It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Granted, i watched this in 15 minute installments on Netflix so that i could get through it, so i'll already admit that IF i'd been stuck in an art house for the entire 3 hours this takes to run, it WOULD have affected me (for better or worse) more intensely. That having been said, the "Bring Out Yer Dead" sequence in MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL accomplishes EVERYTHING this behemoth attempts, and does so in about 5 minutes. And in a FAR MORE clear and compelling manner, to boot! So, just go watch MP&HG again--it's one of the BEST sword & sorcery flix EVER MADE. Also, Herzog's HEART OF GLASS is ANOTHER movie from the 70's that does EXACTLY what H2BaG is attempting, and in glorious color, as well.

...and precious little to enjoy in this movie. Well, it's black and white, subtitled and almost three hours long, there is minimal plot and a good deal of fooling around in the mud. I thought maybe the best way to approach it would be as Monty Python on the Don, but that's only good for ten minutes or so. Likewise the central conceit which is interesting but undeveloped. Ponderous, tedious, pointless, this is the sort of film which gives art-house cinema a bad name. This is currently not long enough to be accepted so it is worth adding that the central dichotomy between a backward Middle Ages and a breakthrough Renaissance does not stand up to scrutiny, in that the Renaissance made minimal impact on most people's lives. That should do it. Meanwhile on the screen it's still raining, both water and tedium.

So this is not a film you will watch to turn your brain off nor is in the traditional Hollywood format (epic storytelling). It must be seen without those prejudices otherwise will be a waste of time as some reviews already pointed out.The subtle irony of being an hyper-realistic medieval film, however been prevented that is fiction; also the technical aspects perfectly worked and used to represent a gross medieval space were amazing.The other aspect to prevent you is about the book which is the film based on. This is not the book, it is a film; so do not expect the same outcome. As with Raoul Ruiz 'adaptations' (Klimt or 'Proust') you may find a 'surrealistic' approach to the story, where the story itself may not be what matters the most.In my humble opinion is an awesome film, specially for those that study in some cinema-related field.

Negatives: 1. Could have been five stars, but three hours of basically the same difficult to understand scenes and story was exhausting. A bit of editing (like half) and you would never have known since everything was redundant from dialogue to action to mud. 2. The science is really bad, but in this case it makes no difference because it doesn't play into the story. The science is someone is sent from Earth to bring order to another planet that basically is identical to middle ages Europe from pigeons to horses to buildings to inhabitants. If the state/condition of this other planet is suppose to have some metaphorical meaning - I missed it. 3. As far as the God angle - having control over others lives - I had a hard time finding that message in this film. Maybe it was attention span, or translations, or scene overload? Positives: 1. The camera work was unique in that practically every scene is claustrophobically close in. 2. The sets and props (buildings, clothing, swords, etc.) were amongst the best I've ever seen in a period film. Very nastily real. The conditions were beyond the worst imaginable even for the extreme poverty and slum enclaves of Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Brazil. 3. Not a black & white film, but gray and gray. Everything is gray from mud to people to buildings and it all works to convey information and mood. 4. The conveyance of delusion, psychosis, schizophrenia from bizarre behaviors to nonsensical language permeate every scene along with … 5. Disgusting beyond belief fecal, snot, saliva spitting/sharing, mud sharing, body gouging scenes even imaginable ("Centipede" and "Game of Thrones" are tame, comparatively). 6. Many of the cast were selected and made up to convey a freak show setting; not sure if one could legally film such characterization in the U.S. today, but intended, I think, to show the decay of civilization. 7. Worth seeing because it is definitely unique.