Barbarians

Can t say that there weren't parts where I was absolutley fascinated by the level of detail given (specifically the fact that the germanic tribes speak german and romans latin!!) + the very historically detailed roman armours add a very nice touch to this niche historical setting.

Sadly around 40% of the story is driven around a "strong ,independent" woman that does whatever she likes with no real consequences and is regarded even by Arminius as the "true leader" several times. Alongside the Romeo and Juliet romance going on between the "woman" and some random dude,it kinda broke the hole immersion for me ,because you can clearly see that actual historians and history fans took part in creating the show; paralleled by a story that brings nothing original or new or interesting or even historically plausible to the show.

The relationship between Arminius and Varus is pretty well written and very well played by both actors, and it s nice to see glimpses of both cultures in what is clearly a limited (and most likely 1 season) budget tv show.

To wrap it up , it s a "could have been master-piece" that will surley fall into obscurity due to it s pandering to the average "Fritz"(since it s german duh) and lack of originality and authenticity.

Barbarians is an ambitious attempt to tell stories from the most fascinating time of European history. That are never told.

Technically it is one of the best historical dramas out there. Dress, houses, weapons, armor, hairstyles and so on, this show made the best effort ever made to get it right or to make a good interpetation of what little data exist.

Doubleplussuperextra good for the language. The Germans speak German, the Romans speak Latin. Fantastic! Very immersive and very interesting.

What the show fails with is to recreate German society and value systems of the day. Something that would have been extremely difficult and risky to do, it could have turned into a grisly flop insulting everyone. Instead the show makes a compromise between contemporary sensibilities and some guesswork of past societies. I think this is acceptable. And sure, the girl power aspect of the show is a nod to woke culture. However, the Germans of old did tell stories of heroic ladies. And at least we are spared the shieldmaiden platoons of the tv show Vikings. Here we just have the playing up of one extraordinary woman that is mentioned in history.

Casting is also very good. Nothing ruins a show more than bad casting and here they got it right. Tushnelda is especially well casted.

One thing that was a bit disturbing to me is the ages of people in the show, too many old people, too few young people too few children. A tip to any future show is to be inspired by a harsh war torn place in the third world rather than contemporary European or American society whith this aspect. The Germans of 0 AD was a people teeming with youth and life. Not an old dying one.

Overall, very good effort, very enjoyable result. Hoping for more!

Barbarians was so much better than I anticipated! While not quite as good as other shows like Spartacus, Rome, Vikings or The Last Kingdom, it was still a pretty good show that was entertaining enough to watch. It does bend the truth a little bit of what really happened back then but it's still pretty close and doesn't claim to be a documentary. Its visuals are great. If you have some time and looking for a show to binge watch over a weekend then give this a try. The seasons are only 6 episodes long so you can get through them pretty quickly. The show is in German but you can dub it in English or read the subtitles. Already looking forward to next season.

Season 1 is great. It takes some liberties with historical events, but generally leads up to and portrays a battle between the Romans and German tribes. Acting is good, costumes are excellent, and the sets are nice. The story is a bit simplified and overly dramatized but it's a good watch.

Season 2 is a big disappointment. Episode 1 is decent enough but be sure to turn it off after that. Episode 2 introduces the entire gamut of woke identity politics. I'm sure Netflix got their quotas met but it completely ruined any immersion or enjoyment. Vote changed from 8/10 to 2/10. What a disappointment.

There was something captivating about the lead character, Arminius. I didn't know this was based on a real battle, and I wish there was more details now that I do. Don't bother with dubbing, watch the original. They way they switch between Latin and German was very impressive!