The Avengers International Fan Forum

There's some very striking imagery in the episode. I agree with one reviewer that said Brian Clemens was going for an iconic look, but the story - what there is of it - doesn't make a lot of sense. I wonder what they were smoking when they were filming it all. I certainly wouldn't place it next to The Avengers at it's best.

However Diana looks great in it, and only she can get away with that MGM roar.

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:However Diana looks great in it, and only she can get away with that MGM roar.

I agree! And that MGM roar is one of the things I like best about the episode.

Artanis wrote:

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:However Diana looks great in it, and only she can get away with that MGM roar.

I agree! And that MGM roar is one of the things I like best about the episode.

"Remember I'm the star of this picture!" Totally mad!

Artanis wrote:

Dandy Forsdyke wrote:However Diana looks great in it, and only she can get away with that MGM roar.

I agree! And that MGM roar is one of the things I like best about the episode.

That MGM roar is brilliant

one roar does not an episode make. I think the best character is the actor policeman, played by David Lodge. The wedding/funeral images are also memorable. But this is The Avengers playing at being The Avengers, not the real deal. I know that Barry has said that he isn't interested in plot but surely some fans would prefer a bit of a storyline to 'chew on'.

I agree it would be bad if all episodes were a bit like this. But in this case most of the Avengers episodes are amazing, and quite serious, so one funny, sort of parody of everything imaginable episode isn't so bad.

Well personally I've always enjoyed Epic and after seeing Sunset Boulevard, I can accept this lack of an obvious plot.

All Clemens did was take the characters from that movie and transport them to the world of the Avengers. Unlike High Noon or the Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard is primarily a character study about people in Hollywood. The film is dark and biting in how people use and get used by the system. The main character believes she is still a great star even though hollywood has abandoned her. Deep down she knows the truth and therefore is willinging to do anything to get back her fame. She needs it. It's all that's left of her identity. There is a scene with Cecil B Demille that is heartbreaking.

In Epic it's the same desperate, delusional people who are doing these insane things and rationalize it in the name of filmmaking or re-attaining their status in the acting community. Note the focus in the episode is on the villains more than the heroes.

It's interesting the funeral scene is the one that has made the strongest impression. It's a classic example of german expression that was so prevalent in the 1920s from German cinema. That scene was I suspect deliberately put as another wink to von Schnerk being based Erick von Stroheims character as he was a promising german director

Now of course I understand not everyone liking this episode or it not holding of for some. That's cool. It's all good.

Personally Epic has my favorite tag scene since I feel it ties in and comments on the episode it's attached to better than any other tag scene

Hard to beat the mistletoe at the end of Too Many Christmas Trees.

I'm sure that 1920s German expressionism had its merits but I still think the episode owes far more to The Prisoner than anything else, particularly a drugged Emma waking up in a replica of her own flat.
If this thread proves anything, it is that this episode still splits Avengers fans. My feelings are ambivalent towards it and I certainly don't hate it like the Dossier does:
"A rather horrid episode, just a series of witless cliches put to groovy music, the viewer emerging feeling dirtied rather than entertained."
A bit harsh, I feel, although I agree with the book's opinion that it is typical of the problem we frequently encounter in the Avengers colour era: "The Avengers trying too hard to be itself."