Nightmares and Dreamscapes Complete Series

Battleground     

*Originally published on 10/6/09

I mentioned in the review for the short story that Battleground had been adapted for TNT's Nightmares and Dreamscapes series.  Fellow examiner Andy Williamson left a comment that linked to his own website.  It wasn't a completely irrelevant plug as he had this video posted (you can watch it here).

As others have said, this is a very good adaptation.  I knew that William Hurt didn't talk, but this goes one step further and doesn't have any one talk.  The closest we get is some automated recordings at the airport as well as a TV report stating that the toy mogul had been killed.  Beyond that, it's some grunts and yelps by Hurt as well as instrumental music.

It actually works extremely well.  You wouldn't think that an hour with no dialogue would be very compelling, but the opposite holds true here.  This episode is a joy to watch.  

Hurt's hitman character actually puts up a pretty good fight.  He gives as good as he gets for the most part.  This makes sense as they need to fill an hour as opposed to a handful of pages.  One can also attribute this to the fact that William Hurt is hardcore.  Honestly, every role I've seen him in has had an increasing BAMF factor.

The episode sticks to the story for the most part, it tweaks a few details but nothing too major.  It adds some stuff, and takes away a couple of things, but ultimately it follows the story pretty closely.

William Hurt deserves a lot of credit for his performance here, he's pretty much just acting with his facial expressions and mannerisms and he pulls it off.  The psychological effect of such an ordeal was downplayed in the story, but you can see it here.  From his confused glares when things start getting weird to the fact that he can't stop shaking, you can tell that this experience is taking its toll on him.
You'd think with such a low budget, that the effects would be crummy.  Such is not the case.  Actually I was surprised by how well they pulled off the living toys effect.

The addition of the commando was interesting.  For some reason when Hurt was in the elevator in the dark and kept getting cut by some invisible assailant, my brain went to ninja instead of the more logical commando.  A ninja would've been cool though.  What was up with the hulk roar though?  Commandos are weird.

This is definitely worth watching.  I've heard that the rest of the series is hit or miss, but this really was a gem.  I recommend you all check it out if you get the chance.










You can read also check out my Reviewstream review of the episode

Crouch End

Umney's Last Case

The End of the Whole Mess

The Road Virus Heads North

The Fifth Quarter

Autopsy Room Four

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band