Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Triangle: Old Equation, New Solution, 14 May 2006
The latest in a growing line of slick miniseries produced by the Sci-Fi Channel, Dean Devlin and Bryan Singer's The Triangle draws from a number of standard sci-fi story elements in an effort to provide an original take on a tired enigma. While the miniseries concerns itself with a mystery long celebrated as unsolvable, The Triangle keeps itself from descending into maddening vagueness by demanding concrete answers from both its characters and its story. That's not to say this story is not enigmatic, but this is a brain-teasing puzzle with a surprising solution. Writer Rockne S. O'Bannon should be commended. The Bermuda Triangle here is more intriguing than it has ever been, kept entertaining by the slow revealing of the shadowy sources of its power. The threat escalates as the film progresses and scientific theories--ranging from wormholes to alternate realities to exotic matter--are blended into an engaging, reality-threatening cataclysm of apocalyptic proportion. At the outset, single ships are threatened but by the time of the paradoxical climax, the globe hangs in the balance. The inevitable time-travel is elegantly handled amidst all of this and the endgame is both intelligent and stunning.
The acting here is above average, too, and each of the leads elevates not only their character's role but the film's believability as well. Eric Stoltz, Bruce Davison, Catherine Bell, and Michael E. Rodgers are excellent as a team of unique experts in unusual fields of study. Keeping the story emotionally grounded is Lou Diamond Phillips, whose individualized subplot allows us to experience the film's reality-altering oddness through the eyes of an everyman. The miniseries is beautifully produced, nicely photographed, and the considerable visual effects are always impressive. More importantly, those effects are used primarily to service the story's intricacies, not as a means of distracting from plot holes. In fact, The Triangle's most serious flaws are those extended scenes echoing science fiction clich�s for suspense or drama, chunks of the narrative that will seem all-too familiar--and perhaps, as a result, all-too dull--for fans of the genre. Conspiracy plotlines wear thin too quickly, the quirks of Davison's psychic irritate as they escalate, and Sam Neill's obsessed magnate is instantly forgettable. At those moments when the film is successful, however, it plays off of our curiosity and becomes quite gripping. Viewers have set-out on this sort of strange sea voyage before, but Devlin and Singer manage to make it smart and sexy. The Triangle does make something old new again; the three-part miniseries takes a host of familiar pseudo-scientific theories and science fiction themes and finds a way to recombine them into something that feels, for the most part, fresh.
--Brian A. Dixon
Revelation Magazine
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well acted high concept mini-series, mediocre execution., 15 Jan 2007
Hyped as the first co-production of Bryan Singer (Director of X-Men) and Dean Devlin (producer and writer of Independence Day) this should be a sci-fi spectacular. Alas, while a satisfying enough diversion for a while, it does not tread any new ground, ideas, or benchmarks in sci-fi.
The story revolves more around technobabble than character development, despite some fine acting from almost all involved. Sam Neill is a multi-millionaire shipping magnate who offers a huge sum to a disparate group of experts to solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. As time goes by, it becomes clearer that his motivation is more personal than he at first admits, and that there is a time constraint, as things head from mystery to countdown to disaster.
An interesting subplot revolves around the excellent Lou Diamond Phillips, who is one of the victims, experiencing alternate realities as a result of his encounter with the Triangle. Did I say alternate realities..? Yes, you'll have to get used to listening to theories on `exotic matter', `parallel universes', `ripples in space time', `government conspiracies' and `electromagnetic disturbances'.. however the end does tie things together - with the help of a substantial dose of belief suspension. In fact, the ending is just a little too neat and ideal to be truly satisfying. That said, there are plenty of interesting ideas here to keep this fresh enough to be worth viewing.
The effects are just up to small screen standard, but never believable enough to make you forget they are special effects. However the acting is, for the most part, excellent, and it is this, particularly from Phillips and from Eric Stolz, that help us suspend belief to make this mini series work.
Over the disc we get the three episodes, each just under 1 ½ hours, plus some interview snippets with the principals and a making of documentary.
Overall, at the price offered by Amazon, well worth a buy, as long as you do not keep too high expectations. Fine acting, good pitch of an idea, but not so impressive in execution of story.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Triangle Story Goes Round In Circles, 18 Aug 2006
"The Triangle" is the story of a team of researchers, paid to investigate the truth behind the legends of the Bermuda Triangle. In doing so they become wrapped up in a time-continuum and get glimpses of what caused the triangle and its future - but can they escape to get the word out before disaster strikes on a much larger scale?
The story begins in a format similar to "Species" where a varied multi-disciplined team are brought together to trace the missing craft that have vanished over the triangle. It even features a psychic, a-la 'Species', with almost exactly the same role; i.e. witnessing the scene of a bloodbath and muttering "I sense that something happened here" and other pointless contributions.
Despite this opening, I became more and more gripped with "The Triangle". It's a fast moving story, perhaps a little too over-loaded in places, however it contains so many interesting events and encounters that it's a very motivating piece.
These elements include what happens to a triangle survivor when he arrives home after his stay in hospital. His wife picks him up and he comments casually that he thought he remembered the car being blue. That's just the tiny beginning of the powerful anaomalies he experiences, and I won't spoil it by saying any more here.
Similar things happen to the research team, and the plot twists and turns, paradoxes are created, and as the watcher one begins to feel their panic and frustration as events unfold.
Needless to say there are lots of references to the associated "Philadelphia Experiment" and one minor irritation was the word "electro-magnetic" being bandied around vaguely and constantly throughout the film in a pseudo-scientific kind of way.
Overall, though, a great story of the paranormal, over three parts on two disks.
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