Second Sight
Second Sight
| 09 January 2000 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
    Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
    Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
    Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
    blanche-2 Clive Owen stars as a police detective losing his sight in "Second Sight," a 1999 TV series.Like Benedict Cumberbatch, Clive Owen first found popularity as a television actor. In Second Sight, he plays DCI Ross Tanner, a man who discovers he has a rare eye disease which may go into remission, stay the way it is, or ultimately he will go blind. The disease also gives him the ability to pick up when something is wrong in an interrogation, and he suffers from hallucinations.He's terrified of his superiors and people working under him to find out the truth, so he enlists the help of his second in command, DI Catherine Tully (Claire Skinner). Along the way Tanner learns to use his other senses to help his detecting, realizing that not every clue is visual.Excellent series with wonderful acting by the very hunky Owen. I'd crawl to see him in anything. The subplot is about Tanner's relationship with his ex-wife and son. Loved the story lines and wish this series lasted longer.I have to take issue with one of the remarks here. Someone was angry that subtitles were suggested and thought it was awful.I've been to England several times, I've seen so many mysteries and detective stories and movies from England it's not funny. But now I'm partially deaf. Also, the British idea of sound is to do it very naturally - it's really not filtered the way U.S. sound is. So some of those dialects can be hard to understand.I used earphones with this, which I suggest for this very excellent series because it has no subtitles. I loved Inspector Lynley, but the subtitles didn't show up on the disks and I missed probably 40%. Now that it's on streaming on Netflix, I plan to go back and see it. Sorry but this is reality. People love this stuff and it's too hard to hear and/or understand without some help.Try having some understanding of an aging population and your fellow man.
    Neil Turner If you are a favorite of British crime dramas, the Second Sight series are a "must see." They star Clive Owen who has become more well-known to US audiences from his roles in the exciting and thoughtful science fiction shocker Children of Men and in the action mystery Inside Man which I found to be thoroughly entertaining. Owen, at first, appears to be very rough hewn, but he has the ability to express a tough vulnerability (an oxymoron?) that makes him perfect for the role of DCI Ross Tanner in the Second Sight series.Tanner is not a very likable man. He's a drunk, a womanizer, a neglectful father, and a tough boss, but he is very good at his job - thus he is the head of a police unit that investigates high-profile crimes - mostly homicides. Tanner begins to have some problems with his vision and finds that he has contracted a rare disease known as acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR). The symptoms are blurred vision, blind spots, and flashes of light. In many cases, full vision returns after a period of time. Tanner - being the introspective, shut off man that he is - decides to hide his condition with the hope that his normal vision will return.The flashes of light are used to dramatic effect in the series by taking on flashes of images that appear to Tanner which often help him to solve the crimes. This technique is overdone, but it serves to give us insight into the mind of this brilliant detective.The first series concerns just one crime which is the complex tale of the murder of a young man. In this first series, Tanner accepts the help of a female detective in his unit who perceives the vision problem. He and the detective also have a sexual relationship. It is through this relationship and his strained relationship with his son that we get some insight into the more human side of the man.In the first episode of the second series, Tanner's relationship with his paramour comes to an end. The second series comprises three different crimes and also offers us a further look into the human side of Tanner. All three are neatly tied together by Tanner's developing condition, and each crime offers exposes different aspects of the British personality and society. Especially notable in Kingdom of the Blind is a chilling performance by veteran actor, Peter Vaughan who his more often seen in lighter roles.British television drama has a special way of portraying the women and men of the police forces who must deal with the criminal element. Second Sight certainly ranks near the top of those dramas.
    harry-77 My TV watching is confined almost exclusively to PBS and the British shows, which are usually the only things on TV worth watching. BUT... this particular show suffers from an excess of unintelligible dialogue that only added to the confusion of the muddled plot and story, the jerky handheld camera work, the appallingly choppy editing and uncertain direction. May I suggest to Rebecca Eaton that she add sub-titles to this show (which still has a few episodes to run) so that American viewers can truly enjoy rather than endure the British dialects and poor diction of the performers.
    Brucev-3 At first glance Second Sight is a crime drama like any other british murder mysteries. But don't be fooled. It goes deeper than most dramas. In other murder mysteries it always involves finding the killer with some character development and that's it. Second Sight is different. Solving the crime is important, but more importantly is how the main character Ross Tanner solves these crimes. Because at the first episode it becomes apparent that he has a rare decease, causing him to loose his sight and eventually going blind. In the course of the series he looses his sight now and then later accompanied by strange visions and surreal dreams (which helps him strangely enough to solve crimes). At first D.C.I. Ross Tanner (a very strict, but fair, well respected and succesfull leader of a crime squad who wants to be in controll of everything) ignores his problem. But then he has to face the music when D.I. Catherine Tully discovers something is wrong with his vision. She helps him and becomes his sight. After four episodes she cannot help him anymore because it is to much a strain on her and the team thinks she is trying to climb up the ladder by sleeping with her superior Ross Tanner, not aware of the main character's problem. As the series goes on his handicap becomes bigger, but at the same time it is enabling him to see things at a better perspective. It is amusing to see how Ross Tanner (Clive Owen) handles himself. More so if his second D.I. ( a very ambitious fellow) tries to take over things. Because only a few people have noticed his problem, he continues with his work, while we know he cannot go on any much longer. Will they ever find out? Clive Owen really makes this series work, if it was played by anyone else, it would not be believable. This crime drama is one of the best dramas ever to be broadcasted by the BBC. Go watch it!