The Best Mini-Series, Ranked & Reviewed
A ranking of my favorite mini-series. Drama only. I've added short, mostly spoiler-free reviews.
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- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.There has never been anything like it. In my opinion, this is the only TV-show without so much as a single flaw - or at least the only one I've seen.
This is without question a must-see. I haven't seen a better war movie or show, or, for that matter, a better TV-show of any genre yet. It's an incredible piece of filmmaking and storytelling and one of the easiest 10s. Difficult, if not impossible to surpass. - StarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA World War II German U-Boat crew have a terrifying patrol mission in the early days of the war.TV-adaptation of one of the best German movies ever made, this version adds even more depth (no pun intended) to the already three-and-a-half hours long director's cut. The only drawback compared to the director's cut is the sound, which is not quite as good. For example, the creaking of the metal when the boat is diving sounds different and is not as intense, for whatever reason.
In return, you get a great look into the mind of the main character, Lieutenant Werner, whose diary functions as an off-screen narrator.
This is not, I repeat: NOT, to be confused with the German show under the same name from 2019. That one doesn't even come close to the quality of the original. Actually, it's a shame that they were allowed to call it "Das Boot", dragging the name of an all-time classic through the mud. - CreatorCraig MazinStarsJessie BuckleyJared HarrisStellan SkarsgårdIn April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.My goodness, this is dark, and scarier than just about anything I've ever seen. It's a chillingly realistic depiction of a real, man-made disaster that came to pass because of incompetence, hubris, greed and, above all, lies - the main theme of this show.
The all-around quality, though, is absolutely top class. As if the topicality and the cynical "don't wanna know/sweep it under the rug" mentality of the people responsible wasn't enough to turn your stomach, the apocalyptic scenes of destruction, devastation and death accompanied by a truly unnerving soundtrack really stuck with me.
The invisble, silent danger, the scenes in and around the power plant especially in the first episode and the portrayal of the victims of radiation sickness made my hair stand up - the make-up department did great work on those terrifying effects.
Only "flaw", if you can call it that: in my opinion, they spent a little too much time on the guys who went around killing all animals in the contaminated zone. But that's really coming awfully close to nitpicking, and it also hints at how many people were a part of the clean-up or "liquidation effort" - voluntarily or not.
All in all, it's nothing short of brilliant - but definitely not for the faint of heart. If you have a penchant for nightmares, you might want to think twice about watching this. - StarsSimona BrownGennady FleyscherClare HolmanAs a Palestinian assassin is targeting prominent Israelis, a young English actress is recruited by Mossad to infiltrate the assassin's terrorist cell, requiring all of her acting talents but also putting her at considerable risk.I love espionage stories, particularly well-made, plausible, relatively realistic ones, and this was more than a pleasant surprise. I've never seen a better portrayal of how to prepare an undercover agent, how to create a legend, a fictional personality or background story.
Throughout the entire show, I rarely ever felt like drama was created with cheap ploys, it just evolved naturally within the flow of events. I also like the fact that the whole thing was portrayed in an emotionally complex fashion with good and bad on both sides of the conflict instead of going for an easy, black-and-white, good guys vs. bad guys angle, which is fitting for a story about this subject and also a hallmark of Le Carré's work.
The middle-east conflict is an interesting, not exactly overused topic as far as TV-shows go, and this one tells a fascinating story in a grown-up kind of way, so a spot in the Top-5 is well-deserved.
The Night Manager should take note - how that one's got a better IMDb-rating than this is beyond me.
Side note: I've never seen the movie or read the book, so my rating and review are based only on the show's own merits. - StarsAlexander SkarsgårdJames RansoneLee TergesenA Rolling Stone reporter, embedded with The 1st Recon Marines chronicles his experiences during the first wave of the American-led assault on Baghdad in 2003.In terms of sheer quality, this should probably be at least one spot higher. But personally, I just don't care that much about the setting/topic.
Other than that, though, this is absolutely brilliant and unlike any other war movie or show I've seen. It's equally as realistic as Band of Brothers, but with a very different tone, and especially with the benefit of historical hindsight, it's pretty depressing.
Civilians are being shot or bombed left and right, for the most part not out of malicious intent but because of incompetence of command, contradictory or nonsensical orders, lack of proper communication and constantly changing rules of engagement - or sometimes simply by accident. And while a number of soldiers seem to be in their element "blowing shit up and killing hajis", those men who actually don't enjoy the pointless slaughter and mayhem struggle to make sense of it all. - StarsMaggie GyllenhaalStephen ReaLubna AzabalCenters on Nessa Stein, a woman who inherits her father's arms business and finds herself in an international maelstrom as she continues to promote the reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.A tale almost as complex as the middle-east conflict itself involving politics, espionage, lies, and a plethora of betrayals, you might want to watch this one more than once to fully understand and appreciate every aspect of its multi-layered story.
Although it starts out relatively slow, the intrigue and the quality of the production are apparent immediately, and the pace picks up rather nicely after the first one or two episodes. Maybe it stretches my ability to suspend my disbelief a bit much at times, but it remains a very good, interesting and intelligent show that seems to have flown somewhat under the radar. - CreatorPetter S. RosenlundStarsAndreas DöhlerMarc Ben PuchRobert Hunger-BühlerThe story behind Germany's attempt to develop an atomic bomb during World War II and the sabotage of the heavy water program in Rjukan, Norway from the points of view of the Germans, the Allies, the saboteurs, and the company.A Norwegian production which tells a compelling true story about the German equivalent of the Manhattan Project, a Norwegian factory producing heavy water for the Germans and the Allies' attempts to sabotage the production by blowing up said factory.
It features characters such as Werner Heisenberg, who comes across as surprisingly naive in being dedicated only to his scientific endeavors without caring about politics or consequences at all. Also, there's a group of Norwegians who are being trained by the British SOE, while other storylines focus on the director of the factory and the families of many of the main characters.
I liked the conflict the Norwegian "Commandos" faced, being committed to their country and their fight against the Germans, but also realizing that their actions may put the lives of innocents, their countrymen, at risk.
The show is mostly very good, high production values and good acting all around, but it tends to drag on a bit, especially where Heisenberg's and the factory director's storylines are concerned. But the few action scenes are well done and there's no sappy love story.
One fascinating quote near the end of the series stuck with me. The war is almost over and the leader of the Norwegian saboteurs says to a colleague: "It will be strange without the war."
Having identified themselves as soldiers for years, feeling such a strong connection to one's allies and one's cause, and certainly sometimes hatred for the enemy, the end of hostilities and the shedding of these roles might feel somewhat confusing or disorienting. - CreatorRichard PriceSteven ZaillianStarsRiz AhmedJohn TurturroBill CampAfter a night of partying with a woman he picked up, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.Intense, dark courtroom drama about an average college student whose life is turned upside down when he suddenly finds himself imprisoned and accused as the main suspect in a murder investigation.
It's as much about the consequences the investigation, the trial and the ensuing media circus have on the lives of the main character, the people close to him and his defense attorneys as it is about the question of whether or not he is actually guilty of the crime, and if not, who is.
Besides a few minor or medium flaws here and there, there is one main thing I don't like about this show that prevents it from being higher on this list, which I can't mention without a major spoiler - let's just say I called it a courtroom drama instead of a detective story or "whodunit" for a reason.
Other than that, it's classic HBO quality: drama at its finest. - StarsTom HanksNick SearcyLane SmithDramatized portrayal of the Apollo manned space program.I love just about everything related to manned spaceflight, especially the early years of exploration and adventure. And yes, exploration had next to nothing to do with why we tried to go beyond the limits of what seemed possible.
This show isn't perfect by any means; they could have used at least two episodes to show us not just why, but how it all began. Sure, it's about Apollo and not its predecessors, and they did provide some background in the first episode, but I would have liked it if Mercury and Gemini had been featured more prominently.
Also, the Apollo 13 episode was a huge disappointment. I get that Tom Hanks, producer and narrator of this show, starred in the movie only three years earlier and that they probably didn't want to show a 50-minute "light" version of the movie, but what they came up with instead was a waste of time. So, if you're watching this show, you might as well skip episode 8 and watch the movie instead.
Still, all in all, a must-see for every fan of mankind's greatest adventure. Lots of interesting background, different perspectives on NASA, its contractors, the Apollo program and its historical context and some great scenes in space. The episode about the lunar module's construction is my personal favorite. What a machine. - StarsJames Badge DaleJoseph MazzelloJon SedaThe Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.Not quite on the same level as its big brother, The Pacific is still very intense, perhaps even more so in some ways, and pretty damn good. But I simply didn't care as much about many of the characters, and some parts of the show felt like filler-material. Also, the decision to focus on three different main characters with their own individual storylines causes it to feel a bit disjointed. Still, more than worth a try - but anyone expecting a second Band of Brothers, this time in the Pacific theater, might end up somewhat disappointed. I'd recommend watching this with an open mind, though, since it's compelling on its own terms.
- StarsChris O'DonnellAlfred MolinaMichael KeatonReal-life figures from the Cold War-era mix with a fictional story based on a group of C.I.A. operatives and their counterparts in the K.G.B., MI6, and the Mossad.The Cold War, tales of espionage, deception, cat-and-mouse games with deadly consequences, and betrayals spanning decades - what's not to love?
Well, maybe the fact that the same actors play the same guys over a timespan of almost 40 years, from young men fresh out of Yale to old guys nearing retirement. Or that some characters, who weren't exactly young kids in the '50s and '60s, are still around in 1990.
The upside of this is that there's no confusion as to who is supposed to be who, which can happen at times when you have different actors playing younger and older versions of the same characters.
Why it was necessary to portray the KGB-mastermind as a pedophile, though, is something I refuse to understand. That was cheap.
But I can forgive most of that and appreciate this show as a nice, if not particularly deep, espionage yarn that combines historical events with fictional stories and characters. And a story spanning nearly the entirety of the Cold War is certainly unique. - StarsJodie WhittakerPaul RhysHarriet WalterCIA counter-intelligence officer Sandy Grimes works to save Soviet intelligence officers from being exposed by a mole inside her organization.Once again, espionage and intelligence work during the Cold War, this time based upon a true story: the Aldrich Ames affair. The quality ranges from mediocre to decent to good, with some weird moments and questionable acting, but fans of the genre should check it out.
- StarsTom HollanderToby StephensRupert Penry-JonesThe true story of a group of Cambridge University Students who are recruited to spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.The famous story of Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt told in a way that resembles a soap opera a little too much sometimes. But again, it's worthwhile for fans of the genre in my opinion, not only because of the historical significance. Just don't expect a history lesson.
- CreatorDavid FarrStarsTom HiddlestonHugh LaurieElizabeth DebickiThe night manager of a Cairo hotel is recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer's inner circle.Although I'd call this a classic case of style over substance, it has at times considerable entertainment value. And isn't that why we're here?
Still, as far as suspension of disbelief goes, i've really had to try hard at times. A hotelier who turns into something just short of James Bond within a single episode infiltrates, under fishy circumstances, the inner circle of a wealthy and very dangerous arms dealer, and the only person far and wide who exhibits any serious suspicion is an eccentric drunk whose opinion is thus easily neglected - you get the drift.
Anyway, it's got beautiful visuals, exciting moments, some twists and turns and, of course, a sexy girl in need of rescue. Not exactly one of the best Le Carré adaptations, but still OK. - CreatorTaylor SheridanStarsTim McGrawSam ElliottFaith HillThe post-Civil war generation of the Dutton family travels to Texas, and joins a wagon train undertaking the arduous journey west to Oregon, before settling in Montana to establish what would eventually become the Yellowstone Ranch.