Borgia Faith And Fear: Season 1 [DVD]

I've watched this series start to finish and Showtime's "The Borgias" with Jeremy Irons. I've even watched "The Conclave" available on Prime Video. I think this series is the best regarding the Borgia family, and is up there with illustrating Renaissance Italy with Netflix's "Medici: The Magnificent". Unfortunately, this series has been taken off Netflix, and the third season is not available for purchase here. Differences, pros, and cons to follow:The major differences between this version and Showtime's is in terms of character development, the relationships between characters, historical accuracy and breadth, and the use of sex/action scenes for actual purposes rather than an excuse to just have those scenes.Pros:Characters in this series are fully fleshed out- the one's in Showtime's are also pretty well thought out but only in this series do you truly understand the character's true underlying motivations, their thoughts, and feelings. Together, you understand the relationship between all the characters better. This is complemented by the underlying historical expositions. The writing is also amazing at both conveying evolving political events and their familial repercussions.While both series take some historical liberties (don't all of these types of shows) this one shines in the fact that you truly understand the dynamics between the noble families, the Italian city-states, the larger European political system, the beginning of the so-called "Italian Wars" which ravaged Italy and were the center of European conflict for a while, and the threat posed by the Ottoman Turks. I also think that this series is much truer to the actual events or rumors surrounding the Borgias. Somewhat unfortunately, the Banquet of Chestnuts is not featured. But I do like how the conclave of papal succession is fully fleshed out.Lastly, I feel as though the action and sex sequences in Showtime's "The Borgias" were simply put there for pure entertainment purposes. Perhaps it is the difference between the American audience and the European-centric audience of this Canal+ collaboration. The action and sex scenes in this series are used somewhat in a manner close to Game of Thrones- not only for exposition and revealing character depth, but also moving the plot forward. For example, there is a scene where the consummation of a marriage must be witnessed by external parties, which tells you a lot about how political marriages were seen and used during these times. The action sequences are somewhat more rare, and there are few battle scenes, but this is what I believe makes this series superior. If you want flashy cannon fire over witty political intrigue than this might not be the series for you. However, there are more battle scenes in season 3, which as I mentioned, is sadly not available for purchase here.Cons:The first half of season one can definitely be said to be somewhat cheesy. I think this is due in part regarding issues of plot and historical exposition. Continuously, some might find certain plot lines somewhat camp-like. Personally I actually like how the series explores certain things, like how herbal remedies are seen to be witchcraft, the torture/execution of prisoners, the dynamic relationship between Cesare and his brother, etc. But some might find these to be tiring, or allude to bad acting, however I think this is a difference in style between American and European television. To put simply, this is somewhat more like a grand soap opera, but it definitely delivers on the grandiose.

I like being honest: I don't write a lot of product reviews here on Amazon, simply because I've no time for it, but if this review should anyhow help to persuade people that they should buy this DVD right away (because they REALLY should!), than I am also wiling to make an exemption here. I am from Europe, but I know that America have far more and far better production (more bigger canals) when it comes to TV shows, still I am only happy that people from Showtime and Canal+ are rivals in this case, because the Canal+'s version is far better than the American one this time, period. As mentioned by at least one other reviewer, this is far-more detailed and far more darker than SHOWTIME's version. If you look at ratings on IMDB, I found it kind of ironic that the American show is rated higher than "Faith and Fear", simply because the American version is in my opinion worth maybe three, maybe even two stars.The actors are perhaps stars in "The Borgias" and rather unknown in "Faith and Fear", but this is, unlike some people like to point out, not a negative, but a positive, since I believe they are trying more. This is one of the first "big European shows without American money in it" and I only hope for more of this sort.This (The first season) focuses on the Pope and since it was watched in Europe by more than one million viewers when it originally aired it is considered kind of successful enough to make the second season with will focus more closely on Cesare Borgia. The third should follow Lucrezia more closely. Very well planed it seems. I found no single episode "boring", or "wrong", and some also claim that this series is more historically correct, while "The Borgias" are more light-headed.The DVD box is plastic, but a bit thin to my liking, there are three DVD's inside with the following prints: Pope Alexander VI on Disc I., Cesare Borgia on Disc 2 and Giulia Farnese on Disc 3.!!! If you TRULY do not have all the episodes which i find HARD to believe, since amazon is STILL selling the set at the moment, than Lionsgate made a terrible error. Giving it two stars here (not solving this via support) however only have bad impact on the show itself, which does not deserve such a rating !!!As of acting I have no single complaint, characters with a difficult psychological background have difficult psychological background, naive and romantic characters are naive and romantic (I don't think that characters are so deeply illustrated by Showtime) and when you'll watch the making of you'll understand that producers paid high attention to the fact that actors should also be somehow "personally interested in the characters they play" rather than just reading them of the script.There are interviews and making of as a bonus while the episodes themselves are in HD quality and very nicely made, with high quality production. One other think I dislike about the cover (not the DVDs themselves) is the slogan "Before the mafia there was the Borgia". Historical costumes everything brilliant and this just rips the historical feeling out by the mention of mafia.Overall, I would say this: American productions have many money and many shows, but buy this and you'd support something that's truly unique for Europe. Do it. Have faith in us.