Absolutely Brilliant!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The Kingdom is the most technologically advanced hospital in Denmark, a gleaming bastion of medical science. A rash of uncanny occurrences, however, begins to weaken the staff's faith in science--a phantom ambulance pulls in every night, but disappears; voices echo in the elevator shaft; and a pregnant doctor's fetus seems to be developing much faster than is natural.So far as I know, this was made before Lars von Trier became an international sensation, or just about the time that he did. The lower budget is evident, but the film (or show) is actually much more interesting and well-made than some of his later work. Even from the first segment, we see this is a world on the edge of humanity.I hate to compare it to "Twin Peaks", because that is not the best comparison, but I can see a link... a world that is seemingly normal, though waiting just on the other side of the wrong door is a whole other world. The way the two Down's Syndrome characters were portrayed is wild -- characters with a secret knowledge, not limited but transcendent.

The sound quality… the film's lack of a full color spectrum… the jittery camera work — initially it seemed I was watching a student film from 10 years ago shot with a mid-1990's model cellphone.It didn't take long for the story, direction, comedic timing, quirkiness (and subtitles) to take hold. Between the occasional interaction of hospital's 2 dishwashing staff and the new physician's initiation ritual, I was hooked. I'm assuming they didn't have much of a production budget, but it didn't matter — I thoroughly enjoyed this miniseries.I've read they hacked 4 hours out of it and made a 5 hour movie for release to the US and British markets — I'm glad I was able to see the 8 episodes (9 hours) as originally broadcast, there isn't any of "Riget" I'd want to miss. Neither would I want to watch the 2004 homogenized Stephen King 13 episode version — I suspect it bears only a slight resemblance to the original. I can see how this series wouldn't necessarily appeal to everyone, just glad I'm in the group who gets-it :-)The 2nd season was good, but I enjoyed season 1 more. Series 2 was a bit more tongue-in-cheek; much of it funny, some of the gags fell flat. At least the pacing was quick as when it annoys, it's not for long. I think the funniest season-2 scene for me involved poison and some confusion over coffee cups...If there's ever another remake, I hope it's a Danish one with the same director, otherwise, they shouldn't bother. Maybe make a cleaner print of the original for digital release and put it on every streaming service available

You know you are not alone at not loving something when at the end of the first episode of it, Lars shows up telling to the audience that "next episode will be better". This one is such a boring and ridiculous story that made me want to go and return the DVD and forget about giving me my money back....just get this stupid and boring story out of my life! I really don't understand the people that rate it so high. The characters are unlikeable, empty and full of absurd reactions, not to mention the production mistakes that fill the series. May God have mercy on all the people that bought this hoping to get something worth their money for! And I really envy the ones that found something worthy on this one!

The original Kingdom is so superior to its American version ... In fact , there's no comparison ! I love this mini-series , it is so atmospheric and macabre . Well , I guess " bizarre " is the best adjective to describe it . It made me feel the same way I did when I was a kid watching classic horror movies , a feeling that I had never felt before with modern flicks . Stephen King's version , on the other hand , is sooo dull and not creepy at all . It is so boring that I gave up watching it after the second episode ! Don't get me wrong , I really love Stephen King's movies , but he truly failed in his version of " The Kingdom " .