Harsh Realm (1999–2000) User Reviews

great general premise

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 31 August 2021]

Lt. Thomas Hobbes (Scott Bairstow) is set to leave the military and marry Sophie Green (Samantha Mathis) to start a new life. Out of the blue, he has one last mission to complete. He has to enter a virtual reality game developed by the military called Harsh Realm. His mission is to take out retired legend, General Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), in order to get the high score. Once inside, he can't get out. He is saved by the mysterious Florence (Rachel Hayward) who has special healing powers. He is joined by fellow soldier Mike Pinnochio (D. B. Sweeney) sent on the same mission and Dexter the Dog. Harsh Realm is a recreation of Earth with all the population copied from the real world but it is running on its own dystopian course. Meanwhile in the real world, Sophie is told that Thomas had been killed while on a secret mission but the mysterious Inga Fossa (Sarah-Jane Redmond) sets her on a course to uncover the truth.

This is a great general premise adapted from a comic book but creator Chris Carter needs to work out some of the details much better. First, the military would never select soldiers with any close families. The soldiers need to disappear without anyone noticing or coming to search for them. This makes the real world a rather annoying distraction. The show doesn't need Sophie or much of the real world after going into Harsh Realm. The dog is another weird addition. It seems to be somebody's silly idea but nobody thought too much about it. The show eventually pushes them aside in the later episodes. Some more brain-storming sessions would have cut them out right from the start.

There is also the difficulty of doing this with limited CG and probably a lower budget. This is a virtual reality world where strange things can happen. It doesn't deliver on what it promises. My favorite episode is the WWII one. I like the theme song which is a good pump up for the show. In the end, it failed to retain a good audience. It got canceled after three episodes and only nine were ever made.

Unanswered Questions

[refinedsugar · 6/10 · 30 May 2023]

I got into 'The X-Files', loved 'Millennium' so it wasn't a huge shock that I was going to give Chris Carter's new project 'Harsh Realm' a fair shake. Though I can also say I was no fanboy who thought he could do no wrong. With a decent cast, a fair bit of hype and with no knowledge of the comic book it was quasi based on for the record, I was going in completely blind. I don't love this series as much as other people, but I can go as far as saying it showed promise.

Watched the three episodes that aired on TV before it was cancelled then saw all nine. I admit I was intrigued by the initial premise of a virtual reality world & the military man sent into it. Allies, foes, learning the landscape. They certainly gave some action. Shades of government conspiracy certainly didn't hurt. Lastly his journey to get back to the real world to be with his pregnant fiance felt authentic.

I became a fan of Terry Quinn (General Santiago) because of 'Millennium' and I had watched Scott Bairstow (Lt. Hobbes) in the Canadian filmed series 'Lonesome Dove'. Pinocchio (D. B. Sweeney) was fun and a much needed rougher edger to the show. I knew of Samantha Mathis (Sophie) from films such as 'Pump Up The Volume' & 'Broken Arrow'. It's the first thing I remember seeing Max Martini (Major Waters) in too.

Reviewing it leaves me in an odd place because I have to judge it as-is and presented in episodic format leaves it opens to questions. Like those of "what's going on?", deeper motivations and real world consequences to the game that never got to be explored. I liked the premise and some episodes ideas were stronger than others. I liked the actors involved and the bursts of action. The opening title sequence was pretty hype and loaded with atmosphere. 'Harsh Realm' was ultimately uneven, but maybe it would have gotten better. Maybe it wouldn't have. We'll never know now.

Great show. Too bad it ended without resolution

[Sanpaco13 · 9/10 · 19 February 2007]

I vaguely remember this show when it was on television. I think I may have only seen the Pilot episode and then it got pulled soon thereafter. But when I saw copies on DVD at the library I had to get it and watch the rest of the episodes.

The show is about Lt. Hobbs (Scott Bairstow) who X-Files fans may remember from "Miracle Man" in season 1. He has entered into a war game virtual reality where he can not escape until he finds and kills the infamous Santagio who is played by one of my favorite actors Terry O'Quinn. The most likable character in my opinion is Hobbs' sidekick Mike Pinnochio played by D.B. Sweeney. Pinnochio represented me as a viewer in trying to talk some sense into Hobbs and let him know just how annoying he can be but then also turning around and admitting that he is right when he is right.

Many stand alone episodes are very intriguing such as "Kein Ausgang" where Hobbs and Pinnochio get stuck in a battle reenactment from World War II that repeats over and over again. Another great stand alone episode is seen in the final episode "Camera Obscura" about two feuding families in a post nuclear holocaust New York setting.

Many of the supporting actors are easily recognized from the X-Files and Millennium. All in all I loved this show and wish they would have been allowed to run the show for at least a 24 episode season so they could make a conclusion to the Santiago mythology arc that had been setup.

Now this is what I call a great sci-fi show!

[gwenbaggins · 3 March 2001]

I loved every minute of this show. D.B. Sweeney has been a favourite of mine for years and it was pure delight to see him on TV again. I was told that the show was cancelled after the first season - I would personally like to slap the person who made that decision.

For all those poor souls who didn't watch the show - you have no idea what you were missing. I did not expect Carter to make another

"X-Files" (of which I am a huge fan), and he didn't. He was very original and created something that I've never seen before. Thanks for making this show - it was great!

Excellent series to watch

[ghaylock · 9/10 · 27 September 2006]

I enjoyed this series more than anything I've seen on TV since X Files. Maybe because the same people did it. I thought it well scripted, acted and produced with the limited budgets TV gets. For Sci-Fi it was really pretty damn good. To bad it died on the vine. Maybe some other cable network will pick it up and run with it. The way it was set up it was a bit like the old Twilight Zone or The Fugitive, where the over arching theme of the show remains the same from week to week but there are different adventures from week to week. There were a couple of character links and disassociations that didn't make sense. That was the only thing I noticed - but hey! It's TV

Why was this cut short??

[travisammons · 10/10 · 2 January 2020]

This is truly exceptional sci-fi series that had its legs cut out from beneath them before they really got started!! I mean, didn't Carter's X-Files earn ANY credit??

It's a damn shame. Chris: give this show a rebirth or another try PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

It's Just A Game

[totally-vexed · 5/10 · 8 February 2009]

Harsh Realm is one of those series that was cancelled even though it was pretty good. I mean, in the murky waters of TV series there are plenty other series floating belly up that just needed to be 'removed'.

Now, there are many things you might expect from a series like this... first off it is not like the X Files... or pretty much any other Chris Carter show. Secondly it isn't a rip off of the Matrix. Though the plots are similar and Harsh Realm was released after The Matrix... it was actually made before the film (which explains the lack of 'bullet time' shots) Thirdly it isn't like the graphic novel. though it's true it was inspired by the Harsh Realm story. Carter only liked the idea, he didn't feel there was an audience for dragons and true fantasy...he wanted something real... or at least real enough.

The plot of the series is pretty straight forward ... sort of. The military created a virtual world exactly like ours... using medical records and census they created a 'Virtual Character' for everyone. It's purpose was as a training programme. Sending army guys in (think Matrix chair) for battle Sims and terrorist stuff. But suddenly they have a problem. Harsh Realm is taken over by Santiago (the high scoring player) who is now going around creating his own super power and plotting terrorist action against the real world so that Harsh Realm is the only thing left. Hobbes is sent in to kill Santiago in the game (thus reclaiming the harsh realm) but it's never as easy as that. Apart from the fact Santiago has an army, everyone lives in fear of him plus him being a pretty smart guy. Harsh Realm is well Harsh, and the true nature of game is as simple as survival. the people are desperate and gangs, violence and some nasty bounty hunters make what was a fairly simple mission almost impossible.

Of course, he finds friends (in way of another guy sent to kill Santiago), his old dog dexter (i know it doesn't really make sense) and a woman that doesn't speak but can maigcally heal people.

some epsiodes aren't that good, they drag a little... though there are some that showed promise. like X files, those that dealt with the 'big plot' were some times a bit crap, where as the stand alone episodes were more fun. it's the same here. 'Three Percenters' is one of the best. and the WW2 battle Sim glitch was also well worth the watch. they have a bit of fun and creepiness about them. which i won't ruin for you.

if you are hoping that they saw they were being cancelled and made a ditch attempt at an ending, you are gonna be let down. the series ends annoyingly at episode 9, romeo and Juliet story that gives no clue as to what would happen to our heroes. I imagine eventually they would get another chance to kill Santiago and he'd finally go home...

Nice Concept

[azcdk · 5/10 · 17 April 2020]

Until it got all preachy and biblical. Unfortunately it was up against the media machine that, at the time was more interested in promoting the Matrix.

Great TV show. Shouldn't have been taken off.

[CovertEquation · 13 May 2002]

The show is about a guy named Hobbes who is put into a sort of alternate reality (like the matrix, but knowingly). Hobbes wants to get out of this alternate reality and the only way is to kill a guy called Santiago. Chris Carter's (creator of the x-files) directing makes the show very good and have a great plot and acting. Another cool thing is the constant use of the song "Climbatize" by prodigy. Overall a great plot and very well made show. Was one of those summer shows on fox that was really good but never made it.

Great Series

[imbunny2 · 9 September 2004]

I have never been a fan of the sci-fi type shows, although I did like Star Trek (the original). However as a die-hard D.B.Sweeney fan, I had to buy this series when it came out on DVD. I have only had a chance to watch four of the episodes, but I am so intrigued by this series, I am making time on my calendar to watch the rest. I cannot imagine why Fox cancelled it. It is fun to watch, it is thought provoking and I thought the actors all played their roles well. When I look at the TV shows in the lineups, all of the so-called "reality" shows, I cannot help but wonder WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? I am so sick of the bachelors, the bachelorettes, now wife-swapping? Come on somebody give us a good storyline. One like the Harsh Realm. We know it's not real, it's not supposed to be, but it is just good acting, adventure and what-are-they gonna-encounter-next viewing. Good old time TV, kind of like the shows that we used to be able to watch, "The Streets of San Fran,", just to name one of many. I agree with the previous comment, FOX would do a good thing if they would make a mini-series or a theatrical movie of this show. Only please use the same actors, I hate when someone creates a character and then the Hollywood moguls replace them with another so-called "name" actor for the box office draw. If you're afraid, make a TV mini-series. I've seen the Matrix, yuck, (my husband made me) I've watched the X-files, so-so. If you risk your money on these why not Harsh Realm?

I posted this same review for the Behind the Scenes documentary, so forgive me if you accidentally read it twice...

[avatarofshadow · 15 May 2005]

Okay, let me start off by saying I'd never heard of Harsh Realm. 1999 was a busy year for me, and when I heard the words "From the creator of the X-Files..." I didn't get to the end of any of the ads before I turned the channel. I never liked the X-Files, and for no particularly good reason. I might never have heard of Harsh Realm, but I work at Wal-Mart, and they got some DVD series in for fifteen bucks, and I thought "Hmmmm." I picked up Dark Angel first, another series I'd never heard of, then, the next week, I gave Harsh Realm a try. I enjoyed all 9 episodes very much, and I enjoyed the special feature's look behind the scenes. It was well put-together, and they didn't spend the whole time yelling about how they were never given a chance and all that, as some people like to do in their commentaries. I only wish the show had had a definitive ending, and, of course, that I had watched episode nine before episode eight, as I was instructed to do. I'm not going to say anything to spoil it, just that if you pick up the DVDs for yourself, you should watch nine, then eight, it gives it more of an "ending" feel, if only slightly....

This ain't no "Lonesome Dove" for Bairstow!!

[Vice-5 · 8 October 1999]

Virtual reality, a video game in which everything and everyone seems real. The bullets, fire, even people you'd know might turn up in it and try to shut you down. That's the problem Lt. Tom Hobbes (Scott Bairstow, "Wild America", "Lonesome Dove: the Outlaw Years") has to put up with in Chris Carter's new FOX show "Harsh Realm", about a soldier whose forced to play in a dangerous VR game that acquires the title of the show!



Before watching this show, I never really was a fan of Chris Carter's shows or of Scott Bairstow. I don't like "The X-files" that much, and I thought Bairstow played weak roles prior to joining the ansemble cast of "Harsh Realm". This is a really cool show, with cool graphics, great performances (especially of Bairstow's, who really shines in this) and a nicely-woven plot. This is a great way to spend Friday nights, proving that virtual reality doesn't bite!!

Harsh Realm Returns

[lsw-3 · 11 February 2000]

I thought the first three episodes were great, and I was really sorry when the series was cancelled after three episodes. I thought it deserved more of a chance which it may get on FX Network. FX Network announced in its website that it will air the 9 existing Harsh Realm episodes (6 of which are previously unaired) starting in the latter part of March 2000. I'm looking forward to viewing the 6 new episodes.

Never Given a Chance

[lcae1 · 21 November 2001]

Harsh Realm was an intriguing premise which was unfairly dismissed out of hand before it got a chance to show what it could become. Aside from movies such as 'The Matrix', or if you want to go back even earlier, 'Tron', the concept of virtual reality is still largely unexplored in popular television and cinema. Had it been allowed to develop naturally, who knows where Harsh Realm might have led us as it explored the worlds within our world.

Scott Bairstow, the quietly earnest Tom Hobbes, and D.B. Sweeney, throwing a more cynical view on things as Michael Pinocchio, were great leading men, giving wonderfully nuanced performances that were just beginning to grow in strength as they worked out their characters quirks and foibles. Supporting players Rachel Hayward as Florence and Max Martini as Mel Waters did much with little, while Terry O'Quinn's Santiago was a suitably driven dictator and Sarah Jane Redmond added many shades of grey to the ambiguous Inga. Perhaps the only performance that failed to impress came from Samantha Mathis as the saccherine Sophie, but given time she to could have shone.

That's not to say it was all good. The dog, although very cute, quickly became a plot liability, while episodes like 'Three Percenters' and 'Leviathan' were hardly stand-outs and the pilot needed a second and even third viewing for this reviewer to understand the complex story line. But in the mix you also get episodes such as 'Reunion', 'Manus Domini' and 'Cincinnati' which are rich in character development and great stories to boot.

Who knows what might have happened had Harsh Realm been allowed to run a full season. It might not have lasted the distance, but then again, maybe it could have. With careful nurturing it could have turned into a thoughtful, contemplative show that questioned our very reason for being, or else simply a rollicking good adventure series.

As it is, Harsh realm lives on in the minds of a few dedicated fans and is a prime example of why nervous network executives should give second thought about pulling the plug too early.

A big disappointment from Chris Carter.

[innocuous · 13 September 2004]

I was trying to decide what it was about this show that seemed so familiar to me. Then it struck me...this is simply a high-tech version of the old TV show, "Time Tunnel".

This show just doesn't hold together for me. For one thing, it is just too self-conscious, in spite of using the same old clichés from "The X Files". (Hey, instead of having a mysterious Cigarette Man, why don't we have a mysterious dark lady? You know, they can't figure out whose side she is actually on....)

Lt. Hobbes is selected to participate in the war simulation because he is supposedly such a great soldier, but he acts like a civilian dweeb when given the opportunity. His character is one of the huge flaws in this series.

On the other hand, some of the FX are pretty cool. They just don't compensate for the poor writing and lousy characters.

I rented the entire series on DVD, but I could only watch the pilot and the first two episodes. It was clearly going nowhere.

If you want to watch a show that is far superior in every respect, go rent Josh Whedon's "Firefly".

** out of *****

R.I.P. (Thank God!)

[revragnarok · 29 October 1999]

I really love the X-Files and it is a shame that this is the last season for it (1999), but if Carter was trying to transition his fanbase to another show (Millenium ended last season), this was a really bad attempt. Yes, it's similar to The Matrix. And I have heard about a previous comic book. But there really wasn't any "substance" - in the long run he had to defeat the Bad Guy. Big deal. Why should I watch every week? To see the same Goo effect of a "bug" in the VR world? X-Files always leaves another question - "What will happen next?" or "But what about ....?"

Read in the newspaper that FOX picked up on this too, and after three aired episodes - goodbye!

Premiere intriguing and compelling

[lsw-3 · 8 October 1999]

I definitely felt drawn into Harsh Realm and look forward to future episodes. I was impressed by all aspects of the show: writing, characters, actors, backdrop, and effects. I think the premiere episode is just the tip of the iceberg and that upcoming episodes will provide some explanations while introducing even more mysteries.

(Almost) orignial show

[Leikela4 · 11 October 1999]

As a fan of Chris Carter I have to like this show but I am going to say that the first episode did go kind of slow but I think this is because they had to introduce the characters. Some say that it is too much like The Matrix(1999) but the plot line is really very different. The man knows that he is in Harsh Realm and so does everyone else. They are all trying to get out and some of the peole are actually not real. They are part of the program. In The Matrix none of them know that they are there. And Harsh Realm is based off of the comic book that came out long before the movie. I think this is going to be a very good show.

Great Show, Shouldn't been cancelled

[spinal1-3 · 18 November 1999]

This was an awesome show to watch.I considered it the only good thing going on TV's friday nights the 3 weeks it was on.But now it's cancelled.Very bad move on Fox's part.Please bring it back FOX!But who knows I heard they were talking about bringing it back for the winter maybe?I Hope so!

COME ON FOX

[wben750 · 3 September 2004]

MAKE AT LEAST A TV MOVIE TO FINISH IT OFF

It happens again a amazing and truly unique television show comes along with great acting and a great script and what happens it gets cancelled.

I'm sure with all the money fox have made from the DVD sales they can see that there is interest there so how about following it up either with one movie or even a series.

Even a made for TV movies series maybe 1 or 2 could give the show the end it deserves or even spark a mini franchise. Kojak was made it to a series of TV movies years after it was ended why not this.

potential squashed

[mdurkin93 · 2 February 2006]

the show itself had great potential had people where it counted not dropped it after 3 shows. Carter also should had separated it better from the x-files motif and let it stand on its own, it would have succeeded. THis includes music, narration by Scully etc. Still for what it is worth, if you are a sci-fi fan the show is a valued watch and owning. Bairstow it seems can be a great actor (if you remember his character from Lonesome Dove) if he is put in the proper setting and this includes this show. However if you have seen him in other shows or movies i.e Bone Snatcher, you may have misjudge him. A fine actor who needs to find success.

3 out of 5 stars