User reviews

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.

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!

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

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.

The problem with "The Last Czars" is that the creators couldn't decide on what they wanted this series to be. So instead of making a decision, they tried everything, and by doing this, they only succeeded in achieving mediocrity. The whole thing just missed some heart.

What they did wrong: * You make it into a drama-historical serie or into a docu-serie. Both together work against each other. You lose all the momentum when you cut to historical narrators who give context to the story.

* English accents in a very Russian enviroment doesn't work for me.

* Dialogue missed depth. Had the hardest time getting invested in the Romanov's.

*Visual effects were very poor (few shots of explosions, ships or train were not up to standards)

The good: * Historical correct! Costumes, sets were absolutely on point.

* A great story that needed to be told, but deserved a better translation.

In the end, if production would have been comparable to "The Crown", this would have been a great succes. Missed opportunity, what a shame! Nevertheless I watched the whole serie in two days. If you are interested in this kind of historical facts, this serie really deliver on historical facts. So I would still recommend watching it.

I'm surprised a lot of reviewers are not a fan of the commentary in between scenes. I however, loved this combination. I am a fan of history and when watching historical series or films I tend to google while watching because a lot of questions pop up in my head. This time I didn't need to do that, because all I ever wanted to know was told and explained in the series.

I think they created the right atmosphere and the music at the beginning is perfect to set the tone.

I watched all episodes in one go and was sad when I had finished them. Great acting as well. The historians in the series were perfectly cast by the way, they were really telling the story with emotion. This was a history class on steroids. Well done!

While I understand the frequent scholarly interruptions may produce a less slick viewing experience, the historical interjections are completely necessary to understand the motivations and actions during this period of history. A sterile, Disney movie could have been produced I suppose, but the university scholars and authors make this series credible and closer to the historical record. The acting is not A grade, but it is more than competent to tell this story. The costumes are excellent. Take this series for the great history it reveals folks!

The documentary style from those have study the subject helps to understand why this part of Russian history went the way it did. I love russian history and the Romanov dynasty was one of the longest reigning dynasties. In a country who's history is as long as ours in the UK. It is as relevant today as a warning of what happens when leaders lose sight of their job and ignore those they rule. The Romanov's had to die. Those that took over could not afford the possibility the people would change their minds and want the royals back. There is no truer saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Royals spend their lives being trained for the hardest job in the world politicians are only trained for some of it. Neither can resist what being a leader can turn you into. The only thing I can't deal with is Rasputin's Yorkshire accent.

This several-part series is a hybrid: it's part historical drama, part documentary. Just when you begin getting engrossed in the story, in pop the experts who were interviewed for the series. Fascinating whether you've a passing or an enthusiast's gothic interest in the Romanovs and the last czar and czarina of Russia. It's a tragic story, forever elevated to romantic status in the telling of the history of it. What's staying with me at the moment is something one of the aforementioned experts said (paraphrased) in the first episode: 'The czar was expected to be all things, and no one alive was reasonably qualified for that job, nor could be expected to meet every impossibly lofty expectation laid before the czar.' In short: a tremendous amount of pressure, and if you think contemporary politics is rough-going - with each side never fully happy - then wait'll you see this!

I don't understand what style this series is going for. It would've been fine as a docu-drama series, but the strange narration interrupting often throws it way off. I appreciated the history shared, even if it did interrupt the storyline. If you can get over that aspect of the show, it's pretty good.

Like many i was put off by the obviously English accents and the totally unnecessary sex scenes in the beginning of this retelling of the "Nicholas and Alexandra" tale but it got better as it went along. There were no surprises if you've seen this dramatized before or read a couple of books on the subject, as I have. But I felt Ben Cartwright, (yes, that's his name) made an excellent Rasputin, not a drunken madman but a very careful and charming schemer. Jack Robert and Susanna Herbert did well as the Czar and Czarina and the sequences after the abdication were well done. The documentary sequences were good but I'd like to have seen more of them, perhaps as part of a full documentary on the subject.

My biggest disappointment was that it failed to live up to it's plural title. the story of the last Czars actually begins with Nicholas' grandfather, Alexander II, who has been compared to Abraham Lincoln, his exact contemporary, because he freed Russia's serfs as Lincoln freed the slaves. He made many other reforms, regarded as liberal at the time. The impact of this was to give people hope but it also gave them impatience which in turn caused some to turn on the Czar, blaming him for the slow pace of the reforms and limits put on them. The most radical elements decided to assassinate him and, after several attempts, succeeded in 1881. Seeing him on his deathbed, his legs blown apart by a bomb hardened the attitudes of his son, who became Alexander III and his grandson, who succeeded his father in 1894. Their hard-line stance, in turn, only produced more contempt as Russian society split apart along class lines. the revolution almost came in 1905 but in the wake of an unsuccessful war, it finally occurred in 1917 and doomed Nicholas and his family. That entire story should have been told and it was what I expected from "The Last Czars".

I just reached episode 3 of these series,i had the urge to write my commentary early on;the acting is fairly good,the historical accuracy is also good...the fact that there is commentary between scenes is kind of annoying,throws you of balance from mood to mood which also kind of kills the consistency of the characters,and weakens the overall feel of the series,I wish it was different specially with that kind of material,this is one of the greatest mystical stories of the 20st century, it should have had the alienist and dark's tone and intensity...the actor portraying rasputin is arguably best there is to lead in this role,but the actor portraying nicholas is not made for that part as he failed to convince that he is indeed a sitting czar...the good thing is that the whole work is entertaining and educational!it would have gotten a 10 rating if they took it more seriously,knowing that they could be done wonders with that story...it gets an 8

This show doesn't know what it wants to be. Either go with a period drama or go with a documentary... don't try to mix the two. It doesn't work. Shame really as it's a very interesting subject.

Wow. Just finished watching. What is up with these negative reviews? Where are they coming from? You are seriously going to 1 star because of a nitpick or misunderstanding of what you thought you were going to see? Please stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Yes, there are historical discrepancies. Yes, a lot of history was skimmed over. Yes, there is nudity. Yes there is cursing (It's rated TV-MA!), Yes the "bad guys" / "good guys" and who was at fault are all very, very debatable.... but angry history buffs, prudes, and people with emotional ties to the politics be damned. I liked this. I liked this a lot. It got me interested in the history of the era, and curious to understand of both sides of the conflict and why they did what they did.

Obviously the series could have been better if it had covered more of the timeline before and after, more accurately represented the individuals involved, and delved more in to the rational of all the key players. If you are going to switch between documentary/commentary back to the drama, you need to pay more attention to the accuracy of the era you are in.

Acting and production where terrific. Hope to see more like this in the future!

It could have been a great concept but they overuse the commentary to describe what we are already seeing on screen. One can only cut away in this manner when it's ADDED information. But they will cut to a woman saying something like "he really loves her" when we were just watching him actually loving her. "there were mobs" as we were watching mobs. It's irritating to have what we are seeing described!!! ADDING historical information we can't see, Or historical footage is helpful! If it's redundant its annoying and jarring. So 25% of it was maddening. Its an editing script problem.

Acting is ok but overall I thought this was a great series. Especially liked the real footage inserted in the drama! Bravo!

I have just rewatched the series after having watched it when it was first released. Whilst I thought the basic historical events were covered, a lot was glossed over in favour of overly dramatic commentary by the historical experts. As someone who has studied the topic and read all the usual books on the subject, I feel more could have been included, such as the many relations across Europe the coupe had, the relationships between kaiser wilhelm II and the family (a cousin of both Nicholas and Alexandra) , and the rescinded offer of sanctuary by king George V of Great Britain (also a first cousin to both Nicholas and Alexandra) The script I felt lacked any real depth and was one dimensional.

What I would say is that contrary to many reviews I did not have a problem with the British accents, which I felt were appropriate, as many royal families employed English nannies for their children at this time, and English for many would have been spoken in the nursery. Indeed, the real Alexandra and Nicholas corresponded in English, and Alexandra herself, spent much of her childhood in England, as she was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

I thought the costumes were ok, but more could have been done with historical accuracy ( not one picture hat for Alexandra?) Overall a good effort though, would recommend as an introduction to the story.

I thought it was a great docuseries!! I love the way the show is laid out. Most docuseries don't have enough of the series part and to much of the documentary part. I hope to see more like this soon!

A rainy Saturday afternoon in Bangkok was the perfect time to finally finish this 6-episode series, which we both enjoyed (although in fits and starts over the past few weeks). Despite my love of history, I knew very little about the Romanovs, other than they were all massacred in 1918. This was a glossy, soapy take on their saga, with characters speaking with crisp British accents in a good dramatization of how Rasputin was able to worm his way into their lives and how wretched and indifferent to suffering the Romanovs were.

Just an example to give you the level of expertise in this film. Caption says "Moscow, 4th of February 1905". The video on the background is a Red Square WITH FREAKING LENIN'S MAUSOLEUM taking 50% of the screen. Come on guys, this is too much even for US grade B series.

The show would be fine if it wasn't often interrupted by narration and nude sex scenes twice an episode that aren't even necessary to the story and take you right out of the drama.