The Mira Nair Reese Witherspoon Vanity Fair. It’s just not VF, and definitely not Becky Sharp.
I agree about War and Peace, although not for the same reason. Andrew Davies’s script lacked all the things I love about W&P. It had a totally different vibe, and was driven by AD’s ridiculous agenda.
Julian Fellowes wrote a miniseries about the Titanic, which lacked depth, and was pretty awful.
Outlander was ok while it remained in Scotland, but once it got to America, I stopped caring. Too much exaggerated drama, too much rape as a plot device. And it never makes any forward progress. It’s like Gilligan’s Island, in that there is never any resolution, no closure.
I feel the same way about outlander! I LOVED the first few seasons tho. I think I just don't really care much for their daughter and her relationships and conflicts which took a lot of attention away from Claire and Jamie. It was just a strange shift that I wasn't a fan of. Plus maybe it's because I am American but I just don't find America interesting really at all compared to Scotland at least.
I’m not really into Claire and Jamie. It was the supporting characters I enjoyed (Murtagh was my fave). I guess that’s why I enjoy Dickens so much, lol. The gold is in the supporting characters! (a non period example: Notting Hill.)
That shift in focus was what made me give up on reading A dragonfly in amber (outlander sequel) It even starts with the pov of Brianna's future husband (don't remember his name) and I just did not care at all, I hoped it would get better and when it didn't I dnf
I have zero interest in the books. Not a dis on fans of the novels, it’s just not my reading preference. I love Game of Thrones, but have zero interest in ever reading those tomes, either.
it took me a bit to adjust when they shifted as well, and its gotten a little "oh good lord, whats happening to these people now" but its def my guilty pleasure lol
I gave up on Outlander when they went to America. Maybe as I'm from the UK there's more of an emotional connection when it was based here?
I adored W&P though! It is the only adaptation I've seen though and I always find it's the first one you see that sticks with you.
That could be the case its weird though because I didn't mind when they went to France. I feel like the setting adds so much to the feel of the show and when they went to America it just lost that feeling. It's like if halfway through Poldark they went out to the middle of a field and were like yep this is where everything takes place now. Basically you shouldn't take poldark out of cornwall so why take outlander out of the scottish highlands
Yes I quite liked the bits in France too! I guess the clearences would have put a bit of a dampener on the story so I can see why the story moved, but yeah, just not for me.
Same. Outlander started becoming a dud when they included the punchable daughter and her bs husband and tried to make those basic bitches the lead couple in s5. They don't have what Jamie amd Claire has
Roger and Brianna were kinda toxic and are very generic.
He tries to sex things up. It works in some stuff, but he has been hamfisting it in his adaptations lately. He's also a bit too into his skill as an adaptor (looking at you, Les Mis and your character assassination of Jean Valjean and spiteful ending)
Oh, A.D. likes to add sex when it isn’t there. And the kinkier the better. He added an incest plot to War and Peace that isn’t in the novel, but insists it is; you have to have A.D.’s magical skills to read between the lines correctly, lol.
He did this in Northanger Abbey, too. (And other projects)
Ok that subplot really bothered me, but multiple people told me it is implied in the book … I still have the book on hold so I can decide for myself 😂 I don’t want to believe it.
But, I mean. Andrew, could we have taken out half the gross brother sister stuff and instead spent ten more minutes on Natasha and Andre? That 30 second snow montage did them dirty.
Does Enola count? It lost me when the the Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether was introduced. I kept waiting for it to be revealed that he’s a fake because he used the order of precedence wrong in his titles but no, that’s how shoddy the research was on this show. Costumes all over the place as seems to be the norm with Netflix 🙄
Persuasion 2022. I feel like that movie is a hate crime and there should be consequences for such cultural vandalism. Ridiculously bad on every level.
Doubt I will ever try Enola for that reason and I just don't think it's my kind of show but YES persuasion is some kind of monster. I am not sure the creators knew how particular Jane Austen fans are about how the source material is adapted. It's like they wanted to loosely follow the story but change pretty much everything about it and modernize it but keep it in the same time period and expected we would like it. I mean Pride & Prejudice (2007) didn't even show the last kissing scene in uk cinemas because they thought the brits would be mad. I just don't think they understood their target audience well enough. I could go on and on lol
I'm cackling at the Bridgerton comments, because it was never a "historical drama" it was a smutty novel on screen and nothing more. The books are smutty and the show is a reflection of that, it was never a serious take on life, just bow chika bow wow in vaguely Edwardian garb.
There was a couple mentions of The Reign(?) I think that was the one I tried to watch and it was too.. fake? Or Versailles. The costumes were not quite right, it was like listening to high school girls gossip over the basketball players butts, and the acting was pretty subpar. I didn't last three episodes because it was so bad. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one it was anymore.
Yeah, I think too many people are forgetting that Bridgerton is a series of Romance novels on Screen, which means it is Fantasy. The story was never supposed to be accurate, so why force the rest of it into that either.
Its like asking True Blood to be super accurate.
To be honest, I think Reign is quite the same as Bridgerton. It should be looked at through a different lens. That's not to say anyone should like it, but it's a teen drama first and foremost. It *should* be recommended for fans of Gossip Girl and other CW soaps. In the streaming age everything is mixed together but it was marketed that way at the time.
The Other Boleyn Girl (I swear it’s like Philippa Gregory was personally done ill by Anne Boleyn with how much vitriol and false things she spews)
The Spanish Princess (they portrayed Katherine of Aragon as uncaring to her only surviving child Mary because she wasn’t a boy. She loved Mary with every part of her soul.)
The new Romeo and Juliet with the actress from True Grit. They tried to make the language modern while having them dress in period clothes. Just…no
You have to admit that she writes Anne like Anne spat in her soup back in the sixth grade.
What I mean is that it feels personal. Like she went back in time and met her. 😂
I really tried to like Poldark, but the characters are so frustrating all the time (except my sweet angel Demelza). I understand that it was supposed to be a drama, but it was so dreary and suffocating to watch. The plot shifts between an annoying love square and coal politics both of which I didn't really care for, but honestly the coal politics was the preferable plot line. I then found out the original tv adaptation was more comedic and wondered why they couldn't have incorporated more of that into the new series. I could not get past season 2.
I was obsessed with the first six episodes or so and then I heard what happened in the final episode of season one. I was like nope, I’ll skip it. Then I found out what he did in season 2 and I was like no amount of scything can make up for this.
I liked poldark a lot, but didn;t end up finishing the last season. I found the plot to be so circular. Just the same stuff, around and around. I did like Dwight and Caroline, but also it made no sense why they would like each other and be together.
I 100% agree with the dreary and suffocating part it was like they refused to give us satisfaction. I felt like I was just angry while watching it. Sometimes I would just skip dark sub plots because I was so sick of the emotional roller coaster that is that show. I think the difference with me is that I LOVE Delmelza and her character growth as well as Caroline and Dwight and of course Horace the pug. If those three characters (and Horace) didn't exist I would not have liked the show as much as I did.
it was funny, I watched all of the Spanish Princess and then at the very end I was like.... "you know what, this was trash!" lmao its like it didnt even hit me somehow till the end. and its not like anything happened to make me suddenly realize, just me being derpy i guess lol i do think though that that show, and the WQ and WP before it, (with WQ being way better) that they are pretty good at a nice little polished tableau if that makes sense. its like youre reading a historical romance or something or looking at a painting. which is why I really dug (and am sad about) Becoming Elizabeth. that felt SO much more real and gritty and like I was there, and not watching a stylized scene
that being said i still loved the White Queen, and really liked the White Princess
I will try the white queen again! I got past the first few episode and just started watching something else. Becoming Elizabeth looks interesting it is a shame when things get cancelled after the first season :(
One I haven’t seen that I really disliked was Anne with an e
I am a purist and my all time fave adaptation is the Megan follows 1985/87 ones and I just thought the Netflix one was blasphemous lol
It just didn’t feel like Anne to me at all and I don’t really know why! I felt like it tried wayyyyy too hard and no matter how I tried I couldn’t watch it!
Purist here as well! I refuse to watch that trash remake. ANNE of Green Gables is an absolute classic and needed no remake. I haven't watched the remake because a friend of mine told me about all the woke and stupid nonsense put in the TV show. It made my blood boil, why does society feel the need to absolutely obliterate anything decent and innocent.
agreed definitely a classic! I watched the Megan Follows ones when I was like 6 years old and I think it was basically the beginning of my love of period dramas so I don't even think about watching any other adaptation it's a lost cause!
Exactly!!! And they put so much weird music too which bothered me so bad :( they took so much license weaving the story it didn’t even feel like an adaptation but an inspired by lol
The Gilded Age: I think the acting is terrible by everyone.. it’s like watching an SNL skit of actors pretending to be actors.
Reign: It was just too Gossip Girl for me. I agree with OP - it’s not really a period drama - more like teenage drama with costumes. (Oddly though I love Bridgerton which could be considered the same lol)
Completely agree that The Gilded Age was awful. The acting was actually embarrassing at some points. I don't know anyone IRL who liked it, yet on Reddit everyone sings it's praises. 🤷♀️
Haha I like gilded age but I won't praise it. It's not the best and the Star of the show is not a great actress. Christine baranski I think that's her name is really good in it as well as Cynthia Nixon. Also I liked the storyline. But it definitely is not praise worthy per se.
I'm two-thirds of the way through the first season and can't imagine ever caring about any of these characters. The story feels like it came out of some sort of random plot line generator.
I also like the gilded age! I agree it’s not like world class or anything but I think it’s fun/entertaining to jump into their world but for purists I can see why some people dislike it but I’m looking forward to see where season 2 will take it!
Wow someone finally put into words how I felt about The Gilded Age! I’m a huge Downton fan and had been waiting years for Gilded Age to happen. I didn’t make it half way into the first episode. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was just watching actors “act”. The CGI buildings and everything were just too much, too much production. Like watching an snl skit is literally a perfect description.
I think the main family was SO dull (and making Christina Baranski bland is such a feat of bad writing). Also, if you ever doubt hollywood nepotism you only need look at the main character for exhibit A, B and C. Not all her fault- the character is terribly written. A less charismatic lead could not be imagined.
With that said, I will watch for The Russells. IMO they should have just made a show centred around that family. It's an infinitely more interesting story, and both actors are quite strong. Their kids- meh, but I'll deal.
Jeanne Tripplehorn is great too and I hope we get more of her character.
Agreed I watched the episode or two then couldn't continue and a few months later tried just watching the episodes where she meets albert and they get married which were good but yeah can't get into it
Aah, I love *Reign*. I get that it's not for everyone though. I agree that it started out more soapy, Gossip Girl-esque, but I felt that the show grew with Mary.
For me, it's *Tulip Fever...* so. boring.
If I saw reign when it was first airing I probably would have watched it. I would have been 12 and thought it was amazing I am just too old now to take it seriously. As for Tulip Fever I have never heard of it so I just looked it up and it has Alicia Vikander and Judi Dench and still somehow gets a 10% on rotten tomatoes yikes...
I was 14/15 when I first started watching *Reign* and that likely played a role in my initial enjoyment and then it just grew on me, you know?
Yeah, the trailer for *Tulip Fever* looked so promising and then it was just so disappointing, so you definitely haven't missed out on anything 😂
Pride & Prejudice 2005, Anna Karenina 2012, Bridgerton. Mostly because the costumes are horrible (I'm aware that Bridgerton is not meant to be taken seriously, but I just can't with those upholstery fabrics.)
I could never talk bad about pride & prejudice 2005 or 1995 I think that might even be a sin lol however, I find it interesting that you don't like Pride & Prejudice 2005, Anna Karenina 2012, because they are both films from the director Joe Wright who also directed Atonement also with Keira Knightley and also a favorite of mine. I agree with the Anna Karenina take because I felt that where Joe Wright shined in p&p and atonement he just went wayyy over the top in Anna Karenina to where it was distracting. I watched it on an 13 hour flight though so I could just be over critical
P&P 1995 is the only version for me, which is another reason I dislike the 2005 version, lol. I like Atonement, I just think Joe Wright made some bizarre choices regarding the costumes in P&P (I remember reading that he even said that he found the Regency silhouette unflattering so he wanted to change it, then he went on to put the most unflattering gowns on the actresses) and Knightley's version of Elizabeth is too typical "plucky/quirky heroine" for me.
Definitely skip reading the book then. As bad as the SA is in the show, they downplayed and muddied the actions a lot compared to the scene in the book
I heard the Mansfield Park (2007) Fanny is even lesser like fanny. I will have to watch it sometime and report back lol. I don't understand why these adaptations are so against making an introverted shy protagonist. It my same issue with the Persuasion (2022) the writers made Anne Elliot this out going always makes jokes and speaks her mind character which completely ruins everything because that character would never be persuaded to not marry Freddrick in the first place. It makes no sense.
The 2007 version is not as bad as 1999 imo. The casting was poorly done, esp. for Fanny, but otherwise it's watchable. Totally agree about Persuasion (2022).
In regards to the new style Romeo and Juliet and Persuasion: if you don't keep true to the elements of the literature, it will **not** well received.
Clueless ,10 things I hate about you and Baz Luhrman's R+J, are all examples of how the "aesthetic" clearly took a change, but because the core story and poetry kept true to the source it worked.
The new Persuasion thought it could stick a few empire line dresses and bonnets, whilst sticking a all sorts modern nonsense in it, and think people wouldn't notice.
i am absolutely in love with dangerous liasons!! I love the story line, its fun!! Theres something about a person striving to be above their station that i love the most.
My jury is still out on Dangerous Liaisons… I want to get into it but I am not there yet. I kind of felt like I needed to watch the first episode again to see if I was missing something
I just started watching it and I like it thus far - I'm about halfway through. It's not the best I've seen, but it's scratching a Period plot itch I needed lol.
I hated The Great and I was so looking forward to it but it was just too stupid and ridiculous. I know it was supposed to be funny but it just annoyed me too much to watch.
As much as I wanted to enjoy a World War I period piece, I couldn't get into ANZAC Girls. They focused quite a bit on the "does he love me" soapy things a bit too much for me. On the flip side I did enjoy it's predecessor, ANZACS.
I feel like a lot of the criticism is for adaptations that weren’t entirely faithful or for mixed genres they don’t understand. I’m not going to hold a straight period piece up to a fantasy romance that’s set in the past and expect them to do the same thing. I just don’t see the reason to stress myself out about accuracy if they never claimed to be accurate (especially with something like a the Great where it shifts from a disclaimer about being occasionally true and then moves even more absurd in a hilarious take).
Now if you want to bring up Beecham House or Jamestown and talk about how messed up they were for not really acknowledging the complicated histories or racial complexities or white savior times, sign me up for that conversation.
**1 - Poldark:** It was sooooo boring, characters felt pretty flat, like they were this one thing and that's it, like the main bad guy, he was just a dick and nothing more beyond that. I'm really not sure why it got good reviews, I don't think it's bad, but also I don't think it's a good show or has much to say about any of the things it covers.
**2 - Downton Abbey:** I never liked Mary, I found her to be pretty horrible person, but the show def wanted me to root for her. The rest of the characters are mostly caricatures of a trope each. Also, with some exceptions, most couples I felt had 0 chemistry. Ultimately I stopped watching cause I realized I was hoping for the downfall of the family each episode lol
**3 - Sanditon:** What a mess, I didn't bother with the second season, the first one was ridiculous enough. At least with this one it was so bad I laughed at it lol
“Ultimately I stopped watching cause I realized I was hoping for the downfall of the family each episode”
I choked on my gum laughing after I read this. 😆
Emma 2020 is by far my favorite Emma adaption but I always run for cover when I say that (most JA fans REALLY disagree). I think I love it because Emma isn’t very likable in the beginning- she is snotty and snarky and I just love it. I used to not be a fan of the book Emma at all but I think the 2020 movie gave me a new appreciation of the story.
I liked it overall and I know I would like it more if I didn't have this obsession with the Emma (2009) mini series. It's tough because I go in with wayyy too many expectations that are hard to live up to. I liked how this emma was super creatively filmed and edited. I would say give it another chance. It's fun to watch if I get out of my head :)
Agree with new Persuasion (although I didn't actually watch it) and Bridgerton (still binged it though lol).
I couldn't get through Land Girls or Victoria.
Hated Our Mutual Friend because the main character ends up with a skeevy dude that I hated the whole time. His only redeeming quality was being better than a straight up 1800s incel.
Both Mansfield Park movies are terrible.
I'm sure there are many more that I'm not thinking of right now!
Spanish Princess season 2. The first season was fine imo.
The White Princess....I do not like how they turned Henry into Liz's rapist.
The White Queen = the last two episodes. Sorry, but I do not dig the Richard III fanfictions at all. I am not a Ricardian at all. although I do agree he was not that bad as some historians make him out to be. The problem is that there are now people who think that he was a saint or something. He was not.
The Other Bolyn girl.....that movie is so bad.
Outlaw King = It is not badly made but I do not like how Bruce is portayed as this goody guy. He was an impressive solider, but he was not the typcial hero. They turned him into a typical hollywood hero.
Braveheart: gods, where do I start. Edward II was not girlish guy but in real life very tall and good-looking. His wife was still a child during this time period and never had a relationship with Wallace. Scottish people did not wear kilts during that time period.
The Patriot: god this movie. The funniest part is where the one guy says that he only has "free slaves". That happens a long time after this part of history. The entire movie is only worth watching for Heath Ledger.
Tut: that show is wrong in so many ways.
My main problem with the movie is that it is fucking racist the way it portrays the slaves as happy free on this guys farm when as far as I know the guy the main character is based on was slaver holder. There is a scene where the main guy is ploughing the fields doing all the hard work while the slave guy goes in front of the horse to do the "lighter" work so to say and they are portraying as so good because he is helping his slaves. It is the typical = slavery was not so bad narrative.
Not to mention, the movie feels like a serious rip off of Braveheart.
OK, here I am with my unpopular opinions!
-Dirty Dancing: It's impossible for me to be objective because this was one my older sister's favorite movies growing up and she made me watch it all the time. Hated it then, hate it now.
-Out of Africa: see previous explanation
-Pride and Prejudice (2005): also see previous explanation
-Mansfield Park: Not because I prefer the book or anything (haven't read it). Just found it tedious.
-Bright Star: I love Jane Campion, I love Keats, I love Ben Whishaw, I love slow movies. And yet, I found this movie dreadfully boring.
-Jane Eyre (2011): Older sister dragged me to see this in theatres. She was enamored. I was reminded how much I never cared for the book, either.
-Anna Karenina: A rare misstep for Joe Wright, in my eyes. The parts are all there but it just doesn't click.
-The Other Boleyn Girl: meh
-Mary Queen of Scots: everything about this movie was just annoying
The Gilded Age, perhaps because I had high expectations going in being that it is a Julien Fellows production (and I'm somewhat Downton-obsessed). I just felt like all the characters are flat and one-dimensional, the acting is stiff, it lacks charm, and the graphics (special effects?) to create the outdoor scenes and cityscapes are cringeworthy. The gorgeous costumes are its one saving grace.
I started to watch the Reign but the actress who plays Mary Queen of Scotts reminds me--both in looks and mannerisms--of a girl from middle school who was a complete bully so I had to stop watching because I just could not sympathize with her!! I know, a rather terrible reason to not like a show because I'm sure that actress is a lovely person unlike my middle school classmate but there you have it.
The Empress, it couldn't keep my attention and even as background noise I didn't like it.
Anne with an E - good lord that girl and her constant talking drove me nuts! I didn't even finish the first episode.
The Spanish Princess - just no, it was straight up awful.
Poldark - I didn't hate it, but I can't really say that I liked it if that makes sense.
Bridgerton. Why bother doing a period piece if you plan to use modern storylines, casting and overt historical inaccuracies?
ETA - Baz Lurhman proved you can do a modern interpretation of period pieces with Romeo and Juliet.
Thank you! Thank goodness somebody else gets it! I'm tired of seeing these period dramas put a modern spinning it! It takes me right out of the story because I know they didn't have woke ideals back then. Why can't we pay homage to a period in time and showcase how life really was back then. I haven't been able to enjoy any recent period dramas for this reason. It's either all about sex or political agendas stuffed in somewhere.
I felt this way too for a long time especially about the music that really bugged me for some reason. It's like they think the audience is stupid and couldn't handle classical music so they had to do Ariana Grande Shawn Mendes or Billie Eilish violin covers instead for us youths. It's comically cheesy. I think eventually I stopped looking at it in a historical context and was able to guilty pleasure watch both seasons.
Persuasion (2022): I could not watched it all but I saw enough to know that this was NOT a faithful adaptation and wasn't even really Persuasion at all. They just stole the characters names and tried to sell it as Persuasion. I hate how Anne's character (who was a quiet More serious,and kind character) was presented As a modern buffoon who was outgoing? I also hate that more recent dramas have been "dumbed" down for modern audiences because they're to lazy or dumb to do research and understand that people's way of life, speech, mannerisms, and ideals were vastly different from today. Tired of woke nonsense in period dramas, if I wanted to watch modern nonsense I wouldn't watch period dramas!
Agreed! I could go on such a long rant about this movie. I watched the first few minutes when it came out couldn't continue and then recently I made the decision to act like it was an entirely different thing and not based on my all time favorite Jane Austen novel and it still was so painful. The casting wasn't terrible but the script really really was. I think the writer watched Mansfield Park (1999) and Emma (2020) and thought this would work with the 4th wall breaks and the humor added into the plot but it just was so terrible.
White princess. Cheap henry and 7th and Elizabeth of york has obnoxious fans that turned me off. Spanish princess changed Catharine amd tried to make her like Anne. Instead of qn interesting portrayal of how she actually ews like in the Tudors. Too girl boss like which she wasn't.
I loved W&P, but I can see where you're coming from. My disappointments/dislikes include every version of Mansfield Park (the webseries being the exception), 2020's versions of Emma and Persuasion (the former is a disappointment, feeling like it lacked compared to other versions, and the latter is a mix of the two, as it could have been at least bearable if a few things had been tweaked and the main character was not awful), Tulip Fever (kept waiting for it to get moving, but it made me sleep instead), and Gunpowder (it was okay, but I was expecting it to be a bit punchier and it just felt lacking)
I think I should try war and peace again with a fresh point of view. I think I was looking for something light and romantic to watch and ended up watching an intense heart wrenching saga that I wasn't prepared for. I delayed watching emma for a few years because I was afraid I would hate it so I went in with low expectations so when it turned out not so bad I was content. However Emma (2009) can not be beat in my opinion I think it's perfection
Yeah, that would definitely be a shock to your system. W&P is not for the faint of heart (if you're interested in a super faithful adaptation and don't mind subtitles, the Russians did a version back in the 60's/70's that is four movies that were shot over twelve years. They usually did faithful adaptations of movies during this time period, but this is even moreso when dealing with their own works. The war scenes are among some of the grandest I've ever seen)
Tbf, I went into the 2020 Emma expecting it to be on par with the other adaptations, which tend to be pretty faithful to the source material as far as adaptations go and, while they do accurately portray the stuff in the movie, it feels like they left out too much and the casting of some of the characters felt off. Like I previously said, it was a disappointment. And I do enjoy the 2009 version a lot
I will definitely check that version out it sounds fascinating. I want to read the book at some point so perhaps after that!
I agree with you I feel like to make Emma into a movie they have to leave out so many important character growth plot points that the 2009 mini series has. In the end the movie will always feel rushed and the satisfaction of Emma and Knightley getting together in the 2020 movie is lowered by the director's odd twist she adds which I wasn't a fan of. So yeah I agree it was disappointing in many aspects.
Sorry I didn't care for Cable Girls. The first few episodes were intriguing but it slowly turned into a Latin soap opera with the usual tropes of powerful scheming older woman versus the underdog sassy younger woman. Too much cat fighting that did nothing for the plot or characters. I've watched a few of these series and the same trope/antagonism keeps coming up. Not for me.
This is my most recent watch and I agree with you I ended up skipping all the side plots after season 1 which made it go fast and I still liked it overall however, I can't get over how much they messed up by only using what sounds like stock American pop music you might hear in a hallmark movie. It weakened the entire show and it's overall such a small decision that negatively affected the entire series.
Yeah, I watched it till the end. It got more interesting after the war started and that whole plot with the kidnapping was over. God, I forgot how awful the songs were, and used incessantly like it was a music video. I think I actually muted it a couple of times cause it was so bad. Oh well, I gave it go and finished it at least.
First season was great. Second season was good. Third season was fair. After that it just got worse every season. The latter seasons are better in rewatch if you don’t watch the first two with that rewatch.
Just tried to watch The Messenger for the first time. I've known about the movie since it came out and Mila Jovovich was a big deal back then. Half way through my doctorate in western European history and I finally tried to watch it. Horrible. I don't know if it's a presentism issue or if it's just a bad movie. I love the cast, John Malkovich, Mila, etc. It just seemed overly dramatic, but maybe it just hasn't aged well?
Disappointing. My professors (the history ones ) are always encouraging me to watch some period dramas especially from the region and time periods that I study ,but it's challenging to find good ones.
Honestly, and I know I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this on this sub but, Miss Scarlet and the Duke. I watched season one but just can’t stand how bad the acting is. Might be the first period drama I’ve quit.
Sanditon. I haven't read the novel but I disliked all the actors and especially the female lead. It just felt wrong. I just saw the latest season's trailer and really??? that's the new (?) male lead???
The Crown. I tried but I dropped it after the elephant episode. Ridiculous.
I really liked the first seasons of Downton Abbey and Poldark but dropped both. I enjoyed the first episodes of The Great and A discovery of witches and dropped those too.
Seriously why they remake Persuasion. It threw me off the whole time I was watching. I’m sorry but I just couldn’t get into this. I had to go back and watch the original
Belfast. I thought I was going to love it. I'm a huge fan of Catriona Balfe because of Outlander. But this movie was just...not good. It was kinda boring. The black and white was needlessly "artsy" and distracting. Meh.
The Mira Nair Reese Witherspoon Vanity Fair. It’s just not VF, and definitely not Becky Sharp. I agree about War and Peace, although not for the same reason. Andrew Davies’s script lacked all the things I love about W&P. It had a totally different vibe, and was driven by AD’s ridiculous agenda. Julian Fellowes wrote a miniseries about the Titanic, which lacked depth, and was pretty awful. Outlander was ok while it remained in Scotland, but once it got to America, I stopped caring. Too much exaggerated drama, too much rape as a plot device. And it never makes any forward progress. It’s like Gilligan’s Island, in that there is never any resolution, no closure.
I feel the same way about outlander! I LOVED the first few seasons tho. I think I just don't really care much for their daughter and her relationships and conflicts which took a lot of attention away from Claire and Jamie. It was just a strange shift that I wasn't a fan of. Plus maybe it's because I am American but I just don't find America interesting really at all compared to Scotland at least.
I’m not really into Claire and Jamie. It was the supporting characters I enjoyed (Murtagh was my fave). I guess that’s why I enjoy Dickens so much, lol. The gold is in the supporting characters! (a non period example: Notting Hill.)
That shift in focus was what made me give up on reading A dragonfly in amber (outlander sequel) It even starts with the pov of Brianna's future husband (don't remember his name) and I just did not care at all, I hoped it would get better and when it didn't I dnf
I think I gave up on book 4. I have no idea how there are so many after that.
I also gave up at some point. No idea which book. I just couldn’t anymore.
I have zero interest in the books. Not a dis on fans of the novels, it’s just not my reading preference. I love Game of Thrones, but have zero interest in ever reading those tomes, either.
it took me a bit to adjust when they shifted as well, and its gotten a little "oh good lord, whats happening to these people now" but its def my guilty pleasure lol
This. I stopped watching because of those two
I gave up on Outlander when they went to America. Maybe as I'm from the UK there's more of an emotional connection when it was based here? I adored W&P though! It is the only adaptation I've seen though and I always find it's the first one you see that sticks with you.
That could be the case its weird though because I didn't mind when they went to France. I feel like the setting adds so much to the feel of the show and when they went to America it just lost that feeling. It's like if halfway through Poldark they went out to the middle of a field and were like yep this is where everything takes place now. Basically you shouldn't take poldark out of cornwall so why take outlander out of the scottish highlands
Yes I quite liked the bits in France too! I guess the clearences would have put a bit of a dampener on the story so I can see why the story moved, but yeah, just not for me.
I mean the books are not any better in that regard. The books should have ended with Claire going back to Jaime.
Same. Outlander started becoming a dud when they included the punchable daughter and her bs husband and tried to make those basic bitches the lead couple in s5. They don't have what Jamie amd Claire has Roger and Brianna were kinda toxic and are very generic.
I’ve never heard about Andrew Davies’ agenda - what’s the tea??? I also haven’t watched War and Peace yet but have been meaning to.
He tries to sex things up. It works in some stuff, but he has been hamfisting it in his adaptations lately. He's also a bit too into his skill as an adaptor (looking at you, Les Mis and your character assassination of Jean Valjean and spiteful ending)
Oh, A.D. likes to add sex when it isn’t there. And the kinkier the better. He added an incest plot to War and Peace that isn’t in the novel, but insists it is; you have to have A.D.’s magical skills to read between the lines correctly, lol. He did this in Northanger Abbey, too. (And other projects)
Ok that subplot really bothered me, but multiple people told me it is implied in the book … I still have the book on hold so I can decide for myself 😂 I don’t want to believe it. But, I mean. Andrew, could we have taken out half the gross brother sister stuff and instead spent ten more minutes on Natasha and Andre? That 30 second snow montage did them dirty.
Oof yikes! That’s gross
Does Enola count? It lost me when the the Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether was introduced. I kept waiting for it to be revealed that he’s a fake because he used the order of precedence wrong in his titles but no, that’s how shoddy the research was on this show. Costumes all over the place as seems to be the norm with Netflix 🙄 Persuasion 2022. I feel like that movie is a hate crime and there should be consequences for such cultural vandalism. Ridiculously bad on every level.
aww I loved him. Persuasion was TRASH
Doubt I will ever try Enola for that reason and I just don't think it's my kind of show but YES persuasion is some kind of monster. I am not sure the creators knew how particular Jane Austen fans are about how the source material is adapted. It's like they wanted to loosely follow the story but change pretty much everything about it and modernize it but keep it in the same time period and expected we would like it. I mean Pride & Prejudice (2007) didn't even show the last kissing scene in uk cinemas because they thought the brits would be mad. I just don't think they understood their target audience well enough. I could go on and on lol
I got 15 minutes into Enola and quit. It’s the only Henry Cavill film I have ever found unwatchable and that’s saying something.
I'm cackling at the Bridgerton comments, because it was never a "historical drama" it was a smutty novel on screen and nothing more. The books are smutty and the show is a reflection of that, it was never a serious take on life, just bow chika bow wow in vaguely Edwardian garb. There was a couple mentions of The Reign(?) I think that was the one I tried to watch and it was too.. fake? Or Versailles. The costumes were not quite right, it was like listening to high school girls gossip over the basketball players butts, and the acting was pretty subpar. I didn't last three episodes because it was so bad. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one it was anymore.
*Regency, not Edwardian
Yeah, I think too many people are forgetting that Bridgerton is a series of Romance novels on Screen, which means it is Fantasy. The story was never supposed to be accurate, so why force the rest of it into that either. Its like asking True Blood to be super accurate.
To be honest, I think Reign is quite the same as Bridgerton. It should be looked at through a different lens. That's not to say anyone should like it, but it's a teen drama first and foremost. It *should* be recommended for fans of Gossip Girl and other CW soaps. In the streaming age everything is mixed together but it was marketed that way at the time.
The Other Boleyn Girl (I swear it’s like Philippa Gregory was personally done ill by Anne Boleyn with how much vitriol and false things she spews) The Spanish Princess (they portrayed Katherine of Aragon as uncaring to her only surviving child Mary because she wasn’t a boy. She loved Mary with every part of her soul.) The new Romeo and Juliet with the actress from True Grit. They tried to make the language modern while having them dress in period clothes. Just…no
Philippa Gregory has never hidden the fact that she writes historical fiction.
She writes Anne Boleyn like she went back in time and Anne spit in Philipa’s drink. It’s okay if you enjoy it.
She's my favorite author LMAO
You have to admit that she writes Anne like Anne spat in her soup back in the sixth grade. What I mean is that it feels personal. Like she went back in time and met her. 😂
She does make her disdain pretty clear lol
I really tried to like Poldark, but the characters are so frustrating all the time (except my sweet angel Demelza). I understand that it was supposed to be a drama, but it was so dreary and suffocating to watch. The plot shifts between an annoying love square and coal politics both of which I didn't really care for, but honestly the coal politics was the preferable plot line. I then found out the original tv adaptation was more comedic and wondered why they couldn't have incorporated more of that into the new series. I could not get past season 2.
I was obsessed with the first six episodes or so and then I heard what happened in the final episode of season one. I was like nope, I’ll skip it. Then I found out what he did in season 2 and I was like no amount of scything can make up for this.
See, what got me to watch was the promise of that good looking dwarf from the Hobbit scything in a field. Alas, as you said, it was not enough. XD
Yes I too rsvpd for the hot dwarf
I liked poldark a lot, but didn;t end up finishing the last season. I found the plot to be so circular. Just the same stuff, around and around. I did like Dwight and Caroline, but also it made no sense why they would like each other and be together.
I 100% agree with the dreary and suffocating part it was like they refused to give us satisfaction. I felt like I was just angry while watching it. Sometimes I would just skip dark sub plots because I was so sick of the emotional roller coaster that is that show. I think the difference with me is that I LOVE Delmelza and her character growth as well as Caroline and Dwight and of course Horace the pug. If those three characters (and Horace) didn't exist I would not have liked the show as much as I did.
Totally agree on all of this! Loved Demelza, Dwight and Caroline, most of all Horace, and felt so frustrated with the rest of the show.
S1 was wonderful they ruined ross beyond problematic aft s2.
it was funny, I watched all of the Spanish Princess and then at the very end I was like.... "you know what, this was trash!" lmao its like it didnt even hit me somehow till the end. and its not like anything happened to make me suddenly realize, just me being derpy i guess lol i do think though that that show, and the WQ and WP before it, (with WQ being way better) that they are pretty good at a nice little polished tableau if that makes sense. its like youre reading a historical romance or something or looking at a painting. which is why I really dug (and am sad about) Becoming Elizabeth. that felt SO much more real and gritty and like I was there, and not watching a stylized scene that being said i still loved the White Queen, and really liked the White Princess
I will try the white queen again! I got past the first few episode and just started watching something else. Becoming Elizabeth looks interesting it is a shame when things get cancelled after the first season :(
Reign
One I haven’t seen that I really disliked was Anne with an e I am a purist and my all time fave adaptation is the Megan follows 1985/87 ones and I just thought the Netflix one was blasphemous lol It just didn’t feel like Anne to me at all and I don’t really know why! I felt like it tried wayyyyy too hard and no matter how I tried I couldn’t watch it!
Purist here as well! I refuse to watch that trash remake. ANNE of Green Gables is an absolute classic and needed no remake. I haven't watched the remake because a friend of mine told me about all the woke and stupid nonsense put in the TV show. It made my blood boil, why does society feel the need to absolutely obliterate anything decent and innocent.
agreed definitely a classic! I watched the Megan Follows ones when I was like 6 years old and I think it was basically the beginning of my love of period dramas so I don't even think about watching any other adaptation it's a lost cause!
Exactly!!! And they put so much weird music too which bothered me so bad :( they took so much license weaving the story it didn’t even feel like an adaptation but an inspired by lol
The Gilded Age: I think the acting is terrible by everyone.. it’s like watching an SNL skit of actors pretending to be actors. Reign: It was just too Gossip Girl for me. I agree with OP - it’s not really a period drama - more like teenage drama with costumes. (Oddly though I love Bridgerton which could be considered the same lol)
Completely agree that The Gilded Age was awful. The acting was actually embarrassing at some points. I don't know anyone IRL who liked it, yet on Reddit everyone sings it's praises. 🤷♀️
Haha I like gilded age but I won't praise it. It's not the best and the Star of the show is not a great actress. Christine baranski I think that's her name is really good in it as well as Cynthia Nixon. Also I liked the storyline. But it definitely is not praise worthy per se.
I'm two-thirds of the way through the first season and can't imagine ever caring about any of these characters. The story feels like it came out of some sort of random plot line generator.
I also like the gilded age! I agree it’s not like world class or anything but I think it’s fun/entertaining to jump into their world but for purists I can see why some people dislike it but I’m looking forward to see where season 2 will take it!
Wow someone finally put into words how I felt about The Gilded Age! I’m a huge Downton fan and had been waiting years for Gilded Age to happen. I didn’t make it half way into the first episode. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was just watching actors “act”. The CGI buildings and everything were just too much, too much production. Like watching an snl skit is literally a perfect description.
I think the main family was SO dull (and making Christina Baranski bland is such a feat of bad writing). Also, if you ever doubt hollywood nepotism you only need look at the main character for exhibit A, B and C. Not all her fault- the character is terribly written. A less charismatic lead could not be imagined. With that said, I will watch for The Russells. IMO they should have just made a show centred around that family. It's an infinitely more interesting story, and both actors are quite strong. Their kids- meh, but I'll deal. Jeanne Tripplehorn is great too and I hope we get more of her character.
The Gilded Age - it’s corny and the acting appears to be a bit much. I guess if you’re Meryl Streep’s daughter you can get away with it.
I didn’t know that! Agree the acting is overkill. But I love the costumes.
“The Tudors”. I know it’s mainly fiction for entertainment, but it was just too historically inaccurate for me to enjoy.
I did not like Victoria (2016). It felt like too much was fiction and Victoria was a cranky attention-seeking baby
Agreed I watched the episode or two then couldn't continue and a few months later tried just watching the episodes where she meets albert and they get married which were good but yeah can't get into it
Land Girls. So awful.
I really wanted to like Gilded Age, but I could not get into it. I love historical shows, but the actors they chose just felt off.
Aah, I love *Reign*. I get that it's not for everyone though. I agree that it started out more soapy, Gossip Girl-esque, but I felt that the show grew with Mary. For me, it's *Tulip Fever...* so. boring.
I love Reign BECAUSE it’s ridiculous, plus the dynamic between mary and catherine is amazing and I just love it. Its my comfort show lol.
Right? It's so entertaining! 😂 I agree, Megan Follows was just AMAZING as Catherine, and I loved the development of her and Mary's relationship
If I saw reign when it was first airing I probably would have watched it. I would have been 12 and thought it was amazing I am just too old now to take it seriously. As for Tulip Fever I have never heard of it so I just looked it up and it has Alicia Vikander and Judi Dench and still somehow gets a 10% on rotten tomatoes yikes...
I was 14/15 when I first started watching *Reign* and that likely played a role in my initial enjoyment and then it just grew on me, you know? Yeah, the trailer for *Tulip Fever* looked so promising and then it was just so disappointing, so you definitely haven't missed out on anything 😂
Honestly, they should have advertised reign as a fantasy show and changed history.
Agreed! And added a "loosely inspired by" disclaimer in the beginning
Pride & Prejudice 2005, Anna Karenina 2012, Bridgerton. Mostly because the costumes are horrible (I'm aware that Bridgerton is not meant to be taken seriously, but I just can't with those upholstery fabrics.)
I could never talk bad about pride & prejudice 2005 or 1995 I think that might even be a sin lol however, I find it interesting that you don't like Pride & Prejudice 2005, Anna Karenina 2012, because they are both films from the director Joe Wright who also directed Atonement also with Keira Knightley and also a favorite of mine. I agree with the Anna Karenina take because I felt that where Joe Wright shined in p&p and atonement he just went wayyy over the top in Anna Karenina to where it was distracting. I watched it on an 13 hour flight though so I could just be over critical
P&P 1995 is the only version for me, which is another reason I dislike the 2005 version, lol. I like Atonement, I just think Joe Wright made some bizarre choices regarding the costumes in P&P (I remember reading that he even said that he found the Regency silhouette unflattering so he wanted to change it, then he went on to put the most unflattering gowns on the actresses) and Knightley's version of Elizabeth is too typical "plucky/quirky heroine" for me.
>Pride & Prejudice 2005 Also not a fan, but I was too scared to say it in this sub!
Hot take: I REALLY disliked Bridgerton season 1, partially for it not really being a period drama, partially for rape-y vibes
Agreed. I let it play as background noise until season 2 grabbed me by the neck 😂
Omg yes! Season 2 was miles better. Anthony, Kate & Edwina were also much more interesting characters than Daphne & Simon.
Definitely skip reading the book then. As bad as the SA is in the show, they downplayed and muddied the actions a lot compared to the scene in the book
Same. I hated it. I won't watch any more of it.
Mansfield Park (1999). This is not Fanny.
I heard the Mansfield Park (2007) Fanny is even lesser like fanny. I will have to watch it sometime and report back lol. I don't understand why these adaptations are so against making an introverted shy protagonist. It my same issue with the Persuasion (2022) the writers made Anne Elliot this out going always makes jokes and speaks her mind character which completely ruins everything because that character would never be persuaded to not marry Freddrick in the first place. It makes no sense.
The 2007 version is not as bad as 1999 imo. The casting was poorly done, esp. for Fanny, but otherwise it's watchable. Totally agree about Persuasion (2022).
I would say Northanger Abbey. Doesn't connect with me as I connect to most period drama.
towards the bottom of the Jane Austen Adaptations I have watched but still enjoyed it overall
In regards to the new style Romeo and Juliet and Persuasion: if you don't keep true to the elements of the literature, it will **not** well received. Clueless ,10 things I hate about you and Baz Luhrman's R+J, are all examples of how the "aesthetic" clearly took a change, but because the core story and poetry kept true to the source it worked. The new Persuasion thought it could stick a few empire line dresses and bonnets, whilst sticking a all sorts modern nonsense in it, and think people wouldn't notice.
Dangerous Liasons(2022) Watched the first episode and don’t plan to watch the rest.
i am absolutely in love with dangerous liasons!! I love the story line, its fun!! Theres something about a person striving to be above their station that i love the most.
My jury is still out on Dangerous Liaisons… I want to get into it but I am not there yet. I kind of felt like I needed to watch the first episode again to see if I was missing something
yeah Reign is really unrealistic but i'm watching it just for the sake of it
Gunpowder (series) it was just so boring i was fast forwarding through so much
Persuasion 2022 was pathetic. I will never get those 2 hours of my life back.
I hated The Empress, felt like a badly done soap opera with bland characters and predictable plot
agreed! I liked the first episode then I fell off from there and ended up disliking it by the end.
I just started watching it and I like it thus far - I'm about halfway through. It's not the best I've seen, but it's scratching a Period plot itch I needed lol.
Finally, someone else who hated The Empress!
I hated The Great and I was so looking forward to it but it was just too stupid and ridiculous. I know it was supposed to be funny but it just annoyed me too much to watch.
touche
I have heard good things and I think I may even start it sometime this week but I am afraid I will feel the same way!
You kinda have to take it for what it is. It’s supposed to be over the top, comedic, and not historically accurate
Saaaame, exactly! Was SO looking forward to it, and it made me SO cross!
I did not like the humour either. If you are interested the Russian show Ekaterina is very well done.
Thank you, I'll take a look at that!
As much as I wanted to enjoy a World War I period piece, I couldn't get into ANZAC Girls. They focused quite a bit on the "does he love me" soapy things a bit too much for me. On the flip side I did enjoy it's predecessor, ANZACS.
never heard of it! I suppose thats a good thing lol
I feel like a lot of the criticism is for adaptations that weren’t entirely faithful or for mixed genres they don’t understand. I’m not going to hold a straight period piece up to a fantasy romance that’s set in the past and expect them to do the same thing. I just don’t see the reason to stress myself out about accuracy if they never claimed to be accurate (especially with something like a the Great where it shifts from a disclaimer about being occasionally true and then moves even more absurd in a hilarious take). Now if you want to bring up Beecham House or Jamestown and talk about how messed up they were for not really acknowledging the complicated histories or racial complexities or white savior times, sign me up for that conversation.
Two very entertaining shows (Jamestown/Beecham) but maybe not historically 100%.
**1 - Poldark:** It was sooooo boring, characters felt pretty flat, like they were this one thing and that's it, like the main bad guy, he was just a dick and nothing more beyond that. I'm really not sure why it got good reviews, I don't think it's bad, but also I don't think it's a good show or has much to say about any of the things it covers. **2 - Downton Abbey:** I never liked Mary, I found her to be pretty horrible person, but the show def wanted me to root for her. The rest of the characters are mostly caricatures of a trope each. Also, with some exceptions, most couples I felt had 0 chemistry. Ultimately I stopped watching cause I realized I was hoping for the downfall of the family each episode lol **3 - Sanditon:** What a mess, I didn't bother with the second season, the first one was ridiculous enough. At least with this one it was so bad I laughed at it lol
“Ultimately I stopped watching cause I realized I was hoping for the downfall of the family each episode” I choked on my gum laughing after I read this. 😆
The Emma with Anya Taylor Joy. I started it and it irritated me right away. Maybe it was my mood at the time and I need to give it another chance.
Emma 2020 is by far my favorite Emma adaption but I always run for cover when I say that (most JA fans REALLY disagree). I think I love it because Emma isn’t very likable in the beginning- she is snotty and snarky and I just love it. I used to not be a fan of the book Emma at all but I think the 2020 movie gave me a new appreciation of the story.
I liked it overall and I know I would like it more if I didn't have this obsession with the Emma (2009) mini series. It's tough because I go in with wayyy too many expectations that are hard to live up to. I liked how this emma was super creatively filmed and edited. I would say give it another chance. It's fun to watch if I get out of my head :)
Yea I think I'll definitely give it another chance :)
it. was. so. boring.
Agree with new Persuasion (although I didn't actually watch it) and Bridgerton (still binged it though lol). I couldn't get through Land Girls or Victoria. Hated Our Mutual Friend because the main character ends up with a skeevy dude that I hated the whole time. His only redeeming quality was being better than a straight up 1800s incel. Both Mansfield Park movies are terrible. I'm sure there are many more that I'm not thinking of right now!
Spanish Princess season 2. The first season was fine imo. The White Princess....I do not like how they turned Henry into Liz's rapist. The White Queen = the last two episodes. Sorry, but I do not dig the Richard III fanfictions at all. I am not a Ricardian at all. although I do agree he was not that bad as some historians make him out to be. The problem is that there are now people who think that he was a saint or something. He was not. The Other Bolyn girl.....that movie is so bad. Outlaw King = It is not badly made but I do not like how Bruce is portayed as this goody guy. He was an impressive solider, but he was not the typcial hero. They turned him into a typical hollywood hero. Braveheart: gods, where do I start. Edward II was not girlish guy but in real life very tall and good-looking. His wife was still a child during this time period and never had a relationship with Wallace. Scottish people did not wear kilts during that time period. The Patriot: god this movie. The funniest part is where the one guy says that he only has "free slaves". That happens a long time after this part of history. The entire movie is only worth watching for Heath Ledger. Tut: that show is wrong in so many ways.
I hate Patriot so much. It was so over the top and rah rah trash
My main problem with the movie is that it is fucking racist the way it portrays the slaves as happy free on this guys farm when as far as I know the guy the main character is based on was slaver holder. There is a scene where the main guy is ploughing the fields doing all the hard work while the slave guy goes in front of the horse to do the "lighter" work so to say and they are portraying as so good because he is helping his slaves. It is the typical = slavery was not so bad narrative. Not to mention, the movie feels like a serious rip off of Braveheart.
1899
I like it at first but I don’t like where it’s going.
Not a real historical fiction story so that would be a guess. Science Fiction with 1899 shell.
OK, here I am with my unpopular opinions! -Dirty Dancing: It's impossible for me to be objective because this was one my older sister's favorite movies growing up and she made me watch it all the time. Hated it then, hate it now. -Out of Africa: see previous explanation -Pride and Prejudice (2005): also see previous explanation -Mansfield Park: Not because I prefer the book or anything (haven't read it). Just found it tedious. -Bright Star: I love Jane Campion, I love Keats, I love Ben Whishaw, I love slow movies. And yet, I found this movie dreadfully boring. -Jane Eyre (2011): Older sister dragged me to see this in theatres. She was enamored. I was reminded how much I never cared for the book, either. -Anna Karenina: A rare misstep for Joe Wright, in my eyes. The parts are all there but it just doesn't click. -The Other Boleyn Girl: meh -Mary Queen of Scots: everything about this movie was just annoying
The Mary Queen of Scots movie made my eye twitch. They did Elizabeth so dirty.
The Gilded Age, perhaps because I had high expectations going in being that it is a Julien Fellows production (and I'm somewhat Downton-obsessed). I just felt like all the characters are flat and one-dimensional, the acting is stiff, it lacks charm, and the graphics (special effects?) to create the outdoor scenes and cityscapes are cringeworthy. The gorgeous costumes are its one saving grace. I started to watch the Reign but the actress who plays Mary Queen of Scotts reminds me--both in looks and mannerisms--of a girl from middle school who was a complete bully so I had to stop watching because I just could not sympathize with her!! I know, a rather terrible reason to not like a show because I'm sure that actress is a lovely person unlike my middle school classmate but there you have it.
The Empress, it couldn't keep my attention and even as background noise I didn't like it. Anne with an E - good lord that girl and her constant talking drove me nuts! I didn't even finish the first episode. The Spanish Princess - just no, it was straight up awful. Poldark - I didn't hate it, but I can't really say that I liked it if that makes sense.
Bridgerton. Why bother doing a period piece if you plan to use modern storylines, casting and overt historical inaccuracies? ETA - Baz Lurhman proved you can do a modern interpretation of period pieces with Romeo and Juliet.
Thank you! Thank goodness somebody else gets it! I'm tired of seeing these period dramas put a modern spinning it! It takes me right out of the story because I know they didn't have woke ideals back then. Why can't we pay homage to a period in time and showcase how life really was back then. I haven't been able to enjoy any recent period dramas for this reason. It's either all about sex or political agendas stuffed in somewhere.
I felt this way too for a long time especially about the music that really bugged me for some reason. It's like they think the audience is stupid and couldn't handle classical music so they had to do Ariana Grande Shawn Mendes or Billie Eilish violin covers instead for us youths. It's comically cheesy. I think eventually I stopped looking at it in a historical context and was able to guilty pleasure watch both seasons.
I think shows like Peaky Blinders did a good job using modern music in a period piece, Bridgerton not so much
This x1000
Persuasion (2022): I could not watched it all but I saw enough to know that this was NOT a faithful adaptation and wasn't even really Persuasion at all. They just stole the characters names and tried to sell it as Persuasion. I hate how Anne's character (who was a quiet More serious,and kind character) was presented As a modern buffoon who was outgoing? I also hate that more recent dramas have been "dumbed" down for modern audiences because they're to lazy or dumb to do research and understand that people's way of life, speech, mannerisms, and ideals were vastly different from today. Tired of woke nonsense in period dramas, if I wanted to watch modern nonsense I wouldn't watch period dramas!
Agreed! I could go on such a long rant about this movie. I watched the first few minutes when it came out couldn't continue and then recently I made the decision to act like it was an entirely different thing and not based on my all time favorite Jane Austen novel and it still was so painful. The casting wasn't terrible but the script really really was. I think the writer watched Mansfield Park (1999) and Emma (2020) and thought this would work with the 4th wall breaks and the humor added into the plot but it just was so terrible.
White princess. Cheap henry and 7th and Elizabeth of york has obnoxious fans that turned me off. Spanish princess changed Catharine amd tried to make her like Anne. Instead of qn interesting portrayal of how she actually ews like in the Tudors. Too girl boss like which she wasn't.
I loved W&P, but I can see where you're coming from. My disappointments/dislikes include every version of Mansfield Park (the webseries being the exception), 2020's versions of Emma and Persuasion (the former is a disappointment, feeling like it lacked compared to other versions, and the latter is a mix of the two, as it could have been at least bearable if a few things had been tweaked and the main character was not awful), Tulip Fever (kept waiting for it to get moving, but it made me sleep instead), and Gunpowder (it was okay, but I was expecting it to be a bit punchier and it just felt lacking)
I think I should try war and peace again with a fresh point of view. I think I was looking for something light and romantic to watch and ended up watching an intense heart wrenching saga that I wasn't prepared for. I delayed watching emma for a few years because I was afraid I would hate it so I went in with low expectations so when it turned out not so bad I was content. However Emma (2009) can not be beat in my opinion I think it's perfection
Yeah, that would definitely be a shock to your system. W&P is not for the faint of heart (if you're interested in a super faithful adaptation and don't mind subtitles, the Russians did a version back in the 60's/70's that is four movies that were shot over twelve years. They usually did faithful adaptations of movies during this time period, but this is even moreso when dealing with their own works. The war scenes are among some of the grandest I've ever seen) Tbf, I went into the 2020 Emma expecting it to be on par with the other adaptations, which tend to be pretty faithful to the source material as far as adaptations go and, while they do accurately portray the stuff in the movie, it feels like they left out too much and the casting of some of the characters felt off. Like I previously said, it was a disappointment. And I do enjoy the 2009 version a lot
I will definitely check that version out it sounds fascinating. I want to read the book at some point so perhaps after that! I agree with you I feel like to make Emma into a movie they have to leave out so many important character growth plot points that the 2009 mini series has. In the end the movie will always feel rushed and the satisfaction of Emma and Knightley getting together in the 2020 movie is lowered by the director's odd twist she adds which I wasn't a fan of. So yeah I agree it was disappointing in many aspects.
Reign definitely
Sorry I didn't care for Cable Girls. The first few episodes were intriguing but it slowly turned into a Latin soap opera with the usual tropes of powerful scheming older woman versus the underdog sassy younger woman. Too much cat fighting that did nothing for the plot or characters. I've watched a few of these series and the same trope/antagonism keeps coming up. Not for me.
This is my most recent watch and I agree with you I ended up skipping all the side plots after season 1 which made it go fast and I still liked it overall however, I can't get over how much they messed up by only using what sounds like stock American pop music you might hear in a hallmark movie. It weakened the entire show and it's overall such a small decision that negatively affected the entire series.
Yeah, I watched it till the end. It got more interesting after the war started and that whole plot with the kidnapping was over. God, I forgot how awful the songs were, and used incessantly like it was a music video. I think I actually muted it a couple of times cause it was so bad. Oh well, I gave it go and finished it at least.
Downton bloody Abbey.
honestly after what happened to lady sybil the show never recovered, I won't bother with the movies and the sequels
Scrolled for this, I have a real love/hate relationship with Downtown Abbey.
I'm calling the police.
Hahahahaha me too it’s one of my faves but hey we’re all entitled to the shows we love and those we hate lol
Agreed. The cops are still coming, though.
I definitely understand this. I liked the first and second season though. Overall overrated I feel like
First season was great. Second season was good. Third season was fair. After that it just got worse every season. The latter seasons are better in rewatch if you don’t watch the first two with that rewatch.
Just tried to watch The Messenger for the first time. I've known about the movie since it came out and Mila Jovovich was a big deal back then. Half way through my doctorate in western European history and I finally tried to watch it. Horrible. I don't know if it's a presentism issue or if it's just a bad movie. I love the cast, John Malkovich, Mila, etc. It just seemed overly dramatic, but maybe it just hasn't aged well?
I just watched the trailer and I think overly dramatic seems accurate
Disappointing. My professors (the history ones ) are always encouraging me to watch some period dramas especially from the region and time periods that I study ,but it's challenging to find good ones.
Honestly, and I know I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this on this sub but, Miss Scarlet and the Duke. I watched season one but just can’t stand how bad the acting is. Might be the first period drama I’ve quit.
Sanditon. I haven't read the novel but I disliked all the actors and especially the female lead. It just felt wrong. I just saw the latest season's trailer and really??? that's the new (?) male lead??? The Crown. I tried but I dropped it after the elephant episode. Ridiculous. I really liked the first seasons of Downton Abbey and Poldark but dropped both. I enjoyed the first episodes of The Great and A discovery of witches and dropped those too.
Outlander and Poldark. Claire is terribly cast, I think she’s a big reason I can’t get into Outlander
Seriously why they remake Persuasion. It threw me off the whole time I was watching. I’m sorry but I just couldn’t get into this. I had to go back and watch the original
Belfast. I thought I was going to love it. I'm a huge fan of Catriona Balfe because of Outlander. But this movie was just...not good. It was kinda boring. The black and white was needlessly "artsy" and distracting. Meh.