I recently bought the DVD of the Nightfall TV movie from 2000, and regretted it as soon as I saw it. That anyone could possibly do something so low-budget and stupid to an Asimov story is just beyond me. I rated it a 2 out of 10.
Now, at that time, I hadn't seen the 1988 movie. But I just now borrowed the video tape from a friend, and had a watch. To some extent, it looks like the same people who did the 2000 movie did this one. But, there are differences. The 2000 movie is a complete loss; there isn't any acting or proper coherence to the story, and of course very little that actually reminds of the original Asimov story.
The 1988 movie is quite a bit better. The actors are much, much better. The production values are better; the overall style of clothes, hair, etc. are much more consistent. And the dialog is better. The story, while ripping the original short story into tatters, at least does make a slight bit of sense in a couple of ways. The whole sex dimension with Ana was not in the original story, but I actually thought it worked all right here. If you accept that they changed the story and had a different vision for the project, I think this was, well, not as bad as it could have been. I don't think it deserves an avalanche of 1 ratings.
One thing that is really annoying, though, is the way it ends. This movie just ends with the stars coming out and everybody sitting around saying, "oh, that's nice!" In the original story, much of the plot only takes place after the stars have come out and made everybody crazy - that's the whole point of the story! That people find out that the universe is infinitely bigger than they thought before, and this makes them crazy and leads to the destruction of civilization. Most of that entire dimension was just cut away here. Sigh.
As an Asimov story, it is a lost cause. Still, seen as an independent story in and of itself, I do think it was half-way entertaining and had a few nice instances of both plot and acting.
So, my rating is a 4 out of 10 for this one.
Now, at that time, I hadn't seen the 1988 movie. But I just now borrowed the video tape from a friend, and had a watch. To some extent, it looks like the same people who did the 2000 movie did this one. But, there are differences. The 2000 movie is a complete loss; there isn't any acting or proper coherence to the story, and of course very little that actually reminds of the original Asimov story.
The 1988 movie is quite a bit better. The actors are much, much better. The production values are better; the overall style of clothes, hair, etc. are much more consistent. And the dialog is better. The story, while ripping the original short story into tatters, at least does make a slight bit of sense in a couple of ways. The whole sex dimension with Ana was not in the original story, but I actually thought it worked all right here. If you accept that they changed the story and had a different vision for the project, I think this was, well, not as bad as it could have been. I don't think it deserves an avalanche of 1 ratings.
One thing that is really annoying, though, is the way it ends. This movie just ends with the stars coming out and everybody sitting around saying, "oh, that's nice!" In the original story, much of the plot only takes place after the stars have come out and made everybody crazy - that's the whole point of the story! That people find out that the universe is infinitely bigger than they thought before, and this makes them crazy and leads to the destruction of civilization. Most of that entire dimension was just cut away here. Sigh.
As an Asimov story, it is a lost cause. Still, seen as an independent story in and of itself, I do think it was half-way entertaining and had a few nice instances of both plot and acting.
So, my rating is a 4 out of 10 for this one.