Altered Carbon

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 2, 2018
Season #: 2, 1
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 696 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 555 out of 696
  2. Mixed: 83 out of 696
  3. Negative: 58 out of 696
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User Reviews

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  1. GraySummer
    Oct 14, 2021
    9
    I really enjoyed Season 1. I love the world building, concepts, style and tone of this show. I adore the Neo-noir and Cyberpunk pairing and Joel Kinnaman is great as the lead with some very memorable action scenes. Unfortunately some of it's moments are extremely cheesy and i didn't find the main villain particularly believable nor the flashback moments very watchable. This makes theI really enjoyed Season 1. I love the world building, concepts, style and tone of this show. I adore the Neo-noir and Cyberpunk pairing and Joel Kinnaman is great as the lead with some very memorable action scenes. Unfortunately some of it's moments are extremely cheesy and i didn't find the main villain particularly believable nor the flashback moments very watchable. This makes the second half of the season a bit of a disappointment as the potential was not fully realised. However there is a lot to love in the themes, presentation and main characters, thus overall this show has shaped up to be one of my biggest guilty pleasures. (shame about season 2)… Expand
  2. Adams1987
    Mar 27, 2021
    10
    Altered Carbon Season 1 is one of those shows you must watch absolutely amazing story and characters! just watch it and don't dare to watch season 2... your life will be much better without it...
  3. Club2020
    Oct 30, 2020
    10
    Great concept, brilliant acting, and story with some great twists and a very satisfying ending... 10 out of 1 stuff
  4. notings
    Aug 27, 2020
    10
    Świetny film aktor pięknie gra Moniką twarzy...............................
  5. Codex
    Jun 19, 2020
    10
    This season I fell in love with this world. It is a blast to watch from episode 1 onward. If you want a true cyberpunk experience, this is the show for you. It takes risks and it pays off in spades. But don't bother with season 2. It's hot garbage. 1 and done.
  6. Beauner
    Apr 11, 2020
    9
    This season is great.. Great atmosphere, great acting, intriguing story (not perfect, but very entertaining), Rated MA for holy **** over the top violence, blood, nudity, and bad assery. Unfortunately, they ruined everything with season 2. Do yourself a favor and stop after season 1 and call it good.
  7. stormtossed
    Apr 10, 2020
    8
    Amazing first season. This show had everything that an (adult) sci-fi lover could have ever wanted. Strong Blade Runner's vibes, creative and interesting world building, philosophical questions, great special effects.

    But what made this show stand out, was the depiction of adult themes: tons of sex, nudity, graphic violence. You couldn't look away. Always keeps you hooked. I strongly    Amazing first season. This show had everything that an (adult) sci-fi lover could have ever wanted. Strong Blade Runner's vibes, creative and interesting world building, philosophical questions, great special effects.

    But what made this show stand out, was the depiction of adult themes: tons of sex, nudity, graphic violence. You couldn't look away. Always keeps you hooked.

    I strongly recommend it.

    Too bad 2. season has lost everything that made this show special...    … Expand
  8. Plmnkoijbvhu
    Apr 9, 2020
    10
    A masterpiece. Truly one of my favorite sci fi shows ever. Sadly only the first season is good. They ruined it completely in the second.
  9. Bobbydownhill
    Mar 8, 2020
    8
    Cyberpunk sweetness and awesome cast and storytelling. Bit long list of executive producers instead of crediting the composer. But over all a very pleasant change of menu on Netflix
  10. ComandanteCobra
    Mar 4, 2020
    8
    Very good, hard sci-fi, a little old school (in a good cyber-punk way), good mix of action and drama. There is conspiracy, dystopian future, noire investigations, hot girls (also boys), gunfights, martial arts stunts, relation (and problemes) with technologies and dehumanization...and so on.
  11. Juhapekka
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    The first season of AC blew my mind! The visual boldness, the cyberpunk world, and Kinnamans excellent stoic portrait of Kovacs played well with the gumshoe main storyline. The casual nudity that underlined the casual relationship people had with their sleeves were justified and made the whole thing more compelling. A brave and fresh addition to TV's scifi world by Netflix!
  12. Pi0
    Feb 27, 2020
    10
    One of the best shows on netflix. And one of the best scify blade runner atmosphere shows ever. Great casting, great main actor. A believable world with a good looking enviroment. And disapointing what turned out in season 2... Season 1... was another class
  13. Crythor
    Mar 8, 2019
    10
    After watching game of thrones (which i love) i didnt think that any series would take away my breath any time soon. Man was i wrong. Altered carbon is the sci-fi quality equivalent to game of thrones. The effects are unrivaled currently and the story is thrilling. Great characters, great world but dont take my word for it watch it.
  14. angelknives
    Dec 10, 2018
    7
    Altered Carbon is a show full of interesting world building, ideas, and premises that never get used to their full potential. The first few episodes set up so many interesting ideas about AIs, immortality, class struggle, and even aliens, but the rest of the season fails to follow through on these set-ups.

    The main offender is the final part of the season, when a sudden new surprise    Altered Carbon is a show full of interesting world building, ideas, and premises that never get used to their full potential. The first few episodes set up so many interesting ideas about AIs, immortality, class struggle, and even aliens, but the rest of the season fails to follow through on these set-ups.

    The main offender is the final part of the season, when a sudden new surprise antagonist is introduced. The character and the storyline attached to them is incredibly cliched, boring the audience with how predictable it makes the show. And the worst part is that this storyline takes away time from the actually interesting parts of the story. Parts that are left horribly underdeveloped.

    The ending itself is probably the weakest part of the show, tying up everything in neat little bows, presented to the audience in the most easily digestible form, narration.

    All in all, the show does have a very interesting world, and while the writing sometimes suffered from awkward dialogue and lacklustre plotting, I still enjoyed it. I think the lead actors are probably to thank for that, as they really sold the story to me, even when the story itself failed.    … Expand
  15. ZackMurph
    Dec 3, 2018
    10
    Is the show perfect? Absolutely not , but it adventures to try to be something creative and to a degree it's fresh.

    The acting is absolutely fantastic with characters sometimes taking on multiple personality and fitting the roles perfectly. Though there are a few characters I wouldn't have minded having less screen time. The overall characters and performance were enjoyable. This    Is the show perfect? Absolutely not , but it adventures to try to be something creative and to a degree it's fresh.

    The acting is absolutely fantastic with characters sometimes taking on multiple personality and fitting the roles perfectly. Though there are a few characters I wouldn't have minded having less screen time. The overall characters and performance were enjoyable.

    This show does take a sci-fi type of fan in order to hit a 10/10 mark. Everyone else will probably give it a 5/10-8/10 because of issues with the plot or long drawn out back stories. Even I have to admit that the season had a few segments of emptiness that could have either been cut or redone to make the overall story more compelling.

    In all, Altered Carbon isn't your run of the mill world breaking tv series but it definitely hits a lot of notches within many sci-fi fans belts and the average viewer can easily enjoy the show as well. If the writers learn their lessons from the first season and apply that knowledge to the second. Then I could easily see the show's fanbase growing.    … Expand
  16. Averno
    Oct 27, 2018
    10
    My favorite show for several years. Excellent visuals, compelling story, stellar world-building.
  17. LulzTV
    Sep 29, 2018
    9
    Altered Carbon is currently the best show on netflix. The special effects are spectacular, the directing and writing are spot on, the atmosphere feels and the world building is great. This show is fantastic.
  18. hornysoul
    Sep 21, 2018
    7
    Admito que este tipo de séries nunca me fascinou, mas até foi bom perder algumas horas do meu tempo livre a ver esta produção. A série começou com o pé errado, na minha opinião, mas até conseguiu dar a volta ao longo dos episódios seguintes... A atuação dos atores foi OK e a história prendou-me.
  19. Dubeau
    Aug 3, 2018
    8
    Really nice mystery sci-fi flick. A bit slow to start but after episode 4 this gets on going in a big time. The story is complex but in many ways about family love and hates. It borrows from Blade Runner's looks but for most of it, it's a detective story. The main hero wasn't that amazing. A bit of overacting, but all the other characters are extremely solid in their performance. The FXReally nice mystery sci-fi flick. A bit slow to start but after episode 4 this gets on going in a big time. The story is complex but in many ways about family love and hates. It borrows from Blade Runner's looks but for most of it, it's a detective story. The main hero wasn't that amazing. A bit of overacting, but all the other characters are extremely solid in their performance. The FX were decent for TV show. The sexuality was depicted in a very nice aesthetically way. No for kids or young adults. I give it 78%. Good sci-fi.Renewed for Season 2!… Expand
  20. Gogglebox
    Jul 11, 2018
    8
    Overall very good if you like sci fi. Plot may be too complicated for some but I liked its deepening backstory. First episode was intriguing but second or third a bit iffy, but story got more interesting. Glad I kept watching. It could stand alone as a story but a second season would be welcome in our household of adults and older teens.
  21. gandalfsucks
    Jul 9, 2018
    8
    An excellently constructed Blade Runner-type world. The characters are compelling, and the acting is par Netflix originals. The production value is through the roof, but the overall series is hamstrung by the middling story, as has become common with my experiences with Netflix originals. An unnecessary murder mystery along with a few other side mysteries for what is essentially a familyAn excellently constructed Blade Runner-type world. The characters are compelling, and the acting is par Netflix originals. The production value is through the roof, but the overall series is hamstrung by the middling story, as has become common with my experiences with Netflix originals. An unnecessary murder mystery along with a few other side mysteries for what is essentially a family drama. Some events, especially towards the end, occur for no other reason other than being necessary for the lazy scriptwriter. The show spends way too much time dealing with relationship dynamics that will be useful only if they ever make a second season, or if they had spent more time in this one. You expect the story to break the traditional rules set by the world, but when the rule breaking becomes commonplace by meaningless characters, it loses the impact. Good effort, but quite a few irksome story points.… Expand
  22. NerdHaus
    May 28, 2018
    10
    Loved it so much I read the book. The cast, script, plot, cinematography is all fantastic.
  23. Archound
    May 11, 2018
    10
    It is the best cyberpunk-themed show you can watch on your telly. It is better than Blade Runner in basically every aspect.
  24. Voodoo123
    May 10, 2018
    9
    +New industry standard for 4k HDR presentation
    +Superb cast deliver memorable performances
    +Immersive cyber-punk world +Excellent writing -Action scene choreography broke the immersion for me at times Easily the most impressive visual presentation I've yet to see in UHD HDR, I was blown away by the detail present considering I watched the 2160p 15mbps netflix streaming quality.    +New industry standard for 4k HDR presentation
    +Superb cast deliver memorable performances
    +Immersive cyber-punk world
    +Excellent writing
    -Action scene choreography broke the immersion for me at times

    Easily the most impressive visual presentation I've yet to see in UHD HDR, I was blown away by the detail present considering I watched the 2160p 15mbps netflix streaming quality. Altered carbon present a story so weirdly wonderful and refreshingly sci-fi that it puts many recent attempts to shame. Creating an impressive dream-like cyber-punk world AC pushes the boundaries of its modern tv show medium to tell its impressively layered story.

    Joel Kinneman is fantastic here and the rest of the main cast also do a great job of really diving into their characters. At first I felt a little intimidated by this world of sleeves, meths, stacks, 'working them over in virtual' and real death. Theres alot to take in as this production doesn't treat the audience as a fool and dives straight into whats happening but by the second episode I found the world started to make more sense to me and that I understood the motives of each character. AC has a good pace. I was impressed to see the same locations weren't re-used too often.

    One thing that for me, broke the immersion at times, was that the action choreography felt a little inconsistent... The action, for the most part, was excellent, elsewhere I found it to be quite amateurish. Those occasional faults aside if you are in any way a fan of science fiction genre you owe it to yourself to watch the highly complex story of this wondrous punk digital dreamscape unfold in front of you!    … Expand
  25. kot0005
    May 5, 2018
    8
    Great show, with good character build up. It would have been more fun if they made the character a bit more over powered, like his first body was. Amazing art and environments.
  26. Nobilis1984
    May 1, 2018
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A good series with some weaknesses. But the optical one as well as the good actors are not deceptive about the strange logic and the inappropriate dialogues. The slow motion scenes take and the everlasting bellyaching highly the brothers and sisters love of brother and sister irritates. She kills all he loved and he forgives her for everything? Very unrealistically.
    A big plus. The series stimulates very much to think.    … Expand
  27. Gagz
    Apr 30, 2018
    10
    The show seriously doesn't deserve this kind of treatment, not one of the best shows but seriously, it is very good. Don't really get the negative reviews, splendid cast with quality and variety, real emphasis on certain morals and religion, yeaa i know too much Virtual Reality now-a-days but it's based on a book penned down in year 2002 so according to the writer, the idea's not thatThe show seriously doesn't deserve this kind of treatment, not one of the best shows but seriously, it is very good. Don't really get the negative reviews, splendid cast with quality and variety, real emphasis on certain morals and religion, yeaa i know too much Virtual Reality now-a-days but it's based on a book penned down in year 2002 so according to the writer, the idea's not that taken. Seriously enjoyed Sci-fi movie-level animations and details on a TV show, not that common. Come on people, you gonna be like this and no more high-budgeted shows from Netflix.… Expand
  28. AthanasiosT
    Apr 25, 2018
    9
    A detective story in a dark cyberpunk sci-fi future world. As a long time sci-fi fan, I enjoyed the whole atmosphere, the story, the characters and finally Poe, that often reminded me of Overlook hotel !! Cinematography and directing were excellent. Acting was good, but it could get better. Waiting for season 2.
  29. Dondi
    Apr 19, 2018
    7
    Great visuals of the future, a society based on Super capitalists that live far above in the clouds, the poor below ground level in poverty. Many stolen themes from Sci-fi movies from WW2 to now; super CGI, hardest darn story to comprehend. Gritty, sexual, violent, spiritual?
  30. NEILTON_1962
    Apr 11, 2018
    7
    Ficção científica. Orçamento do filme alto, a Netflix aposta no sucesso da trama. O piloto e o segundo episódio foram essenciais para o entendimento do restante da temporada. Elenco razoável. Algumas falhas no roteiro, mas como diversão vale a pena.
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
30
#30 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. The Detroit News
    Reviewed by: Adam Graham
    Mar 1, 2018
    50
    Big issues of body, mind, identity and technology shuffle around the Altered Carbon universe, but the show often drags its feet in order to fill its individual episodes’ running times.
    Read full review
  2. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Emily VanDerWerff
    Feb 5, 2018
    80
    For a series that makes a lot of basic storytelling stumbles and often seems to feature characters who can only speak in exposition, Altered Carbon’s first season is surprisingly gripping, especially in its superior back half. This is probably the best first season of a Netflix drama since The Crown’s first year dropped in late 2016.
    Read full review
  3. The Atlantic
    Reviewed by: Sophie Gilbert
    Feb 5, 2018
    50
    Altered Carbon is so busy trying to wow viewers by constantly one-upping the imagery and the intensity that it barely pauses to consider its story. The writing is also distinctly clunky: a hodgepodge of vacant platitudes and canned spirituality.
    Read full review
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