The Witcher

(series)
  • Poland Wiedźmin
Trailer 1
USA / Poland, (2019–2024), 30 h 55 min (Length: 47–67 min)

Creators:

Lauren Schmidt

Based on:

Andrzej Sapkowski (book)

Cast:

Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Joey Batey, MyAnna Buring, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren, Adam Levy, Jodhi May, Lars Mikkelsen, Mimi Ndiweni, Wilson Mbomio (more)
(more professions)

VOD (1)

Seasons(4) / Episodes(32)

Plots(1)

The witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. (Netflix)

Videos (11)

Trailer 1

Reviews (10)

DaViD´82 

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English The Witcher has several major problems, namely the appalling CGI (no matter how much the series relies on it), through the lame setting and costumes, a bunch of amateur actors playing supporting characters, unjustifiably different concepts of several key characters (mostly Yen, but at least she is an interestingly grasped character, despite being different) and, above all, a significant deviation from the key Slavic stylization of The Witcher towards the generic Western concept of fantasy. Which goes even more against the grain, because in terms of storyline the adaptation follows the original source material (short stories) more than you would have expected. But the essence is there. That’s for sure. This is not a new Game of Thrones. It is much closer to The Last Kingdom  than to anything else. Yes, it's basically a fantasy series in B-movie style. But to be honest, the original stories are too. So as long as it has no ambition to play big political games (in which Sapkowski also fails), to have a perfect setting, etc., but it's all about Gossiper, Marigold, Ciri and especially the grumbling Geralt in the woods, swamps, pubs and brothels spouting a lot of one-liners, then it *is* The Witcher. Even because Cavill clearly enjoys playing Geralt, from the veiled, cynical one-liner through the intimate conversations with Gossipers / Marigold to the action sequences. These sequences, by the way, have excellent fight-scene choreography (although unrealistic, but even more impressive but because of that). Thus, although a lot does not work here or is clearly on the edge, the series is essentially solid in terms of genre. And that counts. | S1: 3/5 | ()

novoten 

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English Season 1 – 100% – For some time now, I have been trying to name the feeling that this unexpected hit has evoked in me, and the word hunger best captures it. Hunger for anything related to the Continent and all its realms, hunger for knowledge of other magical or predatory creatures, and hunger for more adventures of the titular hero, whether or not in the form of individual morsels or as part of a grand story that might change the world. I enjoy all levels of the story (although I unwittingly hurried Ciri along on her journey), and I appreciate both the lighter side and the moments when things get intense and I know that this or that adventure simply won't have a happy ending. As I am encountering The Witcher for the first time and have so much study material ahead of me, especially in book form, I can't wait for comparisons of what I already know and all the possible new things. P.S.: For viewers who want to criticize the series because of the skin color of individual actors, I have only one message, and that is "Fuc-" I mean "Fie upon ye!" Season 2 – 90% – Since I spent a nice eight books' worth of time with Geralt during the break between seasons, the experience of continuing some things is different, but fortunately, some things remain the same. Equally good. While I am not a fan of excessively distorting the source material, I have no problem with it here in the slightest. The character of the main protagonists remains fundamentally unchanged, and the adventures that were not present in the books serve as fillers for those parts during which beloved female characters would disappear for half a year. The only disappointment is the misleading of events that do not happen at all despite the episode's title (Dear Friend), but other than that, I have no objections, and I enjoy the open court intrigues that appear subtly earlier and are no longer hidden between the lines. Given the approaching conflicts, such a finding is a great relief. Special recognition must also be given to Freya Allan, who can lighten up and play the potentially thankless and stubborn role in any second, to the point where I would walk through fire for Ciri. Season 3 – 90% – Lately I've been loath to write, talk, or in any way comment on The Witcher. It's become strangely aggressive territory to spew the most stinking manure on the series adaptation using -phobic, racist, and everything else with moronic attempts at wit, or using that well-worn phrase about Netflix not leaving a page out of the books. It's that kind of reasoning that this season serves best. Or rather, it would if the loudest boos had at least read the prologue of the novels. But just so I don't rant about the faithless, I marvel at how deftly the creators have handled such problematic source material. When the saga of Geralt, Ciri, and the others was transformed from short stories into an honest-to-goodness fantasy saga, it brought with it a lot of deliberate, sometimes drawn-out sections full of conversations between kings and councilors and witches, rife with repeated intrigue, revealed intentions, and geographical terms that may or may not have had an impact on the main plot. On screen, however, all the action is coherently setting up a clear plot climax, a conclave of what came before it. The fascinating event steals almost three episodes for itself. And finally, my deepest gratitude goes to the pre-finale action in the desert. The seemingly endless literary wanderings here have both a plot-building and psychologically comprehensible aspect for those involved, confidently stepping into new regions and cast changes that will hopefully not affect the series' long-term ambitions. () (less) (more)

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Marigold 

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English Well, I can pretend to be a man who is detached and sees that if I drank a shot at every mention of the word fate, I would die of alcohol poisoning after one episode. It could have been even better thought out in terms of working with time storylines, so that even the average viewer could understand before the third part that they were not parallel. It was certainly possible to have a better tempo and escalation of some parts, as well as the tonal consistency. But this is all "flaw by design". Sapkowski wrote a fantasy soap opera where horror, romance, a fairy tale and cruel parables about the world on the brink of destruction all eclectically meet. And to my great surprise, Netflix made a completely faithful (albeit deviating in detail and narrative storyline) adaptation, which is excellently cast, funny, exciting and romantic, appropriately crazy and engaging to me. You say that it doesn't have as much coherence and clarity as GoT and others? This is an Eastern and Central European tradition of melting pots of cultures, folklore and deep traditions. I've been missing this for years. A series that I will stay with and that I will dream about at night. This hasn’t happened to you? Well, you probably haven't read all the books ten times over and given yourself a nickname based on one of the characters. But thanks to the series, you also have a chance to get into it completely. Great job. I suppose the next series could raise the bar a bit higher, because it will no longer focus on various short stories, but rather on a novel pentalogy. ()

Stanislaus 

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English I've never read “The Witcher”, and I've never seen the original Polish film or series, so I was coming to this latest adaptation with a clean slate. The quality of the episodes varied, I was most impressed with the third episode with Striga and least impressed with the sixth, featuring the dragon hunters. As for the cast, there was a lot of variety, some of the characters were really great and I was curious to see how they would turn out, others were incredibly annoying and I didn't care how they ended up. Henry Cavill as Geralt could have pushed the envelope less and not emulate Ben Affleck’s Batman. Yennefer was the most divisive character for me personally, you root for her for a minute, then you want to hit her over the head with a gin bottle. I liked the temporal representation of the story, where in the first few episodes you slowly figure out what the storylines were. As a result, the first season of The Witcher is somewhere between three and four stars for me, but I'll give it a raise in this case. If a second season is made, it would definitely be better to cut down on the talking and increase the action. ()

3DD!3 

all reviews of this user (in this series)

English Netflix hits the bull's eye again, providing an ointment against pangs of longing for Game of Thrones. I know Sapkowski’s original only from hearsay and I was saving it (for later), but it’s great fun like everyone promised. Swords and magic in all shapes and sizes (if only someone could film a good Conan at last) and with the perfect cast. Cavill plays a hardass mountain of a guy, roaring and muttering (I have been given an assignment to look like him, so beware of the side effects if you watch this with your better half), enjoying himself thoroughly. I did find it a bit hard to decide when the action was taking place (while I managed season 2 of Westworld with no problem), but in the end everything fell into place. The series finale gives you an appetite for more stories like this, so lay them on us. ()

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