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Spartacus: Blood and Sand 1x01

Kelthaz said:
I'm not sure how many people watched it last night, but I figured the new Sam Raimi fantasy series deserved a topic.

Anyway, as for my thoughts, I thought it sucked. An over sexed, uber violent, 300 ripoff series. There's really very little to say about it. Lots of blood, boobs, and swears; Torchwood Series 1 x 10. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys it is not.
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I agree.

Glad I am not the only one who thinks this is a porn-and-gore fest. I've never seen such a piece of crap. Yeah, lotsa nudity. Yeah, lotsa violence with CGI blood "explosions" à la "300". Yeah, plenty of sudden stopping/slow mo/speeding up the fighting (again à la "300"). In the end, it's a piece of crap.

It was so BAD. So far over the top. The scriptwriter was channeling Driftwood. I lost track of how many times (and in how many types of speech) the word "fuck" appeared, and decided next time I'm doing a drinking game for the show, and downing a shot everytime someone is called a cunt.

It was trash. Trash with blood, boobies, and pretty people wearing tattered, ragged clothes (apparently in Rome only senators and wealthy gladiatorial managers wear togas: common people wear dirty rags that let their boobs hang out).

Here's my favorite moment from episode one. Spartacus spears another gladiator in the back. Note that the 300 Splatter (TM) is BEHIND both of them rather than between them. Ya see, it's ART. (And apparently they inflate gladiators to 120 psi.)

spartacussux1.jpg


Only getting to see Lucy Lawless nekkid in the second episode could make watching this tolerable. (And, yes, she *does* get nekkid.)

The really annoying thing? I just can't imagine Haldir being such an evil prig.
 
It is over the top and I'd say intentionally so. If you know Raimi's work, you know this is exactly how he does his filming. I don't know if I'll keep watching it or not but it's not because he exaggerates everything to the point of parody.
 
It was better than I thought it would be.

I actually enjoy 300-style over the top violence, and tend to think gratuitous sex is underused in modern cinema compared to the glory days of the 70's and 80's, so those elements didn't turn me off.
 
The more I hear about this, the more I want to give it a go, non-fan as I am of Hercules/Xena and all that racket.

I mean, 300: The Series, why not? Stupid bloody fun that leaves you feeling dirty but well-used. It could wear out its welcome enormously quickly (as 300 itself did - it's unrewatchable), but if it's half-good it might be half-bad enough to be good guilty fun.

Bob the Skutter said:
Haven't watched this yet, I plan to give it a go though. Didn't they recently announce a second season already?
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Any word as to when it's in the UK or is it already?
 
Kegg said:
The more I hear about this, the more I want to give it a go, non-fan as I am of Hercules/Xena and all that racket.

I mean, 300: The Series, why not? Stupid bloody fun that leaves you feeling dirty but well-used. It could wear out its welcome enormously quickly (as 300 itself did - it's unrewatchable), but if it's half-good it might be half-bad enough to be good guilty fun.

Bob the Skutter said:
Haven't watched this yet, I plan to give it a go though. Didn't they recently announce a second season already?
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Any word as to when it's in the UK or is it already?
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Not heard anything about it airing in the UK, but it looks like it's going to air in The Netherlands and Australia... I'll keep an eye out though.
 
^ :lol:

I caught it using Netflix. They have one episode that you can watch online. I hope they get the rest of the eps on the Watch Online list too.

The blood is way over the top. It actually reminds me of some anime which show lots of splatter/gore as literal "splash" pages but it ( I think) makes it less "violent". If you see sooo much blood-splatter, you kinda tune it off and that makes it seemingly less "violent" (or at least more cartoony-violent).

The scene where Spartacus and wife have sex after their village is destroyed was very reminiscent of 300. The slo-mo etc. I quite enjoyed the visual aspect of when the Romans literally drag her out of his arms - the simulated painting aspect of it. Think I've seen something similar but not sure what.

I was quite intrigued by the casual nudity (that I *thought* I saw) in the gladiator arena scenes amongst the common spectators. That *elevates* the series from being just standard red-shoe-diaries fare to something more high-budget/high-brow for me. Weird. But there you have it.



Also - I quite enjoyed the gratuitous nudity. It seems more "natural" in Rome era for me. Tho' I too immediately noted them not bundling in warm cloaks in snow/winter.

I didn't notice Haldir at all. I didn't recognize anybody except for Lucy Lawless, The Mummy guy who plays her husband, and the Roman centurion/consul/whatever - don't know where I've seen him tho.

Also, I'm waiting to see Lucy nekkid. (As already stated on the Herc/Xena thread).
 
Watched it at Starz' website. The quality of the video they have up there isn't so good, which is rather a shame since whatever attraction the show has clearly lies in its visuals rather than the story. And the visuals are interesting; curious how it shifts from mock-grandiose, painting-like scenes and others which are really dirty and gritty. Wish the blood wasn't quite so overblown, both in quantity and in being so red--makes it look cheap. Liked the depravity in the Senator's residence; if nothing else, it's always fun to see softcore porn with real production values. Can't help but wonder what kind of legs this series is counting on (apart from legs with purple bands around them, that is): there's a reason why films are more visual spectacles and TV more story-driven, apart from budget, and that's because after a while once gets used to the visuals. Either they start getting better plot-wise, or they're going to need to keep topping themselves visually to keep people interested.

Still, if they put another episode up, I'd watch it. And is it just me, or does the guy who plays the legionnaire look remarkably like Chris Barrie? Every time he spoke, I kept expecting to hear Arnold Rimmer's voice. Being a weasley character only reinforces the eerie similarity.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
 
Joy said:
Yeah, my reaction was... MEH. I thought it was much too gratuitous (but then again, I've not seen 300, and I know they were going for a similar style, so I really can't say much in that department). I didn't mind the nudity or swearing; I've seen/read just as much, if not more.

To be frank, I'm only watching it for John Hannah. So they'll have me as a viewer for as long as he's in it. (Same reason I've seen all three Mummy movies, in fact.)
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^Admittedly, my interest rose when I noticed John Hannah as well. Great actor.


Honestly, as long as they can give us a story to follow and develop characters to be invested in, I could probably watch this. Just need to tone down the 'flash' a wee bit and add 2 or 3 more dashes of 'substance'.
 
Trent Roman said:
And is it just me, or does the guy who plays the legionnaire look remarkably like Chris Barrie? Every time he spoke, I kept expecting to hear Arnold Rimmer's voice. Being a weasley character only reinforces the eerie similarity.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
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!!! I kept wondering if that were him, so much I had to scan the end credits. :)
 
coolghoul said:
I didn't notice Haldir at all. I didn't recognize anybody except for Lucy Lawless, The Mummy guy who plays her husband, and the Roman centurion/consul/whatever - don't know where I've seen him tho.
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The Roman centurion/consul/whatever is Haldir! :lol:
And seeing Lucy Lawless getting fingered was worth it...
 
Wow, I just watched this on Netflix, and it was so bad! First of all, if you're going to insist on all that CGI, make sure it actually looks good. All that blood spurting everywhere looked completely ridiculous. Second, I have no problem with swearing on TV, but it has to make sense! Words like "fuck" and "cunt" shouldn't just be thrown around for no reason.

On top of that, I thought it was boring as hell, and I actually dozed off halfway through.
 
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