User reviews

I was excited to watch this but after the second episode, found it hard to follow, the timeline was jumping all over the place, it would have been helpful to put dates on the scenes. I also found it a bit far fetched.The acting was very good though, as were the costumes and setting, so still worth watching.

Many of the reviews here state that the plot is hard to follow. I haven't read the book but from what I understand it requires the reader to be engaged and pay attention. This series requires the same. If you do pay attention to the smaller details, the time jumps isn't hard to follow at all. Actually, it really helps building up the mystery.

I absolutely loved the series and Eva Greens performance is truly amazing!

Those of us with NZTV "On Demand" have been able to binge The Luminaries.

Yes, I have read the book. When I have read the original work, I believe in taking care not to be overly critical of film, or in this case, mini-series, adaptions, as that is a difficult process. That said, I found this adaption simply awful even in that forgiving context.

The best aspect of the novel, is a technical one: a somewhat fresh structure within the otherwise standard and well trod genre of romance novel, or combined romance+crime-drama novel. Ingenious? No. Fresh? Yes. Specifically the central 12 astrological symbol based men whose aspects are the core part of the story telling mechanism of the novel.

Sadly the mini-series adaption keeps the overly worn romance/crime drama tropes, and there are just an endless stream of them, and completely glosses over the clever technical aspects of the original work. In the end what we have is a standard soap opera. It is profoundly dumbed down to the point of being an insult to the audience; who the makers and adapters must think are generally idiots. It is not as if some of the complexity, nuance, are gone -- they all are gone.

The acting, cinematography and certainly the art direction, are above average. But the narrative structure is for the simple minded, with all the inventiveness it seems carefully removed. The dialogue is has had every element of irony, subtlety removed. The most interesting book characters are turned into shallow two dimensional cut-outs. One character, who in the novel is a essentially a catalyzing impetus, bizarrely becomes the lead character in the adaption,. Yet she is given no compelling, or interesting story. Also the novel refreshingly did not moralize in a heavy handed way. The bigotry for example are presented matter of fact, which is effective. Yet the adaption is patently moralizing, and hamfisted at it as well. It is just a cheap shot to be saying -- "look at this! 1860's era New Zealand setters had bigoted views!" Really? Who on the globe did not at that time."

In the end this is a hollow and superficial viewing experience. We are not in the 1970s or 1980's television era, but in the golden age of series and limited series work. The age of Fargo, True Detective, Chernobyl, Rome, Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards, and a litany of smart and very well written work.

Sadly, "The Luminaries" mini-series adaption, specifically the plot and screen writing, takes us back to the junk age of television.

It should have been a good idea. If only the script would be developed with more thought, and the back and forth story line had had a bit more clarity. EVE H is not convincing at all, like a wooden doll, emotionless, lifeless, even when she is cunning she is the same boring persona. Which matters since the series is around her, and most characters are ALIVE around her. Being unhappy or resisting of the environment can all be acted Out better then one roll of eyes.

It's a shame when a director takes a great story, puts it in a jigsaw press, and then throws all of the pieces on the table picks one and goes from there. But I digress, other than a director trying to be to artsy, this is a really great story, excellent acting and very nice cinematography.

And it does tell a great story, but you may have to watch it twice, that or my mental capacity is shot. There were times I re-winded thinking I missed something, only to find out that I was in a different time zone. I gave this show a 7 because it is definitely worth watching, and I kind of hope there is a season 2, now that I know how to watch it. Only a portion of this puzzle has been assembled, lets hope we get to see the next part.

Ep 1 & 2 were a struggle, in fact I re-watched ep 2 almost 3 times over several nights to try to unravel the timejumping confusion. I'm now at ep 5 and I'm engaged with the characters and the mystery.

I have not read the source material for THE LUMINARIES. I'm an avid fan of period drama. After the first episode I groped google for plot information. After half of the second episode, I was completely perplexed as to who-what-why: who died, why is the "Chinaman" is so violent, etc.

Eva Green looks magnificent. Hamish Patel (YESTERDAY) is engaging and highly watchable.

After the rest of the second episode and the third, I couldn't figure out what the heck is going on.

I really wanted to enjoy this, but it got in its own way.

After visiting a couple of film review sites, NZ critics really seem to love this adaptation, but they were familiar with the literary source.

Failing to create a filmed version that can't stand on its own is nothing short of a fiasco. THE LUMINARIES is a gorgeous mess.

Well worth your time. Align your expectations with what I think the makers were trying to achieve though. This is a bit of a slow burn for me, with viewers circling the end of story rather than approaching the end from a linear past to present to end. It requires patience, and attention to what is going on, with various signals (e.g. dress colour pink, blue, black) indicating which stage of past, recent past and present you are in. The unusual aspect is this for me: the series is short, pace is not fast, but requires a reasonable intensity of the viewer to catch details. There is a disjunct between the pace of the series, and the effort sometimes required on the part of the viewer. I enjoyed this about the series though, rather than everything explained for the viewer so you can half-watch, switch brain off and still know what is going on.

Having said that, whoever wrote the advertising-lines on IMDB is quite a way off the mark (in my opinion). The text attempts to sell the series as some sort of fast-paced murder mystery from the USA for example "Adventure mystery set in the midst of New Zealand's 1860's gold rush period it has all the stuff that makes a good drama murder, love and revenge as men and women travel the world making their fortunes." Pushed my expectations into a different vein as to what I might see. Once I realised what this is - a character-driven story (very low on adventure) that unfolds in intentionally cryptic ways to reveal a complexity of plot, and most importantly, an understanding of different stages of character made more stark (obvious) by moving the viewer through (for example) past, recent past, and present, then past, recent past, present etc. We get to see the contrasts as character contrasts rather than linear development. The signals for "where in time" are all there to help the viewer, but you have to pay attention, and it will pay off. It took me to episode three to "get" it and fall in love with it. The viewer is circling the end of story, not just approaching it from past through to present through to end.

On the not so positive side, Eva Green just plays the typical Eva Green role, bring nothing new to the role than what we have seen from her before. Unfortunately for me, feeling typecast and therefore a little trite.

Eve Hewson is interesting to watch, her mannerisms and charm feeling a little restricted though. Unsure whether that is her scope, or the direction given to her. She does break out sometimes, however the feeling of slow burn is only enhanced by long periods with a limited range of expressions and emotional variance.

Solid work. Save it for a time when you can give it your attention.

The over-riding fault of the novel is that its contrived structure constrains the narrative too much so that it doesn't flow naturally. The set-up is long, the denouement dramatic but brief. As a result the oft-heard complaint that a film or miniseries doesn't follow a book is here turned on its head. By following too closely we are given four episodes of longeur one of moderately rising tension and a dramatic finale that is far better than - and ill served by - what has gone before. The production is superb, the cinematography admirable, the acting first class and, despite the foregoing criticism, the script quite fine. Yet for all that it is questionable whether the eventual pay-off is adequate compensation for wading through the early parts. Excising an hour from the early parts would have probably made this a 9/10, instead as it stands 7/10 and only a qualified success.

The cast and the scenery are gorgeous and compelling but the editing and story line are a mess. Having not read the book, and with the time line jumping, it is difficult to follow. It's unfortunate because it has everything going for it except coherent story telling.

I have just finished watching the entire 6 part series. Yes the plot in the way it is presented is complex. We are presented with events and then history leading up to that event, more events and the histories leading up to those events, and so on. This makes for a complexity that requires some attention, although many hints are always on screen to tell us where in time each scene is located, past, recent past, and present. The complexity is a positive, but a casual viewer with the show on in the background with sparse attention paid to it will find it hard to follow the twists - you need to actually watch it.

It took me until the 3rd episode (first two with mild attention wandering) before I became absorbed, will probably watch again in a couple of weeks with fresh eyes.

Clever, a slow burn, this show is a bit of a gem. I would summarise it thus: Gold, greed, gowns (will make sense when watched), love, murder, mystery, mystique and revenge. A healthy dose of good viewing. I was sorry but also sated when it ended.

It was really hard to follow at the beginning. You'll have to focus and pay attention to details. Amazing cast and great acting. It worth seeing all the episodes.

I really really wanted this to be good, but it's not. It started slow. Hoped it would pick up but it just flatlined into a mess. Maybe it will pickup at the end but it can't make up for the long journey getting there.

Each episode gave you just enough to entice you into the next one. The pacing was a little off in my opinion felt very dragged out with an average story. The cast are to good for the material but make the show watchable. I was never completely bored but I was never particularly excited either until the final episode. Don't go in with your expectations to high and you probably will just about enjoy it and find the series watchable.

It's all the goods. Love, betrayal, drama, Action, violence, mystery, and sci fi. I absolutely love Eva Green and think most everything she has been in is a hit. It is extraordinarily confusing, with disjointed scenes flashing back and forth between past, present, and future from various characters' perspectives. Nevertheless, each scene is so intriguing, and the characters are so well-written and acted, you stick with it.

Confusing, disappointing dark just stick to a couple of story lines and let the cast roll

This TV series taken from the award winning book, I found disappointing. While the acting was good, the sets and scenery also good as was the casting. But it jumps backwards and forwards so many times, I got lost and confused much of the series. Wished I hadn't started to watch it, but had to suffer through to find out what happened in the end. Why do they do this to award winning novels?

The Daily Mail gave this series a bad review for being difficult to understand and The Guardian gave it a good review, that told me all I needed to know about whether I was likely to enjoy it or not and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

I didn't find the story hard to follow at all, it jumps between time but it's not difficult to keep up with. Visually it's stunning and the story is interesting and unique, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and am considering reading the book.

If that really were Dunedin you certainly wouldn't see that much sunshine and everyone would be a little more bundled up with many layers of clothing. It's damn cold there!

The book has an insanely complicated meta-structure. This TV adaptation shares a lot of the same problems as the botched "Cloud Atlas" page to screen transmutation. You need writers and editors to be smart enough to understand the source material before they play cut and paste. It's painfully obviously from posts by viewers confused about the plot, that the folks that brought this to screen had no idea what the book was actually about.

It appears convoluted until you've watched two episodes. Give it a minute to set the table and if you don't care to do that then don't rate the entire series on the 30 mins of one episode you watched.

Loved the cast and the story, but it was very confusing with the time line jumping all over the place.

Just too hard to follow, the 3 different timelines are hard to distinguish and the story isnt interesting enough to bring me back. Pity

So, this is based on a novel and I can sort of tell that it's probably a real interesting story (in book-form) but this TV adaptation loses and confuses me with its back-forth-time jumps and unclear and sometimes perplexing character actions and motivations. Acting is pretty good and there are some compelling moments -- I especially liked the astral stuff.