Product ReviewsCARNIVALE - Series 1. Nick Stahl, Clancy Brown (HBO 6xDVD SLIM BOX SET 2005)

WHO IS THE MANAGEMENT? DOES IT EXIST? HOPE IT WILL BE REVEALED IN TIME.

GREAT SERIES. QUITE DARK IN NATURE. DEALS WITH GOOD AND EVIL IN THE WORLD. LOTS OF TWISTS AND TURNS IN THE PLOT. NEVER PREDICTABLE. MOST OF THE CAST HAVE HIDDEN SECRETS WHIICH ARE GRADUALLY REVEALED. GOOD OR EVIL? THERE CAN BE A FINE LINE BETWEEN THE TWO. IF YOU HAVE ENJOYED AMERICAN HORROR STORY, THEN THIS IS FOR YOU. DOES NOT GO WANTING. Read full review...

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Great features in it ...

A very good dark twisting series ...

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A1

Good story and easy to follow

Carnival

Excellent series, after watching the 2nd episode I bought the 2nd series.

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carnivale is great

great really enjoyed it

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Excellent

Only two seasons ? Why

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good value for money

enjoyed series will buy series 2? why wait for it to come on telly every week when you can buy whole series and watch at your leisure

excellent

The Charge

"Before the beginning, after the great war between heaven and hell, God created the Earth, and gave dominion over it to the craft ape he called man. To each generation was born a creature of light, and a creature of darkness. Great armies would clash by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty. And so it was, until the day a false sun exploded over Trinity, and man forever traded away wonder for reason."—Samson
Opening Statement

Step right up, step right up to witness the uncovering of this new and fascinating series from HBO on DVD. You will marvel at its mysteries, shudder at its horrors, then leave baffled with questions about what's to come next.

Carnivàle could be one of the greatest feats of the history of television, depending on what's in store as the show continues. It perfectly captures the look and feel of the Dust Bowl during the depression, and its strange cast of characters is unusual and compelling. HBO has come to be known for its unique voice in the television world, and this may be its most refreshingly different offering to date.
Facts of the Case

In the first episode of Carnivàle, we are introduced to two men. The first is Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl, In the Bedroom), a chain gang escapee who is taken under the protection of a traveling carnival. He has the mysterious power to heal people, but it comes with a terrible cost. We are also introduced to Brother Justin (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption), a minister who has the uncanny ability to see into the hearts of the people around him. It's immediately clear that the two of them are connected in some deep and meaningful way, but at this point their only connection is through the harrowing dreams that they both share.
The Evidence

Although there are many things that Carnivàle gets right, its most impressive accomplishment is its historical positioning in the Depression. The situation of the area during this time period informs every other aspect of the series. Desperate times bring strange things out of the woodwork, among them the quest of the characters to find some sort of comfort in both the superstition of the carnival troupe and the assurances of the church. This belief in magic became suddenly important again, as the confidence that came with the 1920s suddenly began to fall apart. Likewise, church quickly began to take on apocalyptic overtones, bringing paranoia and fear to a generation of churchgoers. The series also looks back to World War I, the conflict that forever changed our understanding of the nobility and honor of battle. It also looks ahead to the explosion of science over the course of the following generation, which replaced for many that need for superstition and religion with the promises of technology and consumerism. Each detail in the series has been deliberately placed in order to capture the tone and ideas of the time. The end result is creepy and chilling at times, fun and exciting at others.

One of the things that makes Carnivàle so fascinating is its refusal to make put anything into black and white terms. In a story of a carnival, it would make sense to either focus on the real magic behind the scenes, or else use Ben Hawkins as a way to expose the trickery behind the process. In an epic tale of good vs. evil, it would make sense to draw the battle lines early, and demonstrate the difference between the good and evil characters. Fortunately for us, seriesRead full review...

Gritty and addictive

Carnivale is the story of a colourful sideshow family of bearded ladies, contortionists, mentalists, faith healers, strippers, fortune tellers and snake charmers striving to survive in depression-era America.

An addictive tale of flawed religious leaders and vote-rigging (hmm, sound familiar?) where the outsiders and the imperfect are the heroes, there are subversive undertones which perhaps contributed to the series' early demise - after only 2 seasons it was cancelled by HBO, though season 2 is left with a tantalisingly open ending.Read full review...

Serial of the century (so far)

This is an extraordinary piece of television, a serial like no other. Visually brilliant at all times, astonishing performances, plots of rich complexity.

Set in dust-bowl America, it follows the fortunes of a travelling show, in which the acts mix together circus virtuosity and more than a touch of supernaturalism. The Carnivale has its enemies, some of them gangsters, some of them much more sinister and associated with a strange fundamentalist church. There's shade and nuance enough to have you wanting to watch episodes again and again.

It's beyond me this show never became widely known in Britain. It's very definitely HBO at its world-class best. Buy it and you're instantly the envy of your friends if ever you let them see it.Read full review...