Recently, the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" was finally launched.
It was a long time to come out, but the result was a big surprise.
One thing to say, our Chinese audience's feelings towards this drama are the most complicated.
On the one hand, "The Three-Body Problem" is the representative work of Chinese writer Liu Cixin.
Being filmed abroad this time is a very powerful cultural export of Chinese science fiction to the outside world, which is of great significance.
On the other hand, Tencent and Netflix bought the copyright of "The Three-Body Problem" at the same time.
The filming of the two dramas started almost at the same time, forming a situation where Chinese and American science fiction dramas are facing each other in the air.
The Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" is indeed menacing.
At the very beginning, they shouted two loud slogans -
"Netflix's largest investment project ever" + "The original team of "Game of Thrones" regrouped and worked hard to build it".
The production budget is not playing with you.
With a total investment of 160 million US dollars (equivalent to nearly 1.3 billion yuan), a total of 8 episodes were filmed, with an average of 20 million US dollars per episode, that is, 160 million yuan per episode.
The Tencent version of "The Three-Body Problem", with a total investment of 360 million yuan, has a total of 30 episodes, with an average of 12 million yuan per episode.
It can be called a gap of more than ten times.
All kinds of momentum have been created, but the character posters released by Netflix in the first wave are indescribable.
Full screen of "political correctness".
Wang Miao has become a woman, the protagonist is a black man, and the negative characters are mostly Asian-faced, and the most wise and martial character has not unexpectedly become white.
After that, the Netflix version announced that it would be postponed for half a year, and everyone thought it was holding back a big one.
Unexpectedly, after meeting with the audience, it directly pulled a big lump.
Douban has a score of only 6.7 points, and netizens described this as "the three-body problem taken by three-body people".
We may be questioned about having a "patriotic filter" here, so let's look abroad.
The IMDb score is 6.1 and the freshness on Rotten Tomatoes is only 76%.
It's basically the level that doesn't enter the stream.
Those foreign media are even more poisonous than the other.
Inverse commented that the show is fast-paced and delivers a visual spectacle at breakneck speed, but in the process it sacrifices something unique to the original: the science.
The Hollywood Reporter commented that the show is not without good things, it is just bland, and it has been embellished in characterization and acting.
"The Wrap" has a sharper review: it's rare to see such hard sci-fi, with a cheeky worldview.
A large number of foreign "Three-Body Problem" fans are also almost all complaining.
Many foreign netizens have even been in the comment area of the Netflix version, Amway's Tencent version of "The Three-Body Problem".
We can safely say that in this contest, Tencent's version of "Three-Body Problem" defeated the Netflix version of "Three-Body Problem".
Chinese science fiction has finally raised its eyebrows.
01、
Where exactly did Netflix lose?
There are many reasons for this, but there is one scene that can be said to be the epitome of concentration - the Guzheng Project.
The Guzheng Project is the most classic famous scene in the first part of the novel.
In the original book, the essence of the Guzheng Project is an assassination operation.
The hard disk in Evans' hand stored the information sent by the Three-Body Civilization.
But blatant snatching could lead to Evans directly detonating a nuclear bomb and ending up together.
When the intelligence revealed that he would take the cruise ship Judgment Day through the Panama Canal, Shi Qiang came up with a way -
The nano flying knife researched by Wang Miao was erected on the river.
As soon as the ship passes, the hull and human body will be cut instantly, and there will be no time to react.
And that important hard disk, even if it is cut, has a complete appearance and can be restored later.
The key to Guzheng's action is to "quietly".
In the original book, it is written: "The bodies of the people on the deck suddenly froze, and the people stood straight for a few seconds before they collapsed. ”
The Tencent version captures the essence.
Wang Miao stood in the distance and watched with a telescope and witnessed the whole process of the operation.
The shot of him shaking all over his body and breaking out in a cold sweat makes people feel very substitutional.
When filming the knife cutting people, the scene is solemn and cold, the camera is extremely restrained, and the flesh and blood are rarely used.
This unique new Chinese horror style has never appeared in previous film and television works, which gives people a great shock.
It is said that the Tencent version of the crew did a physical simulation when filming the guzheng plan, and also consulted relevant experts to design and cut the details, and the final effect was amazing, which became the finishing touch of the whole play.
On the other hand, the Netflix version of the Guzheng project was still filmed according to the old-fashioned disaster film shooting method, and it had lost from the beginning.
As soon as the big ship appeared, it was directly embarrassing.
The poor texture and rough details are like the graduation work of a senior animation major.
During the implementation of the Guzheng plan, blood plasma flew sideways, the crew scurried, and wailed everywhere.
The classic American horror style is no different from the "Titanic" of the year.
In fact, in 2002, the United States made a low-budget horror film "Ghost Ship", which has a similar scene.
Many UP owners used the picture of this film when interpreting the Guzheng Project.
Unexpectedly, more than 20 years have passed, and the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has smashed 160 million, and it still can't make a low-budget horror film.
Not only that, but Evans on the boat even had time to step over the railing and kneel in prayer.
At this time, he had already destroyed the hard drive, and the creative team did not understand the Guzheng plan at all.
What's even more excessive is that the Netflix version carries private goods and arranges a lot of children on the big ship.
There are no such depictions in the original book.
Having an innocent child cut to death by a knife is a sinister intention.
Rumor has it that this is a request from Jewish investors, so is the big ship going to Loli Island?
Finally, the ship disintegrated, and the plastic feeling came to the face.
A 5-minute scene, a verdict is made.
02、
In addition to the above guzheng plan, there are many changes to the Netflix version, which hides "mysteries".
Let's first look at the characters in the play, what changes have been made, good or bad.
Ye Zhetai is a professor of physics at Tsinghua University, but he speaks a Taiwanese accent, what is the purpose of this?
The female Wang Miao is Mexican, and Lao Mo really does dirty work.
The Oxford Five, which includes Asians, Mexicans and blacks, is a neat and tidy group.
The young Ye Wenjie could only squeeze his eyebrows and stare at him, and his husband Yang Weining changed from a simple and kind person to a lewd man who likes to plagiarize.
Ye Wenjie's private life is chaotic.
slept with Bai Mulin and slept with Evans, rolling the sheets is a daily operation, and she has almost become a "lustful woman".
Even the daughter became born to Evans.
Qin Shi Huang changed to Kublai Khan, Zhang Beihai became an Indian, and fell in love with the female Wang Miao, and Cheng Xin was Asian.
And Shi Qiang's son, Shi Xiaoming, has one more same-sex lover.
The only gratifying thing is that Yun Tianming's portrayal is very empathetic and a flesh-and-blood character.
Looking at the degree of restoration of the lines, it can also be called a disaster performance.
"Physics doesn't exist anymore" is a very important line in the original book.
The Tencent version has done a lot of rendering, and when it is finally said, it gives people a sense of oppression.
But there is no foreshadowing in the Netflix version and it is said directly, which is as bland and tasteless as saying "the eggs in the refrigerator are finished".
"The whole universe shines for you", this is also a golden sentence in the novel, it is a romance that belongs to scientists alone, and the Tencent version also spends a lot of space to present it.
But the Netflix version directly came with a twinkle and a twinkle, and the five-cent special effects made people speechless.
Let's take a look at several famous scenes in the original book, and how the Netflix version was filmed.
At first glance, the human column computer looks good, but if you look closely, there are obvious traces of cutouts, and the details are not in place, and the flags in the hands of the soldiers are wandering around blindly, and there is no sense of wholeness.
The big scene of Tomoko unfolded, and she was also ridiculed by netizens for "funds being embezzled".
The most controversial part is the passage where Ye Zhetai was criticized.
In the original book, Ye Wenjie's family was caught in the center of the storm of the times, and all kinds of human nature made her heart like ashes.
So when she received the signal of the three-body civilization, she immediately replied, desperate and cold.
Although the Tencent version does not directly describe the criticism part, Ye Wenjie's catharsis alone is enough to explain the reason for the change of characters.
The effect of Netflix is that Ye Zhetai was tragically framed by the villain, and Ye Wenjie avenged his father and destroyed mankind.
Many foreigners can't understand the logic inside, why didn't Ye Wenjie kill his father and enemy, but instead pulled on the back of all mankind, isn't this sick?
This is the director entrainment of private goods, wanting to secretly poke and poke at China, but stealing chickens does not lead to rice.
The Cultural Revolution part of this clip is even far less deep than the domestic films "Farewell My Concubine", "Blue Kite" and the recent "Jiaoma Tang Hui".
It seems to be lively, but there is no sense of oppression.
The students are engaged in criticism and fighting, but there are many high-rise buildings behind them.
As soon as Professor Ye opened his mouth, he was in broken Chinese.
The slogan of the 60s, printed in a trendy print style.
Even secretly wrote "Down with capitalism" as "Down with social imperialism", turning anti-American into anti-Soviet, what about the cultural self-confidence of Americans?
Many people say that Netflix filmed "The Three-Body Problem" for a pack of vinegar and a pot of dumplings.
This vinegar refers to the part where Ye Zhetai was criticized, and it is also the most popular passage for Westerners.
But this bag of vinegar was also shaken off by them, and it was all spilled.
Together with the four famous scenes including the "Guzheng Project", the Netflix version can be said to be a complete failure.
03、
Now that we look back, the Netflix version and the Tencent version follow two styles.
The Tencent version is a "special edition for book lovers".
The novel is a complete reproduction, and the verve is filmed, but the pace is very slow and not friendly to passers-by.
This is also why it is generally popular in China, just a small-scale carnival.
The Netflix version is a "passerby-friendly version".
It has made a lot of magic changes to the whole book, deleting long passages such as countdown, cosmic flash, and three-body game.
The plot is laid out with the focus on the characters, and the pace is fast, and foreigners will watch it very cool.
For example, as soon as the female Wang Miao saw the countdown, she fast-forwarded to the cosmic flash;
As soon as Ye Wenjie left the scene where his father was criticized, he quickly entered the Red Bank base.
The tall sci-fi concepts in the novel have become cutscenes.
The 5th episode of the Netflix version filmed the "Guzheng Operation" that appeared in Tencent's 30th episode, and the last episode has fast-forwarded to the election of the wall-facing person and the brain of Yun Tianming.
Characters such as Cheng Xin, Yun Tianming and Wade in the 2nd and 3rd parts of the novel also appeared in advance to participate in the whole story.
This kind of fast-food treatment takes care of the feelings of most people and has a wider audience, but it loses the charm of the novel.
This is like changing "Dream of Red Mansions" into a love triangle idol drama of Bao Daichai, which is watched by more people and easy to understand, but is it still "Dream of Red Mansions"?
04、
The collapse of Netflix's version of "The Three-Body Problem" illustrates two things.
First, the U.S. film and television industry has begun to collapse in full.
In terms of movies, superhero movies have declined in an all-round way, the appeal of classic IP is not as good as before, and the era of Hollywood taking all the world has become a thing of the past.
You can clearly feel that they are weak in creation, and now they can only work the elements of "political correctness" in exchange for box office profits.
In terms of American dramas, the collapse of "Game of Thrones 8" is not accidental, and the entire production of American dramas has been weak.
"The Three-Body Problem" spends a lot of money to do small things, which once again reflects this.
Facts have also proved that the "politically correct" Hollywood is destroying its own golden signboard.
Second, ideological stuff is already imprinted in the bones of Americans.
Some time ago, Michelle Yeoh and Kwan Jiwei were ignored at the Oscars, and the various guns and sticks in "The Three-Body Problem" all illustrate this point.
Even if they award you an Oscar, even if they buy the copyright of your work, they still discriminate against you in their bones.
This antagonism cannot be eliminated overnight.
Fortunately, when the world environment is regressing, domestic film and television dramas have kept the basics, and even made a lot of excellent works.
"The Three-Body Problem" is a classic case of defeating the strong with the weak.
Especially in this case, the Chinese capital has always maintained its sanity and has not interfered with the creation, which is worthy of praise.
I hope that Tencent, which has deep pockets, can increase investment, so that "Three-Body Problem 2" can reach a new level and completely rewrite the ceiling of domestic science fiction dramas.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: A chicken
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