drystyx
A low budget is no excuse for a complete snooze fest.This series is a drama about European monarchies leading up to World War I. This is not action, but drama. Does that excuse poor directing? No.Three directors (four, if you include Burge), and three writers made this. That may partly account for the ineptness, since creativity cannot be made by committee. By definition, a committee cannot possibly generate any suspense or interest, because a committee will always be safe and predictable.I have worked under dozens of stage directors who could bring life to dull pieces with no action. I have directed dramas that needed life brought to them. There are tricks and methods to enliven scenes. The onus is not on the writers Eliot, Holford, and Pulman (although their dialog was super boring, and they could have done much better), but ultimately the blame for this failure must lay on the shoulders of directors Cunliffe, Hays, Cartier, and Burge. They try to enhance one scene with a man shooting birds, but even that drags in pity.And to top that off, the writing is so horribly done, that we cannot follow what is going on. There is only confusion. We have no idea what is going on, or what a single character is speaking about.There is no way to stay awake for this series. And I am not speaking about the video game arcade audience. I am speaking about intelligent and educated people who love History and read nonfiction. I don't want mindless action, but you can't convey character and story just by delivering lines, either. I can't envision any person being able to sit through this horribly produced thud. I saw some comments that I couldn't believe. This series gives new meaning to the word "drag".
thompsjf
If you like mini-series I Cladius, you will like this series. I watched this as a young teenager and learn more on what brought the world, World War I that all of the boring history lessons I took in school. Also, the breath and scope of this TV mini-series just can not be remade today. Only HBO has the clout and finances to tackle this type of material.The acting in this series is old school British theater and is a little talkative for the modern MTV generation who are use to more action, however, it is very rewarding to listen to the words and watch the scope of history unfold. You will understand that the end of the series that it is individuals who make history and individuals have the power to literally to change the world.This mini-series is well worth your time and attention.
dfarhie-1
When this series was re-broadcast on the old Bravo network, I managed to record several of the episodes on VHS tape, watching and re-watching the copies till the tape ran snowy and hard to hear. I longed for the day when I could watch the entire series from start to finish in crisp DVD clarity. My wait is ended, I am rewarded. This monumental series full of passion, intrigue, historical goodies, court gossip and protocol is just as fresh as the first time it was broadcast in 1974. Beginning in the mid 1800's and ending with the Kaiser's abdication and exile in 1918, this sweeping melodrama covers all the salient points of political and private machinations that led to the destruction and self-immolation of the three great houses of Europe, the Hapsburgs, Hohenzollerns and Romanovs.Patrick Stewart (Vladimir Lenin, Sejanus in I, Claudius, Captain Jean Luc Picard on Star Trek, the Next Generation) heads a wonderful cast including Curt Jurgens(Otto Von Bismark),Laurence Naismith (Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria-Hungary), Charles Kay (Czar Nicholas Romanov of Russia, also Asinius Galus in I, Claudius), Freddie Jones(Witte), Rosalie Crutchley (Mihail, also Catherine Parr in Six Wives of Henry VIII), Barry Foster(Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia), and Gayle Hunnicutt(the Empress Alexandra Federovna of Russia). John Rhys-Davies (Zinoviev, also Macro in I, Claudius) and others easily recognized for various character roles in I, Claudius, Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R show their flexibility and talent and act up a storm in this, the ultimate costume drama period-piece.The DVD set is beautifully packaged in a fold open series of 4 discs with tasteful decoration The color is outstanding, the sound almost perfect save for a few variations in volume from one episode to the next, a mere trifle.Every teacher of European History or World History should have this set in their collection, not only for historical content but also for the inexorable march of the familial conflicts toward the ultimate conflagration and destructive event of World War I. It is surprising that the 3 houses, bound by family and blood ties could pull each other to pieces as they did. Beginning with the overbearing and domineering Sophie, mother to the soon-to-be Emperor Franz-Josef,and his doomed son Crown Prince Rudolph (The Mayerling incident is played in delicious detail), then the increasingly enfeebled Kaiser Wilhelm I, and his son-and-heir the doomed Fredrich III, eventually succeeded by the megalomaniacal Kaiser Wilhelm II who led his country to doom in World War I, and the reluctant heir-apparent Nicholas, weak and milquetoast son of the brutish Alexander III who let his country slip through his fingers, dominated by the religiously crippled and pathetically distracted Alexandra, cursed with a hemophiliac son and heir Alexis, ending with the Bolshevik triumph in Russia, the disappearance of the Hapsburg dynasty after the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand in Sarajevo and the abdication of the Hohenzollern monarch Kaiser Wilhelm II.I highly recommend this DVD set to any collector of historical drama. It is the finest in BBC entertainment of the early 70's, and well worth the wait.
scep
For years my Dad has been searching for this series and now the wait is over. You can purchase the newly released DVD set at Amazon.UK. I could not find it on Amazon.com but it is available on the UK version. I have searched and searched the internet, libraries, and video stores and no luck. My Dad is friends with owners of video stores and they tried through their contacts but came up empty handed. For fun I decided to look again and found it has been released since Oct. 18th. I am not sure what the exchange rate is but it came to 34.99 in British pounds and that was with shipping. I can only guess somewhere in the area of $60. I did not think that was so bad considering the size of the series.