It is difficult to describe just how bad this production is. Besides depicting interior design in 18th. Dynasty Egypt as a carbon copy of 21st. Century luxury hotels, the events described are almost entirely fabricated.
Incestuously bred, Tutankhamun was a genetically deformed cripple who could not even walk unaided let alone lead his army into battle. He was unusually tall and slightly built and yet the production shows him as a muscular young hunk, a modern day action man valiantly defeating the odds in every battle and able to slice the heads off men twice his age and size. He was also intensely religious and quickly reversed his father's drive towards monotheism by replacing the ancient Gods in common worship. He restored the traditional priesthood and yet the production shows him in constant struggle with the polytheist faction to the extent that he has the entire priesthood exterminated whilst personally dispatching the high priest himself. Murder rates high in this production. In fact there are so many slit throats, hacked off limbs and graphic impalements that blood flows like wine throughout the experience. And yet there is no evidence of any large scale wars or mass executions during his reign. In fact records show him to have been something of a peacemaker and diplomat who established peace with several major enemies.
But it is the modern day interpretation of style, behavior and reasoning that really renders this mini series into the trash level. The women are all glamorous and dominant. The male heroes are all good looking 'alpha' hunks and the bad guys are all ugly, gay or old. The bedrooms are straight out the Hyatt Regency Presidential Suite in Dubai, the haircuts are pure Hollywood and the costumes garish facsimiles of Egyptian tomb images.
Quite frankly I wanted to vomit the production away but struggled through it largely because no other detailed dramatization of Tutankhamun's reign exists. What a pity; the series could have been quite good if only Hollywood had not taken it on.
Incestuously bred, Tutankhamun was a genetically deformed cripple who could not even walk unaided let alone lead his army into battle. He was unusually tall and slightly built and yet the production shows him as a muscular young hunk, a modern day action man valiantly defeating the odds in every battle and able to slice the heads off men twice his age and size. He was also intensely religious and quickly reversed his father's drive towards monotheism by replacing the ancient Gods in common worship. He restored the traditional priesthood and yet the production shows him in constant struggle with the polytheist faction to the extent that he has the entire priesthood exterminated whilst personally dispatching the high priest himself. Murder rates high in this production. In fact there are so many slit throats, hacked off limbs and graphic impalements that blood flows like wine throughout the experience. And yet there is no evidence of any large scale wars or mass executions during his reign. In fact records show him to have been something of a peacemaker and diplomat who established peace with several major enemies.
But it is the modern day interpretation of style, behavior and reasoning that really renders this mini series into the trash level. The women are all glamorous and dominant. The male heroes are all good looking 'alpha' hunks and the bad guys are all ugly, gay or old. The bedrooms are straight out the Hyatt Regency Presidential Suite in Dubai, the haircuts are pure Hollywood and the costumes garish facsimiles of Egyptian tomb images.
Quite frankly I wanted to vomit the production away but struggled through it largely because no other detailed dramatization of Tutankhamun's reign exists. What a pity; the series could have been quite good if only Hollywood had not taken it on.