This pilot is amazing for a few reasons. For starters the acting is good, the characters are well cast. The costumes and sets feel authentic, and the cinematography compliments them both. But the real winner is the storyline, in depth and jam packed, it's a great way to start a series.
10 Reviews
Very good
Abdulxoxo2 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The first episode of the last kingdom was very good. We were treated with some good action scenes and lots lf drama. I have mixed feelings going into this series as it kinda looks like "Vikings" to me and after watching the pilot I still think it share some similarities with "Vikings". In both shows, the Vikings are portrayed as greedy, savages, and ruthless while their counterparts - the Saxons are the victims and just doing what they have to do to protect their land. But I have to say, I prefer the story in 'the Last kingdom', as the plot is tight and interesting. It's early to draw a conclusion but I found this pilot to be quite good and a good pilot episode means a good series.
We see the Vikings take over the Saxons lands in this episode with brutal battles and whatnot. But they are all background noise as the actual plot revolves around Uthred, we see him as a boy trying to survive as he lost his family to the Vikings, but ironically he ended up being raised by them and only for them to also be slaughtered. Is now a Dane or a Saxon? Which side is he at? But one thing is clear - him wanting to 'take back what's his'.
Overall, a really good pilot. The casting choices were good. The scenery and costumes were nice. The next episode should be exciting.
We see the Vikings take over the Saxons lands in this episode with brutal battles and whatnot. But they are all background noise as the actual plot revolves around Uthred, we see him as a boy trying to survive as he lost his family to the Vikings, but ironically he ended up being raised by them and only for them to also be slaughtered. Is now a Dane or a Saxon? Which side is he at? But one thing is clear - him wanting to 'take back what's his'.
Overall, a really good pilot. The casting choices were good. The scenery and costumes were nice. The next episode should be exciting.
Good story
nfire-2974118 May 2020
Loved it.
Sleepin_Dragon22 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I'll begin by admitting I've not read any of the books of Bernard Cornwell, so I watched this series blind, couple to that my tiny almost not existent knowledge of this time period I fear my review will be an emotional one as opposed to a factual one.
The gist of the story, England 872 is different to what we know today, the country is split into many Kingdoms, the Saxons have been invaded by the Danes, and battles and feuds are common place. Young Uhtred follows his Father Lord Uhtred to the battlefield, the Saxon force is out manoeuvred and defeated by the Danes, Uhtred witnesses his father's death. He is taken away and raised as a Dane, safely away from his Uncle Alferic who wishes his demise. We see him grow into adulthood, but he witnesses the death of his adopted Danish family, after that he plans to reclaim his birthright from Alferic.
It looks great, it sounds great, there's plenty of action, it's brilliantly acted, in particular Peter Gantzler and Alexander Dreymon were fantastic. There's nothing to dislike, it was fantastic. 10/10
The gist of the story, England 872 is different to what we know today, the country is split into many Kingdoms, the Saxons have been invaded by the Danes, and battles and feuds are common place. Young Uhtred follows his Father Lord Uhtred to the battlefield, the Saxon force is out manoeuvred and defeated by the Danes, Uhtred witnesses his father's death. He is taken away and raised as a Dane, safely away from his Uncle Alferic who wishes his demise. We see him grow into adulthood, but he witnesses the death of his adopted Danish family, after that he plans to reclaim his birthright from Alferic.
It looks great, it sounds great, there's plenty of action, it's brilliantly acted, in particular Peter Gantzler and Alexander Dreymon were fantastic. There's nothing to dislike, it was fantastic. 10/10
Just wow!
matiasbockerman18 March 2019
I have just finishing latest book of saxon stories.
I decided to watch how this phenomenal bookseries is adapted and boy I was stunned in the very first second in this wonderful pilot. And I have read the rewievs to third season of this and if this getting better than this, I can't wait how good this series really is.
And if they succes to adapt book 8,9 and 10 this is going to be HUGE. Books getting better and better... Hopefully this gets some attention to emmys and golden globes. VERY promising!
A fun pilot!
midas-jacobs9 January 2016
In the pilot of this show called "The last Kingdom" we meet Uhtred of Bebbanburg. He is the son of Lord Uthred. When Lord Uthred goes to the battlefield, his son follows him, to prove that he is brave and useful. But during this fight the Lord dies, and Uthred gets captured by the Vikings they fought with. Now we follow him during his time with the Vikings, and how he tries to get the title back that he deserves.
The directing is good, for me at least. It is almost all hand held camera, which can be a bit obnoxious for some people. I like it though. It isn't shaky cam, which is good. Everything is still very good visible, which is also good. And the best thing is that it brings you into the moment. This is a good thing, because it creates good tension. For example. In the begin battle sequence you can see the technique that they used very good. A lot of close up shots, which was a bit less good, but it creates tension. And again, put you in the moment. But there are also shots from the sideline, which make you feel like Uhtred. Especially due to the hand held camera. So that is why I think that this is the best directing choice they could have made. Another director who uses this is Kathryn Bigelow. She has directed "Zero Dark Thity" and "Hurt Locker", which are both war movies. Here they used the hand held camera also well. But to get back to this show. The cinematography is very well. It looks all very pretty, but the flaw that I have is like I have said earlier is the close ups in the fight scene. And to come back to the fight scenes these are handled very well. There were no real shaky cam moments. And now I am going to discuss something totally different. The clothing. The clothing was very good. It looked worn out and fitted the time period. The set design was cool too. it looked real, at times, but also a bit CG- ish. And now maybe something weird. I absolutely loved the intro. It had good music and was fun animated. But the music overall was a bit cliché.
The acting was decent. The kid actor of Uhtred was OK. He wasn't so fantastic, which was a bit disappointing for me. He was the main character so I hoped that they chose a good actor for him, but unfortunately. It isn't that he couldn't act at all, but he had some bad moments. The next actor I am going to talk about is Alexander Dreymon. He played the adult version of Uhtred. Lukily he was better, because we are going to see him more. I have seen only a bit of him, so I can't really say how good he was. But for as I have seen he was good. Peter Gantzler played Earl Ragnar. He bought Uhtred. I liked him, there is just one little over the top thing that happens at the end of the episode, which bothered me. Matthew Macfadyen was Uhtred his father. He was OK, I guess? don't really have a opinion about him. The rest of the kid actors and actresses were good, just as the rest supporting cast.
The script is well. It is a bit unnatural but gives the English men a more chic look. The unnatural script doesn't count for the Vikings, though. They are portrayed more like... You know... Vikings. Which brings me to another little thing that I didn't like (I am nitpicking by the way, absolutely loved this episode) is the portraying of the knights. They looked like loyal soldiers (I have no clue if this is as in the books) but knights in real life were untrustworthy and mean. But the story overall of this episode was good. It ended well, and made you want to watch the next episode.
Overall this was a good pilot, from (I hope so) a good show. Thank you for reading this review, and I am sorry for my bad English.
The directing is good, for me at least. It is almost all hand held camera, which can be a bit obnoxious for some people. I like it though. It isn't shaky cam, which is good. Everything is still very good visible, which is also good. And the best thing is that it brings you into the moment. This is a good thing, because it creates good tension. For example. In the begin battle sequence you can see the technique that they used very good. A lot of close up shots, which was a bit less good, but it creates tension. And again, put you in the moment. But there are also shots from the sideline, which make you feel like Uhtred. Especially due to the hand held camera. So that is why I think that this is the best directing choice they could have made. Another director who uses this is Kathryn Bigelow. She has directed "Zero Dark Thity" and "Hurt Locker", which are both war movies. Here they used the hand held camera also well. But to get back to this show. The cinematography is very well. It looks all very pretty, but the flaw that I have is like I have said earlier is the close ups in the fight scene. And to come back to the fight scenes these are handled very well. There were no real shaky cam moments. And now I am going to discuss something totally different. The clothing. The clothing was very good. It looked worn out and fitted the time period. The set design was cool too. it looked real, at times, but also a bit CG- ish. And now maybe something weird. I absolutely loved the intro. It had good music and was fun animated. But the music overall was a bit cliché.
The acting was decent. The kid actor of Uhtred was OK. He wasn't so fantastic, which was a bit disappointing for me. He was the main character so I hoped that they chose a good actor for him, but unfortunately. It isn't that he couldn't act at all, but he had some bad moments. The next actor I am going to talk about is Alexander Dreymon. He played the adult version of Uhtred. Lukily he was better, because we are going to see him more. I have seen only a bit of him, so I can't really say how good he was. But for as I have seen he was good. Peter Gantzler played Earl Ragnar. He bought Uhtred. I liked him, there is just one little over the top thing that happens at the end of the episode, which bothered me. Matthew Macfadyen was Uhtred his father. He was OK, I guess? don't really have a opinion about him. The rest of the kid actors and actresses were good, just as the rest supporting cast.
The script is well. It is a bit unnatural but gives the English men a more chic look. The unnatural script doesn't count for the Vikings, though. They are portrayed more like... You know... Vikings. Which brings me to another little thing that I didn't like (I am nitpicking by the way, absolutely loved this episode) is the portraying of the knights. They looked like loyal soldiers (I have no clue if this is as in the books) but knights in real life were untrustworthy and mean. But the story overall of this episode was good. It ended well, and made you want to watch the next episode.
Overall this was a good pilot, from (I hope so) a good show. Thank you for reading this review, and I am sorry for my bad English.
Great introduction with a few questionable moments
aleddavies-3245526 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I thought this was a really good introduction to the TV show. The pacing is really good considering they're taking you through a couple of different points in time.
I like the choices of what they show in Uhtreds younger years it all feels relevant in getting him to the position he needs to be to start his journey. It really does eliminate any questions anybody could have for this story what could be considered a rather outlandish.
I say that because when I told my brother a Saxon lord who grew up as a dane is working with the saxons to help them against the Danes... I realised just how crazy it sounds, but this episode puts it all into perspective in a engaging way
On another note it does seem a bit odd that a King's brother, and son would be incharge of shoveling horse s*** in the middle of an invasion or not. Then there's other things like Danes and saxons being able to communicate without a translator, but this is TV and it was engaging which is the most important part.
I like the choices of what they show in Uhtreds younger years it all feels relevant in getting him to the position he needs to be to start his journey. It really does eliminate any questions anybody could have for this story what could be considered a rather outlandish.
I say that because when I told my brother a Saxon lord who grew up as a dane is working with the saxons to help them against the Danes... I realised just how crazy it sounds, but this episode puts it all into perspective in a engaging way
On another note it does seem a bit odd that a King's brother, and son would be incharge of shoveling horse s*** in the middle of an invasion or not. Then there's other things like Danes and saxons being able to communicate without a translator, but this is TV and it was engaging which is the most important part.
Weak
lluca-4774830 May 2020
The British attempt at the vikings
nemesis-8815 May 2021
So BBC decided to show all of them colonials how shows about vikings are done. And right from the start, we are thrown face first into the British "humor"... sorry, "humour". A priest baptises a boy, pushes his head under water and starts a long sermon until the boy's grotesquely worried mother whispers, "He's cleansed already", and the boy is finally let up gasping for air. This is SO funny! Benny Hill's traditions of bum-titty-weewee "humour" are alive and well. So why not just hire Mr. Bean and Dr. House, whatever their names are, and just let them play all roles? And that fat guy who likes to record himself reading books! And ruched leather on all vikings! How awesome that would be! NOT!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
