i thought it was alright, the acting was quite poor but i was expecting that, i was also a bit baffled at the amount of pointless sex scenes though, there was quite a few considering it was only 50mins. However love the violence, the bbc didn't hold anything back, i loved the bit at the end where after finding out he'd been cheated out of his cash while gambling the guy blatently thrusted his dagger through the perpetrator's throat.
Well they did in sorts. This first "episode" was actually an edit of the first two shown in the US. The series is actually 12 episodes long but the BBC are only showing 11, presumably to fit the schedule.
If that's the case, then, well, ok - I suppose! ::ends huff, maybe::
Tbh, I don't think it'd work very well as 25 minute episodes due to the nature of the subject matter. You can't really explain and move on a major plot sufficiently in 25 minute episodes a week apart. I'm not sure people (certainly me, for one) would have the attention span and patience for it.
.....spent a word or two about this show, involving Cesar, the roman empire and stuff?
It's frigging good.
First off, as production values you got italian sets, an all-british cast who acts extremely well, plus a new take on historical facts that stresses both the advanced roman burocracy (or political intrigues) and the everyday life in the City as well (full of profanity, gory shows, public executions). John Milius co-wrote the plot and Michael Apted (creative consultant) directed the first three episodes.
Obviously the main story involves the rise and fall of Julius Ceasar, but at the same time it portraits the "daily" life of two centurions: Titus Polo and Lucius Verinus, two friends as much loyal to one another as different from one another.
Titus is superstitious while Lucius is religious,Titus is driven just by his emotions and kills without even blinkin' an eye while Lucius is thoughtful and most of the times regrets the decisions he takes.
What really amazed me aside these two centurions stories is this show accomplished something no movie has ever done before: it represents historical characters with a new take, enhancing the known traits (Ceasar megalomania, Octavian's genius and his detachement from emotion) with events and actions reasonable to the historical context and the common sense.
It's as much accurate as it's informative, exciting and profane, while depicting characters with as much ingenuity as the Soprano or Six Feet Under (Rome too, is an hbo show).
Just take a look at the Ceasar's assassin sequence (which occurs in the last episode and that's no spoiler, I hope ^____^): people stumbles on Cesar blood, some hits, some misses, someone misses Cesar and hits someone else, and while Brutus delivers the last,fatal hit there's no "quoqe tu brutae", no shakespearian line to fill the already saturated mood of the sequence (even though the show is so cockney and so british you possibly can't tell it's an american production). Same goes for a whole lot of other episodes.
Only regret I have is the military campaigns are not shown, except a brief sequence in the first episode. After that, all the battles are suggested or recounted but never shown. This really deprives the show of a cornerstone element of Ceasar, i.e. his unique skills as a military leader.
Aside that, everything is just perfect. You have to give it try.
This has just finished on UK TV...what a fantastic final episode! The violence was so well done - utterly brutal but when it counted really powerful and shocking.
Ceasar's scene at the end was really mental, and featured the best acting in the entire series (between Ceasar and Brutus). The fact that they didn't speak a word to each other - the whole scene was pretty much void of speaking parts - just allowed the importance of the event to shine without some cheesey line. I was so expecting the infamous line, but glad it didn't come.
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