User reviews

Starting with bad points:

• They decided to use permanent flashback, there is no beginning, no middle and no end to the story, it is all messed up, unbearable. It is a very poor choice, specially because the history of the conquest was to slowly discover that there was a quasi mythical city in a middle of a continent.
• It is an amazon production, so they bend history a bit in order to fit their liberal stereotypes (Europeans bad, Christians bad, Muslims good etc ...) but not too much (and these strong women lovers forgot about Maria de Estrada).
• The production want us to believe that Spaniards massacred thousands of cholulan just for fun ...because "Europeans bad" I guess. The fact is that Cholula was a trap, the Spaniards were about to get massacred so they (over)reacted the way they did. Later on, Alvarado massacre was much more disputable however motivated by his hatred for local tradition (kid sacrifices etc ...).
• Obviously Cortes never had a muslin girlfriend, and if muslins weren't very popular in Spain, it was because Spaniards just liberated themselves from muslins after 8 centuries of domination (I wish liberal production mentioned that more often but .... "Muslims good" I guess).

Good points:

• Except few exceptions mentioned above, they really try to stick to the history even with tiny details. We got more of the point of view of the Conquistadors but there are a lot of fantastic descriptions of the very diverse pre-Columbian societies.

So it is fantastic to have a fairly accurate visual depiction of what were the fascinating pre-Columbian civilizations and this incredible moment of history. But in order to understand I recommend to study the history of the conquest before watching the show because of the permanent flash back/forward. I would have gave a 10 stars if the history was in order.

I really wanted to like this series, but with all of the flashbacks and jumps forward in time, I'm getting seasick. Just tell a story and don't try to be so clever. They make this same mistake in the series El Marginal.

This playing around with the timeline isn't clever; it's highly annoying and takes away from what could have been a great narrative. They have squandered a big budget and some fine actors by resorting to film school tricks.

I was impressed by the historical accuracy of 'Hernán' in spite of what I thought were too many flash-backs and flash-forwards. The series presents what I think is a balanced approach to the Conquest (or Invasion) of México. The Spaniards are neither heroes nor villains, but men in search of wealth, and the Mexica (not 'Aztecs', thank God) are neither savages nor victims, but men defending their homes against superior fire power. I particularly liked the appropriate use of the Nahuatl and Mayas languages in addition to Spanish, even though all three must have changed significantly in the last 500 years (about the same period of time that English has evolved from Shakespeare) NOTE: the word 'Aztec' was not used by anyone at the time of the Conquest, but came into use almost 300 years later, ina history of México published in Italy by a Franciscan who had be expelled from México.

Very much worth a binge. I watched it in Prime in two 4 episode nights.

At home, my mother was an avid reader of history and as a High Schooler she made me read the epic book "The True Story of The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (2 volumes, written in XVI Century "Castellano", the term Spain hadn't been created yet).

As far as I know, the Aztec culture, as well as the events leading to the "Noche Triste" (Sad Night, the first defeat of Cortés by the rebellious Mexicas) are very well portrayed. Some parts of the series are made up and romanticized but nevertheless are fitting to the plot. Modern archeology and history scholars have also contributed much to our present day knowledge of the times, that the original Díaz del Castillo obligedly omitted from his much redacted revisions.

The series as historic entertainment is not only dramatic and gripping but also very much humane. It emphasizes the clash of two cultures with a crudeness that permeates any attempt of smoothing the tension the arrival of Cortés' group created among the nations then populating the area.

For people not familiar with Mexico's hirtory, it will show how far from "savages" were the people. Human sacrifices was a horrific custom that was accepted by all the nations of Mezzoamerica and in a way not much more shocking than Roman practices of crucifictions, circus and roman candles (tarred Christians set on fire to lit Roman streets). Yet, Romans are considered a great civilization while Aztecs are deemed savages.

The only reason that kept me from giving it a ten star rating is the casting of the main character, Hernán Cortés. From Bernal Díaz we know he was fair skinned and probably brown haired, as natives thought of him as Quetzalcoatl. Not as nordic as Pedro de Alvarado who was called Tonathiu (the sun) by the Mexica but certainly not as dark as Oscar Jaenada is. We must remember Moors had just been expelled from Southern Spain and Cortés was a Castillian, thus of Celt ancestry. The rest of the cast is perfect and comprised of great actors.

Script, direction, special effects, sound, acting --even Spanish accent- are all exquisitely delivered.

I cannot wait for the second season to be delivered.

The series try to tell us one of the most dramatic and interesting stories that happened ever in the course of the human history of this planet. The story of the conquest of the New World; of Cortez and Moktesuma! It's useless to say I like the idea behind the movie, not so much the performance, alas. Even older, Apocalypto is stil better, such kind of movie cries for the best possible financing in order for the final result to be satisfying. The task is not easy - recreating a world so totally different from ours, with 99 % of its architecture destroyed, with massive battles involving thousands of participants. And I would like to see them in movie with this plot, not Gandhi! Anyway, the movie is far from bad, worth seeing. And we can thank its creators for the effort!

This history of Hernán Cortés and the early phase of the Conquest (or invasión) of México is told in eight chapters, each focused on one of the people most closely involved: 1. Marina (whom the Mexica called Malina); 2. Cristóbal de Olid; 3. Xicotencatl, Chief of Tlaxcala; 4. Bernal Diaz del Castillo (who later published a first-hand account of the campaign); 5. Emperor Moctezuma; 6. Famously cruel Pedro de Alvarado (whom the Mexica called Tonatiuh 'sun' for his red hair and beard); 7. Gonzalo de Sandoval, the youngest of Cortés Lieutenants; and, finally, 8. Hernán Cortés at the Noche Triste. The change of lead characters in each episode involves considerable flashbacks and flash-forwards, but I found the series highly satisfying.

Apparently according to some who have commented on this series, every single indigenous American back in the 1500s practiced blood rituals and therefore that immediately renders every single one of the millions of indigenous Americans that lived back then as savages.

Following that logic every European was to blame for those responsible for burning witches and heretics at the stake, killing innocent people via Inquisitions, Roman gladiator blood sports, etc.. Every European can be tarred as a savage for the actions of a few people. It would be akin to blaming the average person in Spain for the gassing of Jews by the Nazis.

It is still highly contentious whether blood rituals existed based on so-called evidence that relies heavily on conjecture by academics and interpretations from various artefacts.

Assuming they did occur the majority of estimates bandied about by some academics are based purely on conjecture of some archeological findings that are open to a myriad of interpretations, and not on hard tangible evidence to support the views that indigenous Americans (especially those south of the US border) were basically blood thirsty savages committing mass murder either every day of the year or on a particular chosen week.

Any person with a modicum of common sense would realize that these numbers are simply not believable because the logistics involved to carry out an 'event' of this size and nature would be insane and astronomical.

The logistics even for a current modern society with the available tools to pull it off (electricity/power, machines, cars, guns etc..), would still pose a considerable challenge much less a civilization that existed 500 years ago.

The show is entertaining and the actors do a good job. However, it is very unrealistic. Native Mexicas are depicted as good-hearted people (like Rousseau's Noble Savage) who accidentally sacrifice and oppress other humans without bad intentions. If you ignore this absurd premise, it is a good show.

As a child I was dazzled by the film 'A Captain from Castile' with Tyrone Power. Later I read Samuel Shellabarger's book, on which the film was based, but only Part One was filmed. Apparently 20th Century Fox did not want to spend the money on a sequel; therefore, the conquest stopped when Cortez and the victorious conquistadores rode into the Valley of Mexico to the accompaniment of an erupting volcano and the Conquistadores March. For decades, I have wanted to see the film remade with Part 2 of the book included, where the indigenous people fought back, and fought back hard. Samuel Shellabarger was a Professor of Medieval European history and based his book on the writings of chroniclers of the conquest with a small number of fictional characters thrown in to explain why men left Spain for the New World. History as written by the victors and the clergy who wrote of the conquest were as biased as those who wrote of the savaery of the Vikings 'the Great Heathen Army'. In truth, the Conquistadors did not have it all their own way. Several chapters were devoted to the flight from Tenochtitlan over the causeways where the booty laden Spaniards drowned. I guess 'Hernàn' is about as near as we will get to a remake. More Apocalypto than A Captain form Castile, it nevertheless focuses on the indigenous people and their tragic conquest by a better armed bunch of opportunist thugs claiming to be God's army and with the blessing of the Spanish crown. Their only true creed being 'Greed is good'. I definitely agree with the other posters who disliked the flash back and flash forward storyline as it is hard to follow, but I particularly liked the use of Maya, Nahuatle and Spanish, and the costumes were excellent. Without the flash forwarding and back, it could have been a really memorable series.

I am personally in love of the conquers. Thanks Amazon for bringing us these hansome and charismatic men to the screen. As a Mexican I have read about the history and being in the hot spots in Mexico City, but watching it in tv helps a lot to understand it. Even so, is too soap opera style.

A beautiful series totally vtuined by the frequent change in timeline. It just doesn't let you connect and stay with the storyline. Whoever decided to use this timeline jump is responsible for killing the story.

Very accurate with historic chronicles which has several nuances and diversal point of views. Good for understanding deeper reasons that led to the further fall down of Tenochtitlan.

A dramatization of Hernan Cortez's 1519/20 conquest of what is now Mexico. We see the lead up, the conquest and the aftermath, told from many perspectives including those of the native people.

An absolutely enthralling drama. Highly engaging as we meet all the major players in this passage of history and see how things unfold from their points of view. This also shows all the different backstories, agendas and personalities at play and how these affect the development of the plot and, more broadly, Cortez's expedition.

Very action-packed and educational too, showing just how brutal the fighting was and how the fate of the expedition often hung on the slimmest of margins or twists of fate.

The dramatization is very plausible too, with no details being spared. Most impressive is that everyone speaks their mother tongue and we are left to find out what everyone is saying via interpreters or, in the case of the Spanish, sub-titles.

Solid performances all round.

Excellent series.

Impressed with the way to recreate history. I love the production so real that they have made history and each chapter showing a little beyond the old continent and the conquest!

THE ENTIRE MOVIE BENEFITS THE SCENERY ACCURATELY RECREATED, THE ORIGINAL AZTEC LANGUAGE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, AND THE HISTORICAL EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED EXACTLY LIKE THEY ARE REENACTED IN THIS MOVIE MAKE IT A MASTERPIECE, THE BEST SPANISH HISTORICAL DRAMA TILL NOW.

One star for the Mexicans and three others for the fact they speak Spanish, Maya and Nahuatl. Sadly, that's as generous I can be. Who in heaven's sake starts a conquest this epic in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan?! If there's one thing you can build up to! As entering the capital should be more like the season's final. It soon became clear why they thought they could begin the story in the capital: Flashbacks. Someone seemed to think it would be a very clever idea to use lots of flashbacks. However, these flashbacks bring nothing to the table but are just a way to masquerade the fact that they have no clue how to tell a story. If they can't use flashbacks properly they should just shoot the story in chronological order. About 9 minutes in they commit the capital error nr 1 in filmmaking: "Don't say it, show it". When one of the conquistadors starts whining about some vision he had blablabla. Again it didn't bring anything to the table, it was rather annoying and as I can't stress enough it broke a capital rule in filmmaking. But I guess same with the flashbacks someone thought it would be a great idea to have a character in the story who has a vision of some sort. Nope. It's the main problem with this series: the script. More specifically the poor quality of it. There's just nothing - not one line of dialogue or storyline - that is salvageable if you would start afresh, say if for example you had more budget and you had a second chance to redeem yourself. Actually, they showed so much in just the first episode that they practically told all the different aspects of the real story, the conquest that is. They showed so much I wonder (as I only saw the first episode) what the hell are they going to talk about in the rest of the season? Oooh yeah, I forgot: flashbacks!! I really wanted this to be good but if they knew beforehand that they only have the talent to shoot a telenovela than they should've left the story alone.

As I watch it again and again, I am more amazed about this series. Historical accuracy, storyline, cast, scenography, costumes, music...I'll leave it here....warm recommendation...enjoy

Cortez is one of the most important protagonists in the years of the conquest of the Americas. He is also controversial, considering the religious paradigm and his fidelity to the Spanish crown, amidst all the cruelty of his actions. The production is impeccable and offers the awesome shock of culture between Catholic Europeans and Aztec culture. Very good actors, honest production and consistency to a unique moment in history. If you like history, and a good story telling, do not miss it!

This is truly a great and tremendous show, and enjoyed every episode of it.

If you've seen the move Mel Gibson's film Apocalypto (2006), then you will need to watch this show.

To me, personally, this show (Hernan) is a spiritual sequel to that film Apocalypto.

It basically just tells how everything unfolded and went down after the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica.

What I enjoyed about this show is how each episode (which there are only 8) tells a story, through the eyes of the characters who play historic people (both the Natives and the Spanish).

A must watch, though keep in mind this show is not in English.

I think this is a great production. I am very much looking forward to Season 2, as the first one is certainly a success. Impeccable attention to details, costumes, VFX, sound - everything is top notch. Storyline as well. Not for a second I doubted the authenticity of any shot. The cast is great as well. Loved the work with color grading, its fantastic. Hopefully the creators will continue such high level of commitment in the coming season and won't make us wait very long for it. I wish they were more historical productions of this level, but as in El Cid, this one is definitely a keeper. Cant wait to see how the plot evolves.

More historically-accurate than most film retellings of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, this miniseries presents a well-rounded portrait of Hernán Cortés and his complex personality. This is NOT a documentary on the Conquest of Mexico, but rather a fictional reconstruction of Cortés, the man behind the Conquistador. As such, the decision to devote each chapter to a different historical figure and their perception of Cortés adds a level of complexity rare in such film biopics, as well as adding to the aesthetic pleasure of the total composition. And the frequent flashbacks serve the same purpose with equal success. The use of native languages -Mexica and Maya- as well as Spanish heightens the sense of authenticity which the excellent visual effects also produce. "That most transparent place", as Alfonso Reyes described Tenochtitlán, shimmers in all its beauty in the morning light, in more than one scene in this miniseries. The acting is systematically excellent, but Ishbel Bautista's subtle portrayal of Marina steals the show. As concerns historical authenticity, one of the most admirable aspects of this miniseries is the deft and sensitive way in which it succeeds in communicating to the viewer the profound religious nature of Mesoamericans belief in their gods and the accompanying practice of human sacrifice. I felt the direction of the first six episodes was superlative, but the final two seemed slightly less satisfying. Hence only 9 points.

Cinematography: 6/10 The show has very simple bare bone cinematography; composition is at times jarring and as a result feels un-cinematic. Battles are simple, with only a few extras on-screen. Editing: 6/10 The editing is also very simple, nothing clever, although composites are okay, the cgi at times looks terrible. Sound design:6/10 Basic sound design you've heard a million times before, no Wilhelm scream so far. Writing:-5/10 The writing is slow paced, there are a lot of flash-backs for character development, and there are a lot of creative liberties taken with historical events in order to sympathize more with our hero "Hernan" since he is our main point of view to the story. The villains the "Mexicas" are dumbed down for plot purposes. I give it such a low score because of it's use of "black legend".

Final thoughts: The show is very Eurocentric, I would have loved to see more of the natives people of America like in CONQUISTADORES: ADVENTUM.

CONQUISTADORES: ADVENTUM is a more serious and entertaining show that does not romanticize one side, but rather explores the humanity in the people caught in that time period, without having to modify historical facts for plot's sake. Conquistadores is an immersive experience of the conquista meanwhile this show feels more like a slow power point presentation.

So slow and boring I fell asleep in first chapter. No more