Powerful

Don't Believe the Hype

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Great show full of suspense, it really needs to be renewed as the last episode was a cliff hanger. If it doesn't get renewed I will be very disappointed as this show is way better that most of the trashy bubble gum series that keep going on. To the writers, film crew and actors... great job on the first 11 episodes! Holding thumbs for the renewal. To the critics... common, look at the overall rating so far and let this show get its rightful renewal because the other rubbish most of the critics put through are mindless and quite frankly that doesn't say much about the profession of a critic if they don't get the public demanding an intelligent plot.

After watching a few episodes of Siberia, I am wholeheartedly convinced that everyone with any sort of power at NBC is under a 24 hour opium induced coma, and somebody's pet iguana is making all the decisions.NBC's Siberia is a well marketed, well funded, but poorly acted and very poorly written TV show that unsuccessfully tries to present itself as a survival-reality show gone awry.A group of contestants of different ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds find themselves at a remote campground somewhere in the Siberian wilderness. Whoever makes it through the unforgiving Siberian winter will share in the financial spoils. Events quickly take a turn for the worst, when one contestant gets killed.From then on, mystifying events start happening around the campground. Not unlike the once popular show Lost, everything that goes on in Siberia is extraordinary, unexplained and completely manufactured.At first, you might think, "I liked Lost! This new show does not sound too bad." You would be right! If Siberia was a movie on the Sci-Fi channel at 3:30 a.m. on a slow Thursday morning, it would be quite swell.Alas, it is marketed and presented as a reality show gone disastrously wrong.The vast majority of the time the contestants seem to be aimlessly wondering in the woods, finding mysterious evidence that something devious is going on. The whole hour of an episode is spent trying to convince the audience that suspenseful and frightening events are taking place, by talking about how suspenseful and frightening everything is.If I was to start mentioning everything that is wrong with this farce of a show, I would spend a lot more time than this is worth, so I'll only mention the most grandest of offenses.Dress code has to be a dead give-away that this show is scripted. Who goes into the wilderness in an expensive-looking white jacket one would wear to a nice restaurant? I understand that these actors have to portray certain characters like "model," "bouncer" and "computer guy," but any rational adult would wear camping gear when going camping, and any not completely oblivious writer/director/producer should know these things. I almost lost it when Irene, (Asian, female, fashion designer,) was walking through the woods with a bow and arrow in a royal blue blazer. That was a great choice for hunting gear! I would not be surprised if she wore heals as well. Shockingly, she did not bring anything back from her nature expedition.The emotions exhibited by the participants of this show are just plain awkward. It is uncomfortable and at the same time amusing to watch these people act like they are getting angry, sad, confused and scared. This show is the perfect example of what happens when bad actors meet worse writing. Do not be fooled, all of these participants have some, usually very limited acting experience.One of the things I find most amusing and bizarre about this show, is the pathetic attention to details. We see the actors constantly relaxing by the fire. Who is making this fire all the time? Who is cooking for all of these city folk? How do they manage to look ready for a job interview, when they are supposed to be living in the wilderness with no outside interaction. I guess the producers did not think that those were important details for a survival show.Did anyone stop for a second to think about the continuation of this project? How can you have a second season of a show in which everything goes wrong, people die and in the end nothing will have a sufficient explanation? The worst move on the part of the network was not even the creation of the show, but rather the fact that it airs right after Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls, an actual survival-reality show. This pairing only highlights the complete buffoonery that is Siberia.Siberia tries to fool, scare, excite and entertain the viewers, but in the end becomes an absurd, confusing and pointless mess that drags on like a tractor on the freeway.Having pointed out some of the deficiencies of this show, I would like to end by saying, that if you enjoyed the TV show Lost and don't mind sub-par acting, sloppy and often illogical writing, this show might be for you. It is not completely unwatchable and will have a few people tuning in weekly. For that reason and for the fact that Siberia, although not original or successful, still tried to do something different in an often mundane and uniform world of today's television, I give Mr. Iguana two stars.

In 1908, an unexplained event occurred deep in the remote Siberian territory of Tunguska. Now, a hundred years later, sixteen reality-show participants descend on Tunguska unknowing of the land's mysterious past. These contestants, from varied walks of life, will attempt to battle the elements and each other in a quest to survive the harsh winter and claim a large cash prize. What is initially met with unbridled enthusiasm quickly turns to sheer panic as a series of strange events begin to occur. The contestants soon attribute the occurrences to ruses set up by the producers, even dismissing the death of a fellow contestant as accidental. When a contestant is badly injured and no help arrives, the contestants meet the chilling realization that the strange occurrences are not part of the show. With their safety threatened, competing contestants must band together in an effort to survive.If anyone mistook this for an actual reality show in the beginning, they can be forgiven. The premise and execution is a Lost meets Survivor kind of thing. The characters are quite nuanced at times and most of the actors are believable as 'real contestants' on a 'reality show'. It took me a couple of episodes to warm up to it after which I decided to forget about the illogical camera angles and the number of camera crew it would require to actually shoot the way they did. This was surprisingly good, but the last episode (which was trimmed down from 2 episodes because of the network at the last moment) didn't have a payoff. Still, the monsters, the green sky in the night, the flattened forest among others, will all be memorable even if the show isn't renewed for a second season. It has been one hell of a ride and if it does get renewed (highly improbable), then I'd recommend Siberia to people who are into this stuff. If it doesn't get a season 2, then don't bother with it. Its not a great show, some stupid stuff does tend to happen, but its at a bare minimum and its decent entertainment which gets better as it progresses.7/10

I watched the show from day one and I have really enjoyed it. I have recently started to watch NBC after I got bored of CBS. Siberia sounded like a great show. It made you asking different questions and making you wanting to see the new episode right NOW! I really loved this show because it was different from most shows I have watched and I pray and beg NBC to bring it back. I really wish they don't cancel this show or I'm done with NBC because they have canceled to many of my favorite shows. The acting stinks and that's the only thing that separates me from thinking is it fake or real. The first episode was kinda sketchy but, later on the series has made me into a fan. I also just love the twists and plots very creative. Thank you for this show. Keep it on NBC.