What I forgot to mention in the video is that The Hexer has this old school vibe which reminds me of 80s fantasy and you can also feel the same atmosphere in The Witcher books and the first game. It's hard to explain. By the way I hope this video doesn't get any copyright claims since I've used a lot of shots from The Hexer and also soundtrack from it. I've heard that it's pretty strict when it comes to this show. I would have to completely re-edit the video. So wish me luck.

@Tarambabula

5 ай бұрын

I don't think any copyrights would come. On polish yt, there are full episodes non copyrighted.

@titanscerw

5 ай бұрын

Yes the vibe is there, raw fantasy as fresh as first Brany Skeldalu and Draci Doupe games with friends :)

@Tarambabula

5 ай бұрын

If I can have a question for you, would you like, or there is any chance about your video opinion about alzur's legacy? It is a low-budget fan movie about Lambert, Jaskier, and Triss. Zamachowski plays Jaskier and makes songs in soundtrack as with Wiedźmin.

@dariusluknar4810

5 ай бұрын

Facts man, that atmosphere is really special.

@Deailon

5 ай бұрын

The first tabletop RPG in the world of the Witcher (with the subtitle "the game of the imagination") had some graphics and a picture on the cover taken straight from the series :)

Still a better adaption than Netflix.

@Caladras

5 ай бұрын

Unironically it is

@dariusluknar4810

5 ай бұрын

It actually is.

@martar.2085

5 ай бұрын

That's true. & I'm a great fan of "Hexer".

@Darlf_Sevil

5 ай бұрын

Still very bad but yee kinda sad

@bighatastrea

5 ай бұрын

I liked Henry but honestly this adaption had its CHARME. It might not be that good, but it has a gritty, homely, atmospheric, smalls-scaled, in-universe reatlistic, classic feel to it. Just how the old Star Wars movies are still a 10/10 despite being pretty silly, especially the Obi-Wan vs. Vader fight. It feels like even that cgi dragon was better than the crappy netflix trash sack armors, they haunt me to this day and they really take me out of the setting

I watched this after Netflix season one and after reading the first book. I prefer this to Netflix because the passion put into the project was evident. The atmosphere was nailed and it felt like the series had a soul.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Well said 🙂

Smoku piękny jesteś..

@kamixus5037

28 күн бұрын

nie, to szło tak: Smoku jesteś piękny

It's worth mentioning that the Wiedźmin series featured some of the best Polish actors who carried the show with their exceptional performances, they were S-tier of 90s and 00s polish cinema. While the actors in Netflix's show are talented, they cannot be counted as a S-tier.

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

Not just of Polish cinema I'd say. They are just great actors to begin with.

@scaccu

5 ай бұрын

netflix actors are a mixed bag in which only excellence lacks: some are good, some decent but a lot of them genuinely suck. The main are just decent, as much as i like Cavill he was miscasted and he sounds forced all the time to me and hes still the best in the show.

@WordsOfTheTeacher

5 ай бұрын

Eh I'd say Cavill at least if not all of them could be, the writing is what's to blame. They did the best they could on their end

@TvonMistont

5 ай бұрын

In case of Zamachowski that worked a bit against his role, he was too big of a star to really become Jaskier. Also seeing Olbrychski as an elf coud never work even if elves wern't always young. The guy is the biggest Polish movie star of all time, noone saw an elf in him. Żebrowski and Wolszczak as Yennefer though were perfect.

@TakNaMarginesie

4 ай бұрын

@@TvonMistont But Zamachowski can sing ballads. Look for "Cztery rady Jaskra" - "Four advices of Jaskier".

Soundtrack from Hexer is giving such a vibe... it is perfect, every track is sooo good.

@Zavvorov

5 ай бұрын

The music is written by our national treasure composer - Grzegorz Ciechowski, who used to play in post-punk band Republika. I recommend to look after his music. Although the soundtrack is great, it's hard to believe how could they screw it while mastering - at the end of one tracks you can clearly hear sound engineer or whoever saying "stop". It's still there, never erased, even on spotify :)

@cryptzzz1188

5 ай бұрын

​​@@Zavvorov the music is probably the best thing about this series, maybe next to the performance of Michał Żebrowski (Witcher). I have memories of watching this series with my grandmother, it was winter, I still remember the feeling of dark adventure this gave me, nothing quite like it for me at the time, it was before I read the books and before the games existed. I'm not sure if I ever want to rewatch this though... I like this video, agree with a lot of stuff. I actually always liked the look of Michał as Geralt, cannot stomach the Netflix guy...

@karolinakuc4783

5 ай бұрын

​@@ZavvorovAnd don't forget "Nie pokonasz miłości'' by Wilki

100% its better than the Netflix version.

@t1czer

5 ай бұрын

Netflix made just Witcher-like product. It's like eating fake chocolate. Looks good at 1st glance, but it's just bad when you bite it. Hexer is more like... Polish bigos. Looks like shit but taste is amazing.

@dnaseb9214

5 ай бұрын

@@t1czer i think it looks pretty good for its time. I used to watch Xena and Hercules as a kid.

Soundtrack of "The Hexer" was composed by Ciechowski, one of the best musician of polish 90`s. For a polish rock genre, he's kind of classic. So yeah, soundtrack is good.

@MultiKamil97

5 ай бұрын

Not to forget this was probably his last piece of music as he died only a month after the release of the show.

@karolinakuc4783

4 ай бұрын

​​@@MultiKamil97Yup he died out of cancer of pancreas. Weird thing coz he was doing lots of excercises to stay fit.

@romanfedotov1152

Ай бұрын

Polish games always had the best soundtrack like Witcher, call of juarez, gears of war

Love Wiedźmin, just wish we got more episodes. While not perfect, there's just something about it not being overproduced which creates this atmosphere which gives it book feels. (Also, the soundtrack is sooooo good)

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I feel the same way 🙂 I don't know what it is exactly but it has this old school fantasy vibe which it shares with The Witcher books and the first game imho.

Music in this show is fantastic! Also I really like how they depict Geralt's moral struggles and confusion when he searching Ciri. Similar how it was in a latest books.

I'm watching this series right after the premiere, and I immediately liked the atmosphere, and, maybe is not 100% consistent with the book, which I have read several times, but it is very close to the raw material. The only thing that limps is the special effects, but we know that the budget was poor, anyway I prefer this version to the Netflix version.

@Jester_Jingles

4 ай бұрын

At the time for polish media the budget was actually quite high. But CGI didn’t look good yet and it probably cost a sizable amount of the budget.

I'm a fan of your channel, from Poland. Thank you for this video!

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for being a fan ❤️

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

Lived in Gdańsk for a while, greetings to Poland :) I'll come back one day

I'm from Algeria, and I love the polish vibe in the book series that I didn't find in the netflix show. The atmosphere pf the witcher is definitely a key role in the reason why we love it so much, sometimes it doesn't matter wether the show is good or not, sometimes we only want to engage in the atmosphere and feel the experience rather than judging what we watch. I will definitely watch it, thank you.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

That's good to hear. Well said 🙂

@karolinakuc4783

15 күн бұрын

Algeria is based. It stood against III Reich when Petain along with all of French elites just betrayed France. It was in Algieria where de Gaulle formed beginings of La Resistance

Zapachniało powiewem jesieni Z wiatrem zimnym uleciał słów sens Tak być musi Niczego nie mogą już zmienić Brylanty na końcach twych rzęs Tam gdzie mieszkasz już biało od śniegu Szklą się lodem jeziora i błota Tak być musi Już zmienić nie może niczego Zaczajona w twych oczach tęsknota Wróci wiosna deszcz spłynie na drogi Ciepłem słońca serca się ogrzeją Tak być musi Bo ciągle się tli w nas ogień Wieczny ogień który jest nadzieją

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

I can hear it ❤️

@losiubyku

5 ай бұрын

"Brylanty na końcach twych rzęs" literally chills

I really love The Hexer for its down-to-earth vibe, that the netflix show just forgot. I also really enjoyed the realistic stunts and the amount of horses in the show. I just really appreciate the craftmanship. Thanks for pointing a spotlight on this beautiful show.

I loved Hexer from the start. Yes, it is cheap, but they captured the witcher's "magic". And chemistry betven Geralt end Dandelion is so good that i will never be able imanige Dandelion differently than Zbigniew Zamachowski.

I watched the show with my family after 1st season of netflix witcher, we were surprised how much more coherent the story was and we actually really enjoyed it, the atmosphere really lures you in.

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

That's the biggest point. Wiedzmin changed some stuff to try and make the season have a MORE coherent story and connect the short stories a bit more. Netflix changed even more and made everything LESS coherent and a completely confusing mess.

I couldn’t agree more. The one thing that I always remember about this show is how great was the chemistry between Dandelion and Geralt.

The producers were two: Heritage Films and Telewizja Polska - Film Agency for TVP 2, and it is probably TVP that holds the production rights. For many Poles, this series is still iconic despite its flaws. Baginski gave hopes of preserving the character of the stories in the "NTFLX" production, but as he admitted, "they had to adapt the content to an American audience." And that, in the ears of the savvy, sounds like NTFLX's US customers are not the sharpest tool in the box.

@SmartKidofTrains

4 ай бұрын

Yes, I think that TVP VoD/streaming platform is probably the only place where you can watch the series legally and officially in streaming so they must still hold the rights.

@Myrth1

4 ай бұрын

The problem is that the copyright is split between two entities. And Heritage Films is, well... complicated ever since the whole "lub czasopisma" shebang. Which is part of the reason why it's so hard to get it released on DVD - that part of the copyright belongs to Heritage Films, and Heritage Films is essentially a shell company for past 15 years or so. This is also why TVP was never trying to do anything with it, since they just wait for the thing to lapse (it will in 2032)

@Jester_Jingles

4 ай бұрын

Netflix Witcher doesn’t have a good reputation with American Witcher fans. So it’s the show runner’s fault. Not the audience’s. The audience look at the audience score for rotten tomatoes for the last season. It’s so low.

the main 'combat' consultant was a known polish aikido master (Jacek Wysocki), hence the 'samurai' vibes

I've never watched the movie version, but I have good memories watching the series on Polish TV in early 2000s

Thank you. Finally someone who contributed something new and meaningful to this discussion.

I agree, the dragon episode for instance was very faithful to the source material. And portrayal of Geralt's duel with Striga is also very faithful to the short story (in many ways similiar to The Witcher (1) trailer).

@hallowrant8091

2 ай бұрын

I actually loved the dragon episode. I didnt pay much attention to the dragon effects as the story was told so well. The actor that played the dragon in human form was very good

Wiedźmin was my intodutction to The Witcher. I watched it in the Czech dub with my dad it was enjoyable.

I like the old Witcher, it sticks loosely to the books and twists a few things, but it has a unique atmosphere and definitely the best Geralt 🙂

Apart from Żebrowski and Zamachowski, I liked Anna Dymna. This actress is perfect for the role. In his private life, he runs his own charitable foundation. And that's how nice, warm and sensitive Neneke is. I like the relationship between Jaskier and Geralt the most. You can see that the men, even though they are completely different, understand each other very well. And they love each other like friends or maybe brothers? they can count on each other in any situation. My favorite part is the scene when Jaskier explains that if you love, you love, no one can stop you from doing so. A beautiful soundtrack that you can listen to even without the series. The rest was written by Grzegorz Ciechowski and most of the songs are performed by Zamachowski himself. In his private life, Mr. Zamachowski teaches singing at an academy that trains actors. One song is performed by Robert Gawliński.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I regret that I didn't mention Nenneke in this. I realized it afterwards that she's one of the best parts as well but the video was already finished.

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

Nenneke was perfect casting indeed

@karolinakuc4783

5 ай бұрын

I think most actors did good. Żebrowski was better Geralt than Cavill will ever be.

@tinysong9177

5 ай бұрын

"Coś ci upadło chłopczyku" 😂 👌 Nenneke ❤

I love the show because of the two main actors. Witcher is always at its best with great characters. And these two are just perfect. They may not look exactly like their book counterparts but they act exactly like them

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, they're great 🙂 I've recently seen this meme ( paczaizm.pl/content/wp-content/uploads/dobra-ale-jedna-wies-max-tymczasem-o-5-45-sa-pod-donieckiem-zebrowski-zamachowski.jpg ) and they just seem like good friends even irl 🙂

@GM-gb1eu

5 ай бұрын

@@FolkWalkCZ Yeah they both were great duo of polish actors at the time.

@titanscerw

5 ай бұрын

Ogniem i Mieczem these two rock there too - Jan Skrzetuski and Michal Jerzy Wolodyjowski!

@knp01

5 ай бұрын

@@titanscerw Jan Skrzetuski and Michał Jerzy Wołodyjowski tho...

@titanscerw

5 ай бұрын

@@knp01 dzięki bardzo, bratenku! I went from memory only :D

I've only ever seen clips of The Hexer, but it seems... fine? I watched Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess back in the 90's and liked them. The Hexer seems about the same.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, if you don't care that much about visual effects then it's fine and you might even enjoy it. It actually gives the show this old school vibe which I like 🙂

What a pleasure to watch. This show is special even though there are issues. We can still love something even when flawed. The brotherhood in the show between Geralt and Jaskier was the best, truly great actors. Thank you for making this.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

I'm really glad you've enjoyed it 🙂

@shylockwesker5530

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, Geralt-Jaskier relationship was butchered in the netflix show. They made Jaskier a laughing stock and Geralt mistreated him, wheras in the books that never happened. Jaskier was a superbly talented bard and Geralt's best friend.

Great points, thank you for the link with English translation. I have been curious about the Hexer show for a while and have seen clips that make it look interesting But your point about Dandelion and Gerald’s relationship Hexer vs the Netflix show is spot on. I am reading Book 2 again, and in „A little Sacrifice”, their relationship was so close that Dandelion was trying to stitch up Geralt with fishing line and Geralt let him, because he trusted him and Dandelion wanted to. And then Dandelion borrows Geralt coat for the evening. No questions or problems and certainly no punching him in the gut because he was angry at someone else.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙂 I'm glad to hear that you're reading the books ❤️

For many years I was thinking that Hexer is just bad but after the netflix abomination I completely changed my mind.

4:59 I always thought that Nilfgaard was inspired by Germany. Old Polish fears of militarized neighbour and such...

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I would say that's one source of inspiration but it's just a mix of different things like it is with many aspects in The Witcher. If you would be interested in the reasoning behind the inspiration by Ancient Rome here's the video 😉 kzread.info/dash/bejne/eqyOl66uqqetYrw.htmlsi=0cK_auF8WnvzV1JE

@PaulKHeld

5 ай бұрын

@@FolkWalkCZcool thanks!

@billyherrington5112

5 ай бұрын

​@@FolkWalkCZholy roman empire was in germany after all

@ajuc005

5 ай бұрын

Nilfgaard is 33% Nazi Germany (especially the sack of Cintra and how ruthless they are in the first book), 33% USSR and 33% Roman Empire (or Holy Roman Empire == Germany in middle ages).

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

Big mix of Roman Empire (city state conquering neighboring provinces turning empire) and German Holy Roman Empire and possible a bit of Nazi germany as well. Sapkowski always mixed stuff together. A lot of Polish communist history is also in there in some ways.

It was really good, still is. Atmosphere, actors, faithfulness to the story are so good, I always come back to it

Feel like the difference between netflixs version and this is money vs passion. Like old polish tv show so no were near as much that they could do but they tried their best with what they had.

Scene with doppler is amazing. It goes from jovial, to sad,, to profound in a span of one minute

for me The Hexer has this 'tv theatre play' vibe we had in PL back in the day. After Netflix bastardation it indeed feels not that bad anymore (except 1st, 2nd and last episodes, which were completely invented by the show writers), and anytime I see it on tv by random, I watch it.

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

I actually really like the childhood episode :) For me that's the canon way Geralt got his White Wolf nickname now :D

@karolinakuc4783

4 ай бұрын

True. Anime has its theartricalness, Bollywood has song starting out of blue and nobody minds. Not everything has to look the same. Audience of a given country enjoys the stuff coz it depicts their reality.

For some reason Jaskier/Dandelion/Marigold looks exactly how I imagined him in the books. (At least in the beginning) I imagined him being older because some character mentioned that Geralt and him have known each other for a long time. There was also a mention of him liking food or something like that, which made him wider in my head.

@masterexploder9668

5 ай бұрын

Jaskier is in his 40s, looks like 30, thinks he's 20 and behaves like he's 10.

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

I'm actually the same. When I think of a bard that goes from tavern to tavern and brothel to brothel, singing whenever the mood strikes him, enjoying life ... this guy is who I picture :D

@anoNEMOs

5 ай бұрын

@@LeutnantJoker exactly xD

The Samurai aesthetics and witcher council came from polish comicbook adaptations of The Witcher from the 90’. They where 6 parts, 5 of them are adaptations of Sapkowski’s, but the last one, called „Zdrada”/„The Betrayal” is the original story about pogrom of witchers.

The look has that 1980-homemade-Christmas-series quality, like Fantaghiro , that is so comforting to a certain extent. 😍

If it funny to hear dragon-argument, because In Netflix movie golden dragon wasn't better. It was like a chicken. While according to a book it was beautiful, had a swan neck and cat movements. About Lutik I think Polish version is better because it really gives an impression of real medival bard and not Hollywood pretty boy. Especially I like how they fooling around with Doo doo in the end of the episode. It was a really really a thing. The author of this video found a very good word "Chemistry". There was no "Shrek and Donkey" story like in Netflix version. Geralt always loved Lutik.

This show is unironically one of my favourite TV shows ever. I was 5 when it was first aired on polish TV, so I didn't watch it then, but I've seen it many times now and it's just fun and wholesome. I periodically watch it with my brother so we can joke about and laugh at the bad parts together, but the stories and the characters still make me emotionally involved, which is a unique mix. And I like how human Geralt is, not a hollywood superman like in the netflix show (and games tbh), but a vulnerable person with feelings and insecurities. I've watched an interview with Michał Żebrowski and he said he was badly heartbroken at the time the show was made, so maybe it had influenced his Geralt's character. Even though Zamachowski didn't look like Jaskier, he was perfect for the role. Also, I think the first few episodes are quite weak (other than my favourite scene of all time in episode 2 which sometimes pops up in my head and makes me laugh out of nowhere), and the further you go, the better it gets.

It wasn't the best adaptation of the book, but I liked it. The music, fight scenes and landscapes did their job. :)) The nostalgia of my childhood. :)

I saw a couple episodes on tv when I lived in Poland, but my Polish is terrible, so I couldn't really keep up with the dialog. But the production value kinda reminded me of some US shows I watched as a kid in the 90's, like Highlander and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Můj oblíbený geralt ❤❤❤

The Hexer's soundtrack was written and performed by Grzegorz Ciechowski, who was the founder and vocalist of two New Wave bands in Poland in the 80s'90s. "Republika" and "Obywatel GC". Check out those bands, they are pretty cool.

I really like the Hexer series, it had atmosphere, music, showed the relationship between Geralt and Ciri, Żebrowski was great Geralt (so great that he was first choose to voice Geralt in games, but he denied, and later he dubbed a Henry Cavill version) and was one of my favorite productions about The Witcher. And I say this as a person who also likes season 1 and elements of season 3 (the duel with Vilgeforz, despite the changes, was well shown), The Witcher on Netflix (season 2 was so bad that it's better not to mention it), and the animated film about Vesemir was also good.

@nattyj3246

4 ай бұрын

Watching Netflix's season 1 I put the dubbing on specifically to hear Żebrowski. If I turned away from the screen for a few seconds, I could almost imagine him playing Witcher again...

Have loved the series for years. Re-watch it once a year. Luckily, as a speaker of another Slavic language, I can watch it in the original Polish.

I never really watched the Hexer beyond a few scenes (I was sad about the lack of budget which resulted in it looking somewhat cheap), but you're absolutely right: Żebrowski as the Witcher, Zamachowski as Dandelion, Wolszczak as Yennefer and Dymna as Nenneke did sell me on the characters. Even when (especially with Dandelion) they didn't look the part, they still felt like it. I might actually give it a go these days.

There is two separate matter here: this was made into just over 2 hour movie and year later they release 13 episode series. Movie was rubbish, but series surprisingly was quite good. Each episode focus on one short story (with some exceptions) and mostly important - Gerald was main character here. I liked it.

I'd say that the soundtrack should get more praise. It was composed by really talented Polish artist, Grzegorz Ciechowski, known very well from his earlier projects, eg bands like Republika or Obywatel G.C. He was also a producer for many Polish musicians. What he did for Hexer's OST is just amazing piece of art, and it fits Hexer's world, characters perfectly. From main movie theme performed by Robert Gawliński (Nie pokonasz miłości/You can't defeat love) to track used as a main theme of TV show (I stało się co miało się stać/And what was supposed to happen happened) or songs sang by Jaskier throughout series like "Jak gwiazdy na traktem/Like the stars above the road" or "Zapachniało powiewem Jesieni/It smelled of the breeze of autumn" - soundtrack was made with passion and love.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I love it ❤ I listen to it every time when I want to get into peaceful mood for example when I go for a walk in the forest 🙂

doteraz si pamatam ked som bol maly a nasiel som ten serial :D, boze jak ja som ho miloval nadherny pribeh Yenefer som miloval /je to kočka/ :D ten pribeh na zaciatku ako ta stara babka rozprava vsetko z pamäti, ta hadka z elfama o moc lepsia co Nflix urobil, aj to co urobili z jezkom celkom ok, a som stebou za jedno Gerald aj Marigol boli paradne obsadeny, ja som chapal ze to je stary serial a ze grafika je jaka je a este je to z polska takze v tom nebolo tolko penazi ale hudba priroda a atd adt sa mi velmi pacilo za mna velmi pekna vec ktora mi ostala v pamäti aj vdaka nej som sa tak strasne rad spominam na svet Zaklinača, a dakujem za zdroj na serial niekedy bol na YT cely v cz ale nejak sa vytratil a na konec len POWODZENIA NA DROGE !!!! :D

Oh yeah, that is what I was looking for.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Your long waiting is finally over 😃

I mean, The Witcher 1 was not so far from The Hexer when it comes to the atmosphere. The show was quite groundbreaking for its time (for Polish cinematography), and it both game and series had some shortcomings, but became classics with time ;) I need to rewatch it. Thanks for your work 🙏

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, the books, The Hexer and The Witcher 1 share similar atmosphere imho 🙂

@anotherguy88

4 ай бұрын

Actually, I liked the Witcher 1 vibes more than the latter.

The series had been produced by Heritage Films (a Polish company specialising in TV productions) for the Polish State Television (TVP). Most probably, TVP holds the rights. It is now in the state of liquidation (with no intention to actually liquidate it - it is a drastic restructuration), so it might be hard to find anyone willing to talk about remastering the series now. There is a chance that Heritage Films holds still at least some rights.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for the info ❤️ That's a shame.

@masterexploder9668

5 ай бұрын

It was actually a quite big production back in it's day (in Poland's scale at least). They didn't have Lord of the Rings budget and it shows. On the other hand Netflix got the budget, but butchers everything else. Oh well.

@pewneosoby2108

5 ай бұрын

Also the owner of Heritage Films was involved in huge political scandal and went to prison (15 years from what I recall - and the Hexer also had some shady financing). So there's a good chance that his rights had been sold. You can ask CDPR - they may know more. Or Sapkowski himself.@@FolkWalkCZ

@masterexploder9668

5 ай бұрын

@@pewneosoby2108 Yeah, I imagine a big chunk of budget was simply embezzled by certain groups of interest lol. Grupa trzymająca władzę.

@pewneosoby2108

5 ай бұрын

@@masterexploder9668 yep

This is THE video I've been striving and longing to find on youtube. Thank you for delivering yet again! And know, that I'd very much support you with the petition effort! EDIT: I wonder, whether the samurai inspiration in Hexer wasn't partially just a technical issue where drawing a curved sword from the back is somewhat more doable then a european longsword...

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙂 Few people from Poland told me here in comments that samurai were seen as really cool in the 90s in Poland so that's one reason and the second is that the choreographer for the show was aikido sensei apparently.

@marwojak

5 ай бұрын

The source of samurai inspiration is obvious. Kind of. Aikido was extremely popular in Poland at the time and stunt choreographer for Hexer was Jacek Wysocki, Aikido and Iaido teacher.

@malyvo0

5 ай бұрын

@@marwojak Thank you both, I never knew that. But as a former LARP participant myself I can at least confirm that what I've said is also true - it's generally more forgiving to draw a curved blade from your back then a streight one. Otherwise you'd need to make the scabbard in the way that it could move against the sword-drawing motion to allow you properly draw the sword - if we don't take special scabbards introduced by Shadiversity into account...

Filavandrel actor, Olbryski (most known as Kmicic from Deluge epic movie) was one of most expansive actors in cast, his apperance cost 300k pln, to comparision Żebrowski payment was 120k pln.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Man..talking about bad investment, sheesh.

@konradpietrzak3842

5 ай бұрын

@@FolkWalkCZ He's great actor, but he would fit more into some witcher, or some mercenary, he's great swordmaster, and his duel in Deluge is consider as one of the most real looking duel in movies.

@mikoajryniak2644

5 ай бұрын

@@konradpietrzak3842 I think he could play Leo Bonhart back then. 2 years before the Hexer series he played in 1999 Pan Tadeusz as character named Gervazy the Warden, which in that movie looked pretty similar to Bonhart's book description.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

@@konradpietrzak3842 Yeah, I wouldn't mind if he would be in a different role but as Filavandrel he's so out of place.

From memory I remember the show being bad, but with some good scenes mixed in. The music is good and I generaly like the costumes. Probably my favourite is Zamachowski as Jaskier, something about his portrayel that had me going, "yeah I can see women swooning for him". Zebrowski was good though a bit of a pretty boy, but that seems to be a constant problem (with the 1st witcher game the exception)

Will give it a try!

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Let me know what you think afterwards 😉

@antonjohansson3819

4 ай бұрын

Decided to see it with my dad and alternate between Hexer and Netflix. Seen both first episodes

I whink when it comes to current owner of The Hexer series that would be Telewizja Polska S.A./TVP which is also responsible fro making it in a first place. They have all episodes on their streaming platform called TVP VOD.

Another awesome video. I am so happy you make stuff like this. World needs more videos about folklore and hidden gems like Hexer. ❤ Keep up the good stuff like you do, my man!

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙂 It means a lot for me coming from you my friend ❤️

Ukrainian subscriber here:) I remember watching the series on Ukrainian TV back in 2004, and being raised on Xena and Hercules this show was very similar in atmosphere. Wasn't really exposed to high budget things or quality back in the days, so it was quite okay for me - some of my classmates were outright fans of the show. Will sound like an old person, but the current tendency to be 4k picture above anything else makes me appreciate bad visual quality shows even more now - because they knew they lacked in one department and had to be stellar in story telling to be picked by any TV network. And that they did because despite everything, Wiedzmin is definitely interesting to watch.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

That's good to hear that the show is appreciated in other Slavic countries as well ❤🙂

I've been watching The Hexer as 7yo kid with my father. Nothing until Mandalorian never felt anyhow similarly great in terms of atmosphere.

Thank you for the Video. Because of your Channel I´ve heard the first Story of the witcherbooks and want to read the rest in future. Also, thank you for the comment on the prequel-triology.

It is a guilty pleasure of mine as well. It has its own share of issues, but man, you just gotta appreciate the little things it does well.

The soundtrack is definitely one of my favorite things about The Hexer! Also, although the costume choices are pretty orientalist in hindsight, it left really strong impression on me, I believe it enhanced the _otherness_ of Geralt even in the fantasy environment...

As a Pole that went for a movie premiere i can attest to how sh it was and how angry, disappointed my fantasy fanclub ppl were and than after Anger subsided, we went into just constant grilling and finally laughing. BUT! We f LOVED TV series! There is WONDERFUL fan movie on YT called Alzur's Legacy that has the same vibe and you HAVE to watch it

@cathulhu3772

5 ай бұрын

Do it! XD

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, I know about it 🙂 I started watching it but then stopped at one point for some reason and never got back to it but I need to finish it sometimes.

@cathulhu3772

5 ай бұрын

I rewatched it after mamy years and i grew new appreciation for it. Far better than what we filmes on VHS during our childhood xD i hope non of my friends after 25 years won't find a copy and put in on YT. That would suck xD

Żebrowski and Zamachowski are such good duo. I think that the biggest strenghts are it's overall slavic dark fantasy atmoshere and how it adapts Sapkowski's books. Because let's be honest, the original stuff added by writers is questionable at least. Netflix does well neither of those. But I recomment it to any Witcher fan especially if they like witcher 1. I hope one day it gets remastered kindla like Potop (Delugde) movie was.

The Hexer introduced me to this amazing world of Andrezej Sapkowski. I found the books and games only after I watched it. And I have always loved it. Is the show perfect? No. Are they 100% faithfull to the source material? Also no. But the most important thing is, that they captured the feeling of the books and wrote the story well. So that you grew to love the characters. When I think of the characters in the books, the first thing that comes to my mind are the actors in this show. And the music was amazing as well. That carried the whole show. To this day I love to listen to Dandelions Song that he plays after the whole spectacle with the Dragon Hunt.

I'm sure I'll get annoyed at the inaccuracies to the books, but I will take your suggestion and watch it (thanks for the link!). If there was passion for the source material, I'm sure it'll shine through and make it a fun experience. And besides, special effect and amazing action (while nice) aren't the point of a story like this, the Witcher isn't meant to be popcorn entertainment. Frankly, the clips you've shown kinda have a cozy vibe to them, which I appreciate.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Let me know what you think about it afterwards 😉

@auronwatson2477

5 ай бұрын

@@FolkWalkCZ will do! :D

I say The Hexer is truer to the books than Flixer. Anyone who has a problem with that can get a Skellige welcome.

So I stopped a wild rabid dog from biting a woman and after I saved her she spit in my face.- basically the witchers premise. Makes total sense.

I watched the first 2 episodes and despite how it strays from the books I liked it because it nailed the atmosphere, and the way that this version of Geralt carries himself is closer to the Geralt in the books as well (Henry Cavill did a fantastic job but the showrunners forced him to stray, this version was more hm... "Stoic").

I for one like the first adaptation, and I was born about a year after it was made, and actually watched it about about seven years ago when I really got into The Witcher and I just couldn't understand why so many people called it shitty

The greatest thing I enjoy on this show is it came before GOT so no one had tendencies to copy it Really enjoyed Hexer, beginning was bit weird but rest was just nice enjoyment, nothing big but worth it

Jó, starej seriál bylo pro mě první setkání se Zaklínačem, pak přišly tak nějak zaráz knížky a filmy. Ze seriálu jsem měl vždycky trochu smíšený pocity, atmosférou určitě lepší než Netflix, kostýmy a lokace jsou občas dobrý občas špatný (o vizuálních efektech se bavit nemusíme :D ). Ale tím, že to bylo to první co jsem znal a viděl jsem to jako děcko, tak k tomu mám celkově docela dobrej vztah, zpětně hrozně cením jak jsou tam ty postavy napsaný, jaký jsou ty vztahy a jak se to drží (v některých věcech) předlohy. Na druhou stranu některý věci a pár si jich zmínil mi tam samozřejmě taky vadí a je škoda, že je na tom sice na jednu stranu znát, že to dělají poláci a mají k tomu vztah, ale na druhou stranu to kazí tím, že se podle mě trochu snažili o nějakou světovost a úplně to nefungovalo. Osobně si myslím, že velká (resp. žádná) americká produkce nebude nikdy schopná vytvořit Zaklínače, tak aby to působilo dobře a mělo tu správnou Sapkowskiho atmosféru. P.S.: Mám radši draka z originálu než toho od Netflixu, částečně i proto, že mi připomíná draka Mraka :D

We've been also shitting on that TV Series... for the digital effects i guess. I remember re-watching it some time later in the early mornings and then i changed my mind. The best about it is that it's showing that slavic root within the witcher, which obviously is just one of many themes. I actually had a chance to choose "Myths and Legends in modern fantasy" on my "matura exam" which I got so addicted to, even though I'm more into the "science" stuff... Going back to the topic, it has that feel that I'd categorise as a base, upon which you can start building up. Being a heartful fantasy and especially Witcher fan, it turned out I had no time to finish the Netflix series, because it's so much a caricature of an original story that I prefer to spend my time on work or other hobbies. So, this is how I started to like "The Hexer". Maybe if they could cut the CGI it could've been a nice adaptation, but I have no idea if that would be even possible. I have no idea who has rights to that show, my brain reminds me "Gutek Film", but I'm pretty sure it's just a false connection. If you're thinking about talking about uploading that to youtube I would be pessimistic about it as we can still watch that on TVP VOD, which means there's still money being taken out of that. Thanks for an interesting view and have a nice day!

Dandelion's song in this is just perfect. I liked the show on first watch, though I was put off by the weird changes to the lore at first.

FYI Geralt is fighting using Aikido, because Jacek Wysocki was choreographer in this show. He was hugely popular back than in Poland as Aikido sensei with high dan, we needed poles recognized outside of Poland That's probably the reason for Japanese styled Witchers, it was synonymous then in Poland with elite warrior

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Oh, thanks for the info ❤️ That's really interesting 🙂

@KalNertea

5 ай бұрын

@@FolkWalkCZ you're welcome :) Thanks for promoting Polish culture around the world :) I was there, teen fan of the witcher books, when the film was in the cinema. We were so high on hopes and sooo disappointed. I even wrote an essay in the school about how big of missed opportunity it was. Witcher books in Poland were similarly regarded as Lord of the Rings, often compared... And after Peter Jackson's adaptation, we were so hyped. I also didn't realize that there is show, thought that movie was all. Only after many years I watched the show learned to appreciate some parts done even better than high budget Netflix adaptation and considering route it went I would rate now Polish version higher... That's strange, for years we prayed for western filmmakers to take Witcher license and create something better... We hoped for Hollywood movies or so. How naive we were. Some more trivia. Soundtrack has been created by Grzegorz Ciechowski, best known from rock band Republika. Great musician, but I was so surprised that he handled this style of music so well. Unfortunately he died before first episode has been aired, he would not see final product.

It's interesting to me that Christmas is a time for fairy tales in the Czech Republic. In the Anglosphere, prior to the overcommercialization of Christmas, sharing ghost stories was a common tradition on cold winter nights. Obviously Dickens' A Christmas Carol is the most famous of these, but the English author and antiquarian M.R. James was famous for these stories as well. I'd definitely be interested in watching the whole series of The Hexer. A low budget "bad" adaptation that gave a solid effort is a lot more impressive than a big budget adaptation that lazily wastes the property.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, some of these fairy tales are really creepy and morbid. I always loved those (I love Christmas Carol as well btw). I actually want to do one of my next videos about the subject of fairy tales being creepy. And thanks for the recommendation of another interesting author ❤️

Interesting video. Congrats on the consistency. Rooting for you. : )

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙂

It was a pleasure to watch ur video and listen to your commentary. Agree with you 100%. This show is definitely a guilty pleasure to every Witcher fan.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind words 🙂

My first exposition to Witcher world was through this series. And as a kid I thought it was super cool. Now I like it out of sentiment along with fact that, while aesthetics of some things as you mentioned don't make sense and special effects are awful even by back-then standards, it kept itself to the source material. I remember and love the scene when Geralt asks names of two Zerikkanian warriors that travel with Borch, how they make "sounds" and he's drunkenly looks at them and says "preettyyyy" (you've seen it so you know what I mean). Also it must been funny to Czech to hear Geralt saying "Szukam Ciri" (assuming you watched it with original dub).

Witcher translated to Dutch is 'Hekser'. Always fun to see how closely related our languages are.

【Shades Finnish Pirates】i watched the series before Netflix one came, i loved The Hexer and i will endorse the series to anyone as it's million times better than Netflix one. When show is made by slavs, it shows and that sums up all the complaints about the show. Jaskier's singing is beautiful in the series, he truly is selected for his acting & singing voice and it really made an impact on me. You can truly enjoy The Hexer, i do not understand why anyone would ridicule the Hexer as it is entertaining in the end and the actors nail their roles mostly Geralt & Jaskier. 1+ Give it a shot

I used to laugh at this, and then I was forced to endure the Netflix poo poo platter for 1.4 seasons. Compared to that abortion on Netflix, this old cheap piece of Polish TV looks better and better. At least they cared. At least it has a mortal soul.

@ardisgreenwater857

5 ай бұрын

"at least it has a mortal soul" - nicely put!

@piotrdworowy183

5 ай бұрын

Polish was shit in comparison to Netflix, read the books for gods sake 🤦‍♂️

@Zedul

5 ай бұрын

I've read the books all the way through multiple times. @@piotrdworowy183

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

@@piotrdworowy183 We all read the books, and precisely for that reason saying Netflix is better than Wiedzmin ist just a joke man.

@karolinakuc4783

4 ай бұрын

​​​@@piotrdworowy183Jak nie umiesz odróżnić paszkwilu od adaptacji to może powinieneś wrócić się do gimnazjum. Idź na korepetycje z polskiego. A nie świecić mi tu oczami z powodu niewiedzy

I love your channel

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much ❤️

Oglądałam Wiedźmina wiele razy w telewizji jako dziecko i bardzo mi się podobał. Zgadzam się, że aktorzy zagrali dobrze. Mi osobiście nie przeszkadzają tak bardzo złe efekty. W nowym Wiedźminie Netflixa nie podobało mi się, że Ciri wyglądała na dorosłą i nie podobało mi się, że kolorystycznie jest tak szaro buro. W porównaniu do gry to na prawdę wyblakle wypada dla mnie ten serial netflixa.

Dobrze prawisz, polać mu! ❤❤

Sapkowski books alluded to changes in Poland in 90s'. Hexer series alluded to rawry twenties and creation of III Rzeczypospolita.

using the star wars comparison made this a lot more understandable. I have not seen the hexer, but if comparing the hexer to the netflix witcher is like comparing the prequel trilogy to the disney trilogy wearing star wars skin, I might have to watch the hexer. also, I can understand your dislike for cavil as geralt, though I will say cavil, unfortunately, was the only one in the show who actually wanted to give a good adaptation, even if his attempts struggled

lol while watching the first episode I was like "interesting, they wear long khaftans with leather and mail protection and use some kind of two handed shaska? interesting design" but then I saw that random helmet and the bootleg samurai image clicked to me XD I actually assumed the reason Kar Morhen looked like a quarry is because we only get a glimse of the training erea and the caves are where Witchers are made, I was expecting I will see a full shot of the actual castle at some point.

I can agree that this first attempt really lives and dies by acting which was so superior to Netflix. Not only stuff you mentioned, but also Yennefer here really worked as powerful sorceress, woman living in high standard, being in high places, while due to that ridiculous origin story I could not see Netflix Yennefer as powerful or really in control of things around her.

I think that the hexer was very well made considering the time.

5:27 Filavandrel is basically very well-known polish actor, so having him in any role in polish historical/fantasy movie was "mandatory", but yeah not the good cast for an elf.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Good to know, thanks 🙂

@LeutnantJoker

5 ай бұрын

The actor would maybe have been better for Stregobor or someone on the Witcher Council or something.

This show had a heart, passion, understanding and love for the story, which are all the things I missed in the Netflix adaptation. Sure you have monsters that look like plush toys because of next to zero budget but I’ll watch it again to hear the great dialogues and bathe in the atmosphere straight from the books. I couldn’t even finish the Netflix series. What use is the fancy budget when you butcher all the important aspects of why people loved the books in the first place and the dialogues were a sad joke sometimes.

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Well said 🙂

Broooo your larp kit is insane, it looks so good

@FolkWalkCZ

5 ай бұрын

Thank you 🙂 I'm planning to do a lot of videos about the Czech Witcher fandom and its larp groups this year so you will be able to see our equipment in more detail 😉

I think TVP (polish state-owned TV) have rights to Hexer, or at least you can watch this on their site, but from what I know this series was created by company that its existing was ended by corruption scandal I think ( I can be wrong) for the TVP, so they should have rights to this day. It is a shame that after W3 global succes they didn't remastered it with official english subtitles.

I watched the show many years ago for the first time (i think the second game only came out), and didn't think much of it. It was pretty bad, but it wasn't terrible. Then i rewatched it with a friend some time before the netflix adaptation came out and found new appreciacion for it. People who say it has a soul nail the sentiment. And after the netflix disaster i understood that i'd much rather rewatch this old show with bad effects instead of the new one, that had the potential to be great but ended up being terrible. I don't know how to explain it, but i feel like this show has something that even the games couldn't capture.

Very good take ! Dismissing the overall quality of the netflix show, I've always felt like the "vibe" was off... especially whilst adapting the first few short story's. They seem to miss the atmosphere of the universe

Fun fact: King Foltest actor Edward Żentara is the father of Mikołaj Żentara also known as M. one of the founders of Mgla, one of the greatest if not the best Black Metal band in Poland