Wild Palms (1993)

	William R.

13 out of  14  people found this review helpful

A subtle, convoluted story involving virtual reality, mind control, a megalomaniacal senator, a Scientology-like cult, a shadowy media conglomerate, and a desperate resistance group, "Wild Palms" has all the ingredients for a classic cyberpunk story. Add to that cooler-than-cool characters, hip, in-joke-filled dialogue, and sudden violence, and you have one of the best shows ever to come out of television, period. This miniseries has been one of my favorites ever since it first aired. Once you've watched it, you might want to find Bruce Wagner's (the show's originator) "Wild Palms" comic collection and the WP Reader for more background into the story. There's also a WP screenplay book with several scenes deleted from the miniseries.

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	Peter U.

2 out of  2  people found this review helpful

I generally agree with William R.'s review. The directorial style does have a melodramatic style appropriate to the graphic-novel source material, which may put some people off. I feel that the somewhat dream-like quality works well with the plot line of a megalomaniac seeking to turn everyday life into a semi-virtual world controlled by himself. There are symbolic subtexts and double meanings throughout which would require multiple viewings to appreciate. It was creepy to see this 1992 storyline include references to a future government-staged pseudo-terror event, and a major economic depression. As to the DVD transfer, the quality does unfortunately seem below par.

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	Christopher S.

1 out of  1  people found this review helpful

This was slow-paced and uninteresting. There was always the hint of something big to come, but I couldn't care enough to wait that long.

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