MovieChat Forums > Black Mirror (2011) Discussion > Metalhead

Metalhead

posted 6 years ago by exatera (3943)
28 replies | jump to latest

I respect David Slade's work, but I feel that the story itself was severely lacking in some background, both for the "dogs", and the life of the protagonist. I mean, in the end we are supposed to be powerfully touched by the fact that the whole mission was to get a replacement teddy bear, but I would say the emotional impact of that final shot is limited at best, precisely because we don't see anything leading up to it.

I mean, nice work on conveying the realities of a post-apocalyptic society and all, but I feel this particular story could have been done better. To me this was the weakest ep of the season.

[–] PeteyandJia (300) 6 years ago

This was the review I wrote in another thread:

Pretty underwhelming. It's all the same tropes we've seen 1000 times, nothing new here. A robot is chasing people in the future. That's it. Gee, how thought-provoking. Black Mirror episodes are supposed to be smart, clever. This was neither. Basically just plays like a film student doing a far less interesting tribute to Terminator. It's not bad, for as much as I'm complaining; but it is utterly unremarkable. If this were part of last season, it would be the weakest episode. Even 'Nosedive' at least had a good premise & some great acting, though it fell apart at the end. Disappointing return to the series for me. Hopefully this was the weakest one of the batch.

[–] alicejane (8) 6 years ago

I think they did do a good job getting the viewers to root for the protagonist. But it is utterly unconvincing that they would risk the lives of three healthy people for a teddy bear you could probably make yourself from fabric scraps and leaves.

Also, if this world is so littered with guard dogs why not be more prepared for such an attack? Also when the dog ran out of battery in the tree scene, the protagonist could have taken its limbs off. She did have some tools with her.

I wish they showed us why there were guard dogs in the first place. Really disappointing.

[–] PeteyandJia (300) 6 years ago

Agree with all of that. It's just so strange, because in other episodes Charlie Booker shows such a depth of thought, and then in an episode like Metalhead it's like he just went with his first draft, and didn't think about anything.

[–] JohnMatrix (708) 6 years ago

Yeah, it felt exactly like terminator movies, but it was fun though. At least it kept me on the edge of the seat so to speak until the very end, that dog terminator was relentless futuristic killer, it was scary as hell!

[–] PeteyandJia (300) 6 years ago

^^
So I'm kinda glad you say Metalhead was the weakest episode, because it's the only one I have watched so far of the new season. So that gives me hope that it's all looking up from here.

[–] exatera (3943) 6 years ago

It's kinda random though - how did you end up watching specifically Metalhead considering it's the fifth episode of the season?

[–] PeteyandJia (300) 6 years ago

The person I was going to watch an episode with had to leave in an hour - so we picked based on episode length. Metalhead was the shortest one, 40 something minutes.

[–] exatera (3943) 6 years ago

Ah, interesting. :)

If anything, they should have made it longer - then maybe the story wouldn't be so lacking.

[–] xfool (925) 6 years ago

its quite a thriller, wish theres some sort of hints on why the terminator dogs are killing humans.

[–] Volley (3374) 6 years ago

I just take it for what it is. A future version of a Boston Dynamics 'dog' is hunting down a woman in the post-apocalypse because of _reasons_ and along the way finds intuitive ways of tracking her down. It's freaky and it's scary and pushed all the right buttons to keep me engaged, the entire time.

[–] xfool (925) 6 years ago

I think it could in the vein of Hated in the Nation, instead of bees the military and or police robotic dogs were hacked by terrorists and their prime directive is to eliminate all humans.

[–] Volley (3374) 6 years ago

Hated in the Nation was VERY interesting and also kept me watching the entire time. Michael Crichton (creator of Jurassic Park/The Lost World) wrote about something similar in his book 'Prey' a number of years ago, except that dealt with machines that were even smaller than the bees. If nano-machines were created and used for malicious reasons--that is a good reason to NOT create them in the first place. :)

You can always tell when an episode of Black Mirror is fantastic when one doesn't reach down to their tablet or smartphone during the show.

[–] clutch (69) 6 years ago

If the dog needed a weapon like the knife, couldn't she have just bashed it with a big stick or something when she was up in the tree?

[–] Geiri (845) 6 years ago

And why didn't it shoot down the tree? It seemed to have a powerful enough weapon for it. And even if it didn't, there were moments it could have shot her directly.

[–] clutch (69) 6 years ago

It ripped it's gun hand off in the car.

[–] Geiri (845) 6 years ago

Ahhh weird I didn't put that one together. Thought it was just a random leg.

Thanx for explaining.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

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[–] exatera (3943) 6 years ago

Well, you don't, others do. Glad you enjoyed it.

[–] Cathexis (112) 6 years ago

Exactly. It is obviously deliberately stripped-down to achieve a certain effect. You are plunged into the world and given no recourse to stability *precisely* because of the information you lack. It's disorienting and unsettling. And it plays like a lean, suspenseful mashup of "No Country for Old Men" and "The Terminator".

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

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[–] exatera (3943) 6 years ago

I was just saying that it didn't achieve that effect with me. And apparently with many other viewers as well.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

I completely agree Vanda. This is my favorite season four episode so far. Very intense, and very sad.

😎

[–] Renovatio (2990) 6 years ago

I thought it was shot poorly... Like some film students doing a test on their DSLRs...

Also, I don't mind not knowing the "answers", not having background or not having explanations, but i found it hillarious that all of that was for some stuffed toys... it mirrors the entitled child mentality of people today as well as the idiotic submission to consumer culture by parents today, but most of all, it really seems that the showmakers thought we would find it sentimental and worthy... That was the most absurd bit... 😂

Probably the weakest episode of the whole TV show... it's ok... Solid episodes from earlier seasons make up for it... Was worth a shot, but good thrillers and action are hard to make, it's a different skillset from ironic pontifications on the state of society... 😉

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

I really LOVE this series, and this is my favorite episode so far. Very tense, very bleak, very sad, very poignant at the end.

😎