War movies are always among the most popular genres on streaming, with at-home audiences seemingly unable to resist the temptation of period pieces drenched in the dust, sweat, and blood of the battlefield. Netflix has a strong reputation in the arena when it comes to in-house originals, with Blood & Gold the latest to fire a bullet straight into the most-watched charts.
Per FlixPatrol, the German-language World War II story wasted no time breaking into the platform’s overall Top 10, having rocketed right towards the upper echelons of the charts in ninth place. It’s easy to see why when the concept basically sells itself as a combination of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds with a dash of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark thrown in, which is every bit as fun as it sounds.
Robert Maaser’s Heinrich is an army deserter, who ends up partnering with Marie Hacke’s farmer Elsa after the latter saves him from certain doom when he’s strung up and left to die by the leader of an SS troop. The Nazis are searching for a hidden cache of gold in a nearby village, but the locals aren’t willing to share the loot with their sworn enemies.
Our intrepid heroes end up being drawn headlong into the conflict, which culminates in a spectacular showdown that sees everyone place all of their cards on the table, draw their weapons, and start blasting until somebody emerges victorious. Blood & Gold is essentially a wartime Spaghetti Western, and if that sounds right up your street, then prepare to be left seriously entertained.