Vikings

19 January 2018

I'm not a fan of historical and quasi-historical films and series, so I had no high expectations for "Vikings". But the first season bought me right away. It's completely different from anything I've seen so far, and there are more dead than in "Game of Thrones". Now I finished the second season and the series just keeps getting better. It seems to me that there are more scheming and twists than in GoT. The acting and characterization are excellent, and the action scenes are incredibly believable and realistic. It gets more and more complicated and tense and will not only hold your attention but also your breath.

7 April 2024

I finally made it to the end. In the later seasons, the story branches out in too many directions and gets overly complicated. The series in most respects maintains the level until the very end, but the story begins to repeat itself, the same plots revolve around different generations of characters and, although it cannot be said that the quality decreases, it all becomes a bit monotonous. Some of the denouements delighted me, some disappointed me, and some felt unfinished, but I guess that's a matter of taste. All in all, an above-average series, but I think they should have ended it earlier. Definitely a recommendation, if for no other reason than because of the original and striking performances of the entire cast, among which Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alex Hogh Andersen, and Travis Fimmel stand out the most.

8/10.

I've been waiting for someone to make a good series about the vikings. I'm from Norway myself, and I'm naturally interested in our history. I've only seen two episodes so far, but I have to say - it really looks promising. The surroundings and nature in the two first episodes is exactly how it looks in "Vestlandet", the western parts of Norway. Stunnings fjords with waterfalls cascading down the sides. It really looks authentic.

The acting is mostly top notch, a few short scenes aren't that great but it's hardly mentionable. It seems like in the beginning, people are speaking an incomprehensible Norse/English mix, and then they continue speaking a modern English. It's pretty clever actually. Fun fact: When the Vikings invaded the British isles they could understand each other's languages.

The story itself is really exciting, and I just want to watch more.. I can hardly wait for the next episode to be released.

I don't know so much about the Ragnar Lodbrok character, but Rollo (Gangarolf) is a very famous character in the Norse sagas.

I highly recommend this show, and I really hope they continue making this for several seasons.

They should have just stopped after season 3. Season 5 was so bad that I couldn't finish the last 2 episodes without forcing myself to watch just to confirm how bad this was.

I absolutely loved Vikings and already miss it. Obviously, the first 4 seasons were a lot better with Travis Fimmel as Ragnar still on it but the show was still pretty good even after he left...as long as you try not to compare it to those first four seasons. The writing and acting is so good that it just pulls you into their world. Finmel wasn't the only one was great. The entire cast was. Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha), Alexander Ludwig (Bjorn), Clive Standen (Rollo), Gustaf Skarsgard (Floki), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Bishop Haehmund) and Alex Hogh Anderson (Ivar) all stood out too. Even though the quality went down a little after Fimnel left, I thought the last 10 episodes on Amazon got the show back on track and ended the series on a real high note though.

The first 3 seasons are excellent. I used to recommend this series to all my friends. Few episodes, good story, unique characters. Then the fame came and brought greed. History Channel decided to double the earnings by doubling the number of episodes in season 4. Without enough content to fill the episodes, the show became slow and boring. I decided to stop watching it by the end of season 4 because I realized it was declining. I don't want to screw up my good memories.