Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood (2020) User Reviews

If you like series like Peaky Blinders or Taboo you will enjoy this!

[sunlounge29 · 8/10 · 20 September 2020]

This is a highly entertaining and dark story about love, intrigue and murder around the the 1900 Oktoberfest.

It's beautifully shot and the actors are top notch! Clearly this is aimed at an international audience and I'm sure there will be a second season!

A good weekend binge watch!

[madonnicallysony · 8/10 · 4 October 2020]

So this series is based on true events surrounding Oktoberfest. The pace was really good and didnt felt boring at any point. But as the title suggests its a lot of beer and blood; literal blood bath as the characters strive to find their spot on the Oktoberfest.

Florid historical drama

[laduqesa · 7/10 · 2 October 2021]

This is very loosely based on real events. "Loosely"? Maybe I should say infinitesimally. The character of Curt Prank is meant to have been based on that of a real person, Georg Lang, who erected the first large beer tent at the Oktoberfest. However, that person was not the first one to have had the idea of installing a large-capacity facility there, but he was more persuasive than his predecessors.

Money has been spent on this production. The sets are lavish and cover a huge area although at times one can see that the inns and attractions are simply facades - there were a few careless camera shots.

For dramatic interest, the characters and their motivations have been sensationalised. Even in turn-of-the-century Bavaria struggling under a mentally-ill king, I doubt that rich, important people could have been bumped off or beaten nearly to death without proper investigations and then repercussions.

I didn't know that, as part of its "place in the sun" that Germany had colonised Samoa. This gave an out to the murderers in the story. It's a real indictment of the times, though, in the attitudes towards the "savages" who earnt their living by pretending to be cannibals.

There's scope for a second season although I don't know if one will ever be commissioned as this was meant to be a mini-series. If one came out, I'd certainly watch.

Why should I care?

[al_llovet · 7/10 · 11 November 2020]

Amazing production and acting. But as most German shows, you never feel attached to any of the characters. It's missing the "I care" factor. Why should I care about any of them? They are not appealing and so the show gets boring and pointless.

A beer and blood massacre.

[DLochner · 7/10 · 21 January 2022]

A beer and blood massacre. That's the best way to sum up this German series. Terrific set design, great costumes and interesting music. The world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich becomes the scene of bloody power games. The tension doesn't come close to Babylon Berlin, but it does have its good points. Only the actors leave something to be desired. But the spectacle, which sometimes seems a bit dull, can be enjoyed a little better with a couple of beers. All in all a series worth seeing.

Good intentions

[pablo_moriano · 6/10 · 11 May 2021]

I liked the setting, not performances, the plot was quite dull. Maybe a second season would improve. Germans still struggling to do something interesting.

I live 5 minutes from Oktoberfest in Munich, on foot...

[PJ_1972 · 9/10 · 17 September 2020]

...and this is the most luscious, condensed, fun to watch account of how it could have been when the former "quaint and grubby" Wiesn turned into gigantonomy, something utterly reflective of an industrial age reaching an early fruition point.

The depiction of typical Bavarian-style exclusionism on the one hand, sociability on the other is spot on. An endeeringly raw, crude, diverse look at the changing-of-the-guard unscrupulousness that marked the turn of the last century. While some performances seem strangely (purposefully?) over- or underacted, some story beats a bit oversimplified, overall level of production, direction and acting is spectacular, especially for a German production.

Grumpy critiques in the vain of "well, that's not how it was" would be mistaking verissimilitude for truth. This is fiction at its best, grandiose, pompous, an exuberant bouquet of fascinating characters.

The show will move to netflix in a few months where predicting an international mega success would be no witchcraft.

ANACHRONISM

[mmthos · 23 June 2022]

The sex tape filmed in episode 5 and shown in episode 6 would not have been possible under the dark circumstances it was supposedly shot in 1902, as subjects had to be very brightly lit to show up on film in those early days of cinema..

B&B

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 14 August 2023]

No pun intended - and obviously not Bed and Breakfast. Although I reckon some might do beer as breakfast (do not try this at home of course). Also usually when you talk about B&B and one of those Bs is blood, the other B stands for .. well something else. Now there is nudity in this and there is also of course violence in this, so I reckon you could have gone either way.

Talking of going either way: I do not know the real history of the Oktoberfest ... or how the tent was created ... so I am taking the word of the makers for it. Also I am aware that they mostly take creative license when it comes to the ... well truth. So take this with a grain of salt, suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the mayhem ... that ensued in the making of one of the best know ... I reckon you can call it festival, right? Let's call it that ... not my cup of tea (or rather beer, mainly because I myself do not drink it), but people are having fun there ... the dark side never completely fading ...

Enthusiastic and new

[hugo-ar-mesquita · 9/10 · 25 September 2020]

This is not a billion $ Hollywood production. But they were able to create an 1900 atmosphere with detail and a story that keeps you enthusiastic. I expect a season 2 to come.

Good but too fast

[wanoblu · 6/10 · 3 July 2021]

Overall, I quite enjoyed it but I feel like the stories were told too quick. I liked the general plot, pictures etc but each piece of stories were told without much construction. It should be told in a order of 1 to 10 for example but sometimes it goes from 1,2 then 5 then 9,10 or 1,2,3 then suddenly 9 and 10 things like that. Due to this, there were lots of times there was no explanation as to why they are accused of them or why suspicious of them, why this character is doing such and such so basically I had to figure out myself a lot. I think it would have been better if it was about 10 epis but 45 min each at 6 epis to cover this much scope of stories was too much.

CULT!

[atofion · 10/10 · 3 October 2020]

Peaky blinders German edition! Acting,directing,cinematography superb! Artistic Post production. A real gem!

for

[Headturner1 · 7/10 · 2 August 2022]

Crying out loud! I wrote a review and it disappeared! This was decent! I was looking for something like Ripper Street and sadly I don't think I'll ever find anything that matches up to that and I did watch it dubbed with British accents so I kept having to remind myself it was German! Lots of red heads and people that didn't look ( German ) to me! It was decent. Had murder, sex, mystery. Oh yeah I mostly watch British shows and someone said you'll like it if you like Peaky blinders and Isk why but I've tried so hard to like it and could never get thru more than a couple episodes. I don't know why because it's filled with magnificent actors? Any ways this isn't long and I probably wuld have watched another season if they had one, Very hard for me to find shows on Netflix that blow me away... Oh I wanted to edit to add they say it's like Deadwood and a few scene sets are similar but , no it's not even close.

Pointless

[dk777 · 3/10 · 3 March 2021]

As usual, another show that desperately wants to be relevant, and in the end turns out to be ridiculous.

Solid cinematography and good production, interesting costume design, it's all ruined by bad writing. The characters are unrealistic, laughable, and act as if they are from the present time.

The cast is good, but the script just isn't good enough, a common problem in today's shows. The concept is interesting, but the writers didn't live up to the challenge. Modern themes just always look bad when you try to cram them into a shows set in the past.

In short, a mediocre show that is not worth wasting time on.

More Please!

[mackcyr · 10/10 · 7 October 2020]

Who would've thought political and criminal intrigue surrounding Oktoberfest?? As a period drama, really excellent, even for English-only viewers like myself. I don't know who is behind these but please make more!

Back in time in the German way

[gudrun-roobrouck · 9/10 · 15 October 2020]

I really liked Oktoberfest. Dark, yes but also with a little humour in it. I also enjoyed the cinematography. The way of filming, the colours, the sound... But of course you have you watch it in German with subtitles in your own language.👍

Great Serie.

[alecasand · 9/10 · 10 October 2020]

Very interesting and well done serie, incredibly based in true events that looks like a bizarre novel. Not pay attention to bad reviews, come from ignorants that only can watch TV in english.

Amusing but silly

[johnmcgirr-88382 · 5/10 · 10 October 2020]

This has some really bad weaknesses but it is entertaining.

First, this is actually based, very loosely, on a real event although the detail of the plot is fictitious melodrama. Names changed of course.

Second, I have only seen the English language which has some serious faults. The dubbing and lip synching is poor. The accents are Brummie, presumably to cash in on the Peaky Blinder market (I know the Bavarians have an unusual accent so it may be recreating that, I don't know if it is accurate). The characters have a Pantomime-like lack of depth. I would like to think the German version is more substantial. The English script is woeful.

Third, it really has nothing to do with the Oktoberfest, or not as we know it today.

Finally, the overwhelming background music is irritating and distracting and is really there to distract from the weaknesses in characterisation.

I think I preferred Clouseau in the Oktoberfest. However, this makes for passable viewing.

It's not a documentary

[vangamer · 8/10 · 15 December 2020]

...but it's pretty entertaining and an easy watch in just six episodes. The producers take some bare-bones history of the 1900 Munich Oktoberfest and gussy it up with Peaky Blinders-style violence, sex and gloriously squalid settings (as others note, production values are top notch). The storyrunners do a good job of closing off most of the plot lines by the final chapter but things end on a somewhat ambivalent note - keeping the door wide open for season 2. And please, watch it in German with subtitles - and maybe have a lager while you do.

Great historical, behind-the-scenes look at the politics of Oktoberfest.

[carltonvose · 10/10 · 31 January 2021]

I'm an American, I attend the Oktoberfest annually with friends, so I found this to be a very entertaining look at the politics behind the bier tents. Fortunes are made in those tents and this show looks at the shady dealings in order to get a license to have a bier tent at the Wies'n. I normally can't watch shows in a foreign language, but this one was totally worth it. It's all in German, but it's great for non-German speakers as well. I hope to see another season!

Pretty Good

[luukwieldraaijer · 9/10 · 11 October 2020]

Enjoyed it very mutch. Good setting, creating 1900 feel. Never got bored, let the second season come...

This got nothing to do with the Oktoberfest

[puma-228-656874 · 2/10 · 10 September 2020]

First of all... I live in in Munich and I know a bit of the Oktoberfest and it's history. Sadly this is not what these series shows us. If it is based on true events it is very far based. I think the series Das Boot is more based on true events then this. However if you like drama set in a what fantasy setting of the 19th century and like a screen play like dynasty then you probably going to love it.

Shockingly Good

[tone260 · 8/10 · 18 November 2020]

This piqued my interest in learning about Oktoberfest and its history. Knowing nothing of it, I can say I am not reviewing the movie based on historical accuracies.

I did enjoy what it had to offer in terms of story telling, acting and theatrical scenery. Was a good alternative to most recent shows I have watched. The story expresses many hardships of the early 1900's that revolves around family, love and madness. It also touches on how the rich or the politically elite exploited and played a role in promoting or strengthening their fortune and fame. The acting was great and the English voice overs were pretty damn good. Give this TV mini series a go. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Underrated gem

[lanycera · 9/10 · 6 April 2021]

First of all, this is a questionable English title for an US audience. In Germany it's just called "Oktoberfest: 1900".

This is a prime example of why you can't take some of the imdb ratings serious, it most definitely deserves so much more than a 6.8.

The show shines with top notch production quality, costumes, beautiful cinematography, soundtrack and superb acting. I agree with the other reviewers who call it a Bavarian Peaky Blinders.

This show is by no means historically accurate; however it's fun and exciting, written and executed beautifully, and that's all that matters.

Watch with English subtitles and enjoy!

SUPER WORK DONE HERE!!!

[mlss_neumann · 10/10 · 16 November 2020]

I binje watched it! SO well made. From screen play/ writing, reference to history settings, and decorations. Actors all picked really well. Fantastic!!!!