Rise of Empires: Ottoman

This Turkish docudrama tells us about the siege and fall of the city of Constantinople, capital of what remained of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire in the power of the Ottoman Turks in 1453, as well as a biopic of the young Sultan Mehmed II, who he commanded the Ottoman Empire and the victorious troops. This historical fact marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age, due to the consequent maritime expansion of the European powers to create another route for spices, the main immediate consequence of which was the "discovery" of America.

As in all docudrama, not many interventions by history professors (some certainly redundant) alternate with flashbacks with dramatizations of the life of Sultan Mehmed II, (an enlightened, tenacious, arrogant and audacious young man who came to power early), performances of the battles (with people and digital) and very good diagrams and animated maps about the battles and the war strategies and tactics, land and naval. We must bear in mind that Constantinople had a formidable system of walls that, added to its geographical location, made it impregnable for centuries.

The look is objective, without good or bad. The intrigues and strata of power, the role of the Genoese mercenaries, the religious differences, the tactics and engineering of warfare, with the use of huge guns, and the political system of the Ottoman Sultanate are well described (although with some contradictions this latest). The period re-enactment is successful and the non-linear development of the story contributes to the dosing of information and to maintaining interest.

Perhaps it could have been shorter, but the series, without being exciting, maintains interest despite referring to an episode whose end almost everyone knows.