The Triffids - Plants of Terror - DVD

Movie: On several occasions, the cult sci-fi novel The Triffids by John Wyndham from 1951 has been made into a film or has indirectly provided a source of inspiration for filmmakers like Steven Spielberg. Before the Plants of Terror raged again in the cinema in 2013, with Sam Raimi rumoured to be directing, the novel was staged by British television in 2008 in the form of a two-part event movie with a high-profile cast.

In a not-too-distant future, the Triffids, giant intelligent plants of alien origin, have solved mankind's energy problems. This is because their valuable oil meets the needs that Earth's natural resources could no longer meet. The plants are therefore cultivated in huge facilities, whereby the fact that the Triffids have sentience is admittedly not taken into account. But this arrogance takes bitter revenge when a solar storm causes a large part of humanity to go blind. The Triffids use the resulting chaos to free themselves from their prisons and satisfy their hunger for human flesh. Only a small group of humans, including renowned Triffid researcher Bill (Dougray Scott) and struggling radio host Jo (Joely Richardson), have escaped blindness and are desperate to take up the fight against the hungry Triffids. But panic, a thirst for power and insanity ensure that it is not the Triffids, but some of the humans, who become the greatest threat to the survival of our species.

The Triffids - Plants of Terror tells an inherently thrilling apocalyptic tale that Nick Copus has handsomely directed. With Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, her mother Vanessa Redgrave, the wonderful Brian Cox or the former Beverly Hills 90210 star Jason Priestley could also be hired a convincing cast ensemble, which is quite able to increase the entertainment value of the TV two-parter. Especially comedian Eddie Izzard, known worldwide for his Star Wars Cantine number, pleases in the rather unusual role as a villain.

Also some of the special effects can be seen. The apocalyptically destroyed London, for example, makes for a gloomy atmosphere, and even the spectacular plane crash at the beginning of the first part has some show value. What this adaptation of the cult novel struggles with, however, is its length. Copus dwells TOO much on long dialogue scenes, stopping the tension just when it has picked up speed. While some of the Triffid attacks are also effectively staged, the constant halting of tension means that the very real threat posed by the alien plants is not really comprehensible.

So The Triffids - Plants of Terror is a decent piece of apocalyptic science fiction, with successful moments and low-tension lengths roughly in balance. Not as good as it could have been based on the original, but the two-parter offers entertainment worth seeing on a good TV level. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the TV production is on a good level. The picture is clean and largely sharp. Only in some darker scenes are deficiencies in the detail representation and a slight Dopplungseffekt to make out. The sound remains rather restrained in many moments, the use of sound effects, especially when attacked by the Triffids, break up the tonal events here and there pleasant. Not spectacular, but good!

Extras: While the cut scenes have hardly really worth seeing moments to offer, the Making of offers quite the one or other interesting look at the creation of the mini-series. Not really groundbreaking, but with 30 minutes quite detailed and entertaining.

Conclusion: The Triffids - Plants of Terror is decent TV entertainment, which can convince with a good cast and some convincing special effects. Dramaturgical lengths and a not always consistent arc of tension tarnish the overall picture a little at the end. But fantasy fans may risk a look here in any case!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp