The Others (2000) User Reviews

They should had given this guys a bigger budget.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 16 August 2005]

I always enjoyed watching this TV-series with a supernatural basis. In my opinion it had lots of potential and could had become the new "The X-Files". The 'low' budget was however painfully notable at times with its special effects and it was obvious that the creators had to restrain themselves with the stories for the different episodes because of the 'lack' of money. I'm positive that with some more money this TV-series could had become a big success but unfortunately they stopped the show after one season.

The characters were all solid and all had their own interesting background. The characters were most definitely strong and interesting enough to carry the series.

My favorite episode most definitely was "Souls On Board", later I found out that that episode was directed by no one less then Tobe Hooper who made the movies "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) and "Poltergeist" (even though I'm still convinced of it that Spielberg did the most directing on that movie, I think Hooper only did some of the technical aspects on that movie.).

I'm sorry it must have been years since I've watched an episode of "The Others" but I seem to remember that the series had a good opening theme composed by Klaus Badelt, who is now a much better known and acclaimed composer for movies like "The Time Machine" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl". A bit off topic but you should also check his musical score for "K-19: The Widowmaker" out. It's a score worth owning but unfortunately not one easy to get. The score for the series itself was composed by highly underrated composer Shirley Walker, who worked with Danny Elfman as an orchestrator and conductor for years.

If you get the chance of watching "The Others" on TV as reruns, make sure to do so then. The series is worth your time and has solid characters and some good writing. Unfortunately this series will most likely not be easy to catch and I also don't think that they are ever going to give it a DVD release. A shame because this series had tons of potential and is worth to be seen by everyone.

8/10

P.S.: Oh and could someone please remove the Nicole Kidman poster on this page! This series has absolutely nothing to do with the 2001 movie "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Alejandro Amenábar.

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Good show - what happened?!

[alumni72 · 8/10 · 31 October 2006]

I really enjoyed this program - I watched every episode. Until - what happened? Was the show SUPPOSED to end after less than a season? Did NBC force a show-ending episode where all the characters were killed off in outlandish ways? I would love to see this show come out on DVD - I would love even more if someone would bring it back and bypass that ridiculous 'final' episode. The episodes were well-written and the special effects were pretty good for a supposedly low-budget program. The characters were developed quite well - not quickly and superficially, but in a natural way that drew us along with the story line as it exposed each character's personality, past, talents, etc. - and there was a desire to learn more about the characters and their past, especially Elmer, the 'leader' of the group. But all that was sabotaged by who knows who? Was it the writers or the network who decided the show should end? And why do it in such a was that it could never be brought back? It seems vicious, as though maybe the network deliberately killed the show out of spite. For what, I don't know...but if anyone does know I'd love to hear about it.

Two words: GREAT SHOW!

[RunningFromSatan · 8/10 · 1 April 2000]

Some may compare this show to "The X-Files", but I think that this takes the more psychological way out of mysteries, while "The X-Files" solves by way of medical evidence. Since tonight's episode was the first repeat, I thought I would come on to this board to review it. The past 7 or 8 episodes were outstanding, some of my favorites (and scariest) being the pilot episode, "Eyes", "Theta", and that one with the wallpaper (I forgot what that ep. was called). Julianne Nicholson is a great newcomer...I liked her in last year's "Storm of the Century", which I thought was great, as well. I also love the stupidness of Kevin J. as Warren...most will probably remember him from "The Mummy". Bottom line is, I hope this show doesn't get cancelled -- I'm glad they moved it from 10PM to 9PM, probably to get a bigger audience. It's a great show and should be more recognized.

A more cerebral supernatural-themed show. I loved it.

[sg60 · 11 July 2004]

It's a shame that this show didn't last longer because it deserved to. There's very few shows like this available on television. I found it genuinely creepy which is very rare. The subject matter is treated seriously and the writing is very good with interesting story lines. The viewing audience is treated with respect unlike most shows in this genre that are very formulaic and only appeal to the lowest common denominator. The cast is likable and the characters are all conflicted which helps build the drama. Perhaps most importantly, the thrills and chills are honestly earned through the stories, not through cheap stunts. The wonderfully creepy atmosphere supports the stories rather than the reverse. I would highly recommend this show to fans of the supernatural genre.

Superb, balanced writing -- Cobbs was the glue

[A_Different_Drummer · 9/10 · 24 November 2013]

Cast my vote with the other reviewers who felt that NBC cancelled this wonderful show simply because (remember the joke, "Why did the dog lick his privates?) THEY COULD. Well-written and well-acted supernatural shows are so rare, and, with the demise of traditional network TV, as we split the entertainment universe into 5000 channels, and as we segue to a parallel universe where a firm that used to compete with video stores by sending DVDs by USPS is now a major producer ... well they are just going to become rarer. Here is a tip for newbies, both viewers and armchair reviewers. Every good show has someone who acts as the "glue." You can even test yourself by watching (or re-watching) one of your faves and asking yourself who the glue is..? In this show Cobbs as Elmer Greentree was the glue, and no matter what was happening, or whom it was happening to, the viewer would look to Cobbs to see how to react. He was the moral centre and the action centre, and he was great, the writing was great, and the characters were fascinating. I had set my VCR on permanent timeslot record only to wake up one morning and find the show had disappeared. (Same story with American Gothic, also reviewed on IMDb by your humble scribe.) Great show!

supernatural

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 8 July 2017]

Marian Kitt (Julianne Nicholson) transfers to a new college. She starts having nightmarish visions in her dorm room which is driving away her friends. Prof. Miles Ballard (John Billingsley) suggests that she has psychic abilities to see the girl who died in that room a year earlier. He's a professor of folklore and myths. He recruits her into his group of special people. Mark Gabriel (Gabriel Macht) is an ER doctor with empathetic skills. Ellen 'Satori' Polaski (Missy Crider) works as a psychic. The group includes Elmer Greentree (Bill Cobbs), aspiring writer Warren Day (Kevin J. O'Connor), and blind Albert McGonagle.

The pilot is a ghost story with limited action. The show evolves into one with an ongoing threat and demons. It takes awhile before the show comes up with that big bad. It lasted 13 episodes. It would have been more compelling to start the show with a villain as a main character. The demons are too nebulous and too powerful taking on any form. It doesn't help that the order of the episodes is jumbled up. The cast is solid and their chemistry is great together. It would be nice if their abilities are more defined and specific to each character. It is overall a reasonable supernatural show with a good cast but some difficulties.

A unique paranormal experience with each show.

[bryonk · 29 March 2003]

This rare show should have been showcased for it's cutting edge surrealistic look at paranormalities. Each persona was intriuging and unique. The relationships between the group had my imagination tweaked with what could really be possible. The show was fun to watch and I think the netwoks get spooked too quickly when they find a show like this and just doesn't know what to do. If done the right way, it could have been huge - like what CSI is doing. Too bad it was overlooked. I have the episodes on tape and re-watch the shows frequently. I am a fan!

"The Others" was a Great TV Show

[littlewing-2 · 16 February 2005]

I really enjoyed watching "The Others". I think they were just starting to really build the characters and the plot and boom "It was canceled!" Seems to be the way it goes with a lot of the really great shows.

I felt it was an original idea by taking all types of characters and all types of their psychic abilities and meshing them together to make up a wonderful show. Each with their own unique ability and each helping the others learn to use and understand their gifts. Furthering them along in their own individual journey.

I would've loved to see this show continue but maybe it was just ahead of it's time. I know I watched and waited for each new episode. I was really sorry to see this one end.

I loved it and would encourage you to watch it if it ever comes out on VHS or DVD.

I thought that this was a pretty cute show

[A-Ron-2 · 11 February 2000]

I am not the biggest fan of TV shows (particularly "supernatural TV shows), but this one caught my eye last weekend and I thought I would give it a shot. I was not disappointed (nor was I overly impressed, but hey, it was the first episode). This seems like a potentially interesting show about psychics and the supernatural which could achieve some level of respectability if it does not allow itself to get too bogged down in stereotypes and cliches. I like the chick that plays the main character (I think she is cute, and I thought she was wonderful in The Love Letter), and I think that the rest of the cast has potential.

I see that in traditional X-Files fashion they have already planted the seeds for at least one peripheral, continuing plot line (which should be able to hook people), and that they are not afraid to do some genuinely creepy things (the dead chick in the bathtub was pretty intense for TV). With any luck this show will overcome its lame beginnings (anyone remember the first season of STNG?) and perhaps produce a fine serial story line for Saturday night viewing. However, in all likelihood it will be cancelled immediately and no one will even notice.

Better than most of the crap that was on at the time...

[capnpluto · 22 November 2004]

This show was original and entertaining. I liked the characters and the supernatural basis the show was based upon and i looked forward to each episode.Each character had a specific type of 6th sense and Elmer, the group leader was the most powerful psychic of the group but Marian was quickly becoming a powerful psychic herself yet not in control of her abilities.Souls on board and 1112 are just a couple of favorite episodes but i liked them all.Kristen Cloke made for an interesting villain for the group. The series was too short to continue developing the characters which would have made for an even more interesting show. I agree that this isn't for everybody but for those who like originality, then this is for you. Hopefully, the complete series will hit DVD soon and who knows, Sci-Fi channel may decide to pick up the episodes and resurrect the series after a nearly 4 year slumber (wishful thinking). Thanks to Glen Morgan and James Wong for attempting a great series that a lot of people were unfortunate enough to miss.

Uncertain but compelling

[Ripe Peach · 12 November 2001]

"The Others" is a curious show. An ensemble cast stumbles their way through a seemingly perpetual stormy night, dabbling in the occult and generally having Scooby Doo hijinks, only with more backlighting and less running around and cries of "Zoinks!"

On the downside, the characters and actors are fairly anodyne and uninvolving, and there are too many of them for the viewer to identify with any of them in particular. The dialogue tends towards the cliched, and the acting is occasionally over the top and verging on the farcical.

Plusses though: the cinematography is excellent, with a genuine sense of tension and claustrophobia. This is difficult to sustain, but "The Others" does a fine job of it. Or rather, *did* a fine job of it, before it was cancelled.

Like "Space, Above and Beyond", Wong and Morgan have created a show that you want to like more than you really do. It's easy to convince yourself that "The Others" is a better show than it actually is. It's good, but not great, the sort of show that you'll happily watch if it's on, but not one that you'll go out of your way to catch if it's in an awkward timeslot, and that was it's bane. Special interest shows have to be much better than average to break out into the mainstream. "X Files" managed it, "The Others" failed.

As bad as this was, I kinda liked the ending

[dlennard · 10 February 2004]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** There was only one series of THE OTHERS, but the producers must have thought they were gonna get a second. They thought wrong, but their misjudgment ultimately led to one of the most amazing final episodes of a series I've ever seen.

Y'see, everyone DIES. The main characters - a group of supernaturally gifted geeks - are killed off one by one by an evil force. What a cliffhanger, eh? How do they get out of this one? Well, they don't.

Obviously, the producers anticipated bringing all the characters back in the first episode of the never-to-be-made second series. Or perhaps we thought the characters were dying, but they get miraculously saved at the last moment. Or perhaps it was all a dream. We'll never know, as the series was axed and all the stars of the series stayed DEAD.

Which, if you ever happen to catch this series on late-night reruns, gives THE OTHERS a downbeat, non-American TV twist that it otherwise doesn't deserve.

Forgive my attitude, but this was a complete waste of time.

[skookoo · 4 April 2002]

Ok, folks. We have another one of those "supernatural" shows, trying to ride the success of the X-files. Sorry, fellows, even the current wave of X-like shows can't carry everything along. This one sank for good. The acting, which is supposed to give such a show a realistic feeling, is awful. The plot is... rock-bottom. The special effects, below average. Even though this is a low budget show, it could have been done better, much better. Do not waste your time on it. 2/10

Greatest ghost story ever!

[sacredrite · 28 June 2005]

Only the mildest of spoilers.

This movie is perfect. Normally, if I'm watching a horror movie, I prefer a balls-to-the-walls frightfest like 'The Excorcist'. And I'm always disappointed by horror movies with no gore. But after watching 'The Others', I think it actually might be my favorite horror movie ever. The dark atmosphere is delicious, the plot is just excellent, and all the performances are top-notch - especially that of Nicole Kidman, who despite her character's numerous flaws, manages to make you like her and care what happens to her. The dialog written for her character is so authentic; it's so refreshing to finally see a film set in the past where the characters actually use the appropriate kind of language & tone. The language in this film made me feel like I've never seen a 'period piece' with authentic language.

'Rosemary's Baby' is often mentioned as a prime example of a film that creates a great sense of tension without any killing or monsters or gore. But I'd have to say that 'The Others' far surpasses 'Rosemary's Baby' in it's bloodless delivery. You are not left with any disappointment at all. After 'Rosemary's Baby', I thought "Well done, but they should have at least shown the baby." But 'The Others' is absolutely perfect. There is nothing that they should have shown. There is nothing that could have made it any better. And how nice to finally have a great horror movie that is truly spooky that you can actually watch with your kids?

Do Crossovers With Other TV Shows Like Pretenders/Profilers

[mugsy-10 · 21 July 2000]

Although the show is interesting & entertaining as far as spooky goes, the idea of a great evil coming seems to suggest the idea that this show has to be complex & foreboding in order to be entertaining. I do not care for how Satori adds cultic & occultic practises with her "gifts" nor do I care for Elmer's belief of "we will be back again in a different life". It is one thing to have a gift but it is another to augment it with dark forces, and who wants to come back and live in this life again? Marian Kitt is a character that is more appealing along with Mark, Albert, & Warren. They don't seek these paranormals out which The Bible forbids this practise but the paranormal comes to them. I think it would be more cool if Mark uses his gifts to save patients & we see that more often & for the others to find themselves assisting heroes of other TV shows that are in dire straits where it requires an extra element of heroes for the "good guys" to win. That would be more cool. Even better if they can do it like the unknown good samaritans like Gary is on Early Edition cause they would look suspicious being in the wrong place at the wrong time in people's point of view but not in the others' point of view. It would be fun to see the Profilers think the Others are connected to these crimes & they wind up chasing them to get them but only to find out that they led them to the real killer(s) & barely escape their clutches like the Pretender. Whew!! Well this is what I like to see & that is entertainment to me.

The Thrillogy is back!

[NashMan · 12 February 2000]

I've been waiting for so long for NBC to bring back their Thrillogy! "The Others" is the perfect companion to the other two shows that make up the Thrillogy ("The Pretender" and "Profiler"). The writers have hit the jackpot on this one. The acting is superb; the idea of a reluctant heroine is great! This is a show that I can tell is "destined" (pun intended) to stay on the air for a while.