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Superb acting, beautiful costuming, elaborate sets, and engrossing locations mark this powerful tale of the strained relationships that exist between all fathers and their sons.

Over a period of eight days, an 18th. century Korean king punishes his only son for attempted regicide. Flashbacks reveal the chain of events that led the son to rebel against his father while the women and courtiers who love them both struggle to deal with the growing conflict.

What works for The Throne is that the movie evinces a common family psychological dynamic that exists between almost all fathers and their sons, but the dynamic is amplified by the fact that the family in question is a royal family and the stakes are higher. As all fathers struggle to challenge and build their sons without breaking them and as all sons endeavor to prove themselves and earn their fathers' seemingly unattainable respect, The Throne shows us how severe that dynamic can be when the fate of an entire country is at stake.

There is something for everyone in The Throne as fathers and sons might learn something about the other side's feelings and motivations while other family members and friends can relate to the helpless frustration of watching their loved ones fight each other.

With all of that psychoanalysis stated, The Throne also delivers exceptionally well for viewers who enjoy lavish costume dramas about royal families and their courtiers and/or period pieces about Asian history and culture. In summary, The Throne is excellent story telling.

I was fascinated by the rave reviews for the two Baahubali movies so I decided to give them both a try. (Any movie scoring 8 or above on IMDb has a solid chance of being a winner.)

What I have learned is that IMDb scoring is subject to the social media phenomenon of being skewed by an ardent fan base. In the case of Baahubali, the movie has been a huge hit in an isolated market, continental India. A billion Indians can't be wrong, but they sure can skew an IMDb rating when they vote as a bloc.

While Baahubali is astounding audiences in its native homeland (there are some great articles about the movie's importance to the industry and to the North and South regions of the country), American audiences with their highly sophisticated expectations will most likely agree with me that the overall result is an immature, incredibly predictable, poorly executed, soap opera that does not merit its hype or its two-part 5 and half hour running time.

MY OBSERVATIONS: Baahubali's story is intriguing as it presents to us a legendary super hero who appears to come from a rich and ancient history/lore. The source material is every bit as promising as heroes from Western culture (Samson, Superman, Hercules, etc.). However, the execution of the story turns great drama (love, family, betrayal, support from the gods, fall from grace) into a soap opera complete with cheesy reaction shots accompanied by shock music more appropriate for 1970s TV sitcoms with their spit takes and laugh tracks.

The highly applauded visual effects are mediocre by American standards. Other reviewers have detailed these issues adequately so I will only add my support to their criticisms.

The acting is hit or miss. Some scenes come across powerfully (love scenes, for example) while others (like those in the royal court) remind us of American TV sitcoms from the 1970s.

BOTTOM LINE: If you are calibrated to fine cinema, are looking for a good epic, and are considering Baahubali, then do some research and enter into the viewing prepared to walk away. I, for one, wish I could get my 5 and half hours back.