As a Turkish person i thought that it is really non-sided and great everything was good the costumes the acting the special effects the battle sequences there was some flaws of course i thought Guistiniani had more screen time than it should have and Aksemsettin was not present in the show at all (he was always with Sultan he was his teacher and mentore he convinced the Mehmed to capture the city when Mehmed thought of giving up) other than that it was great i recommend you to watch it it feeds you with information.
The both empires were great; Ottoman and Byzantium. In this Tv serie there might be some problems about historical reality... I mean we cannot consider the tv serie is a historical documentary. But as a tv serie it was good. As a Turk, I believe all countries make movies or tv series that their army so great, so mercy and so strong. Yes it is good to watch if you are a nationalist and your nationality so great in the movies. But we should of course know the reality. If we can't see the reality we can't be friend. I see all countries find bad stories about their enemies. Actually governments like it, because nationalism is a key for strong governments. In real we are just humans, we cant decide that which nationality we can have. So there are two type peoples. Bad people and good people.
I'm writing this based only on the pilot, but OMG! There are Nazis and the Imperial Japanese, and they occupy America. This actually gives us a perspective on ourselves. In the show, the Nazis torture people, and the Japs invade someone's home, calling it a matter of "national security". In our reality, the CIA tortures people, and the NSA invades our homes, calling it a matter of "national security".
It's not simply a matter of an alternate reality. There is an object from our reality in theirs. That moves the show from pure fiction to science fiction. Our reality affects theirs. Does theirs affect ours?
Set in past, but not our past, the show requires a lot of careful details in the shots. The San Francisco skyline is an old one, and yet there are modifications for the increased Japanese influence.
The show is dense, and I found myself rewinding multiple times. One example is the origami unicorn. This was very significant in the movie Blade Runner (director's cut), and I'm guessing it is here too. Blade Runner is a movie that is like great literature, and I've always wanted a TV show that is like great literature, so maybe the Man in the High Castle is it!
Thank you Philip K. Dick!
This series succesfully shows the exact opposite of blockbuster movies: Create a great story with mediocre special effects and lesser known actors.
The writers behind this show do an amazing job creating one wonderfull Fairy tale adaptation after another. I did not like their previous work, but I think the writing is getting more mature (but they still make some errors that are frustrating.) But mostly they are not afraid to change major aspects of the fairy tales if necessary.
The creaters of this show also worked on 'Lost' and the 'TRON: Legacy' movie.
I really love how Rumpelstiltskin plays the evil maniac, especially during the first season. But there are more noteworthy roles in there, like the evil queen, her mother, Belle, Hook or Peter Pan. Emma Swan is pretty well played, but compared to the extreme characteristics of the fictional characters she is a bit bland.
The things I dislike most are probably some repeated main themes (family feuds/bad parent-child relations) and that they copy the characters of fairy tales a bit too literal from the Disney franchise from time to time.
Overall I think it is on of the best non-comedy shows of the past few years.
PS. I am glad Lady Gaga never replied on the invite to play the Blue Fairy.
Note: This review was written after watching the first 2 seasons.
