What a shame this show was cancelled in the middle of season 2 due to its astronomical production costs. Got the blu-ray set as a Christmas gift last year and only just got around to finishing. In a word, brilliant. I can't believe it took me this long to watch it. Its not hard to see why the first season cost $110M to make, the sets look so realistic and the amount of detail is just insane. The first season was close to perfection for me, and the only season that wasn't affected by the decision to cut the series short. The cast consists mainly of British actors so most of them were foreign to me, but I did recognise Kevin McKidd from his small role in Kingdom of Heaven. Ciaran Hinds' portayal of Caesar was probably the highlight for me in terms of individual performances along with James Purefoy as Marc Anthony. I'm surprised Ray Stevenson hasn't landed many significant roles since Rome. I thought he was fantastic as Titus Pullo and very likable. Its refreshing they didn't seem to cast the females based on looks. There isn't a token beauty in the show, just a cast of very capable actresses who were perfect for their roles. Polly Walker is just ghastly as Atia and you wouldn't have it any other way.
Going into the it I thought this would have a lot of action scenes - not so. 90% of the show is dialog driven and all the better for it. The show revolves around politics, friendship and the relationship between master and their slave. The script holds up well, I never cringed or felt it was cheesy and the cast do a good job in delivery. My favourite story arc has to that of Marc Anthony's. At the beginning I almost despise him for his arrogance, but by the end I felt sorry when I realised just how tragic the character was. James Purefoy's performance is so full of energy and vigor its a joy to watch. The story is actually driven by the lives of two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). I actually found their own storylines the most entertaining and was impressed by how well they were intertwined into the main events. Season 2's pacing was seriously hampered by the decision to cut the show short. Apparently they had originally planned Rome to be 5 seasons, so they pretty much had to cram 3 seasons worth into the second half of season 2. As you can imagine this leads to sudden massive jumps in time which has you scratching your head at times, especially if you weren't aware of the circumstances. Having said that I believe they did an admirable job to wrap up the show so quickly.
For anyone that hasn't seen it be warned, Rome is pretty vulgar (over the top at times for me) and violent when the action ramps up. If that doesn't bother you then I would have zero hesitation in recommending you watch it. BD is definitely the best format here and well worth the extra cost.
Going into the it I thought this would have a lot of action scenes - not so. 90% of the show is dialog driven and all the better for it. The show revolves around politics, friendship and the relationship between master and their slave. The script holds up well, I never cringed or felt it was cheesy and the cast do a good job in delivery. My favourite story arc has to that of Marc Anthony's. At the beginning I almost despise him for his arrogance, but by the end I felt sorry when I realised just how tragic the character was. James Purefoy's performance is so full of energy and vigor its a joy to watch. The story is actually driven by the lives of two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). I actually found their own storylines the most entertaining and was impressed by how well they were intertwined into the main events. Season 2's pacing was seriously hampered by the decision to cut the show short. Apparently they had originally planned Rome to be 5 seasons, so they pretty much had to cram 3 seasons worth into the second half of season 2. As you can imagine this leads to sudden massive jumps in time which has you scratching your head at times, especially if you weren't aware of the circumstances. Having said that I believe they did an admirable job to wrap up the show so quickly.
For anyone that hasn't seen it be warned, Rome is pretty vulgar (over the top at times for me) and violent when the action ramps up. If that doesn't bother you then I would have zero hesitation in recommending you watch it. BD is definitely the best format here and well worth the extra cost.
