Gli ultimi zar

This historical docuseries swings away at the story of Nicholas and Alexandra, their children, and the mad monk Rasputin (played with gusto and some sort of wild Cockney accent by British actor Ben Cartwright). It has tons and tons of sparkle and glitz, but it's missing heart. You are not going to become terribly involved with Czar Nicholas or the family's tragic story. There are some great photos taken during the time period, and even some film clips. This adds interest. However, that and the glamorous costumes are not enough to save this series. I suggest watching the film "Nicholas and Alexandra" instead, or perhaps reading Robert Massie's book about the fall of the Romanovs, "Nicholas and Alexandra". Grade: C

Why is Netflix is so obsessed with unnecessary sex scenes that adds nothing to the story?! The format was fine with me of having interjections of context along the the story as was the mediocre acting skills. The lavish production and costumes were great and reminded us of many sights and sites we saw while in Russia. As to historical accuracy, no one should ever rely on or expect historical accuracy in productions of this type. But the series certainly did paint an accurate picture of the mood that existed in Russia at that time and the precursors to the ultimate death of the Czar as well as the end of the political structure and of course, the rise of Communism. We know what sex looks like though Netflix, so enough already!

Whilst a lot of documentary series include dramatised segments, this very much feels like a drama series that intermittently gets interrupted by documentary moments. It's an unusual format, but I got used to it very quickly. It knits together well and I didn't feel that one style of presenting the narrative was encroaching upon the other. They complement each other effectively to give insight into a period of history that, I have realised, I didn't know as much about as I first imagined. Minor point. Other reviewers have questioned Nicholas having a dragon tattoo. It's actually historically accurate. He got it on a trip to Japan before he became Czar.

I admit, after its end, many frustrations are too fresh in my case. It can be defined as average serie. But the Romanovs deserves more than a too subjective history lesson, putting at the wall people out of their historical context. It is a sketch, not an inspired one. And this represents the basic error. The second big mistakes - the actors. Few are good and their acting represents what you expect. The majority... . Maybe, not their fault but the desire to give a panorama and to explain to much, from high subjectivity level. Short, maybe, an average serie. In my case,

Maybe an unpopular opinion in light of some of the other reviews here, but I actually liked the combination of drama/acting and documentary. It allowed me to understand the history better in simple terms, as well as see how some things that the historians described might have played out. As a history teacher myself, I believe history should be told like a story. I think they did a pretty good job of that.

And for anyone who wonders why the actor playing the czar has a tattoo and why it wasn't covered up for the role....Czar Nicholas actually did have a big dragon tattoo on his right forearm. That is historically accurate.