Bolívar

Absolutely loved this show. I cried a lot throughout the series because it made me transport myself as if I lived during that time. Beautiful production and amazing actors. Recommend it to others to watch.

People need to watch this knowing that the story is told through dramatic elements associated to Latin telenovelas. If you don't like telenovelas AT ALL, if you've never seen a telenovela, or do not even know any telenovela actors (and trust me, there are many good ones) then the style of this show will be difficult to swallow.

Is it sentimental? Yes. But can we accept Bolivar's early life was full of sadness? His parents died when he was young, his sisters forced to marry relatives they didn't love before turning 15, his teachers left him, his grandfather died soon after he was left under his custody, he did not get along with his last guardian (his uncle Carlos). His oldest sister was forced to marry a crazy cousin and his own wife died within a year of their marriage. Bolivar indeed promised (and kept his promise) to never remarry after Maria Teresa's death. So even though the show seems dramatic and over sentimental, there is substantial historical evidence that life in the colonies have enough material for what we now call dramatic or sentimental.

This series is fairly well documented. They incorporate interesting historical events and achievements into the storyline such as the Balmis Expedition, which was the first vaccination expedition in the history of humanity! They managed to tie this story because the Balmis expedition sailed from La Coruña financed by King Carlos IV around the date when Bolivar married María Teresa del Toro (they married in that city and sailed to Caracas around the years of the expedition).

If you want to watch an entertaining show, full of passionate storylines but from which you can also learn some history on the liberation of the americas... this is a fun show to go! It's not for everyone though and I know the aesthetics will be hard for people who have never associated themselves with Latin culture, but maybe try to be more open minded and relaxed about the style and you'll find great things in it. The acting of young adult Bolivar is great, as well as the actresses playing his sisters, his friends Matea, Dionisio and Hipólita (who were his slaves and family), and his most famous lover, Manuelita Saenz. The first episode does not do justice to how the series as a whole develop, you should skip that first episode completely!

As a Spanish learner I am always looking for series in Spanish to watch. If that fits you, then this is a good series to watch. The actors are good, the scenery nice, the story well developed. It's a good quality telenovela along the lines of another great Colombian telenovela - La Niña. And 60 episodes give me lots of practice with my Spanish!

I am a great admirer of Simon Bolivar, a true hero who sacrificed everything for an ideal. This series is fantastic in spite of Maduro's comments, one can only admire Bolivar all over again. The wars of independence were atrocious and only a heroic figure like Bolivar - with the education, connection and wealth and resolve to back him-- could have undertaken it. We can only applaud Netflix and Caracol for such an amazing undertaking. The costumes are beautiful, the scenery of Colombia breathtaking, the acting superb and it will help to remind all Americans (North and South ) who Simon Bolivar was. Some reviewers are pedantic. True, Abreu's accent sounds Colombian, but who is to know what Venezuelan accent was two hundred years ago. True, that some battle scenes are not epic, but all 60 episodes are worth watching not once but twice.

I know little of Simon Bolivar and less about South America and shame on me for my ignorance. No doubt this series will send me to the history books. In the meantime, Bolivar is an entertaining look at the period. We have all the necessary tropes--treacherous relatives, corrupt officials, wavering revolutionaries, and the honest slaves--plus a beautiful background that serves as setting. The actors are good and we don't have the terrible mugging for the camera we see in telenovelas. The series is certainly entertaining and perhaps it might make you curious to learn.