Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

By-TorX-1 Given a longstanding interest in the Knights Templars, Knightfall looked to be of great promise, but alas, it is nothing but a rusty and clanking mess. Indeed, the disappointment is there from the outset as the initial siege of Acre should have been an exciting spectacle, but instead of thrilling scenes of brutal medieval warfare, all we get is about 10 Templars going out to face thousands upon thousands of Saracen attackers. Moreover, the director opts for cut-price '300' style fighting scenes, again, somewhat lessened by the fact that there are only about 10 knights who enter the fray (and who declare that Acre is lost after about five minutes of combat). Also, given that the central character, Landry, manfully growls to a Saracen messenger (in a would-be "This is Sparta!" moment) that they would all rather die in glory than surrender the city, it is then somewhat comical to see that the Templars quickly opt for the 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' plan and shout "Run away! Run away!" when the action gets heavy. Thus, from the outset, the budget for this 'epic' is clearly on the low side, and the writing is somewhat dubious. Post Acre, the action jumps forward 15 years, yet miraculously none of the characters age one iota (is this thanks to the mystical power of the Grail? Sure, why not? It isn't as if this is history or anything). From there, we learn that the Knights Templar are pretty much the Batmen of Paris, protecting the weak and persecuted (because Landry is, you know, a swell guy), and as soon as I saw the young Jewish women leap into battle alongside the Templars like a 13th century Xena, felling villains left and right, I knew that any pretence of historical accuracy was stone cold dead even before the end of the first episode. Moreover, to add to the drama, we even get a young fellow by the name of Parsifal shouting "Nooooooo!" to the heavens on discovering his poor wife has succumbed to a William Tell routine gone wrong. In this regard, it is strange to think that a future generation will inherit this now pervasive revisionist style of history, with texts that are the product of what a current political class wish history was, and are now actively making it so with their fantasy-based visions of the past. Of course, you might argue that it is all just entertainment and that the show is clearly made to get in on the Game of Thrones market, but then why be made by the History Channel? Then again, looking at said channel's prime offerings, it cannot be long until an episode of Knightfall features our intrepid Templars teaming up with some ancient aliens to track down the elusive Grail, or turning up on Oak Island to randomly bury some cursed gold.

aguynameddrew Ok, firstly this is not a documentary. It is a television show. It is entertainment. It has a historical setting and context along with the events and characters. But some "liberties" are taken for the purpose of the story. If it will drive you mad that Clement was pope at the time the series begins, not Boniface then either get over it or watch something else.As a television show i think it's very well done. There are nice twists and turns, proper villains, and appropriate levels of violence. I had no issue with the acting or the script as some reviewers had. For me one of the signs of a good show is that i want to see what happens next. Check that. There is a consistent layer of mystery and suspense as to where this thing will take you and there are plenty of "i didnt see that coming" I gave it a 9, maybe i would have given it an 8 but i probably overcompensated a bit for the negative reviews which i considered to be unfair and not objective reflections of this as a historical fiction. Again, it's not a documentary.

sangragkanjilal The acting was excellent and so was the plot.It has the most unpredictable plot.The characters were great.This T.V series is way better than any other you can possibly find.It has a great story and once you start watching it you should finish the whole tv series and then comment about it.It deserves way more rating than it gets. In conclusion,Knightfall is a tv series that you must watch.

Lammasuswatch Like many other reviewers here, I was looking forward to this series after seeing the trailers. The story of the Templars and especially of their downfall through the greed and intrigue of French King Philip IV has long fascinated me. And I was at first intrigued at the suggestion that the Holy Grail was going to play a part. But even in the 1st episode warning bells were clanging for me, when we find out senior Templar Landry is having an affaire with the French Queen. The French Queen?! And of course, Landry just happens to be King Philip's best bud. Now knowing that in historical reality Phillipe Le Bel (Philip the Fair) was the French King who persecuted the Templars with a series of outrageous accusations, just so he could steal all their vast wealth for himself, I could already guess from that 1st episode that this cheap, unnecessary and historically ridiculous contrivance is going to be the main excuse for the King to turn on the Templars some time down the track. As if he needed this? Instead of the quite simple fact that Philip the Fair was anything but, and one of the most greedy and soulless Kings of France in a line of greedy and soulless Kings of France. Was this going to be the laziest of writing?But I've stayed with the series to see how it developed despite the ever stranger plot developments, often embarrassingly cornball dialogue, and the increasingly comic depiction of major bad guy Councillor de Nogaret. Now the historical Nogaret was an exceedingly unprincipled schemer and villain, but in this he's like a medieval Bond villain, at the centre of every intrigue. I'm half expecting him to turn up with a top hat, twirling his moustache and saying, "Nyah-ha-ha".And with writing like this there are few real surprises. I don't think any plot point has happened that wasn't telegraphed beforehand (with some so obvious it was almost insulting).And the writers have almost no characters behave in ways real people would behave - with the Queen and Landry especially unconvincing. By Episode 5, when Landry has just found out the Queen is pregnant with his child, and that she has dealt with the situation so her pregnancy will not fall under suspicion, this by now Master of the Paris Temple acts like a sullen teenager who watches too many American sitcoms and pleads with her that they could "leave Paris and go somewhere". Groan!It was Episode 5 where I thought, I really can't see myself wasting too much more time on this. One more episode perhaps, but if it's as hokey as it has been, I can't see myself lasting out the ten episodes. Much less waiting for the stake burnings and so on down the track.I did in fact persist to the last episode of Series 1. Some of the episodes from 6 through to 8 were an improvement, where you could actually believe some of what was happening, with some developments quite intriguing. But penultimate Episode 9 took a turn for the worse.And the last episode of the series.... Well, here's this guy Landry who's been made the Master of the Paris Temple, because he's so respected by his brother Templars. And yet, for most of the series and especially in the last 3 episodes or so, every decision he makes is tactically so ludicrous - or simply so selfish - that any loyalty any of his brother Templars could have shown him, or at least kept showing him, is so unbelievable as to be laughable.And while we're on the topic of tactics, what sort of an idiot would put all his soldiers in the middle of a clearing surrounded by woods when you know an army's about to attack you? And all packed tightly together in a circle? Apparently no-one writing or directing this series has heard of archers and bows and arrows or crossbows, all of which would have been devastating when presented with such an invitingly exposed target.And then when Grand Master Jacques de Molay decides to ride to the rescue after all, and stages a cavalry charge with his armoured knights, which initially cuts swathes through the enemy, what does he do next? That's right! They all dismount and give up their huge tactical advantage to fight on foot! And at the end, they've only lost about 30 Templars? Amazing!If there is a Series 2, I certainly won't be watching.I reckon you'd get a lot more out of reading the comic.