Titans: The Rise of Hollywood

The idea for this series is great, but the execution is awful bc it really does sound like an AI generated script. The acting is brutally bad, and the narration is cringe. This could have been good but it's pretty obviously AI slop, or at least created by a team that's no better than that. Raise the bar, Netflix. This is a weak effort.

We thought we knew a lot about the origins of movies, having watched the 13-episode series "Hollywood" narrated by James Mason. But each episode of "Titans", especially those covering the 1890s to mid-1910s, had us saying "I never knew that." By focusing on the business perspective--innovators who had a feeling that motion pictures could be big, but struggled to figure out how--the series explains how and why the innovations happened.

The docudrama is narrated as oral history by an older Adolf Zukor. The dynamics between the competitors/collaborators are often fascinating. The final episode or two, covering the end of the silent era, get bogged down by details about corporate wheeling and dealing, which can be hard to follow. Nevertheless, the earlier portions more than make up for it.

As far too many reviewers have noted, the acting is mediocre at best. No one is going to win an Oscar or Emmy for their acting here (although I don't think it's nearly as terrible as many seem to think).

But, if you're focussed on how good (or bad...) the acting is, you're going to miss out on what this series really is: History.

As a historical account of Hollywood and the major studios and stars, it's excellent.

Ignore the acting quality, focus on the history, and you'll appreciate this series more.

While packed with enough Hollywood history to make even the most avid movie goer salivate, this series falls short in almost all other categories. The acting is wooden and shallow. Why they decided to use a narrator who sounds like Peter Falk is unanswerable. If you close your eyes, you'll swear you're watching the Princess Bride. Overall, it plays like an 8th grade attempt at docudrama. Watch for the history or don't bother.

As others have commented, the history itself is the star of this show. The presentation is subpar - especially when considering the subject. I tried to research if it was AI generated and could not get a definitive yes or no. I'm leaning toward a yes. There's something OFF about it, but the history presented is edifying.