In the defense of The Hexer (Wiedźmin)

[@FolkWalkCZ]

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]

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

[@titanscerw]

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

[@Tarambabula]

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]

Facts man, that atmosphere is really special.

[@Deailon]

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 :)

[@HEKVT]

Still a better adaption than Netflix.

[@Caladras]

Unironically it is

[@dariusluknar4810]

It actually is.

[@martar.2085]

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

[@Darlf_Sevil]

Still very bad but yee kinda sad

[@bighatastrea]

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

[@jakb8401]

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]

Well said 🙂

[@GM-gb1eu]

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

[@Zavvorov]

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]

​​@@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]

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

[@ithelp-cm5bi]

@@Zavvorov Grzegorz Ciechowski - Rest in Peace.

[@paweskowronski9729]

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]

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

[@scaccu]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@Durelus]

Smoku piękny jesteś..

[@kamixus5037]

nie, to szło tak: Smoku jesteś piękny

[@fafiklata]

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

[@FolkWalkCZ]

Thanks for being a fan ❤️

[@LeutnantJoker]

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

[@JozenKlubine]

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.

[@justlettheraincome]

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.

[@ciastomarchewkowe7103]

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.

[@gerdpetermeyer4668]

I recently started watching it and have seen the first five Episodes. While I am not very fond of the first two, the other three Episodes really won me over. Especially Geralt and Jaskier and their relationship are portraited incredibly well. And yes, I already crave a Bluray of this show.😅

[@Legendarium-PL]

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]

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.

[@Sword4Hire]

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]

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.

[@ukaszfiuk2719]

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]

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

[@karolinakuc4783]

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

[@romanfedotov1152]

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

[@richardgrego]

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]

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

[@TheNerjaveika]

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]

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.

[@herr-jaeger]

I genuinely thank you for making this video, it does shed some light unto this forgotten adaptation of Sapkowski's writings, and while it has flaws, it is still the best (or less worst) adaptation of this universe on screen.

[@kaminarihachi]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[@hammad9091]

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

[@HazelGlimmer]

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.

[@scarecrow2097]

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.

[@jessematthews6861]

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

[@karolbielik838]

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.

[@lokalnawrozka]

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]

I can hear it ❤️

[@losiubyku]

"Brylanty na końcach twych rzęs" literally chills

[@jeshus_deus_est]

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.

[@dnaseb9214]

100% its better than the Netflix version.

[@t1czer]

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]

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

[@ignacywinski192]

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.

[@kainslegacy78618]

A blue-eyed Ciri is kind of a fail. Guess that coloured contact lenses weren't really a thing back then. Ultimately though, it always goes back to the soul of the project. That's what truly makes it good, regardless of the flaws here and there.

[@ronaldood4678]

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]

I'm really glad you've enjoyed it 🙂

[@shylockwesker5530]

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.

[@catlange]

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

[@kski113]

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

[@malyvo0]

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]

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]

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]

@@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...

[@anis_hadji]

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]

That's good to hear. Well said 🙂

[@karolinakuc4783]

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

[@piotr9448]

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

[@diogenesstudent5585]

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.

[@Arassar]

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]

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 🙂

[@vojtechsulc5899]

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).

[@90sshuffle]

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

[@panmandragora5560]

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

[@alexmashkin863]

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

[@TheViperGuy]

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]

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

[@matveyev_d]

The movie Wiedzmin has introduced me to the Witcher books. I like the film, really. I think it has great atmosphere and gives you that need to know more, to find the books and to start reading immediately. And Michal Zebrowski is great as Geralt in this movie. I'm sorry, Mr. Cavill, but no, you were just ok.

[@skrawl8374]

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

[@model84]

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

[@karolinakuc4783]

7:12 It is not even medieval armour it reminds me more of what police wears (minus perverted design).

[@LeutnantJoker]

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]

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]

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

[@titanscerw]

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

[@knp01]

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

[@titanscerw]

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

[@PaulKHeld]

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

[@FolkWalkCZ]

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 😉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqm9Zn-rr6l6aLssi=0cK_auF8WnvzV1JE

[@PaulKHeld]

@@FolkWalkCZcool thanks!

[@billyherrington5112]

​@@FolkWalkCZholy roman empire was in germany after all

[@ajuc005]

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]

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.

[@Figunaye]

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.

[@wh1st]

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

[@odycz]

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.

[@GeneralNiemiec]

Fun fact: Zamachowski voiced Shrek in the polish dub

[@Nocny_Informator]

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

[@hmm-technikOrganizacjiReklamy]

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]

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]

Nenneke was perfect casting indeed

[@karolinakuc4783]

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

[@tinysong9177]

"Coś ci upadło chłopczyku" 😂 👌 Nenneke ❤

[@Deailon]

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]

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

[@masterexploder9668]

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]

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]

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

[@pewneosoby2108]

@@masterexploder9668 yep

[@Wojshu]

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.

[@karolinakuc4783]

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

[@lidu6363]

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...

[@Sam-does-uke-stuff]

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

[@Xavras]

My father has shown me a witcher when I was about 10 years old and I was hooked ever since. We went to see The Hexer in cinema when it came out. As a kid I was dissapointed that they didn't follow a book to the letter but now I consider it an interestin yet diffrent take on the story. Also I think they totally nailed it with music in this film. And an actor playing Geralt - Michał Żebrowski looked really cool.

[@ShadesApeDJansu]

【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

[@AW-uv3cb]

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.

[@Massinissathefirst]

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.

[@protomato6427]

It kinda reminds me of Ted Raimi's "Hercules" and "xena", or stuff made by Hallmark, I used to love this kind of series as a kid. It's low-budget, but really charming

[@lordbalthron]

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

[@lazurowy9717]

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]

Thank you for your kind words 🙂

[@cathulhu3772]

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

[@Teltates]

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 🙂

[@Bolekh]

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]

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

[@karolinakuc4783]

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.

[@urriell_8069]

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. :)

[@marcingluszek632]

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.

[@Myrth1]

I've mentioned it briefly under your different video, but the deal with all the changes in the Hexer was about massive copyright bullshit. It effectively amounts to the fact that the series was green-lighted before they finished all the legal stuff with Sapkowski, and then he walked out of negotiations about his (absolutely unreasonable) fee for the copyrights. But since he was doing a very weird bidding on bits and pieces of the copyright, he sold bits and pieces of the first two books to be used. Hence why certain episodes are so close to the text, while others are abridged version and others yet a complete fabrication - it would be simply illegal to make them any other way. And because the producers had experience with this sort of stuff earlier, way back in the 80s, they decided to just move along and work with the material they have and fill the gaps on the fly As for katanas, oriental stuff and all that: this was done because the combat choreography was initially to be done by a fencing trainers, except they run out of money to hire them. BUT they already hired a Polish aikido master, Jacek Wysocki, as a consultant on hand-to-hand combat and stunts, so they asked him if he can help with sword fighting, too. In case you don't know - aikido doesn't have any sort of fencing included to it, it's about redirecting the attacks of the opponent to throw them off-balance. So the end result was a budgetary restrain changing things around with how stuff was portrayed and they also got a surplus of training costumes for free. I mean come on, it's a 13 episode fantasy series from 2000 under a budget of 6.5 million dollars. That was a shoestring budget even back then.The oriental-but-not aesthetics also do tie with the general aesthetics of fantasy designs in Poland in the 90s, so it does make much more sense in the context that everyone was interested to include some of it. Even the katanas aren't from Hexer, it was already done in a mid-90s Polish comic book adopting Witcher. The rule of the time was "if it looks exotic and we can source it cheap, it's better than the stuff that's simply cheap". As for the endless critique: it's a 22 yo series. Average person who shits on it, never, ever actually saw it, and there is a solid chance they were a toddler back then, if that at all. But they know the memes, and the memes always are about the same things, obviously. You know what people rarely mention? The series was aired a year after the "movie" premiered and tarnished any sort of reputation the show could get... right? And it opens with two made-up episodes, so people are going to hate it... right? Wrong. The original ratings were consistently above 3.5 million viewers, and few episodes above 4 million. Poland had about 38.5 million citizens around that time. Which means every tenth Pole was watching it. In other words: it was a big rating success. It won't be a stretch to say that that series was what really made Witcher books popular in Poland, because a whole lot of just regular normies learned that this thing exists in the first place, rather than simply circulating fantasy fandom. Which over the next 20+ years of endless shitting on it is just tiresome. And it's extra tiresome, because I always liked the series. When it came out, the "shitty" effects were just the standard fare of the day, and stuff like LotR was the exception, the brand new and shiny (and also super-expensive). Same with costumes. What mattered were the performances of the leads. Żebrowski (Geralt) and Zamachowski (Jaskier) already paired earlier when doing "With Fire and Sword" few years earlier, so I knew beforehand that this is going to work out just great with them paired together. Their chemistry is what carries the whole series. I also never managed to "unseen" Borch or the Zerrikanian duo with him, because for all the cheese, it was still so iconic in Chyra's performance. And of course Kinga Ilgner with her Renfri. I am still getting chills when she asks Geralt to embrace her So in the end, it's not even "you can do it, when you want to". They always wanted to do it 1:1, but couldn't. Netflix had no copyright restrictions... and actively decided NOT to do it. PS Kaer Morhen WAS shot in a quarry. It was freshly closed, so the bottom was still dry, but the machinery was already removed. Why? Nobody knows. They had very, very weird choices when it comes to location shots, and I even accidentally recreated their "Sudety and Karkonosze" filming path last spring, realising only half-way through that I'm at the various filming locations PPS It's also important to note the original reception of the two products - the film and the series. The film was obviously trashed, and you can probably guess why. The series, meanwhile, got a really warm reviews from professionals, and as mentioned, the viewership ratings were exceptionally high. The whole memetic shitting over Hexer is something that started few years later, mid-00s mostly. So it's really complicated how the reception of the series went over time and what sort of reputation it has. Another aspect to it is that there is a great deal of people who didn't saw the series, but did saw the movie (2 hours vs 12.5, do the math) and are probably the most staunch hatedom, because they "saw" it and they "know" it's awful.

[@mikoajryniak2644]

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.

[@dimadubnevych9164]

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.

[@anoNEMOs]

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]

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

[@LeutnantJoker]

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]

@@LeutnantJoker exactly xD

[@antonjohansson3819]

Will give it a try!

[@FolkWalkCZ]

Let me know what you think afterwards 😉

[@antonjohansson3819]

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

[@maninthecamohat2735]

I was actually thinking that the Witcher should get a Polish adaptation were they speak Polish with English subtitles and it looks like they already did it.

[@intelligent_kiddo9578]

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]

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

[@daemianmatthews2062]

Everything good about the Netflix show Is Everything thing wrong about the Hexer, but everything wrong with the Netflix show is everything good about the Hexer.

[@konradpietrzak3842]

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]

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...

[@konradpietrzak3842]

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]

Man..talking about bad investment, sheesh.

[@konradpietrzak3842]

@@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]

@@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]

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

[@LitD]

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)

[@FrederikusRex1453]

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

[@lxdead5585]

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]

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 🙂

[@glaucioreis]

I was lucky to watch the series on KZbin before it was taken down. Yes, the first two episodes had little to do with the source material, including female witchers, but apparently the producers listened to criticism and course-corrected to stories taken straight out of the books. I didn't mind the low budget and poor visual effects. Only the dragon's apparition bothered me a little, because I wouldn't have understood what happened there if I hadn't read the story. But it probably could have been solved just with better direction. I generally liked the actors. Geralt was a little softer than how I imagined him, but that was fine. Seeing Jaskier (Dandelion) as a womanizer required the most suspension of disbelief, and I could only imagine the actor was some famous singer in Poland, but he was likeable. I thought Yennefer was perfect: not very beautiful with the long nose, but she looked gorgeous from certain angles, as if her magic made her look that way - just like she is described in the books. All in all, despite the obvious difference in production values, this was better than Netflix's version.

[@ThePariahDark]

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

[@radosawrejman8349]

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

[@karolinakuc4783]

You can tell that the one who was writting the story was projecting himself and hence some absurds in the story but overall it makes sense there is some wisdom in the story. You feel climate of the Witcher.

[@GM-gb1eu]

Oh yeah, that is what I was looking for.

[@FolkWalkCZ]

Your long waiting is finally over 😃

[@ZakJames]

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

[@FolkWalkCZ]

Thank you 🙂

[@olafmikoaj3121]

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.

[@samuelleask1132]

Broooo your larp kit is insane, it looks so good

[@FolkWalkCZ]

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 😉

[@jackpittorino]

I believe the rights holders of the original Witcher TV show should try looking into redoing the CGI to look better if the series were to get a potential 4K restoration.

[@FolkWalkCZ]

I doubt they would do it. You would have to recreate the locations in CG and that would just look even more jarring.

[@GM-gb1eu]

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.

[@Banqez]

Old Polish Wiedźmin is awesome! Many Poles love it - there were some shitty things like dragon, but perfect cast🎉

[@Hiddenus1]

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).

[@mrp1326]

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]

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

[@anotherguy88]

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

[@processing4426]

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.

[@auronwatson2477]

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]

Let me know what you think about it afterwards 😉

[@auronwatson2477]

@@FolkWalkCZ will do! :D

[@zumzoom6368]

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.

[@AdamMichalMarkowski]

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.

[@EagleEater-vf9ub]

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").

[@Khydul]

DUDE! Fellow Czech here, liked the vid and just hit the subscribe button :) Keep up the great work, your presentation feels pleasant and you manage to cover the topic very thoroughly!

[@FolkWalkCZ]

Díky ❤️