Rome: The Complete First Season
by Michael Apted, Allen Coulter, Timothy Van Patten
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DVD details
Actor: Ciaran Hinds, Indira Varma, James Purefoy, Lindsay Duncan, Polly WalkerDirector: Allen Coulter, Michael Apted, Timothy Van Patten
Brand: hbo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 619 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-15
Studio: HBO Home Video
Product features:
- (HBO Dramatic Series) Four hundred years after the founding of the Republic, Rome is the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of one million people; epicenter of a sprawling empire. The Republic was founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, never allowing one man to seize absolute control. But now, those foundations are crumbling, eaten away by corru
DVD Reviews of Rome: The Complete First Season
DVD Review: One of the best series HBO has ever produced...
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hesitant coming in to this one because it didn't look too interesting. I think I saw one clip a while ago of the fat guy who announces news to the Roman citizens. I was turned off. Then I came across it again and decided to give it another shot. I was hooked from the opening scenes and couldn't get enough.
The history behind the series is almost spot on. Anyone who has studied Roman history would be able to immediately see who faithful to history the producers and writers were. The facts are all there. For a television drama this is amazing since the actual history in most shows is one of the first things to be sacrificed in order to make for a more interesting show. Not so with Rome since in this case the actual history is more interesting than anything the writers could have created.
Add to this the detailed depiction of the day to day lives of the Romans, both Patrician and Plebian, and the series is so rich that it feels real. Following Vorenus and Pullo around, watching their friendship, was just as interesting as following Caesar around, which shows that the writers were up to the task of creating fictional characters to accentuate the real historical characters.
One of the best series that has ever come out of HBO. A dead bang winner.
5 stars.
DVD Review: Phenomenal! Best depiction of Rome ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was younger, I used to love watching movies like Spartacus, not so much because they provided particularly great depictions of ancient Rome, but because they were the way anybody get any sense of the grandeur of the Roman empire. In fact, looking back, those films were often quite cheesy. Hollywood stopped making movies about ancient Rome for a long while, until Gladiator came out in 2000. As a movie, Gladiator was awesome and showed a vastly more realistic yet grander Rome than ever before seen in Hollywood. Yet, as history, the movie had its flaws (most notably that it distorted the historical record quite bit). However, I'd despaired that it would be the pinnacle of our ability to visualize Rome.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that HBO did an excellent job at recreating the ancient Roman empire in its miniseries Rome. At first, I was suspicious, worried that Rome would become twisted by HBO, the same creators of Sex and the City. Yet, the series is awesome. In terms of the production quality, it looks and feels like a big budget movie (indeed, the cost of the series eventually doomed it). The acting, visual effects, and soundtrack are exceptional (be sure to get Jeff Beal's soundtrack Rome: Music from the HBO Series).
HBO also took care to portray Rome in a somewhat historically accurate fashion. HBO hired expert historians and consultants for every detail. Unlike most movies about ancient Rome, HBO did not shy away from portraying the less glamorous sides of Rome. In fact, much of the series deals with everyday citizens, from prostitutes to roving gangs. This in turn means that the series includes a lot of explicit sex and violence. While this means the series isn't appropriate for kids or the faint of heart, it does mean that Rome shows Rome as it actually was.
One thing I love about this series is that it deals with the last years of the Roman Republic, one of the most compelling eras in history. Most movies and TV shows shy away from historically important events, but HBO tackles it with gusto. The show manages to remain historically accurate while using actual historical to provide the drama in the show. HBO did a great job finding actors to portray Julius Caesar, Pompey, Mark Antony, Cato, and the rest of the dramatis personae (although I wasn't as pleased with their choices for the Augustus side of the family - see below). At times, you almost feel like you traveled back in a time machine to witness these epic events. If you're interested in this period, I'd recommend Tom Holland's Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic for more depth on events during the period. I only wish the series had been longer rather than only two seasons - it would have great to have seen the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD, or the end of Augustus' reign. However, apparently the budget for the show grew so large that HBO (foolishly) decided to cancel it.
My only criticism of the show is the portrayal of Augustus and his mother, Atia (Polly Walker). Historians don't necessarily have accurate information on the personalities of these figures, and there probably isn't a "definitive" interpretation of their lives. Still, I thought the show took a few too many liberties. While Atia in real life was probably cunning and ambitious, Polly Walker's version of Atia makes her into a psychotic and sadistic woman. In one scene, she even has a torture room and tortures Servilla. There's no historical basis for any of that, and it does seem a bit outlandish. For his part, Augustus as played by Simon Woods seemed a bit too dull and cynical. Again, while I'm sure Augustus must have had excellent political acumen to rise so high, he was also a brilliant administrator and did have a vision for Rome. I just didn't think HBO's depiction of either character stood up well or resembled what I had read in Anthony Everitt's excellent Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor.
A quick note about the DVDs themselves. They are excellent quality and include hours of bonus materials, including deleted scenes and "making of" featurettes. I found some of the commentary about the interpretation of the characters pretty interesting. IF you or anybody you know loves ancient Roman history, Rome should definitely be on your Christmas list.
DVD Review: If you take out all the pointless sex scenes - it is brilliant!
Summary: 3 Stars
Many of the reviews have discussed the historical inaccuracies in the series and to be certain they are numerous (better to serve the soap opera feel of the series) but there are equally as many historical accuracies which I appreciated. I love history done well and this series is done to the nines.
I especially enjoyed the productions values, the sets were magnificent done to excruciating detail. I love the low lighting in the insulae and villas at night. I adore the dirty streets in the pleb areas of the city contrasted with the noble areas of the city. I love all the food, furniture, jewelry, dress - much of it is superb (though the false eyelashes on some of the actresses are a bit much).
I had a hard time with the brutality of the female characters and in general how most of them were treated. I understand that Rome was not known for treating its women well but this series focuses a great deal on the brutalization of women, specifically sexually depicting them as violent harpies, conniving killers and nymphomaniacs. I've no doubt this was something that could have existed in these times but to use historical characters as a blank slate to really add some hefty T&A and misogyny was not something I enjoyed. Women are raped, brutally murdered, many walking around as half-naked whores and I lost count as to how many fine British actresses were humiliated sexually by being banged within an inch of their lives in an exceedingly graphic fashion. For sure none of their real-life family members could have watched this series and it was gratuitous in every sense of the word. I often felt that the writers ignored some very exciting points in history (and frankly it's not like they didn't have a ton to work with, this was an extraordinary time) just to add more rape and sex scenes and more humiliation of women.
The sex scenes could have been done better. We didn't need to see full frontal male and female nudity to get the point. Though frankly as a woman it was nice to see the men being objectified as well though the men fare far better since they are always in positions of power (which they were in Rome and in our times too) but since this is a fictional accounting, it could have been more evenhanded.
The bloody violence is fairly cartoonish - the blood often looks like paint and the decapitations are laughable, I have a feeling that HBO blew most of its budget on the giant outdoor sets and left a pittance to the special effects crew and it shows.
It is difficult to like most of the characters except for Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo who are the regular guy soldier characters who become lifelong friends and they too are somewhat reprehensible.
(SPOILERS):
Titus Pullo murders the lover of his slave and then she decides to marry him. Titus also fathers a love child with Cleopatra which she claims to be Julius Caesar's son. Pullo also murders for hire then gets thrown into the arena for killing a prominent citizen and manages (with the help of his loyal friend Vorenus) to kill everyone. Eventually (in season two) Pullo murders Cicero (he is ordered to do so by Caesar Octavian) cuts off his hands and nails them to the senate front door then chokes to death his lover Gaia whom had previously murdered his wife (he actually cheated on his wife with Gaia, not cool) after she confesses her deed to him following her saving his life. And this is one of the guys you are rooting for!
Lucius Vorenus is loyal in a way no other character in the series is. His big mistakes come in the second season when he forsakes Caesar (which allows the Senators access to him to commit their murder) after he discovers that the four year old son he believes is his daughters as claimed but is his wife's with another man (her sister's husband as a matter of fact and Titus Pullo killed this guy too!). He confronts his wife with murderous intent and she throws herself off a balcony, killing herself. Vorenus children believe that he has murdered their mother but he curses them all then runs away, meanwhile the children are abducted and sold into slavery. When Vorenus tries to find them he cannot, but finds the man who abducted them who claims to have raped them all and killed them and thrown them into the Tiber. Vorenus cuts his head off. Eventually Pullo finds out the children are not dead but his poor eldest daughter had been forced into prostitution and they are all slaves. The younger girl and boy fare better. Vorenus becomes a somewhat ruthless gang leader meanwhile but then gives it all up to be at Mark Antony's side when he is banished to Egypt. Vorenus is the only character with a moral compass, he feels emotions deeply, he is loyal and the relationship between he and Pullo is the most touching in the series.
Both characters are masterfully acted by Ray Stevenson (as Pullo) and Kevin McKidd (as Vorenus). They add a common-man element to the series that really hits home. You see how the real citizens of Rome lived, what their lives were like, their relationships, how they were as parents, husbands and wives, lovers, business owners etc. They do this part well too so that it contrasts with the nobility and everyone is allowed their dignity (except the women).
The female characters are all villains except for Vorenus's wife Niobe. When she had her one indiscretion it was because she thought her husband was dead after not seeing him in 8 years (he was fighting with Caesar in Gaul) otherwise she was a loving wife and superb mother. I was sad to see her go in the second season and felt it was a cheap shot.
Atia of the Julii (Caesar Octavian's mother) is well played considering her caricature of a character. She's supposed to be vile and evil and she is, though nothing historically would point to this. She is rather attractive and you get to see ALL of her as you do just about every actress in the series. I thought she was a better actress than having to sink to those lows but perhaps she wanted to show off her obviously fake breasts and hoped that would turn into something more lucrative since the actress Polly Walker is in her early forties and her career is be winding down.
Lindsay Duncan plays Brutus's mother Servilia an acknowledged lover of Julius Caesar. She begins the series as a very dignified character but then becomes a seducing lesbian (to Atia's daughter Octavia), masterminds much of the plot to kill Julius Caesar after he dumps her, then goes after Atia like the harpy from hell when Atia's men attack her and strip her naked (nothing against the actress but she is nearly 60 years old and seeing this done to a woman of advanced years is quite troubling and humiliating) in the street, then eventually she is abducted by Atia, brutally raped, beaten within an inch of her life (after a poisoning plot was discovered leading back to her)and she eventually goes mad in the second season after Brutus's death in Greece (leading an army with Cassius against Caesar Octavian). She and her closest slave commit suicide on Atia's doorstep. It was hard to like her really but worse to see such awful things happen to Brutus's mother. There is no historical fact to any of this either.
James Purefoy plays the dog Mark Antony who is a vulgar, piggish psychotic murdering bastard and doesn't show an ounce of humanity until he falls in love with Cleopatra and that seems to have been very drug-addled no less. As far as tit-for-tat (excuse the pun) you get to see all of splendid James Purefoy too and that man has nothing to be ashamed of, though he gets a little chubbier in the second season. Purefoy is a superb actor and manages to make Antony's downfall and suicide quite moving.
The best acting and characterization in the series is Ciarin Hinds who plays Julius Caesar. His Caesar is intelligent, a military genius, elegant, emotional and played somewhat morally too. This depiction makes his horrific murder all the more stunning because you get to see Caesar as a man and not just a commander. He truly loved Servilia though he was honor bound to give his all for the Republic. He was a man of the people and was fair and showed mercy when others would not have. He wept when the head of his defeated friend Pompey was brought to him. The way he is played here shows a man of honor in many cases even his despair regarding the death of his daughter Julia in childbirth. The emotions that play on Ciarin Hinds face are brilliant not to mention that he is particularly handsome and looks very much like many of the busts of Caesar from his own time-period. It is disturbing to watch his murder because the changes that he brought to the Empire were actually very good for the people.
Finally the actress (Lyndsey Marshal) who portrays Cleopatra is deeply out of her league. She is not beautiful by any stretch of imagination (though supposedly the historic Cleopatra was not either) and does not look vaguely Egyptian if her life depended on it (though I know Cleopatra actually was NOT Egyptian but Macedonian, she wanted to look as much so as possible and this girl is a pale comparison). She looks British (as many of the actors in the series do), has zero charisma and not a regal bearing at all. You could not imagine a common soldier giving his life for her let alone these men of considerable power. She also has a very squeaky, nasally voice that is considerably annoying. She spends most her time in filmy see-through dresses getting her brains banged out by various men. This is a perfect waste of a compelling female character.
Openly gay actor Simon Woods plays Caesar Octavian as a bit of a poof which doesn't jibe well with the historical figure (though it was rumored that he was a lover of Julius Caesar though there is no historical fact to this that I know of) as well as he has a very odd S & M relationship with his wife (and they would know this how?) and in his youth had slept with his own sister Octavia (she seduced him by recommendation of Servilia who was looking to get information on Caesar from the youth). That entire thread in the story was positively ghastly.
I'll save my comments for the second season regarding the rutting and repulsiveness of the sexuality depicted but it is enough to know that there are numerous rapes, children used sexually (of both sexes) though mercifully this is only discussed not shown, prostitutes being defiled in all manner of ways (again both male and female), gratuitous nudity, much graphically simulated sex and women being degraded at every turn. It is a shame to see the actresses here serving as prostitutes of a sort in this modern day and age. I wish this series had a little more dignity and a little less misogyny.
DVD Review: ROME SEASON 1 DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
ITEM JUST AS DESCRIBED ! FAST AND FRIENDLY ! A REAL PLEASURE ... THANK YOU !DVD Review: Just LOOK at the amount of Positive Review's! ROME - UNBELIVEABLE!
Summary: 5 Stars
There is NO doubt this series ROME is ABSOLUTLEY UN-BELIVEABLY AWESOME!
Sadly, there are only two Season's (I wish they would have continued!)
If you love all things Rome - You will LOVE Season One and Two of HBO's series ROME!
I can't say enough GREAT things about this show!!
The hundred's of satisfied review's say it all!
Description of Rome: The Complete First Season
(HBO Dramatic Series) Four hundred years after the founding of the Republic, Rome is the wealthiest city in the world, a cosmopolitan metropolis of one million people; epicenter of a sprawling empire. The Republic was founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, never allowing one man to seize absolute control. But now, those foundations are crumbling, eaten away by corruption and excess. After eight years of war, two soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo unwittingly become entwined in the historical events of ancient Rome. A serialized drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives, ROME chronicles a turbulent era that saw the death of the republic and the birth of an empire.DVD Features:
Featurette
Other
Photo gallery
Family dysfunction. Treachery. Betrayal. Coarse profanity. Brutal violence. Graphic (and sometimes brutal) sex. No, it's not The Sopranos, it's Rome, HBO's madly ambitious series that bloodily splatters the glory of Rome just as savagely as Monty Python and the Holy Grail soiled the good name of Camelot (but with far fewer laughs; very few funny things happen on the way to this forum). Set in 52 B.C. (Before Cable), Rome charts the dramatic shifts in the balance of power between former friends Pompey Magnus (Kenneth Cranham), leader of the Senate, and Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds), whose imminent return after eight years to Rome after conquering the Gauls, has the ruling class up in arms. At the heart of Rome is the odd couple friendship between two soldiers who fortuitously become heroes of the people. Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) is married, honorable, and steadfast. Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) is an amoral rogue whose philosophy is best summed up, "I kill my enemies, take their gold, and enjoy their women." Among Rome's most compelling subplots is Lucius's strained relationship with his wife, Niobe (Indira Varma), who is surprised to see her husband alive (but not as surprised as he is to find her upon his homecoming with a newborn baby in her arms!) Any viewer befuddlement over Rome's intrigues and machinations, and determining who is hero and who is foe, disappears the minute Golden Globe-nominee Polly Walker appears as Atia, Caesar's formidable niece and a villainess for the ages. In the first hour alone, she offers her already married daughter as a bride to the recently widowed Pompey. One eagerly awaits to see what (or who) she'll do next as much as we anticipate her comeuppance in the final episode.
Rome is a painstakingly mounted production that earned eight well-deserved Emmy nominations in such categories as costumes, set design, and art direction. Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter) was honored with a Director's Guild Award for the first episode, "The Stolen Eagle." But artistic considerations aside, instantly addicted viewers will agree with Atia, who notes at one point, "I adore the secrecy, the intrigue. It's most thrilling." --Donald Liebenson
Beyond the Series
 The Roman Empire in film and television |  The Roman Empire in documentaries |  More HBO DVDs |
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