Childhood's End

:

Season 1
  • Network: SyFy
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 14, 2015
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 73
  3. Negative: 20 out of 73
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User Reviews

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  1. MrPicky
    Dec 24, 2015
    2
    Never read the book so went into this with no expectations aside from hoping for an entertaining 6 hours. Thankfully with FF on a DVR I did not waste 6 hours - even an hour was too much. Slow, confusing, weak acting, over acting, etc. Really disappointed - only finished it to see what happened.
  2. c700
    Dec 23, 2015
    3
    I really tried to like this adaption. The main problem is that Arthur C. Clarke is just a damn good writer and the writers of this show are just so awfully bad. Thats why the episodes are so damn long and boring. If you look at the source material (the book), it contains less than 200 pages and still managed to tell a riveting story. The intention when outlining the series was probablyI really tried to like this adaption. The main problem is that Arthur C. Clarke is just a damn good writer and the writers of this show are just so awfully bad. Thats why the episodes are so damn long and boring. If you look at the source material (the book), it contains less than 200 pages and still managed to tell a riveting story. The intention when outlining the series was probably benevolent, and granted - the visuals don't look half-bad - but the terrible dialogue, the repetition, and the overlength is just killing it for me. With a decent screenplay and some decisive compression of the story - I feel this could have done much better.… Expand
  3. CivilizationAce
    Apr 5, 2016
    0
    I read the book a long time ago. I remember it as very disappointing, but didn't remember the story. I gave the TV series a chance anyway, but it was also very disappointing.

    There's really nothing to this. There's no real story, just imagination transcribed into meaningless drivel. There's no doubt that Arthur C Clarke had foresight and imagination and those carried his inability to    I read the book a long time ago. I remember it as very disappointing, but didn't remember the story. I gave the TV series a chance anyway, but it was also very disappointing.

    There's really nothing to this. There's no real story, just imagination transcribed into meaningless drivel. There's no doubt that Arthur C Clarke had foresight and imagination and those carried his inability to construct a good plot. Sadly like so many of the early successful writers in each genre success did not imply consistent excellence and this is clearly one of his books that should have been identified as substandard and left alone, not turned into this overlong nonsense that doesn't include any hint of the foresight that grounds his better books.

    Save yourself some time you'll never get back and do something more interesting, like watch paint dry.    … Expand
  4. DavidJayne
    Dec 18, 2015
    0
    This is definitely not for fans of the book. While it does manage to hit the broadest points of the overall story arc, the details have been drastically changed, and very much for the worse. Not only that, but a good 50% of the miniseries is entirely new subplots that range from completely unnecessary to utterly ridiculous. And if that isn't bad enough, I can think of at least three iconicThis is definitely not for fans of the book. While it does manage to hit the broadest points of the overall story arc, the details have been drastically changed, and very much for the worse. Not only that, but a good 50% of the miniseries is entirely new subplots that range from completely unnecessary to utterly ridiculous. And if that isn't bad enough, I can think of at least three iconic scenes from the book that were completely left out, scenes that would have made for great television. The biggest mystery of the Overlords is never even explained. I tried very hard to like this. I understand that concessions need to be made for the sake of adaptation, and for the first episode-and-a-half I was able to convince myself that even though it was very different from the book, it still stood on its own as good science fiction. But that quickly went out the door as the plot veered into utter nonsense and ham-fisted religious symbolism. It's like the people who made this had at best a superficial understanding of the source material, and then thought they could improve upon it. Guess what. They couldn't. I can't believe this is getting pretty good reviews overall. Perhaps I just can't divorce myself from the book enough to appreciate it on it's own, but then again I think from the end of episode two on was just plain bad no matter how you look at it. This was a wasted opportunity and a textbook example of how not to adapt a novel.… Expand
  5. AContext
    Dec 17, 2015
    0
    There is no need to elaborate. I am only enormously grateful I DVD'd this bad student film from, I don't know, Strayer Univ. or some such for profit scam "university." I was able to fast-forward thru the commercials, thereby losing only about five-and-a-quarter hours of my life that I will never get back. I'd go into some detail, but I don't want to lose more time. I'm old, dammit, and myThere is no need to elaborate. I am only enormously grateful I DVD'd this bad student film from, I don't know, Strayer Univ. or some such for profit scam "university." I was able to fast-forward thru the commercials, thereby losing only about five-and-a-quarter hours of my life that I will never get back. I'd go into some detail, but I don't want to lose more time. I'm old, dammit, and my time is increasingly precious. Simply put, the film stunk. Now, I didn't read Mr. Clarke's novel, but based on my familiarity with "2001: A Space Odyssey," I'm sure this piece of dreck did not do Mr. Clarke's work anything resembling justice.… Expand
  6. badlorenzo
    Dec 18, 2015
    0
    So disappointed, I hardly finished the first episode. The fight between good and evil is so cliché, I can't find the words. All the reviews I read don't give me the slightest desire to watch episode 2.
  7. MelancholicAlc
    Dec 1, 2016
    0
    This is a textbook example how to rape-murder an honored SF classic. The point of SF is NOT charachter development, but how any change, impacts society in general, as well as present moral dilemma's. Battlestar while great at presenting compelling characters, is STILL a cowboys vs injuns story at heart.

    This series is loaded up with a lot of emo crap, totally unneccesay romantic    This is a textbook example how to rape-murder an honored SF classic. The point of SF is NOT charachter development, but how any change, impacts society in general, as well as present moral dilemma's. Battlestar while great at presenting compelling characters, is STILL a cowboys vs injuns story at heart.

    This series is loaded up with a lot of emo crap, totally unneccesay romantic subplots, stupid deviations from the original that create plotholes, or are just stupid: In the original, Jennifer is a baby, and never ever talks or becomes human. In the show, she's a 10 year old faking to be 4 year old who is somehow the Fearless Nazi Fascist Leader of all children.
    Then, it tries to shove the ideologal crap down our throats that some "regular" boy farmer is at any level a better ambassador than a professional. (See: Trump. Sadly, he will screw up the world badly, but of course he will get re-elected because of whites looking to regain power, you can call that racism and that people don't like to admit they're wrong)

    The writers clearly didn't read the source material or it was just too dificult for them....    … Expand
  8. oatstao
    Dec 15, 2015
    1
    I'm going to be extremely frank with this, as I have waited 30 years for a film version. Is this why no one has tackled it as a feature film? Is it so hard to maintain dedication to original story line? Sadly ultimate failure - pro amerikkkann agenda is massively clear. Ricky the main character - no longer spelled Rikki - not a UN ambassador but the 'hard working ladies man' , the mainI'm going to be extremely frank with this, as I have waited 30 years for a film version. Is this why no one has tackled it as a feature film? Is it so hard to maintain dedication to original story line? Sadly ultimate failure - pro amerikkkann agenda is massively clear. Ricky the main character - no longer spelled Rikki - not a UN ambassador but the 'hard working ladies man' , the main man who owns the idealistic farm stead outside of new jersey is chosen as the 'one' to be the human interface between the 'overlords', oh but it was a toss up between him and a 72 year old blind woman from Seoul Korea. Wow he can even work on his tractors engine without a grease stain on his clean ass hands and permanent pressed 'lumberjack' shirt and pants. LOL . Throwing out key character developments and basic plot to drive home PROJECT BLUE BEAM. What's really a shame is it is a parody of itself, as so many science fiction movies and plots have derived from Childhood's end for so long and this series derives from those derivatives to only mesh in a subversive agenda of mind control. But what's new anyways.. your TV is a waste of time. Cliche city of the worst kind. As Ricky states @26:00 into the first part, "i might just take this and chuck it in the river". Speaking of water - the USA HOORAY plans to use Saudi pipe lines to run de-salinated water . LOL . This remix is so dumb.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Most Discussed TV Season of 2015
52
#52 Most Shared TV Season of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ryan Anielski
    Dec 15, 2015
    83
    Ultimately, Childhood's End is a successful adaptation of a much-beloved novel that will satisfy fans and newcomers alike--wrapped nicely at both ends with colorful characters and effects, but faintly lacking a little something in the middle.
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  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Dec 14, 2015
    50
    At times the production can seem underbudgeted, the direction overwrought. Here and there, the dialogue sounds as if it had been written by an alien who picked up English from broadcasts of B-pictures. As the series' resident alien, Charles Dance--both as a disembodied and later an elaborately embodied, commanding voice--gets the best of this business.
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  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Tirdad Derakhshani
    Dec 14, 2015
    80
    The disturbing alien plot unfurls through a wondrous, hours-long act of dramatic magic that draws together elements from ancient religions and modern science. This is heady stuff--but it's relayed with such intensity it'll sweep you along. The last act is a gut punch.
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