Hunters premiered on Amazon over the weekend and has been garnering controversial headlines ever since. The program is the fictional account of a group of Nazi hunters, headquartered in New York City, and their vengeful crusade during 1977. The show stars Al Pacino as group leader, Meyer Offerman, and Logan Lerman as a new disciple, Jonah Heidelbaum.
The pair are joined by six other regular group members who use old documents from World War II Germany to trace the whereabouts of Nazi perpetrators (many of them made up specifically for the program itself). Much of the criticism of the show comes from its lack of historical reality and the liberties it took with much of its portrayal of life inside a concentration camp, as well as the violence depicted as the Hunters go about their mission. The show is obviously controversial, so here are a few reasons to give it a chance, as well as to give it a pass.
10 Watch - 70's Exploitation Movies
The show is obviously taking its style cues from the Exploitation and B movies of the 1970s (the era in which the show itself is also set). The look and feel of the program is consistent and intriguing. Kitsch and violence are a stylistic choice as much as one to do with the overall plot. If we look beyond the historical implications and focus on the story as merely an expressive throwback to another decade, it could be seen as very successful—and often entertaining—over the course of its first ten episodes.
9 Skip It - Historical Accuracy
The Holocaust is still a little bit of a tricky subject to take on in a completely fictionalized way, especially when the American education system doesn't do a great job of teaching the subject these days. This is not the world in which false atrocities need to be created for entertainment purposes only, that will simply confuse a wider audience and cause more harm than good. It's a dangerous time to conflate fact and fiction, especially where prejudice is concerned. The show doesn't offer enough in terms of writing and style to make it worth the loss of factual accuracy.
8 Watch - Casting
Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Josh Radnor, Carol Kane, this is a cast list stacked with talent. Al Pacino is worth watching in just about anything and he's all over Hunters in the best possible way. Josh Radnor as Lonny Flash takes on a role we've never seen him try before. Carol Kane brings her regular brand of humor along with most of what can be seen as the show's heart. It's truly an ensemble program, and, if you're a fan of watching actors share the wealth, then Hunters is definitely worth a watch when you have the time.
7 Skip It - Tone Issues
With flashbacks to the horrors of life in a concentration camp mixed in with campy tongue in cheek game show clips along with the incredible violence of revenge and murder, it's very difficult to merge ever tone in the show into a cohesive piece of popular culture. While the plot is easy to follow, the feelings one is supposed to get out of the experience are bewildering. It's almost as if the show wanted to be three different stories and decided the shove them all together into one confusing hybrid, instead. The tonal whiplash makes the show difficult to appreciate either on the entertainment or the educational side.
6 Watch - Historical Connections
While Hunters is made up of a great deal of fiction, it does touch on a few moments and people who really did exist in World War II and beyond. From a visit to Simon Wiesenthal's office to its introduction of NASA director Wernher von Braun and its investigation into real-life Operation Paperclip, if the show can send even a handful of viewers to a Google search that's a success in and of itself.
A show doesn't need to be a documentary to help educate an audience, and, maybe, as it's not heavy-handed, it might just be successful in directing viewers to take a deep dive into some of the actual historical events and groups that inspired the show in the first place.
5 Skip It - Wanton Violence
Sure, the show is stylistically a throwback, and sometimes it can be very satisfying to watch a Nazi get his skull bashed in, but some of the gratuitous violence isn't directed at the Nazis, but at the concentration camp victims, and, despite the horrors of life in a concentration camp, much of the violence portrayed on the show is completely made up rather than based on any of the actual atrocities committed in Auschwitz Concentration Camp or elsewhere. It can make those scenes feel self-indulgent rather than hard-hitting and necessary.
4 Watch - Mindy and Murray
Of all the Hunters on the show, including Al Pacino's own Meyer Offerman, it is married Holocaust survivors Mindy and Murray Markowitz, who really make the show worthwhile. Their backstory, suffering, and contributions to the group are clearest and the most well fleshed out. On top of that, Carol Kane and Saul Rubinek outshine everyone in every scene in which they appear.
They are both loving, haunted, and hysterical in equal measure. You naturally feel for them and appreciate the dilemmas of both conscience and faith they fight through over the course of the season. In a show that can sometimes feel like a caricature, Mindy and Murray feel very very real.
3 Skip It - Jordan Peele
Amazon has been presenting Hunters as both based on real events and produced by Jordan Peele, both claims should be taken with a grain of salt. As has been already discussed above, much of the historical accuracy of the show is up for question, and the production doesn't do a great job of clearing up what's fact and what's diction. In the same vein, listing Jordan Peele as an Executive Producer highlights a lot of involvement when there really wasn't any. Peele's production company was involved, rather than the star himself.
2 Watch - See What the Fuss is About
It's up to the viewer to decide for themselves if a show is worth the commitment or not, and the only way to do that is... well, by watching it, obviously.
If you don't enjoy it, at least you will be able to be a valued and informed part of the conversation that has exploded across the internet since the show's release.
1 Skip It - There Are Better Options
If what you're looking for is educational material there are plenty of other films, as well as documentaries to watch (many streaming for free online) that can fill you in on the Holocaust, Operation Paperclip, and even real-life revenge against Nazis. If you're just looking for some wish-fulfillment Nazi killings, you can save yourself almost eight hours by watching Inglorious Bastards instead.
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