The Last Czars

Whilst a lot of documentary series include dramatised segments, this very much feels like a drama series that intermittently gets interrupted by documentary moments. It's an unusual format, but I got used to it very quickly. It knits together well and I didn't feel that one style of presenting the narrative was encroaching upon the other. They complement each other effectively to give insight into a period of history that, I have realised, I didn't know as much about as I first imagined. Minor point. Other reviewers have questioned Nicholas having a dragon tattoo. It's actually historically accurate. He got it on a trip to Japan before he became Czar.

Maybe an unpopular opinion in light of some of the other reviews here, but I actually liked the combination of drama/acting and documentary. It allowed me to understand the history better in simple terms, as well as see how some things that the historians described might have played out. As a history teacher myself, I believe history should be told like a story. I think they did a pretty good job of that.

And for anyone who wonders why the actor playing the czar has a tattoo and why it wasn't covered up for the role....Czar Nicholas actually did have a big dragon tattoo on his right forearm. That is historically accurate.

It's like if Game of Thrones had random interruptions of random people making unnecessary commentary. This show doesn't know whether it wants to be a documentary or a drama, and it doesn't succeed at either. Severely lacking historical accuracy, even some of those most basic things. It lacks any nuanced writing or dialogue, and it's extremely annoying that 5 seconds can't go by without a graphic sex scene or cursing.

The show would be fine if it wasn't often interrupted by narration and nude sex scenes twice an episode that aren't even necessary to the story and take you right out of the drama.

The problem with "The Last Czars" is that the creators couldn't decide on what they wanted this series to be. So instead of making a decision, they tried everything, and by doing this, they only succeeded in achieving mediocrity. The whole thing just missed some heart.

What they did wrong: * You make it into a drama-historical serie or into a docu-serie. Both together work against each other. You lose all the momentum when you cut to historical narrators who give context to the story.

* English accents in a very Russian enviroment doesn't work for me.

* Dialogue missed depth. Had the hardest time getting invested in the Romanov's.

*Visual effects were very poor (few shots of explosions, ships or train were not up to standards)

The good: * Historical correct! Costumes, sets were absolutely on point.

* A great story that needed to be told, but deserved a better translation.

In the end, if production would have been comparable to "The Crown", this would have been a great succes. Missed opportunity, what a shame! Nevertheless I watched the whole serie in two days. If you are interested in this kind of historical facts, this serie really deliver on historical facts. So I would still recommend watching it.