SummaryThe six-hour miniseries dramatizes the struggles and challenges of King Tut's (Avan Jogia) reign as others in his circle including Grand Vizier Ay (Ben Kingsley), sister-wife Ankhe (Sibylla Deen), High Priest Amun (Alexander Siddig), and General Horemheb (Nonso Anozie) scheme for their own power.
SummaryThe six-hour miniseries dramatizes the struggles and challenges of King Tut's (Avan Jogia) reign as others in his circle including Grand Vizier Ay (Ben Kingsley), sister-wife Ankhe (Sibylla Deen), High Priest Amun (Alexander Siddig), and General Horemheb (Nonso Anozie) scheme for their own power.
It’s a wonder Spike didn’t position Tut as an angst-filled teen drama. Kingsley steps in to ensure that doesn’t happen despite the production’s occasional seemingly period-inappropriate detail--jarring neon hair extensions and the like.
Not bad for a made for TV movie and my rating is based off how good it is as a TV movie. Can tell you I thought it was better then Exodus :Gods and Kings. At least the actors looked like how we expect Egyptians may have looked. Costumes weren't that bad and settings and CGI background of Egypt in its glory were pretty good. Actors were a lot of unknowns to me except Ben Kingsley and Nonzo Anozie who I recognize from Game of Thrones. I'd say they weren't bad. No Oscar performances but good enough to not make me cringe every time they were on. Story didn't have great dialogue but wasn't tacky and there were parts where I thought they were great. Story is well paced. Not a history lesson on Tut his age is very off but there isn't a lot we know other then the politics economics and religion and changes during Tuts reign which is covered in the movie. The holes in history left a lot of room to play with it and it was done well. Spike being known as a guy's channel doesn't disappoint. Great battle action and sex scenes. No nudity was the only thing that kept it from being HBO lol. Also a lot for the women here too. Deceit betrayal love hate and a love triangle. There's a lot to like about this and sure it's not perfect but for a TV movie I very much enjoyed it
The acting is solid, the visuals are satisfying, the plot is interesting and the dialogue is decent. For those reasons most people will find it at least somewhat entertaining. But if you appreciate subtleties and nuances in dialogue, performance and plot, you will love the series. It is thought-provoking if you allow yourself to really think about it. The series is about power- its pros and cons, how everybody wants it, and how different people want it for different reasons and are willing to do different things to get it. Every scene shows how the characters in TUT struggle with the advantages and disadvantages of power, how they struggle to take or maintain power, why they want power, and what they will do to have it. There are no unnecessary subplots. The series story-line manages to be complex and cohesive, and nothing- not the acting, not the sexual content, not the gore- detracts from that.
TUT is not perfect. The sound quality could be improved. Actors' performances in certain scenes could be better. Some scenes are confusing, to say the least, and the pacing is at times uneven. But these flaws do not detract from the series's story. Avan Jogia is convincing, if imperfect, in his role, able to convey the maturation of Tutankhamen from boy-king to pharaoh. Kingsley grounds the series. The violent and sexual content is not overbearing, but supports the plot and its primary themes. It is in no way an "angst-filled teen drama;" the characters Tutankhamen and Suhad are indeed child-like at the beginning of the series, but mature once they realize the threats to their power. Some plot elements are extremely improbable, maybe even a little ridiculous, but not enough to distract from the overall story.
If you are looking for something innovative, full of exhilarating violence, explicit sexual content, and non-stop action, TUT will leave you disappointed. But if you like to get into characters' heads, are intrigued by characters' relationships and appreciate irony, TUT will give you more than enough to chew on.
For a while, palace intrigue, Egyptian architecture and a few rousing battles are enough to keep Tut moving. But the farther it moves, the more it gets entangled in that demeaning queen-vs.-queen subplot, to the point where Tut vanishes from his own movie as thoroughly as he's vanished from history.
You might wonder about some of the script’s lapses in logic here and there, but most likely you’ll just shrug at them because Tut is primarily meant as an old-fashioned, blood, sand and sex epic with cool battle scenes, grunt-filled lovemaking, serviceable dialogue, CGI and papier mache sets and minimal heavy lifting on the part of Oscar winner Kingsley. He proves that he can glare with the best of them.
Predictable/preposterous plot elements co-mingle with some terrible dialogue, silly situations (characters enter a room full of dead bodies on hooks but don’t cover their noses in disgust until they see the bodies; wouldn’t the smell be enough for them?) and occasionally poor acting.
Here we go again! As in too many TV series and movies, THE SOUND is completely out of control. There were several scenes where the speech of the actors could not be understood yet in other scenes, the same actors spoke clearly. And then when the scene changes to something other than spoken parts, the sound is cranked up so that it blows you out of your chair.
It is a shame, that with the technology we have today, we cannot understand every word spoken and not have to constantly have to adjust the volume on our TVs.
We must have some "LOOSE NUTS" on the sound controls and they should be replaced.
As for the "Tut" series, I felt it was interesting and well done except the sound.
This show whilst being somewhat accurate historically doesn't convince much. Don't get me wrong, the 3 episodes were entertaining and Ben Kingsley does a good job in his role and the rest of the actors do the best they can. In short: If you love Egyptian history you will be delighted by the scenery and decorations. Also the clothes were somewhat impressive
The boy's journey to kingship is undeniably painted with lavish production, yet it's also unevenly slow and devoid of novelty. Right from the start, Tut presents itself with grand and gorgeous set. It certainly boasts high presentation, ranging from the colorful costume, immense environment to heavy amount of make-up. The goal is clearly to make an epic tale, however it’s also disjointed in many areas as the narrative progresses with slow political build up and occasional melodramatic romance.
This is the chronicle of Tut (Avan Jogia) as he deals with personal issues and outside oppositions to seize his birthright of becoming pharaoh. The most notable name here is Sir Ben Kingsley. After Exodus, Prince of Persia and even the recent Night at the Museum, it's hardly surprising that he's cast as the adviser role. Simply by having him, the show elevates its acting department as he performs with stoic conviction, in a way carrying the younger actors.
If the delivery of this miniseries reminds audience of Moses' tale (pick any modern rendition of it), because it is built to be an heroic spectacle. It presents hefty amount of political maneuvering and betrayal, as well as the more titillating sexual depiction and bloodbath. The presentation is catered around this idea, and for half the part, it does well.
The view is vibrant and its aesthetic is quite eye-catching. Design for both opulence and crude war is highly presentable, yet the actual human drama might be a stale. Story moves in slow pace, which is invested heavily on love triangle subplot and disgruntled general premise. It tries to bring fresh outlook, but unfortunately at times it feels like juvenile squabble instead of legendary vie for power.
Use of mature subject could've been dealt with more poise. It repeats many sexual acts, nudity, and literal face front gore. With restraint these may be indulging, though the series often puts them to seemingly prolong the gratuitous viewing, it may become unintentionally numbing.
Tut has all the riches of epic story, yet these are smoke and mirrors to pander audience with sensational beauty. It may offer a small degree of enjoyment, although the actual core of narrative and human relationship to drive a legendary tale seem to be lacking.
"Tut" is not bad. It's certainly not great but it is definitely "OK". The interior scenery is quite good. The acting is mostly adequate. The battle scene are a little constricted but they are sufficiently gory. The writing? It's a little like C.B. DeTut. Very reminiscent of a 1930s to 1950s DeMille spectacular. They all looked good but were they stiff. Spike's "Tut" is also on the stiff side. That doesn't make it awful. I am still finishing up the reasonably entertaining two hour long Part I. Can King Tut hold my attention for four more hours. Ah, there's the rub. I'll stick with it until I shout, "Enough, enough Tut!"
Very disappointed, yet another show on Ancient Egypt showing the royalty to be of Middle Eastern decent even though it has been proven many times now that they were Afro this was Ancient Africa not Babylon. Epic failure for a show made in 2015, a mistake barely acceptable from the 80's
Acting was ok apart from the major ethnic issue.
Script was poor.