The Day of the Triffids

John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids is one of the finest science fiction books of the 20th Century and has been hugely influential as well as prophesising the dangers of genetic modification.  It was first adapted in 1962 and later in 1981 for a TV mini-series on the BBC.  Fast forward to 2009 and one of the gig televisual treats offered by Auntie for the festive season was another TV mini-series.
 
Adapted for the screen by Patrick Harbinson (Wire in the Blood, Law & Order: SVU and 24 season 8) and starring Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson and Eddie Izzard, this has been updated and gives the Triffids a new and logical twist.  With fossil fuels depleted and carbon dioxide levels rising, the human race found a solution by genetically modifying some African plants and creating the Triffids, a walking, venomous and carnivorous plant.  The Triffids are kept safe in farms whilst their 'clean' oil runs the world, with the climate change problem now solved.
 

Bill Masen grew up in Zaire where his parents studied Triffids, with his father creating the new species and his mother killed by one.  Bill is now a Ph.D who has spent his whole life obsessing over Triffids and works for TriffOil as an expert in Triffid behaviour, keeping them secure and producing oil.  When a massive solar event captures the worlds attention but leaves everyone who saw it blind, the Triffids, now free thanks to the actions of an environmentalist, are able to roam the planet and feed on the defenceless population.
 
The story follows three fortunate people who missed the solar event and are sighted.  Bill was stung by a baby Triffid and was in hospital with his eyes bandaged whilst everyone else looked to the heavens.  Radio presenter Jo Playton was given her first TV gig and was told to move from her prime location at the London Eye to the Underground to get reaction from those not watching whilst Torrance, a mystery man, was asleep on a 747 and survived when the plane crashed in London.
 
Whereas Wyndham's story had a time span of many years, the events in this adaptation take place over a few months at most with Bill meeting up with Jo and setting out to try and warn people about the Triffids.  Meanwhile, Torrance has established himself at the head of a dictatorship in London, living a life of luxury by exploiting the blind.  All the while the Triffid threat closes in on the cities, where their 'food' is most abundant, and, come the spring, they will pollinate and their numbers will grow.
 
Dougray Scott is an interesting choice to play Bill Masen and does look suitably intense - the character is changed dramatically from an everyman to a Triffid expert - with Joely Richardson fine as the love interest.  Eddie Izzard steals virtually every scene in which he appears as a venal sociopath and he is extremely good.   You also have Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox appearing to lend some heavyweight thespian talent to proceedings and they really do deliver.
 Most of this was filmed in front of green screen, with the Triffids, aeroplanes and some backgrounds filled in later on computer and, for the most part, you can't tell.  There is the odd scene where the CGI is obvious but the plant threat is very well done and it's surprising how much tension and horror can be created from ambulant flora!
 
The story is well updated and enjoyable, keeping the basics from the book whilst integrating modern technology and worries in a world where most technology doesn't work because there is no power.  The characters are developed throughout the 3 hour running time but the ending is rubbish and leaves you with the impression that they didn't quite know how to finish the story.  Despite that the ending was designed as there are flashes of things to come that don't make sense at the time, when they do you are left thinking 'what the hell was that?'!

The Disc

 
Extra Features
All of these were put together by Power, the Canadian production company and there is a lot to wade through.  There are interviews with virtually every cast member and more with the principal crew - 16 in total.  Most of these are a decent length and allow everyone to talk about their characters, how they became involved in the project and what they enjoyed about the shoot.  Eddie Izzard's is particularly enjoyable as, just as you would expect, he flies off at tangents and takes five minutes to answer a one minute question.
 
Most of these form the basis for the Making Of which looks at the CGI and features interview clips, some of which weren't included in the interview section.  This isn't as in depth as I would have liked and there isn't enough about the adaptation and creature design as a longer piece would have allowed. 
 
Additionally there are deleted scenes, none of which are really missed.
 
The Picture
Shot on HD Digital, the image quality is extremely high and it seems that digital gets better all the time as the artefacts and problems in low light situations that effect some productions aren't evident here.  It's amazing how the cast interacted with nothing or metal poles and how the computer wizards made it look like they were really battling with giant plants!
 
The Sound
I chose to forgo the stereo option and just watched with the DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which is very good, with clear dialogue and the surrounds are neatly employed to emphasise the Triffid threat.  The sound design really helps in this respect with the rustling and clicking movement and communication of the plants coming across as really sinister and intimidating.  Also helping is the score which is very good and presented well by the soundtrack.
 
Final Thoughts
The Day of the Triffids is a fantastic story which has been well updated - the timescale in the book would be impossible to do in a 180 minute TV mini-series, so changing and truncating characters and events is a necessity.  I liked a lot of what they did here, with Bill Masen and Torrance as very different to Wyndham's vision but the idea of Triffids as a GM fuel source that gets out of hand is pretty topical given the debates over climate change and GM crops.  I felt the ending let the good stuff down and is a limp and slightly daft way to finish the story but, overall, this is impressive stuff with star turns from just about everyone involved.
 
The package is pretty good, a decent amount of extras and good audio/visual quality so, if you watched this on television you'll know whether to buy/rent this or not.  If, like me, you didn't, it's worth a watch.