Seven Kings Must Die - Netflix Movie

Seven Kings Must Die | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

Uhtred of Bebbanburg returns. More treachery, more deceit, more people swinging swords and more bloody violence. It would have been nice if they could have made a full series about it, this movie just touches down here and there, it's like hopscotch. On some hops they stop for a few minutes, but for most you just get a quick glance of the devastation some bad guy has wrought and then it's on to the next scene. You best be paying close attention because that guy you thought was your ally turns out to be your worst enemy. Oh, you didn't see that coming, you chump? I wonder if maybe they did a movie instead of a series is because all these actors have gotten tired of living in the tenth century, I mean they've been there for years. Can't blame them.

The show does make the first king of England a faggot, but that kind of thing has been showing up since forever, so it's entirely plausible. And since Uhtred makes him vow to never marry, well, it kind of adds up.

P. S. Anyway, it's pretty great. It was nice to revisit this story since we've spent so much time there (watching seasons 1 through 4).

The Last Kingdom - Season 4

The Last Kingdom | Season 4 Trailer
We finished watching Season 4 of The Last Kingdom last night. It's a great show. We started watching back in 2016 and we enjoyed all four seasons. From my previous post on the subject:

It's based on The Saxon Stories, a series of historical novels written by Bernard Cornwell, who also wrote the Sharpe's Rifles series, which I really liked.

In an interview, Cornwell said: "For some reason the history of the Anglo-Saxons isn’t much taught in Britain (where I grew up) and it struck me as weird that the English really had no idea where their country came from." - Wikipedia

Brief summary, with spoilers:
King Alfred has died and his son Edward has become King of Wessex. Our hero, Uhtred, attempts to retake his ancestral home of Bebbanburg, he fails, but the villain gets his comeuppance. Somewhere after the halfway point in the series (episode 7 or 8), we have the battle of Tettenhall where, with the help of the Welsh, the Danes are stopped. But Sygtrigg (a Dane) returns from a disastrous campaign in Irland (Ireland) and upsets King Edward and his sister's plans for the total domination of England.

The Last Kingdom

The Last Kingdom | Series 1 Full Trailer
The Last Kingdom is a BBC produced TV series. Season 1 is available on Netflix. We watched the first two episodes this evening. It's pretty good. It's based on The Saxon Stories, a series of historical novels written by Bernard Cornwell, who also wrote the Sharpe's Rifles series, which I really liked.

In an interview, Cornwell said: "For some reason the history of the Anglo-Saxons isn’t much taught in Britain (where I grew up) and it struck me as weird that the English really had no idea where their country came from." - Wikipedia

The story is set in the late 9th Century (877, I think the opening screen said). I thought this was like the time of King Arthur, but Arthur is from the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. We do have some historical characters, like

• Guthrum
• Alfred the Great
• Odda, Ealdorman of Devon
• Æthelwold ætheling
• Edmund the Martyr
• Æthelred of Wessex
• Asser

There is a great deal of brutality, much like Game of Thrones, but we also have a young, attractive and rich couple who are obviously in love, but I'm not sure that word has even been invented yet. And they're on the run. I think this might be Hollywood plot number 867B, but it's well done, and the girl is pretty great. She has a brain and has no compunction about killing bad guys. She also saves our hero at least once an episode. I don't know why she isn't pregnant yet, unless she's using some of those pagan spells.

Update June 2018 replaced missing trailer.