Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal - Part 1

... or the series that makes the Sopranos look like the Golden Girls. "Pablo Escobar, el patrón del mal" is a colombian mini-series about the life of the most notorious drug lord of the last part of the 20th Century. For this series every effort was made; shooting on real locations, using helicopters, and is for a great part shot in exteriors as opposed to the interior studios used for most Latin American telenovelas. What sets this series apart from most of the other "based on a true story" series, is that the actors chosen, do resemble the actual people they are portraying (if not physically, at least in the way they talk). The most stunning revelation is Andrés Parra in the role of Escobar, who not only looks like him physically, but actually speaks just like him. It's uncanny! so much that whenever he'd go out in the streets dressed as Escobar, people would gather around him calling him "Pablo!" and cheering him. Which by the way, shows how a psychotic criminal like Escobar is still adored by thousands (let's hope not millions) of people to this day. The series was co-created and co-produced by one of the sons of Guillermo Cano, the publisher of the colombian newspaper El Espectador, and one of the few journalists who wasn't afraid to attack Escobar and expose him for what he really was. Mr. Cano ended paying his affront when he was murdered on orders by Escobar. The purpose of the series then was to remind the people and tell the younger generation of what sort of a criminal Escobar really was, and hope that the "history won't repeat itself". For those who still don't know him, Escobar single-handedly took control of the cocaine business throughout the world, made millions of dollars (Forbes put him among the 10 richest men in the world at the time), had thousands of cops killed under his orders, not to mention presidential candidates, judges, magistrates and journalists, and even sent a guerrilla movement to attack the Justice Palace just so that they would burn any documents that might implicate him vis-a-vis with the Colombian justice. As if that weren't enough, he even blew up a jet airliner in mid-air with all its passengers just because he thought a political candidate he didn't like was aboard, and then started bombing the country until the government would give him immunity and not extradite him to the US (what all Colombian drug traffickers feared the most). In other words, the sort of guy you don't mess with. As such, this series, made up of 73 episodes of 45 minutes each (this first part contains only the first 25 episodes, parts 2 and 3 will follow shortly after) tells the true life story of this drug kingpin from his childhood all the way until his death. What's so fascinating about his life, is that it would put even the craziest among the Roman emperors to shame. The Italian Mafia even seems benign compared to what this man did. Though the series aims to show how evil this man really was, many people all over Latin America still revere him as a god. He has also served as an inspiration to the actual Mexican cartels due to his sheer ruthlessness towards those who betrayed him. Now, getting on with the series in hand. Please note that though it's based on fact, many of the character's names have been changed due to legal reasons or mainly because they aren't anymore among us and their families didn't give permission to use their real names. So it'd be good to check the webpage in Wikipedia dedicated to this series if you want to know who is who in real life. As is, it's still a story that will shock you. I can't think of anyone cheering Escobar's atrocious acts, yet at certain points many did, but toward the end of the series you'll be left feeling sick about what this man actually achieved. Don't forget that though he amassed millions of dollars, he died penniless. So a lesson is to be learnt here somehow. As I mentioned in the beginning of my review, this is a first-rate series, and you can see that a lot of care and money was put into it. However, this being a period piece (ending in the early 90's), many chronological misplacings slipped through: PC computers being used at a time when there weren't any, flat-screen tv's are seen in some homes, not to mention Guitar Hero video games with their respective guitars in the room of Escobar's son (they only appeared in the 21st Century). I'm sure people living in Colombia might have spot a couple more. But this chronologigal mistakes aside, the series really packs a wallop. All the actors are well chosen and play their parts perfectly (and hundreds of actors were used in the cast). This DVD set comes with English subtitles, for those who don't speak any Spanish, though much of the Colombian argot is lost in the translation. For those who are into gangster movies, this is the one that outdoes them all, mainly because it's based on the true story of the most ruthless gangster that ever lived! Highly recommended!

This people in charge of this production clearly did their homework. It is mindblowing how close the actor nailed down the cadence of Pablo's speech. Authentic shooting scenes ect. This was a real lesson in history. I did not watch it for entertainment because that would make me evil. This happened folks, nothing entertaining about it all. But as a glimpse into a once secret society in Colombia...this was utterly fascinating. Also, it helped me practice my spanish. Top rate acting, true to life, OUTSTANDING.

I want to be very clear that I'm not giving this product a bad review because of the series itself. "El Patrón del Mal" is an AWESOME series that deserves to be seen everywhere. It's well done, well acted, and very entertaining. The reason why I'm giving this product a one star rating is because the quality of the DVD's is staggeringly bad. I bought three box sets of this series and ALL of them came scratched and with some unplayable discs. I bought ALL of them brand new, with cellophane wrapper and everything. Never been used, yet they were all scratched. I bought Volume 1 first, obviously, and had to return it. I got the exchanged copies and had the same problem. I also ordered, from a different seller, Volume 2 and, yet again, it came scratched. If you're going to watch them on your computer, then they might work. But if you plan to watch them on your TV, I recommend you stay away from this box set. It's a damn shame too because it's affordable and the episodes look great (when you can see them).

It was a great story I have no complains in regars to pablo escobar movie but I do have to tell you that the first 5 videos came with scratches and I was very sad because I was unable to see them!! I try to contact you and never got a response back the video case was broken and the first five videos did not work at all I try to fix them cleaning but nothing work. Finally I got frustraded

This is right up there with Sopranos and Breaking bad...picture and sound quality are decent, grainy at sometimes and on a couple random parts throughout a couple episodes the audio sounds like it has a quiet echo, but not enough to give this masterpiece a negative review. Well worth the purchase until this gets put out on blue ray. I watched the entire series twice already and plan on watching it again years later

I stumbled across "Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal Part 2" at the local Wal-Mart for a scant $5 and was so intrigued that I came on Amazon to search for the other parts. If I had to pick a word to describe this mini-series, it would have to be FASCINATING. It was quite intriguing to see how Escobar went from a charismatic youth searching for his piece of the world to the human piece of garbage he became at the end of his life. I must admit, I'm half-way done with Part 3, but I couldn't contain my excitement. The only bad things I have to say about this mini-series is that it at times jumped around, making it hard to follow; however, it was quite easy to "catch up," so to say. As for the DVDs themselves, the separate "seasons" are subtitled. If you are a non-Spanish speaker or have a rudimentary knowledge of the language this is good. If you are fluent, then you will find some discrepancies between the Spanish dialogue and the translation. Some are laughable and others will make Spanish speakers cringe. Still, not enough to make me rate this series any lower than 5 stars. Overall, "Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal" is an outstanding addition to any crime-drama collection.

It's great movie,

Tolle spanische Serie auf dvd

I really enjoyed this one. Coming straight from the lion's mouth, so to speak, the production values are not what we have come to take for granted nowadays for the top European and US series, but then again Colombia is not exactly a world class TV producer. Nevertheless, by way of compensation there is a pretty high degree of authenticity which really conveys the flavor of the place. The acting varies between the overtly histrionic and the down to earth realism of the narco types portrayed. The plot is, I imagine, pretty true to real life, exaggerated although it may seem. Some of the footage is indeed taken from real life archives. This is very much a South American enterprise, dealing with a very South American theme, and so all the more believable. In spite of the extraordinarily long running time. it never flags. Someone commented that the discs have something like an unstoppable 10 minutes of adverts before you get to the main menu, which is true only of the first of 5 discs. There are no chapters, but with 5 episodes per disc, I don't suppose there was room for more. The image is not bad at all, and being less than pristine, it helps, unwittingly, give the series a sort of documentary flavor. All in all, if you like this sort or subject, with all the nitty gritty involved, it's one helluva ride and worth five stars if only for the momentum it manages to maintain throughout.

Excellent viewing. Much better than narcos

Vale cada euro que cuesta, la he visto un montón de veces, aunque podrían haber hecho un menú mejor, ya que no deja ver los capítulos hasta que te tragas el rollo que te meten de trailers, muy mal menú, excepcional serie, muy bien hecha.