Hidden Gems of Amazon Prime instant videos

As one who found Critical Role early in their live stream that prompted me to get back into D&D after a 30 year break, this show screams D&D. The fact that (starting episode 3) it is based on an actual D&D campaign that let the dice decide many situations, it really delivers the randomness in many situations. You can SEE when a Nat 1 was rolled based on what happens. Then again, I am a pretty big stan, having watched/listened to the first campaign 3-4 times.

That said, there is no prerequisite knowledge required to enjoy this. A group of the A list video game and anime voice actors voicing characters they created and have a vested interest in bringing to life already gives it a huge leg up.

I am enjoying it and the DotA anime.
The problem is that what would look like decent anime has been spoiled by being released after Arcane.

Reacher is about as non Tom Cruise as it can possibly be and far far better for it. Enjoyed the first episode.

Vox Machina: Good animation. Jokes don't land for me - they seem to think f-bombs and sex references are inherently funny. Action is pretty good. Music is disconcertingly bland.

DudleySmith wrote:

Vox Machina: Good animation. Jokes don't land for me - they seem to think f-bombs and sex references are inherently funny. Action is pretty good. Music is disconcertingly bland.

It probably speaks to my puerile sense of humour but I'm quite enjoying Vox Machina. It is very puerile in a lot of places though.

Sorbicol wrote:

Reacher is about as non Tom Cruise as it can possibly be and far far better for it. Enjoyed the first episode.

I am going home tonight and watching the whole season. I CAN'T wait!

Sorbicol wrote:
DudleySmith wrote:

Vox Machina: Good animation. Jokes don't land for me - they seem to think f-bombs and sex references are inherently funny. Action is pretty good. Music is disconcertingly bland.

It probably speaks to my puerile sense of humour but I'm quite enjoying Vox Machina. It is very puerile in a lot of places though.

I will say that a lot of the humor is taken straight from the table talk during the actual campaign.

I think the story picked up urgency in episode 3 of Vox Machina. I was liking it before. But now I cannot wait for the next episode!

The DOTA series picked up too. I will probably finish that series tonight. (I'm on episode 6)

Reacher and Vox Machina are both quality IMHO.

Yeah I like Tom Cruise but THIS is more like it. With so much material this IP works much better as a show than movie anyway.

Vox Machina is a really good example of repurposing content. A lot of what you see was from plot and dialog during their original gameplay sessions from almost ten years ago. Pretty amazing when you think about it...but, yes, sophomoric in many places.

Really enjoying Vox Machina as well.

Amazon's Jack Reacher looks like a pretty faithful adaptation of the first book. Which means, that all the really, really stupid stuff in there is because it was written that way in the book.

Killing Floor was one of the most insanely stupid things I've ever read. But, nevertheless ... fun. Lee Child was a British tv executive with absolutely no idea about how anything works with regards to American society, law, civil institutions, criminal procedure, or the US military. The later Jack Reacher books, are, tbf, a little better - at least until Child burned out and lost interest.

Anyway, the Amazon show is big, ridiculous fun, just like the book. People who like this should also watch Banshee, which is a whole lot like Reacher, but better.

Finally, is anybody watching this having trouble with way too much bass coming through? It's making the subwoofer rumble like no game or movie I've ever watched. It feels distracting and out of balance. I'm watching using the Prime app on an xbox.

polq37 wrote:

Anyway, the Amazon show is big, ridiculous fun, just like the book. People who like this should also watch Banshee, which is a whole lot like Reacher, but better.

Wouldn't say better. It's equivalent, remove some of the humor of Reacher and add more sex... They're both equally stupid, but fun.

I'm not having any sound problems with Reacher. I echo what other are saying here, it's a solid adaptation. It's got a great cast, and I'm always happy to see Harvey Guillen from What We Do in the Shadows. So far I'm liking the changes they've made.

I'm always happy to see Harvey Guillen from What We Do in the Shadows.

SOLD!

fangblackbone wrote:
I'm always happy to see Harvey Guillen from What We Do in the Shadows.

SOLD!

SOLD!

polq37 wrote:

Amazon's Jack Reacher looks like a pretty faithful adaptation of the first book. Which means, that all the really, really stupid stuff in there is because it was written that way in the book.

Ha, I was going to say, I'm enjoying the show but I don't remember the books being quite *this* dumb. Also would have preferred a Reacher who doesn't look so much like a bodybuilder! But he's so much better than Tom Cruise in the role.

ComfortZone wrote:

Also would have preferred a Reacher who doesn't look so much like a bodybuilder! But he's so much better than Tom Cruise in the role.

I actually think they got pretty close to the books' descriptions when they picked the actor. From the Jack Reacher wiki:

Reacher is described as being 6 feet 5 inches (1.95 m) tall, weighing 210–250 pounds (95–113 kg) and having a 50-inch (130 cm) chest.[5] In Never Go Back, he is described as having "a six-pack like a cobbled city street, a chest like a suit of NFL armor, biceps like basketballs, and subcutaneous fat like a Kleenex tissue."[6] In his youth, his physical appearance likened to that of a 'bulked-up greyhound'.[7] He also reveals that his size is purely genetic; he states in Persuader and Never Go Back that he is not much of an exercise enthusiast and he shows little interest in any kind of healthy diet.

He has various scars, most notably a collection of roughly stitched scars on his abdomen caused by a bombing in Lebanon,[8] with ugly raised welts that are later instrumental in saving his life, a 3-to-4-inch-wide (8 to 10 cm) white scar that intersects his shrapnel scar that he received during a knife fight in Gone Tomorrow. Reacher attributes his survival to the rough MASH stitch work.[9]

Good or not, that's the way it was written.

No doubt, it’s just harder to ignore the absurdity when it’s right there on screen!

ComfortZone wrote:
polq37 wrote:

Amazon's Jack Reacher looks like a pretty faithful adaptation of the first book. Which means, that all the really, really stupid stuff in there is because it was written that way in the book.

Ha, I was going to say, I'm enjoying the show but I don't remember the books being quite *this* dumb. Also would have preferred a Reacher who doesn't look so much like a bodybuilder! But he's so much better than Tom Cruise in the role.

The dumbness is interesting, IMO. They're played pretty straight, but they seem to know that they are airport trash for boys. Reacher is a Mary Sue (in the "no flaws" sense rather than an author insert i think).

I think the show has handled Roscoe pretty well so far. The girl of the book character is not usually given much more to do than that, but she feels like a real person to me here.

I think it helps that The Killing Floor is a pretty good story. The next one (with the dead girls in the bathtubs full of paint) is much worse.

Watched the first season of Hanna and liked it. Interesting that each time the government found Hanna it was because she broke a rule. However, she doesn't know she was cause of the government finding out about her.

The last episode surprised me a bit. I guess they are going a different direction than I thought they would. I'm thinking this series is going to end like buffy with a bunch of girls forming their own super lady team fighting against bad people instead of demons.

polq37 wrote:

Killing Floor was one of the most insanely stupid things I've ever read. But, nevertheless ... fun. Lee Child was a British tv executive with absolutely no idea about how anything works with regards to American society, law, civil institutions, criminal procedure, or the US military. The later Jack Reacher books, are, tbf, a little better - at least until Child burned out and lost interest.
.

Hah, yeah. I read the books pretty much completely out of order, and only got around to Killing Floor towards the end. Child definitely improved over time.

Watched Reacher on the basis of what people posted above and was pleasantly surprised by it. Not bad at all. Looking forward to the rest.

I liked Jack Reacher a lot. But at the end, the monologuing and mustache twirling by the one dimensional bad guys got a bit silly. I thought they did pretty well early on avoiding some of that, but didn't quite stick the landing on the last 2-3 episodes in that regard.

And I'm sorry, but when your "geek" character shows something on the screen and it says "enhance" before the pixels shift around to show something previously unseen, you've screwed up.

But I'm here for season 2, 3, etc.

Also looking forward to Terminal List starring Chris Pratt coming to Prime. That book is also a bit of a family loss/revenge story. I suspect it will be a bit more accurate with some of the tech.

MannishBoy wrote:

And I'm sorry, but when your "geek" character shows something on the screen and it says "enhance" before the pixels shift around to show something previously unseen, you've screwed up.

Yeah I thought we were past this kind of silliness, I had to roll my eyes there.

Anyway yeah, there are definitely some things you can nitpick about the show but overall it was a good time.

Yeah we're enjoying Reacher as well. Alan Ritchson is basically classic Schwarzenegger without all the one liners.

Crawley wrote:

Yeah we're enjoying Reacher as well. Alan Ritchson is basically classic Schwarzenegger without all the one liners.

Yeah, enjoying this one. Great to see Guillermo as well!

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched the first season of Hanna and liked it. Interesting that each time the government found Hanna it was because she broke a rule. However, she doesn't know she was cause of the government finding out about her.

The last episode surprised me a bit. I guess they are going a different direction than I thought they would. I'm thinking this series is going to end like buffy with a bunch of girls forming their own super lady team fighting against bad people instead of demons.

Lead actress is actually a Voice Actor for one of the side characters in The Legend of Vox Machina who shows up for the first time in Episode 6.

polq37 wrote:

Finally, is anybody watching this having trouble with way too much bass coming through? It's making the subwoofer rumble like no game or movie I've ever watched. It feels distracting and out of balance. I'm watching using the Prime app on an xbox.

I noticed this too, especially during quiet scenes with some low bass in the background. Made my crappy TV speakers go nuts I'm using a Fire stick so it's not just an Xbox thing.