just why:

1. They can't just unplug the computers running the simulation. The computers have to exist in the Real World, at a known location. Pull plug, game over.

2. The excuse that if they shut down the sim, the players in it die doesn't hold water. Even if the bodies are in the physical equivalent of a coma, you cut off a data stream, they wake up.
Nobody dies just because the computer crashes in the middle of "Doom 3", for example.

3. This "Santiago" jacks in and out at will? And *NOBODY* else can, including the system administrators for the computers? [cue sarcastic laughter]

I don't mind fantasy, but at least the background and characters should make sense. This one didn't. I gave up even before the pilot episode ended.



Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Shows on TV--EVER!
Review: The two other reviewers are right--this series was excellent, and it never got a fair shake from FOX. The quality of the first three episodes should have indicated that this show would go on to garner a loyal and significant fan base; unfortunately, the series ended up as a victim of knee-jerk network assumptions about series potential. If FOX had made the same decision about THE X-FILES during that show's first season, we (and they) would have missed out on another of this medium's great programs. Anyway, FX did, indeed, air the other six epiodes in this series the year after the series was canceled. I saw them all, and all of them were fantastic. Scott Bairstow, the star of the series, is an actor with incredible range and presence--he should be a major star. The credit sequence and music for the series were also noteworthy. If you like virtual-reality-based science fiction mixed with atmosperic production values and genuine, moving drama, HARSH REALM is for you. Buy it and prove to FOX that they made a big mistake 4 years ago. Maybe success with this DVD will convince them to release THE LONE GUNMEN series on DVD and help launch the second X-FILES film, as well. Good luck, HARSH REALM!

Rating:
Summary: Love in the Wasteland, or, "Take the red pill, Lt. Hobbes."
Review: When I saw that a DVD set of "Harsh Realm" was going to be released, I pulled out my grainy old VHS tapes and watched the whole series again. Did this series still fascinate me, five years after it had been cancelled? Was I really going to spend almost $40 for just nine episodes (plus commentary)? The answer to both questions was "Yes", because these first nine episodes are better than some series achieve in their whole run.

Years earlier, I had by chance seen "Reunion", the fifth episode of the series. In the virtual world of "Harsh Realm" Tom Hobbes and Mike Pinocchio have just been kidnapped to work in a forced labor camp. The camp's Commander comes out to tell the new men that they are now free - within the confines of the electric fence; and no longer have to worry about food and shelter - as long as they do the work and respect the rules. Then a mechanical "skull bug" in shot into their brains to insure compliance. "A simple security measure" the Commander explains.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Hobbes mother lays in a hospital dying of cancer. Beside her sits Sophie, Hobbes beloved fiancee. Hobbes has "disappeared" in the real world, and Sophie has been told that he is dead.

These two storylines don't sound like they have very much to do with one another, do they? Well, the point / counterpoint between the two "realities" is one of the main charms of this complex, many-layered series for me, and by the end of the episode, when Sophie shakes a little snow globe in the "real" world - and to the delicate sound of wind chimes, it starts to snow in Harsh Realm, I knew I wanted to see more of this series.

The commentary on the set does not clear up some of the unsolved mysteries of the series - is Florence a renegade nun from the real world? Will the seductive Inga Fossa betray them all? - but it does make clear how hard the crew worked to give Harsh Realm the look and feel of an epic feature film on a TV budget.

This series was cancelled by the Fox Network after only 3 (THREE!) episodes were aired. Fox seems to have a problem recognizing quality work; witness the untimely cancellation of Joss Whedon's excellent "Firefly" series.

Every person has a different take on what delights them. Below, I list some of my reasons for buying the "Harsh Realm" DVD set.

1. Mark Snow's amazing music. From the opening theme (with clips of WW II Italian dictator Mussolini's speeches) with a driving, almost mechanical beat, to the ethereal sound of wind chimes, this soundtrack is still fresh and unexpected.

2. During the pilot episode a military aid says he might be able to help Hobbes out in California - this subject was only mentioned briefly when Hobbes and Sophie were snuggling earlier in bed. How is this private information known by a stranger? Have we already entered Harsh Realm?

3. Also in the pilot, Hobbes is pointed to a chair with red upholstery, in which he is to sit while being briefed on the specifics of Harsh Realm. After he sits, he notices the words "Siege Perilous" scratched into the arms of the chair. (Arthurian scholars will understand the deadly significance of this phrase; the rest of you will have to look it up.) The Mythos Officially Begins.

4. Or maybe the Mythos really began when Hobbes pulls Waters to safety in the "real world" of Sarajevo, and first sees the ominous skull and cross of bones - note the "Welcome to Hell" graffiti with the same image when he enters the wreck of his former home in Harsh Realm.

5. One of my favorite scenes: Hobbes and Pinocchio are tied up, prisoners in the basement of a house. A soulful melody is heard in the background. As Hobbes gazes sadly around him, he sighs deeply, chest heaving, looking heavenward, and addresses "dearest Sophie" in his thoughts. "Shut up, Hobbes!" says Pinocchio. "I didn't say anything" returns Hobbes. "Yeah, but I can feel you thinkin'."

6. The entire cast is superb, but in particular, D.B. Sweeney is great as the foul-mouthed but faithful Pinocchio. He is also a thief, and steals all but the clothes on Hobbes back. Later, Hobbes furiously demands the return of his wedding band. Pinocchio coolly refuses, and threatens to eat Hobbes's dog, Dexter. (I always hoped that ring would show up again, had the series continued.)

7. I also loved the elegant Rachel Hayward (as Florence), who tearfully sacrificed her beautiful hair to play this miraculous character.

8. I might as well mention "Kein Ausgang" (the fourth episode) which has justifiably been compared to the best of "The Twilight Zone" episodes.

9. The scene in "Inga Fossa" where Sarah-Jane Redmond whips off her prim business jacket to reveal her sexy underwear, seducing Major Waters right on the conference table. What a vixen! (I thought her lisp was enchanting - listen closely as she tries to pronounce "Major Waters" - it comes out "May-jaw What-uhs".)

10. Harsh Realm works as a pretty nifty morality play too. "Is this nightmare only a mistake away?" asks Tom Hobbes.

Please rent this beautiful, thought-provoking, surreal, series and see if you, too, need to buy your own copy of "Harsh Realm".