Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

scott-90307 If you just happen to be stumbling upon one of the two 2011 "Borgia" series, as I did recently, you may find it interesting to view each of them---if you like one, you probably will want to check out the other. The other reviews herein are pretty helpful in hashing out the differences. My take: the Showtime version has a more believable lead in Jeremy Irons---- with all due respect, John Darman's American accent in the middle of all those European types, in the Canal version, is pretty distracting. Of course, in that version you also have brothers Juan and Cesare with two different accents. Ah, well....I'm nitpicking. Overall, as sumptuous and entertaining as Showtime's 'The Borgias' is, 'Borgia' does concentrate more on story. But either one will drive home an inescapable truth: the realistic expose of life behind Vatican walls. The most powerful organizations of Christendom---despite their pious showiness---- have been mired in greed, immorality, power-play, and paganism ever since they broke away from the simple truths of the first-century followers of Christ.....interestingly, just as was prophesied in the Scriptures. That foretold apostasy itself makes a fascinating subject for documentary. Filmmakers? What are you waiting for?

LuciaRenoir Is it perfect? No. The accents and some displays of over the top drama bothered me at first, but I soon forgot I was watching TV, as I was engrossed in the fascinating politics of the conclave and the presentation of the amazing Spanish family.Borgia (canal +) a very good show. Ambitious, clever, dark, and yet funny, shocking and entertaining. I think it captures really well what it was like to live in these violent times without "modernizing" the characters. It never judges, simply exposing theirs lives and minds, so similar and yet so different from ours. I love Doman's Rodrigo as much as I hate Irons's one in The Borgias (he's more a Della Rovere). Domans portrayal is raw and full of life. Lucrecia, Juan, Vanozza, Gulia, Alessandro, Della Rovere are very well cast and nuanced and complex characters. Mark Ryder is simply incredible as Cesare Borgia,growing from a stubborn, tormented and insecure teenager to the megalomaniac and ruthless genius Machiavel wrote about. The history is very well researched, and never dumbed down to the audience. I find the costumes and the grim settings very appropriate. The show is punctuated by violent scenes which remind us how uncertain personal fortunes were, how lives were easily crushed without remorse. The nudity and the love scenes are very well filmed and feel natural.I've tried watching The Borgia, but I stopped after the end of the first season. It was pretty but empty, silly (the incest obsession). Like the Kardashians but with people who happened to bear the name of Borgia (the real history is much more interesting). The characters were going nowhere :Irons a sad ghost without will, Cesare plotting his way to his sister bed with no other ambition, Lucrezia was like a annoying kitten and Juan a brainless fool.Borgia is a very superior show, in my opinion.

Antiquary Here we go again Sickening Blood-Soaked violence + naked writhing = 'Historical Drama - see 'The Tudors' Almost all of the characters are two dimensional - complex costuming, sumptuous sets and scenery (read a big budget) will have to add a third dimension. Everyone is power consumed and more or less completely insane. Moreover almost every episode contains the kind of voyeuristic horror which the Roman mob would have loved in the coliseum. The director obviously assumes the majority of his audience will love the sight of a naked man having the 'Pope's Pear' inserted in his rectum and expanded/twisted, shredding his insides - in passing - The 'Pope's Pear appears to be a 19th century invention designed to attract sightseers to castle 'torture chambers' – which were real enough! – or some poor peasant being sawn in half (from the painful end!) while suspended upside down – which did actually happen – though I suspect not in front of the Vatican. It's a pity as some of the acting is really rather good – Lucrezia (Isolda Dychauk) grows some authority and Charles VIII (Charles Larvanon) is superb.

natalie0407 Give it a chance! This show takes some getting used to (especially if you come after more lavish Showtime production). The first few episodes are heavy with exposition, the mishmash of accents can be jarring and the young Borgia are immature and not very likable. However, it quickly becomes obvious that this is done on purpose: after all, the brothers, Cesare and Juan, are still hot-headed teenagers eager to prove themselves while Lucrezia is just a child. During the course of two seasons, through trials and tribulations, they grow and mature, and Cesare is very believable as a flawed character with conflicting motivations, and the force to be reckoned with, just like his legend suggests. Cesare and Lucrezia not only do they look like their portraits, they are doing a terrific job bring their complex characters to life. Other cast is superb, too, even Doman, who might lack Irons' expressive voice but brings commanding presence necessary for the most influential man in the Christian world. All in all, the character development is one of the best I've seen on TV (worthy of anything on HBO), even the minor characters seem like real people with their own agendas rather than just the talking heads. This show is also truer to showing life and times: St. Peter is run down, just like it was, in all the night scenes it actually looks like the world lit only by fire. As far as historical accuracy goes: remember, most of the dark deeds attributed to Borgias are due to the smear campaign of their enemies. I doubt that the real Borgia were really much worse than any other noble family squabbling over Italy at the time. I think Fontana successfully combines some of the legend with the actual historical events, not without some dramatic license, as expected. There's a wealth of details that makes Showtime's show look like Dallas in period costumes. After a somewhat shaky start, it became my favorite adult historic show since Rome.