Fans Are Obsessed With This Altered Carbon Season 1 Action Scene
Netflix's "Altered Carbon" really proves that cyberpunk science fiction doesn't have to solely live on the big screen, as the 2018 TV series is just as ambitious and exciting as other famous entries in the genre. The easiest thing to compare it to is Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner," or even the original "Ghost in the Shell" movie from 1995. "Altered Carbon" is adapted from a trilogy of books by British author Richard K. Morgan, who told Grimdark Magazine that he was actually inspired by William Gibson's 1984 novel, "Neuromancer." The writer says the book was a "crystallising moment for me – the moment I realised 'This! This is the sort of thing I want to write!'"
The live-action "Altered Carbon" series does an impressive job of adapting Morgan's story, and Season 1 clearly impressed subscribers since it has a 91% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For anyone unfamiliar with the series, it focuses on Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), a man who has his consciousness transferred into a new body — or a "sleeve" — before being tasked with solving the murder of an obscenely wealthy businessman.
The series toys with themes of loss of self, life and death, and destiny, all against the backdrop of a fascinating galactic setting. But it also features incredible fight scenes and stunts, alongside some truly wince-worthy moments of gore, so there's something for everyone. In fact, fans are particularly obsessed with this "Altered Carbon" Season 1 action scene.
Takeshi Kovacs breaks out of VR torture
In Season 1, Episode 4, "Force of Evil," Takeshi Kovacs winds up getting kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity... Sort of. His captors think they've taken Elias Ryker — but that's just the real identity of the body Kovacs' consciousness is in. Despite the mistake, Kovacs is tortured in a number of horrific ways in virtual reality, so there are no actual physical effects to his body, but he still feels all the pain. Lovely. Thankfully, he breaks out of his digital prison and quickly gets revenge on everyone involved in a brutal, bloody fight scene.
"Altered Carbon" fans on Reddit lapped the scene up, with u/Open_Mouth_Open_Mind writing, "It's the most memorable and satisfying scene ever. It's the perfect mix of high tech weaponry and just pure deserved murder." U/ABewilderedPickle added that Kovacs' wardrobe choice makes the fight scene even better, saying "The scene is ironically made even more badass with the Hello Unicorn backpack." It's a killer look, that's for sure.
U/DawnDeather also pointed out that as soon as Kovacs gets free, everyone else realizes how much trouble they're in, "you can hear the fear in that technicians voice when he says 'Oh s***.' It's like he knows that a massacre is about to happen." It's one of the best fight scenes in the entire "Altered Carbon" series, and it's only made better because the audience knows the torturers deserve it.