This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Admirable film.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This series is a brilliantly realized production that rises to the top of the Netflix Originals stable of shows. Set in 1929 Berlin and performed in German (with English subtitles), this complex portrayal of Weimar Germany right before the rise of the Nazis is at once a police procedural and a vivid cultural-political panorama represented by a wonderful cast, direction, music and production design. We follow the journey of morphine-addicted Inspector Gereon Rath, who comes to Berlin from the more provincial environs of Cologne to investigate a pornography ring that has dirt on powerful political figures. He is drawn into a turbulent society roiled by inequality, economic pressure and the competing doctrines of Socialism, Democracy, Communism, German Nationalism and Fascism. As he battles his inner demons rooted in his World War I experiences, he follows the evidence through a demimonde of Jazz Age nightclubs brimming with Pop Culture innovation and moral decadence. This intoxicating, electrifying series holds great relevance for today's American society.

The program is everything everyone is saying... but watch it in the original German only. The English soundtrack is absolutely horrendous. It is truely so bad that it completely alters the rating for this brilliant piece of television. It sounds like a bunch of drama students took a bunch of downers and sat around a table to read the script. There is no emotion, commitment or ownership of the characters. And what characters there are! Babylon Berlin is an intriguing world beautifully filmed, scripted and acted. If, like me you started watching in English and thought it was pox... do yourself a favour, watch in German and experience Babylon Berlin as it was envisioned.

Other reviewers have already said some of the same things I was going to say. You have to watch it in its original German with subtitles if you don't speak the language. I looked at the dubbed English version afterwards and it was terrible. Made me laugh. The production value is so perfect. The acting, scenery and story just great. I think another user (Orwell Huxley) accidentally gave it a 1 when it should have been a 10, after reading the review. A definite watch! The last 10 minutes of episode 2 sold it for me.

An antidote for the banal violence written into American crime procedural and the like. BB's production values are stratospheric. The Weimar days in Berlin are captured with unerring authenticity. The acting is of the highest order. The script brims with suspense. I could go on... but in sum this is must-see picture making... outstanding.