DVD Review: Day of the Triffids (2009)
Day of the Triffids (2009)
Distributor: Showbox Entertainment/BBC
Directed by: Nick Copus
Starring: Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Eddie Izzard, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Priestley
Review by: Ben Bussey
Things have been looking up in the world since the mass farming of Triffids: giant, exotic plants whose oil has been harvested as a safe, cheap, emission-free alternative fuel that has come to replace fossil fuels. Britain has become a clean, comfortable, and complacent place. But very few people know the true nature of the plants: that they are sentient, carnivorous, and very aggressive. Then an eco-warrior attempts to expose Triffid exploitation and liberate the plants, and as luck might have it decides to do so on the very day that a massive solar storm blasts through the atmosphere, blinding everyone that sees it. As the sightless masses panic and the few who remaining sighted struggle to process the situation, only Triffid expert Dr. Bill Mason (Scott) is aware of the even greater problem than widespread blindness; the fact that humanity is no longer at the top of the food chain.
Were it not that John Wyndham’s novel was written and published almost sixty years ago, you’d be forgiven for regarding this apocalyptic eco-horror as a thinly veiled reflection of our contemporary fears about energy and the environment. Just goes to show the concerns we have today are really nothing new, but more than that it illustrates yet again the timelessness of the apocalypse survival narrative. From Romero’s Dead trilogy to Mad Max to The Road, it seems we never get tired of contemplating how we might fare if (when?) everything goes to Hell. Wyndham’s novel was absolutely instrumental in kick-starting this trend, and as I’ve said before, helped to redefine 20th century horror and SF along with Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend. As such, given the breadth of its influence, the problem any new adaptation faces is making it all seem fresh. This is exacerbated by the fact that Day Of The Triffids has already been adapted to TV in a much loved 70′s series.
So what does this new adaptation bring? Naturally, higher production values, and a greater number of recognisable faces. Dougray Scott, forever condemned to be more famous for not being Wolverine than for any role he actually did play, takes the male lead, a typically brooding and humourless man on a mission, whilst Joely Richardson is the BBC reporter who fate drops in his path. Two attractive forty-something actors playing attractive forty-something characters; in short, there’s very little challenging or compelling about them. Likewise the casting of Brian Cox and Vanessa Redgrave in fairly stock patriach/matriach supporting parts. Far more interesting is the decidely non-typecast Eddie Izzard as an enigmatic loner who is slowly revealed to be a power-hungry madman with a firearms fetish, eagerly taking advantage of the fall of civilisation for his own benefit. Anyone familiar with Izzard’s stand-up comedy (and if you’re not familiar with it, shame on you!) will probably be as uncertain as I was that the man could successfully pull off a serious villian, but I’m happy to report he really does, and fascinatingly he does so without any radical deviations from his standard screen persona. Then again, everyone involved looks like Laurence Olivier when held up against Jason Priestley, who couldn’t have made for a less convincing militant revolutionary if he was dressed as a pantomime horse. What the hell they were thinking casting him I’ve no idea. Are there really that many 90210 fans still out there?
The other key problem faced in filming Day Of The Triffids is of course the titular man-eating plants themselves. The 70′s series has often been mocked for how silly they looked, and it’s hard to get around how absurd an idea they are from the get-go. Wisely, they are here kept largely in the shadows and in the background, an omnipresent threat rather than a focal point; as is generally the case in these stories, people are the real threat, the real monsters. But when the Triffids do get the spotlight, they’re pretty well done as TV CGI goes. In terms of production value and FX this is certainly on par with recent BBC fantasy fare like Dr. Who and Torchwood.
However, all in all there simply isn’t enough about this Day Of The Triffids adaptation to really hold the attention. Izzard aside, the characters and performances are bland and uninvolving, and the social and enviromental commentary is somewhat heavy-handed. Like I said, any modern adaptation of this story was going to struggle to find new ground, and this one rather falls short of the mark. Still, if you do enjoy the mini-series you’ll certainly be happy with the DVD, which boasts a detailed making-of, some deleted scenes, and interviews with all the key players. All of which would be fine, if only the show in question were of more interest.
