A Hora Dourada

Until the last ( and quite frankly ridiculous episode ). There is quite a lot of shoot outs and gory, terrorist based violence. That is where the initial investment in the main protagonists takes speed. Unfortunately, we get sidetracked on a few occasions with random characters that don't give anything to the plot. Add to that, innumerable flashbacks all covering the same scene - I think I couldn't one of the same repeat scenes at least half a dozen times. Back the ending of the series itself ; the episodes 4 and 5 were gut wrenching and extremely well done ( although the rookie/ hero cops were soon forgotten in the plot ). The last episode smacked seriously of a budget that simply ran out and the direction and script became the principal victim.

As Episode 1 of "The Golden Hour" (2022 release from the Netherlands; 6 episodes ranging from 47 to 50 min each) opens, we are in "Amsterdam", where we get to know Mardik, a detective who grew up in Afghanistan but now a longtime resident in the Netherlands and married to a Dutch lady. In a parallel story line, we are introduced to Faysal, a childhood friend of Mardik, who now has become a hardline extremist and terrorist... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: almost from the get-go, this mini-series is tense, and it stays tense. Beware: there are several terrorist attacks that are brought with a shocking level of realism, and this is most definitely not for the feint of heart. That aside, the mini-series reminded me of the Jason Bourne franchise, with its relentless pace and handheld camera work. Bottom line: I quite enjoyed it (I grew up in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, so it was fun to follow along in the original Dutch version).

"Het Gouden Uur" premiered in Fall of 2022 on Dutch TV. I had never heard of it, but Netflix recently recommended it to me based on my viewing habits. Glad I took up Netflix on it. If you are in the mood for a hard-hitting, fact-paced terrorists' action mini-series, I'd readily suggest you check it out and draw your own conclusion.

Intriguing stoey, but the acting is bad, sometimes even very bad. The extra's do a better job than most of the main actors. Some scenes which were ment to be shocking just make me laugh. Ok, therre are definatly good parts, which show the makers did do some research. How do people respond on violence, what kimd of emotions do terrorist go through, stuff like that. Which made me almost forgive the total absence of bystanders after one of the events. Unfortunatly the researchbudget ran out on the psychology. There obvious was no money left for historical research. When taking the age of the main afghan characters in mind, it was impossible for them to have encounter western troops in afghanistan. In the most optimistical way the russians just left, but it took about 15 year before the UN intervened in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. The actor were way too old to make it believeble they were only living 20 years in the Netherlands. Further more the absurbt way the aivd was depicted (dutch nsi). The writers were peobably smoking some bad stuff or did sau too many american movies. Ow and seeing a stuntperson jump over a fene before falling down was really funny, too bad it ment to be sad and horrible instead. I was able to watch the complete series, so it must somehow be watchable. That is why I give it a 6, even though it was bad and it deserves less points than 6 our of 10.

Ridiculous plot. If the main character did early in the series what most normal people would have done under similar circumstances this series would have been cut in half. Not to mention that if the Dutch police is as incompetent as is shown in this series then I pray for the Dutch people. They are in deep trouble. I suggest that the NYPD send some people to Amsterdam to give the police some pointers.

You might be surprised to find out that according to this series the Dutch police in one of the most liberal countries in the world also tortures innocent people and uses children as human shields.

Otherwise it is a great series ( Not ).

The first 4 episodes are of a high level in terms of tension, acting, screenplay, writing and so on. T leaves you gasping for breath and you sit on the edge of your seat I would give it a 9. Then it becomes less believable, the playing is exaggerated and the lyrics often make no sense anymore. They also want to rush way too much in the last episode, which is a shame. The 1st 4 episodes deserved a much better sequel. Hopefully the makers will be able to reach that level again in a next season. Due to the last 2 episodes I end up with a lower rating unfortunately. I definitely recommend the series so watch everyone.