So, I have become addicted to this show, so has the Girlfriend. We use it as a lead-in to Game of Thrones, and History has ordered ten episodes for season 2. I'm curious as to how realistic this show is and if there's anything else like it. This was created by the guy behind the Tudors, a fantastic show. The only thing I would encourage people to see before this show is "Valhalla Rising". The key thing for me is that it's not over-the-top. For the most part, it could very well be a historical documentary, even though I'm sure liberties were taken I don't know what they are. Some aspects of the show, like the constant offers of wife-swapping, seem a bit weirdly placed as reminders of the culture. I would like to see a little more of the world outside of their village, to get a sense of the larger structure of their society. Also, I am becoming a fan of the main actors, especially the guy who plays Ragnar. He seems like a calmer version of Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy. Finally, if you have not checked this show out, it is fucking beautiful. The scenery is on par with GofT, without the dragons, nudity and hundreds of characters to keep up with (so far).
I was pretty skeptical of this show based on the fact that it was the history channel. Its oddly good, the only issue I have is some of the violence could be done better early on but I think that is mostly based on the fact that History might not have banked on it being a hit so it tried to save money wherever it could. Check it out for sure.
I compare this show to Spartacus, and I like the realism a bit better. Spartacus has that 300-esque slow motion action shit and blood spatter that is as close to a cumshot as a director will go. Vikings tones it down to save money, but also (I think) to be more realistic and less outrageous. Remember, this is History, a network that a few years ago broadcast WW2 films 24/7, so they can't be too over-the-top.
This is a great show. From what I can tell it follows the known details (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok) of Ragnar Lodbrok pretty closely so far. If this period in history interests anyone I would also highly recommend the Warrior Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, which tells the story from the Saxon perspective and the books are great historical fiction.
I really enjoyed it, was a good romp. And on the gore comments, in my opinion it’s toned down a little too far. The sort of damage a sword or axe causes to an unarmoured opponent is devastating and spectacular, bet this poor guy’s brain fell right out. (It’s a Viking era skull, neatly egg shelled by a single handed sword, the sort of stuff they loved doing in Spartacus)
I love this show. I wasn't really into it after the first episode but I just finished up episode 3 and am hooked. The only thing that bothers me are the inconsistent accents, especially with Ragnar. He goes from Midwest american to southern to a random British accent thrown in, not to mention the foreign language they throw in for effect with sub titles. Also, his accent doesn't match anyone else in the town. His wife has some random European accent that seems to go away every now and then.
Second season has been great. The storyline in historical England is really good stuff. As for the accents, I don't disagree, but it doesn't bother me much. The actors are from all over the place, Ragnar is Australian, Lagertha is Canadien, Rollo is British, Floki is Aleksander Skarrsgard's younger brother, so Swedish, as I believe Ragnar's adult son is as well. This is part of the reason that so many historical films default to a British accent as opposed to having a number of actors approximate an accent for a dead language nobody really knows how it would sound. And honestly, from having Norwegian relatives and hearing alot of Swedish people speak growing up and now, Scandanavian people speak really good English for the most part, and as a result, accents end up being all over the place. I have two Swedish business associates of my Dad who grew up about 20 miles apart outside Stockholm, both speak fluent English but you'd think they were from different countries cause their accented English sounds different from each other. I will agree about the subtitled languages though, that definitely jumps around when they are in Wessex and whatnot, its kind of hard to follow or reason sometimes. Also, did I completely miss where they explained how far ahead they were jumping in years between seasons? Cause it was kind of profound.
I'm keen to see how closely they follow the assumed history of what actually happened. From what I've read they don't have a great deal of accurate information on Ragnar but there is a bit more on his sons.