SS-GB
SS-GB
TV-MA | 19 February 2017 (USA)

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SEASON & EPISODES
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  • Reviews
    TeenzTen An action-packed slog
    Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
    Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.
    Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
    Brian S After the first entertaining 10 minutes this degeneratest into a slooowww boring detective mystery. Frankly the only mystery to me is why they made it, obviously they didn't review it afterwards or if they did they also fell asleep watching it ....Quite honestly I just didn't care who did what by half way through and the whole idea that the nazI won the 2nd war seems largely irrelevant.Just a boring un inspired mess. Read the book instead.
    Paul Evans The concept is definitely a good one, one of the darkest 'what if's' you can imagine, what would Britain have looked like if the Nazis had won the war?As always the BBC gets the visuals spot on, the whole thing looks fantastic and slick from start to finish, the costumes, sets, effects are all amazing, it looks incredibly high budget. The story is very engaging, the first episode is a bit of a drag, but get past that and it opens up very well. It's definitely better then The Man in The High Castle, so much more realistic, you watch this and realise it could have happened, this is what life could have been like.The sound at times was a little bit poor, with a little bit of mumbling, not a great deal, definitely nothing like Jamaica Inn. Accents, however, spot on, I'm glad they didn't use non authentic dialects.If you're a fan of film noir, this will suit you, I hope very much that we get a second series. 8/10
    By-TorX-1 By coincidence, I read Len Deighton's novel only a few weeks before discovering that it had been dramatised by the BBC, so the plot and characters were fresh as I watched SS-GB. Overall, I think it is an effective drama (I'm not concerned with the 'Mumblegate' that has surrounded the series) with a number of strong performances, especially those of Lars Eidinger as Oskar Huth and Maeve Dermody as Sylvia (whose role is nicely expanded upon in comparison to the novel). Yes, Sam Riley is a little on the young side to fully convince as 'Archer of the Yard', but he does provide a stylish presence, and it would be good to see more of the character. Fundamentally, the concept is an imaginative one, however the reality of a Nazi-occupied Britain does not quite come off due to obvious budget restrictions, as such, the scale and social impact of the German military presence is never really fully established or effectively visualised. Furthermore, the series really needed an extra episode as the plot strands (the atomic research base attack and the freeing of the King) rather abruptly come to a crux. However, by adding some revisions to Deighton's plot, the series does leave the way open for further Archer adventures, which hopefully will appear in the near-future
    ttandb This is a really good drama series. Some say it's not as good as the book, but it's rare that ANY adaptation is. For me, especially given it's a BBC adaptation and only five episodes long, it's pretty good.Sam Riley as Douglas Archer and Lars Eldinger as Dr. Oskar Huth are the two most outstanding actors - and characters. Like Archer's sergeant, Harry Woods (played by the always wonderful James Cosmo), I've always believed that anyone who works with the enemy IS the enemy. However, Archer's stance of just trying to keep the peace and bide his time to make a contribution to the effort to overthrow the Nazis, made me realise that mine and Harry's way of black and white thinking is not so easy once out there in the real world. Yes, wild outbursts of 'f**k you!' violence is a great way to feel better - but as much as it shows the populace are still thumbing their noses at the occupiers, it also makes the occupiers torture and kill your countrymen in retaliation. So, it could be argued, Archer's declaration that any such outright hostile action only gives the Nazis the excuse to round up anyone they consider a threat, and to install Marshal Law, is proved to be true.His assertion that all the resistant fighters are merely doing is playing directly into the Nazis waiting hands, proves to be sadly correct. It would seem his own sly and soft approach saves lives even as it undermines the occupiers aggression, and therefore is the way to go - if you want to defeat them without too much innocent collateral damage.Given the way many British people feel completely 'swamped' by the EU slow undermining of British home rule, and the subsequent vote for Brexit to rid our country of it - it's clear to see that, even now, European control of the UK (under any guise) is very divisive and very likely to provoke a violent reaction. It's also why I think many will watch this drama - some, obviously, for the nightmare scenario of what COULD'VE happened had the war ended differently (just another day of the 'Battle of Britain' could've been enough).But others will watch it for what they will see as what COULD'VE been had we not voted for Brexit - only with the EU flag replacing the Swatika ones. Remember that the EU is moving towards its own armed forces and you can see the parallels that some would draw of a dystopian future under a Federal Europe. However, I'm not going to say which way I voted at Brexit as it's not really relevant.What I would say is this is very much a 'thinkers' drama - it's not full of action, explosions and high octane chases. This, I personally think, is why so many dislike it. We're used to instant gratification and candyfloss engagement with TV and movies; in the moment, with bells and whistles and move on. So anything that is slow and makes us properly think, a lot of people tend to dislike.I've liked this drama so much I've bought the book; not because I think it will be better but, unless they cough up another series (which is possible), the BBC will only skim the story and I want to learn it all. That should tell you this is worth watching - any drama that engages people enough to go back to the source material is always a winner in my book (no pun intended).