Águila Roja

This series was light, well written, with great characters, very good acting, and reminiscent of times when gore and sexual crudeness were not a must to make it. Thank you!

It's pretty difficult to describe what people do in other parts of the world when you have no idea what that part of the world is or how their people are. Lots of criticism came to this fantastic series because it was not like the American ones people are used to.

RTVE is the largest and publicly owned radio and TV conglomerate of Spain. And, for many years, the only option. The only one with money to make a series. But they never had anything close to Aguila Roja. This one goes over the top and more.

A very handsome, educated and able man is the avenger of the people in a time of extreme poverty, overwhelming power in the hands of kings and the church and little to no education. That's the setting for this "Siglo de Oro" series. Now in its 9th year, it obviously has many flaws and sometimes even goes backward. But, all in all, it's a very enjoyable thing to watch with tons of period props, dresses, historical references, love affairs and the omnipresent doom of the powers to be lingering in the air the people of Madrid had to breath. The fights are the centerpiece of almost all episodes and they're done beautifully with weapons of the age.

It will even take you through many of the torture machines of the time and their crooked uses.

Enjoyable!

One of the best film criticisms I ever heard was "if the characters weren't so stupid, we wouldn't have a movie." That pretty much describes this series. Most, almost all, the problems the characters face result from their own unbelievable stupidity. I can't even count how many times I groaned & yelled at the TV, "Come on! Nobody is THAT stupid!!" The two main culprits are Satur, the faithful squire of our hero, and Alonso, his son. Satur's numbskull mistakes I could bear because the character is so lovable & endearing, but the son ... yeesh. He starts out as an obnoxious brat & over the course of nine seasons grows up to be a selfish, insufferable brat. His character became so deeply unlikable that I started rooting for him NOT to be saved from his various predicaments.

So how/why did I make it through all 116 eighty-minute episodes? You gotta love the 17th century superhero. Not only is he kind, selfless, and just, but he can take down a whole batallion of bad guys with his crossbow, ninja stars, and trusty sword. The fight scenes are rather unrealistic until you remember that he's not just a hero, but a superhero, with all the appropriate speed, reflexes, and strength befitting a superhero, centuries before Marvel Comics.

In summary, the series is a very mixed bag: groan-worthy plotlines but a truly great protagonist. Despite the ups & downs, I binged through all nine seasons in about two months. By the end, I was honestly hoping that they would revive the series, bring us Son of Aguila Roja, just with better-written characters the next go-'round.

adventures. crumbs of Golden Century of Spain. not real convincing but nice. a film who reminds a lot of Romantic heroes. and who preserves the flavor of classic justice maker portrait. the script is not surprising. the performances are decent. but it has a basic virtue who defines its charm - the respect for the old recipes. in strange manner, that does it seductive. because it propose a different Zorro and Don Quijote, a not bad image of Spanish social categories, a mixture of religion and politic who is far to be credible but seems define contemporary cases. a film who has many ways. and who has the courage to give, with a low budget, a slice of a historical period in a not boring style. it is not Hollywood but it is a good product. simple, naive, touching, for kids and for the admirers of old fashion stories.

I 'm watching this show for 4 months in RTVE site and I've been found it very funny with good acting from main characters. Being portuguese and knowing well spanish, I can understand better show language, than people that can't understand show original language. Even I find difficult some data accurancy, such as Felipe IV marriage with Hernan and Gonzalo's mother (once Felipe's first wife died in 1644 and his son's are portrayed like children back this time) and a roman circus in XVII century, I think this is a good show and I look forward to watch the next show.