While I never read the novel, I recently finished the latest adaptation made by NBC for Peacock streaming. That version, evidently, changed the events from the novel and updated the technology of New London to include an artificial intelligence. So rather than reading the novel yet, I decided to go and check out other adaptations for TV or movies, and this was the first one I checked out.

This adaptation was produced in the late 90s for the USA cable network. The cast features a decent line up of talent, some--well, one of which may have been trying to garner a paycheck rather than actually trying to deliver a good performance. I'll share who I'm talking about later. The most interesting part of this production, apart from the narrative, is how "the future" in the late 90's were simply large, airy office buildings, empty malls, and we mustn't forget underground trams! Despite this, they manage to depict a reasonable representation that could be in any time in the last fifty years.

It all boils down to cities are civilization and the suburbs and countryside beyond are filled with backward savages. Hmmm.... not that far off from the current political climate in the US where, as the sanctimonious constantly repeat to us, there are pockets of civilization on the coasts and the so-called "flyover states" are nothing but right-wing, racist, savage Christians who'd just as much shoot non-whites for asking the time as they would rape "non-men" simply for having a vagina. Why would anyone want to be outside in the cancer-causing sun, breathing polluted air, and working with their hands when civilized people live inside air conditioned spaces, being entertained by staring at screens, and treating themselves to the latest innovation in pharmaceutical mental wellness? They must be savages because of their conditioning because no one would **choose** to live like that.

Overall, this adaptation is worth watching, although, as I mentioned, some of the performances are not fully realized. Indeed, as a long time fan of all of the pre-Bad Reboot Star Trek series, I was interested to see Leonard Nimoy's performance; but alas, I think all we get here is basically a version of Spock that laughs and still acts like nothing surprises him. I loved ya' Lenny, but your complaints of being typecast were unfounded, you were a great Spock and great director---but a good actor? Well....

I just wrapped up my second watch-thru of _Hell on Wheels_, so I enjoyed seeing Tim Guinee's performance as John the savage. It was a very nice to him embodying a completely different type of man in this compared to his performance in HoW. His frustrated attempts at sharing Shakespeare with the 'civilized' children was realistic while both humorous and sad at the same time.

The performance I felt was phoned-in for the paycheck, however, was Miguel Ferrer! Perhaps Miguel has never been the best actor, just a lot of bonus coupons for being the son of Jose, but I just didn't get that he was acting in any way other than annoyed he had to be in a made-for-cable movie. Perhaps his agent and management led him to believe it was going to be a higher-profile film for theaters. Nonetheless, I just didn't think he was taking the right approach to the character and if he was doing something more nuanced, I missed it.

So to conclude, I can't comment on this adaptation's commitment to the events of the novel, but compared to the more recent NBC version, I thought this was worth checking out. I wish there'd been a bit more effort in the script and some of the performances, but as a testament of the way producers in the late 90's approached these kinds of adaptations, it is an interesting presentation.