Surface - Season 1 [DVD]

"Surface" is a science fiction TV series that was aired on NBC during 2005. It follows three main characters in three different parts of the US, Dr Laura Daughtery a marine biologist, Rich Connelly an insurance salesman and Miles a teen-aged boy who all find their lives fundamentally affected by the discovery of a new and dangerous species that dwells in the sea.

`Surface' is a patchwork. The storyline is obviously borrowed from many other films and TV series such as E.T.,Close encounter, X-files, The Abyss, The island etc...While watching the series it felt like an initially ambitious project which showed some promise but eventually suffers at times from bad writing and rather poor CGI special effects in general. Some are great but most look rather average. If only more money had been allocated to the monsters effects I suspect it would have contributed to make the entire series more believable and as a result more successful. The acting is fine but not great.

It must be said that the show was cancelled after 15 episodes due to low audience ratings and it shows during the finale episode. Everything seems rushed and while some kind of conclusion is given, many questions are left unanswered. It all ends on a rather ambiguous if somewhat interesting way.

Despite its flaws, the show is still fun to watch and has its good moments with real tension, adventure and great action.

You might want to rent this series but should you be interested in buying it, I suggest that you go for the R1 edition from amazon.com. Unfortunately this UK region 2 edition is stripped of its original 5.1 Dolby soundtrack (you get a 2.0 stereo) and the original widescreen aspect ratio has been reduced from 1.78 to 4.3!!! What's worse is that the image has been panned but does not appear to have been scanned so you often get the feeling that something is happening off screen.

Don't fall for it. The box says, the complete series. Well, there was only one season, then this was pulled. Technically they're telling the truth, but really they're lying.

There should be a law against it. I'm getting sick of time and again, investing time and money in box sets and season only to have the rug pulled out from under me just when I was getting into it.

This was headed in the right direction direction - it started off a little awkwardly, but looked like it had potential. There were some interesting threads that could have been developed, but in the end we'll never know what happened and what it was all about...

In their infinite wisdom, the powers that be always seem to pull the good stuff. When will they learn great TV takes time. Stories need to develop. You can't expect 'X-Factor' style ratings over night... Please, just have a little patience... and faith.

In fact, I only bought this because it said 'The complete series' on the front, and I was sick of watching stuff that never resolved. Carnival (good but pulled), Terminator The Sarah Conner Chronicles (good but pulled), Fire Fly (good but pulled), I could go on... Like I said, there should be a law against it.

Shame. It could have been good. But in my view, stay away unless you want more lose ends and a resentful feelings for TV execs.

If this review was any help, then please give it the thumbs up. If not, comment on why so I can do a better job for you next time.

This series is a real oddity, there are 2 specific plot strands with the creatures in this story and lots of confusing, not always very smart plot twists, WARNING:CONTAINS SPOILERS.
The smaller creatures appear like an attempt to throw in human interest and appeal to the younger audience. One becomes a pet for one of the main teen characters.
The more interesting larger ocean dwelling creatures are what sparked my initial interest. These creatures look pretty impressive as would befit the revelation that these creatures grow to about 150/200 feet long.
In the end it moves from what would have been a great tale involving living dinosaurs to an interesting tale that may, or may not, involve genetically created sea-monsters before degenerating into conspiracies involving shadow Government agencies and lots of soap opera style background stories. The uniting of the main characters at the end does make some sense but the ending itself sadly leaves every single thread still unravelled.
It feels like it wanted to be something to everyone and that may have led to its early demise with the series being cancelled after only 15 episodes. Maybe there was more to this that never had a chance to be revealed.
The short documentary included here unfortunately does not answer any of the questions I wanted to ask as it is only a "coming soon" advertising promo show. It will remain, in my eyes, one of the nearly great TV shows. The main question will still remain, just what the hell was it about?. This box set was an ideal opportunity for someone involved with the show to actually explain all the loose, and often contradictory, threads. This was the main reasons I bought this box-set, sadly that opportunity was not taken, if it was then I could have easily given it 4 stars.