Rise of the Raven

A roughly historically accurate series from the 15th century Hungary with monumental battle scenes and traditional male image. During the Osman-Turkish invasion of the Balkan, the vaivode of Transylvania, János Hunyadi tries to expel the muslim conquerors from Europe. Although he has Christian enemies as well (the Habsburgs and their vassal, the sly Count, Ulrik Cillei, who is the "Littlefinger" of the series and Vlad "Dracul" Tepes, the orthodox vaivode of Wallachia), he achieves many legendary victories on the Turks and as the elected Governor of Hungary, he becomes the saviour of Christian Europe and the father of the mightiest Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus. The castle of János Hunyadi is watchable in Transylvania in our days as well: the Vajdahunyad castle is the most beautiful Gothic fortification in Central Europe.

This film has no features to shame for, it has correct script, acting, scenery, the visuality is acceptible. The story is dynamic, the sets are well built. Like 'Kincsem,' it is absolute watchable, but if it wasn't a hungarian movie, it wouldn't be interesting for me.

Unfortunately, it is precisely the portrayal of the main character that seems to me to be a weak point, at least after watching the first two episodes. Kádár Gellért's Hunyadi is the 'hero,' nothing more. Muscular, sober and handsome enough, a perfect fitness model, but he has no specific character traits, exciting identity, charisma, you can't feel the passion, obsession in him, nor erudition, nor brute force, like in Mel Gibson's Braveheart, for example. In the opening scene his parents are killed by the turks, ok, but for starting and motivation it is a little bit clichéd. Sex scenes are unnecessary, uninteresting, dull, there is nothing erotic in them. Torocsik Franciska is good, but not charismatic, Muratha Muslu is great, awesome in the role of a fearsome power.

So it is a correct movie, but won't be a cult film (as Controll, Argo, A tanú, for example).

I've only seen the first three episodes so far.

The film series is an attempt to show the struggle of a people against a conquering enemy.

The period when the Turkish Empire tried to conquer the Kingdom of Hungary.

The action takes place from the late 1420s to 1456, when a Hungarian nobleman, János Hunyadi, takes up arms against the Turkish armies besieging the southern border of the country.

He defends not only his own land but the whole country at a time when the country is in turmoil.

The film follows the life of this man.

I am not a film expert, I cannot tell you about the direction, lighting, cinematography, etc.

But I would recommend it to anyone who loves history and wants to learn about the medieval history of Central Europe, and especially of Hungary.

What makes the film special is that the characters in the series speak in their own anglophone languages, Hungarian, Serbian, Turkish, German, etc., giving a sense of the multilingual world that characterised this part of Europe at the time.

The series revolving around a major historical character, a Hungarian warlord and governor who lived in the 1400's and played a pivotal role in defending medieval Hungary against the Ottoman attacks at the time. Despite the series is Hungarian, it is obviously aiming international viewers, this is well recognizable by the number of fights, war scenes, conspiracies, and even nude scenes. Even the main title was created with fancy CGI, little bit after the likes of Shogun or GOTY.

At this point , only the two pilot episodes have aired, but we might have a feeling of the tone. It is starting with a relatively larger war scene, also giving a background to the titular character's motivation in the form of a childhood tragedy, plus giving an allegory to the Hunyadi family's Raven sigil. We are going tobve introduced to the hero, the old king, the 2 main love intererests (one of them is a femme fatale with a tragic fate), and some antagonist, amongst one is going to be the main conspirator, just like "little finger" was in GOTY. During the first episode we are also getting a second war scene (which is faily generous that we are getting two in one episode and they are not robbing our time with going-to-nowhere boring conversations) Probably it is fair to say the series has a very strong historical background but the way of the visual presentation and plot setting is heavily influenced by Game of Thrones - possibly with the aim of promoting Hungarian history amongst other nations as well.

In most aspects the creators done a great job. The plot seems mostly OK, the visuals are on the level of the usual international shows (however, at this point we are still waiting for a really spectacular war scene; it isblike tge first season of Vikings compared to later seasons); but we might say they used the budget well. The conspiracies are fairly interesting during the first two episodes. There are some cons as well: the plot mainly OK, but there are some minor holes, like the titular character falls too soon in love with the second main love interest, and could have grief longer because he is denied to have the love of the first one; the visuals usually good, but sometimes could be better (I am looking at the throne rooms), there are many good actors, but some of them just not provide an enough convincing play. Fanni Töröcsik should be mentioned as a positive example, she is a very suggestive female character, "chains" the viewer's eyes with her acting. Sometime the voice of the actors is a bit "lifeless" not containing enough emotion in Hungarian language; this is a fairly common problem nowadays with Hungarian film acting, but this might be solved with dubbing, so foreign viewers probably will not have this issue.

Probably the number of the sex scenes or nude scenes is a bit too much, but of course the show is aiming to have international audience and they must have felt it is a necessity. It is a bit interesting, that the second episode even contains a lesbian scene, which is surprising, considering where the funding comes from; - however it is almost a copy of a specific Game of Thrones scene with the young Daenerys,- so again, obviously aiming for a larger audience. We are also having our main conspirator, whonis a historical figure, but the preeebtation of the character is heavily based on "Little Finger"; - and this Historical character is interesting, but not as compelling yet as his GOTY counterpart.

All-in-all, after first 2 episodes, it is a promising series, and I am definitely going to follow the new episodes. At least it will be an interesting and mainstream presentation of Hungarian history.

As a fan of historical films and series, and as a Hungarian, I've been waiting a long time for a series that finally brings our history to the screen in a similar fashion -so I'm genuinely thrilled about Rise of the Raven.

While it's not a perfect show, it has plenty of strengths that make it well worth watching, especially for those interested in Central and Eastern European history. The pilot may be the weakest episode, but the finale - Episode 10 - is easily the strongest. That's why I recommend that if the trailer or the premise caught your interest, but the first couple of episodes leave you unsure, give it at least until Episode 4 before making up your mind.

The first three episodes focus more on the private lives of the main characters, while the political and military conflicts unfold slowly in the background. But from the middle of the season onward, the story truly finds its stride - with richer political intrigue, battles, and unexpected twists.

The show's biggest weakness might be its pacing, which likely stems from the challenge the writers faced: compressing John Hunyadi's eventful life and the era's political complexity into just 10 episodes due to budget constraints. (Fans of similar historical dramas - imagine trying to tell the full life stories of Ragnar Lothbrok, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Henry VIII, or King Taejong in just 10 episodes... You get the idea!)

There are a few other minor flaws as well: some weaker dialogue here and there, occasional theatrical overacting, and a handful of historical inaccuracies. (One of the most notable is the use of a German translator for Sigismund of Luxembourg, despite the well-known fact that German was his native language - a detail that drew criticism from Hungarian viewers.)

That said, I honestly can't stay mad at the show for its imperfections, because the effort behind it really shines through. And its strengths - like the strong performances, the visual production, well-crafted story moments, and professionally executed action scenes - more than balance things out.

If I had to rate the episodes individually, most would be either a 7 or an 8, but I wouldn't hesitate to give the final episode a solid 9. Overall, I'd give the series a confident 8 out of 10.

On a personal note, I'm genuinely happy that a Hungarian historical series of this quality has finally been made. So thank you to everyone involved in its creation! :)

I'm really rooting for a second season-hopefully centered around King Matthias, who led an equally eventful life like his father - ideally told over even more episodes. :)