Borgia Faith And Fear: Season 1 [DVD]

Having just finished the first seasons of both "The Borgias" (Showtime) and "Borgia: Faith and Fear" (Canal+, European), I have to say I enjoyed both equally well. The Showtime series is much more condensed (5 episodes) and might be best for the casual viewer. Plus, Jeremy Irons is outstanding as Pope Alexander VI, and puts a lot of character into the part. The Canal+ version is 12 episodes for the first season and fills in a lot of the blanks with subplots and development of key characters, such as Cesare, Juan and Lucretzia Borgia. There's much more family squabbling and back-stabbing (literally) in the European version. John Dolan comes across a bit dry as an actor, but later he really blossoms as a truly caniving pope and a survivor even when French troops are pointing their swords right in his face. Both series cover the same period of time and were filmed almost simultaneously. Both are quite violent and bloody and delve into the ruthless politics of Italy's warring families. I did not feel the two series were anti-Catholic in any way. Rodrigo Borgia was a product of his environment and his ruthlessness and survival skills simply rose above his opponents, even in the most dire of circumstances. I felt Showtime's version was more visually stunning and I liked that they "visited" Italy's other kingdoms - Florence, Milan and Naples. Machiavelli himself is introduced as a character, meeting Cesare Borgia for the first time, a person who he would later write about in "The Prince." The scene showing the king of Naples' dinner table is shocking, to say the least. You get a real lesson in Italian history from these shows. The European version spends more time on the Borgias themselves, each a sociopath in their own right. Casare, the most historically interesting offspring, is a much more conflicted character and his own tit-for-tat battle with a Collona enemy leaves the viewer gasping with horror. Juan is a violent thug and a failed military leader. Lucretzia grows into her role as a sexually charged temptress. The pope is forced to periodically serve as family referee. After one episode of family strife, Alexander VI remarks "The only problem with being a Borgia is that your children are Borgias, too." Viewers of "The Tudors" and "The Sopranos" will enjoy the Borgias.

For me, it is impossible to try to compare Borgia and The Borgias. Both are excellent and aside from the subject matter, very different. I first watched The Borgias and absolutely loved it. I stumbled upon this presentation and thanks to some informative reviews, I had to leap - and so glad I did. In some other reviews, much has been made about the "accent issue," most specifically John Doman's American accent. Because his accent is so different from that of the other actors, I did notice it initially, but after half an hour or so, it didn't matter at all. In fact, I thought John Dorman did an excellent job portraying Rodrigo Borgia and looked so much more like him as well. As in The Borgias, great detail was taken in costuming and set detail. And, in some of the retelling of stories based in murky facts, some liberties were also taken. Borgia requires much more viewer participation, I think, because there are more characters to keep up with. One thing that struck me about Borgia is how the film-makers portrayed the people, cast and extras. There were men and women of all sizes and physical descriptions. There was tremendous realism in Borgia, all the way through. After watching The Borgias, it took me a minute to "accept" the actors in Borgia, as I am so fond of the ones in the former. What allowed me to enjoy Borgia equally is that these two series are SO completely different. Each one stands by itself and should be appreciated that way. These characters are so interesting and both gave me a completely different understanding and appreciation for the Borgias and their times. If you are intrigued by the Borgia family, I recommend BOTH versions of their story. Each paints a different view of the same story and makes a highly entertaining experience in the bargain.

FANTASTIC !!!!! Everything is beautiful. The scenes the costumes the writing, the acting. I love this Mini Series. This one stars John Doman as the Pope and was made by the same man that makes mini-series for HBO. This is not "The Borgias" starring Jeremy Irons. It is "BORGIA" and it's SO MUCH BETTER than the Jeremy Irons version. This mini series is Wonderful. After seeing this one and then trying to sit thru "The Borgias" with Jeremy Irons I almost died of boredom. This version is definately not for the faint of heart though. There is alot of blood, sex, sex and more sex, and tears. I was so engrossed I watched the entire first season, one episode after the other. I really enjoyed this mini-series. I loved the Tudors but this one is even better than the Tudors. It was filmed in France but filmed in English. I'm glad it's widescreen because the scenery is simply Stunning. After seeing this on Netflix (they have both versions) I tried to find it to buy and found it wasn't coming out until February 2012. Great mini-series. You'll love it. I Just wish it was coming out in Blu Ray. 03/07/2012 - UPDATE !!! WARNING !!!! Just a warning for those who are purchasing this DVD set. I pre-ordered from Amazon LLC and the 3rd disc would not load or play. I returned that set for a replacement and the replacement would not load or play either. I have asked for a refund and ordered a new copy from another seller. I'll let you know if all of the discs in the one from another seller play when they arrive but I don't suggest buying this one from Amazon LLC. I think they got a bad batch. Sorry Amazon LLC, nothing personal I just want a copy that plays.

I like being honest: I don't write a lot of product reviews here on Amazon, simply because I've no time for it, but if this review should anyhow help to persuade people that they should buy this DVD right away (because they REALLY should!), than I am also wiling to make an exemption here. I am from Europe, but I know that America have far more and far better production (more bigger canals) when it comes to TV shows, still I am only happy that people from Showtime and Canal+ are rivals in this case, because the Canal+'s version is far better than the American one this time, period. As mentioned by at least one other reviewer, this is far-more detailed and far more darker than SHOWTIME's version. If you look at ratings on IMDB, I found it kind of ironic that the American show is rated higher than "Faith and Fear", simply because the American version is in my opinion worth maybe three, maybe even two stars. The actors are perhaps stars in "The Borgias" and rather unknown in "Faith and Fear", but this is, unlike some people like to point out, not a negative, but a positive, since I believe they are trying more. This is one of the first "big European shows without American money in it" and I only hope for more of this sort. This (The first season) focuses on the Pope and since it was watched in Europe by more than one million viewers when it originally aired it is considered kind of successful enough to make the second season with will focus more closely on Cesare Borgia. The third should follow Lucrezia more closely. Very well planed it seems. I found no single episode "boring", or "wrong", and some also claim that this series is more historically correct, while "The Borgias" are more light-headed. The DVD box is plastic, but a bit thin to my liking, there are three DVD's inside with the following prints: Pope Alexander VI on Disc I., Cesare Borgia on Disc 2 and Giulia Farnese on Disc 3. !!! If you TRULY do not have all the episodes which i find HARD to believe, since amazon is STILL selling the set at the moment, than Lionsgate made a terrible error. Giving it two stars here (not solving this via support) however only have bad impact on the show itself, which does not deserve such a rating !!! As of acting I have no single complaint, characters with a difficult psychological background have difficult psychological background, naive and romantic characters are naive and romantic (I don't think that characters are so deeply illustrated by Showtime) and when you'll watch the making of you'll understand that producers paid high attention to the fact that actors should also be somehow "personally interested in the characters they play" rather than just reading them of the script. There are interviews and making of as a bonus while the episodes themselves are in HD quality and very nicely made, with high quality production. One other think I dislike about the cover (not the DVDs themselves) is the slogan "Before the mafia there was the Borgia". Historical costumes everything brilliant and this just rips the historical feeling out by the mention of mafia. Overall, I would say this: American productions have many money and many shows, but buy this and you'd support something that's truly unique for Europe. Do it. Have faith in us.

3 1/2 to 4 STARS based on entertainment value - A LESS POLISHED, BUT HIGHLY ENTERTAINING VERSION OF THE BORGIA I want to state up front that my mid level star rating is not because this show isn't entertaining or very rich. I loved this whole series. One or two characters had a little wooden acting, but the rest of this production is actually quite outstanding. This is a very interesting series with maybe a single misstep in casting (more of my actual review below). There was also a problem with the disc menu on US DVD release. DVD MENU PROBLEM: (you can skip this section if you don't have a problem or are not watching the same discs) There are five episodes on each of the first two discs. You will only see three at first and what looks like a promt back to the main menu. My discs did not "play all" when I selected that option at first and left me very upset thinking I had defective discs. The "Main Menu >" text appears like one prompt, but is actually two. One for the "Menu" and the ">" key is a separate icon meant to take you to the next page of episodes. Just move your cursor over until you highlight the arrow key by itself and enter. This will take you to the second page of episodes. This is likely the same for any DVD set you receive from that first release, so an exchange will not help. REVIEW AND COMPARISON: you will recognize the voice of Rodrigo Borgia as an oft used narrator and TV actor John Doman. He has a great voice for narration, but is a little stiff in his delivery on this otherwise excellent series. He has a great presence which is perhaps why they chose him, but you might be distracted by his very formal and stiff performance at times. Don't let that mislead you into thinking the acting as a whole is bad. The cast really is terrific. They don't even speak with english accents (instead of Italian) like the other terrific series that is very popular. In that sense, this production is actually a little more authentic than the Showtime version Borgias. The actors mostly are actual Italians. However, those who say this series is better than the Showtime version are perhaps a little biased. Based strictly on production values and script writing, the Showtime version with Jeremy Irons is clearly superior. The Showtime version is very high-polish, better acted, more star power, and much more epoch in feel. But this one has it's own charm and a certain feel the other one doesn't. I really liked the supporting cast in this one. I strongly suspect this version is more historically accurate though I don't know enough to say definitively. It just seems to have that attention to authenticity where the other version is more glitz and drama. It really depends on what is more important to you. You will likely enjoy both (if you can get past small quibbles). The focus of the story is different enough to enjoy both in close succession. I recommend watching both and leave the expectations behind. This one might be a rental for most people, but I bought all three seasons.

This is perhaps the worst acting I have ever seen, in what must be, a major financial film production. High school dramatics teachers could teach these guys a thing or two. To even speak of the two recent releases of The Borgias together is blaspheme. There is no similarity on any level. Who ever told John Doman he should leave advertising at 46 and pursue acting? He is painful to watch and worse to listen to. It makes one wonder if he even understands what the lines he is delivering actually mean. He brings a new meaning to the word "wooden". His fellow cast is not much better. The international cast all speak English in their native tongues---accents that are in some cases, almost impossible to understand. The story is as dramatic as The Real Housewives franchise and about as believable. Useless and horrific violence and forced nudity for the simple, shock value. Really, you don't want to see most of these actors nude! Had I not actually purchased the DVD, mostly based on other Amazon reviews, I would have stopped watching it after the first episode, but as I suffer through it, it is much like a train wreck--- I simply can't believe my eyes and ears. The worst insult is that the other production, (brilliant) starring Jeremy Irons, was cancelled after Season 2 and this abomination goes on. Just saying-----

The actual product: Mine came in a standard DVD case with an extra insert inside that holds two of the three discs, a paper leaflet tucked into the left side of the case with episode names and descriptions (as opposed to a larger case with episodes printed on the back of the box). The content: As some other reviewers have mentioned there is a lot of violence and sexual nudity, and more often than not a combination of the two, about on par with what one would expect with the time (people were not yet as easily repulsed as they are now), and anyway as a viewer I easily adjusted to this pattern of "holiness, family, politics, sex, sex and politics, pray for our souls and misguided children". No episode is more graphic than the next, and none of it escalates beyond what you would find in an action movie. However, to contrast this, it is probably the most beautiful television series I have ever seen. Each scene is like a painting whether it be of the cardinals throwing punches at each other or a marriage, every one is gorgeous from the light, the color, the architecture. The dialog is fantastic, the actors (along with having faces evidently carved by angels) are brilliant, and the show is many things, but not boring.

There are twelve episodes in this series. Five on Disc One, five on Disc Two and two on Disc Three. If you want to watch all five episodes one after the other on Disc One and Disc Two; no problem. But, if you want to watch individual episodes then there is a problem. Episodes 1, 2 & 3 are listed on Disc One, but not episodes 4 & 5. On Disc Two episodes 6, 7 & 8 are listed, but not episodes 9 & 10. Remember, all episodes are available, but you can't pick episodes 4 & 5 on Disc One or episodes 9 & 10 on Disc Two individually. To watch these episodes you'll have to push the Play All button and then fast forward to the last two episodes on both Disc One and Disc Two. In other words, they forgot to put the click buttons for those episodes on the individual episode selection page. Bad DVD production design by Lionsgate. Naturally there's no way to communicate this problem other than here and no one of importance at either Amazon or Lionsgate will see it. UPDATE of 3 April 12: I would like to thank E. S. Lopez's posting dated 1 Apr 12 above for informing us on how to go about finding those supposedly missing episodes. My face is beat red in embarrassment for not noticing how simple it was to find them. In my personal opinion it's still Lionsgate's ill designed page that has caused some of us to overlook that obvious arrow. I thought it was pointing the way towards the Main Menu. Stupid me! Again, in my personal opinion, they had the room on the first page to list all five episodes. Barring that, they could have put another button next to the Menu button that said More Episodes. Oh well, as they say, live and learn. Again, thanks to Mr. Lopez for pointing out the obvious.