Oh yes it’s almost here! I know Dragons aren’t very historical, but much of this shows medieval clash of kings and queens is perfectly balanced with my joy of both history and fantasy. Too much fantasy and it becomes comical, but too much history and it becomes boring. Like bard tales of old these are tall tales to captivate the masses in the tavern. Thus the significance of historical fiction. Embellishing historical stories with the fantastical. Like is this the fantastical retelling of The Anarchy? It’s possible and what a fun way to imagine it.
Kim Han-min’s Historical Korean Warrior Films
I think its only right to add Kim Han-min’s epic three part naval battle series to the collection. In these films Kim Han-min highlights Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin‘s struggles and victories from 1592 to 1598 during the Japanese invasions of Korea. I’ve noticed over the years that my historical ship page gets a lot of traffic, so if you are one of those historical boat nerds that likes to see them in fictional action then these movies are probably for you. Also I’m going to add Kim Han-min’s earlier film WAR OF THE ARROWS at the bottom here, since it was the first of his films I ever watched and enjoyed.
Historical Doc Series Part VII
So I’m placing this interesting two part series on Viking history and culture by Dan Carlin as reminder of material I finished listening to using Spotify. These aren’t the same Youtube visual constructed histories as I’ve posted before, but I figured this a good way to sampled his narrative to see if you like it. Then you might want to consider listening to them wherever you get your podcasts, because they are rather long and cover a lot of historical material. Thanks Dan for the many thought provoking moments, and the occasional laughter.
SHOGUN 2024
I’m not sure what calculations they have made over at FX to bless us with a Japanese medieval period piece, but I’m grateful. It is a little early to know how this series will flesh out, and I’ll come back to this post to update any further thoughts, but I was so excited that I figured I throw up the trailer here to remind myself and others that this is coming out early next year. By the looks of the trailer I’m anticipating a gritty, sword wielding, tragedy that is beautifully shot. Here is to hoping.
DOMINA Season One and Two
I’m not sure how this show slipped under my radar and how it didn’t get more publicity, for I found the political intrigue portrayed in this period piece that centers on the birth of Imperial Rome to be interesting and exciting. Of course it doesn’t exactly fit with most of my historical warrior content, but I found it refreshing to see how women could play a major role in politics that determined many of the major confrontations of cultures that came with the expansion of Roman domination during this period. I’m not sure the overall quality of this shows historical content, since I’m no expert of Roman history, but as with many of the reflections I have after watching these historical fictitious shows if they inspire me to research characters and situations deeper then I feel they are doing their job. Now that I’ve binged two seasons in a row it is the long wait to see if they will continue the vicious political plots they have developed and bring us another season.
The Winter King
It seems that with the success of The Last Kingdom’s adaptation of The Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, MGM is choosing to adapt his historical fiction take on the mythological legend of Arthur in The Winter King. While there have been many, if not to many, re-imaginings of this myth over the years, I’m always pleasantly surprised at how Bernard Cornwell manages to make even myth have a quality historical feel. I’m hoping MGM will follow this example and give us fans of historical fiction that rich clash of cultures between the Britons and the Saxons after the withdrawal of Rome from England. If not at least we will get to enjoy more confrontations with the sword in the sweeping landscapes of the English Isles.
Seven Kings Must Die-The Last Kingdom Movie Trailer
Wow wow wow, I can’t believe it’s already time for the movie. I’m a little disappointed that the film will only be an hour and fifty one minutes to conclude this epic story by Bernard Cornwell, but I suppose any extra bit of film in this genre is always welcome. Maybe it will inspire others to adapt more historical fiction authors work to the big screen. Because I don’t know about you but I’m always ready to see the imagined styles and confrontations of the past. To see heroes and heroins traverse landscapes so foreign to our understandings of the world around us now. To see them face challenges in the shield wall that make us shake our heads in total bewilderment of their brutality from the comfort of our beds. To rage when characters fall to the fates as they quest for glory and hope. The endings are always bitter sweet but I’m ready for this final chapter to begin.
Vikings: Valhalla Season 2
It’s exciting that we will possibly be seeing the second season of this show as early as the beginning of 2023. Like with the second season of Barbarian, there are a bunch of expectations on how this new variation on Vikings will fulfill all our hopes and dreams, but I’m hopeful by this teaser that we will have some good action and plot twists within the complex narrative of Scandinavian history. I will put follow up videos on this post as they come out. To the shield wall!
Barbarians: Season 2
I am rather late in posting this new addition to the Barbarian series, but I want to make a notation that I watched it here. It wasn’t as captivating as the first season, which isn’t surprising since I had more expectations connected to what they might do next in the show. And I definitely picked out the German nationalism they blatantly forced into the dialog that seemed rather out of place in this ancient tribal Germanic landscape. Also with only six episodes I was a little bummed that after all this time the show was done so quickly. Yet with all those critiques I’m still glad there is more historical warrior content to nerd out on, and I hope they get funding for a third season.
Medieval
I have a feeling this will be a b rated film by the trailers quality. That hasn’t stopped me before mentioning an upcoming historical warrior film, so I’m not going to let that stop me now. I’m intrigued that they are telling a story of the historical figure Jan Zizka that I know so little about, even though he’s a Czech national hero. So if anything this film will at least peak my interest to look into this historical figure and the time period he lived. And isn’t that a central point of these exaggerations of history, to get us excited to find out what “really” happened.
The Lost Treasure Chest 