I hope that people watching this realize it's pretty thin on history.
Having said that, however, it's pretty entertaining. Production values for this type of cable station (Spike) are pretty decent. The sets may be a tad gaudy, and the special effects are t.v. level, not film level, but still, it's a rather handsome production.
While Ben Kingsley gets topped billing, it's more due to his past endeavors. And, personally, I did not think he was very impressive here, although he did look the part.
The miniseries really belongs to the young actor who plays Tut -- Avan Jogia. Being older, I was not familiar with him, but I thought he did very nicely here. He looks appropriately ethnic here, and his acting is quite good. I expect we will be seeing lots more of him.
Nonso Anozie is quite good as the traitorous general. I was not very impressed with Sibylla Deen, who plays Tut's sister. On the other hand, I was quite impressed by Kylie Bunbury, who plays the primary love of Tut, although her character is not pure Egyptian. Alistair Toovey is also quite good here.
Overall, despite attempting to write or rewrite history, this is an impressive drama...albeit heavily fictionalized.
It's ironic that King Tut was hardly the most important of ancient Egypt's history, yet he has become larger than life...and this miniseries, despite all its shortcomings, will only add to that. Worth watching.
Having said that, however, it's pretty entertaining. Production values for this type of cable station (Spike) are pretty decent. The sets may be a tad gaudy, and the special effects are t.v. level, not film level, but still, it's a rather handsome production.
While Ben Kingsley gets topped billing, it's more due to his past endeavors. And, personally, I did not think he was very impressive here, although he did look the part.
The miniseries really belongs to the young actor who plays Tut -- Avan Jogia. Being older, I was not familiar with him, but I thought he did very nicely here. He looks appropriately ethnic here, and his acting is quite good. I expect we will be seeing lots more of him.
Nonso Anozie is quite good as the traitorous general. I was not very impressed with Sibylla Deen, who plays Tut's sister. On the other hand, I was quite impressed by Kylie Bunbury, who plays the primary love of Tut, although her character is not pure Egyptian. Alistair Toovey is also quite good here.
Overall, despite attempting to write or rewrite history, this is an impressive drama...albeit heavily fictionalized.
It's ironic that King Tut was hardly the most important of ancient Egypt's history, yet he has become larger than life...and this miniseries, despite all its shortcomings, will only add to that. Worth watching.