10-01-2003, 10:18 PM
I so wanted Boudica to be good as it could be such a great TV event if told properly. Most British people are aware of Boudica/Boadicea, but few seem to know the story. After watching this tenth rate drivel I fear most will be none the wiser. It was awful and I'd effectively given up on it within the first three minutes after seeing the standard hairy extras grunting in half-hearted approval. They might as well have called it Carry On Boudica and played it for laughs for all the dramatic impact it had.<br>
<br>
The Britons - oh dear! Most were 2d caricatures and either spoke with Zummerzet of Yarksha accents and were typically hairy stereotypes. The chariots were all wrong, Boudica's sword appeared to be adorned with red plastic bubbles and they were prone to shouting "Argh!" and "Ha-hargh!" at the most inappropriate moments. Even the "special" effects used to indicate the druid bloke was a bit spooky were decidedly not very special.<br>
<br>
The Romans - oh dear oh dear oh dear! Where did those legionary costumes come from? The fancy dress shop or the Early Learning Centre I expect. An average school production would have more authentic costumes and that is NOT an exaggeration. Truly pitiful. The scenes in Rome were laughable with the hammiest Nero in screen history prancing about and sneering at all and sundry. The sex scene with his mother was utterly ridiculous and was thrown in for idle (and totally unerotic) titilation.<br>
<br>
The tax collector whose name escapes me was also equally bad. All he needed was a top hat and a twirly moustache and he would have been a perfect screen villain! Believe me, a top hat wouldn't have been any more out of place than most other things, so what the hell! That said, the actor playing Suetonius looked suitably Roman but his homage to a valiant opponent speach at the end had me cringing.<br>
<br>
The script was a joke with Boudica talking of attacking "camerLODerNAM" in one breath and having a go at "London" the next. The sets were a joke and it looked like a cheap daytime soap.<br>
<br>
The thing that stank most though was the total absence of dramatic tension and the sheer scale of the event. The real Boudica story was one of mass rebellion over a long period with thousands of deaths in the goriest of circumstances that bordered on genocide. This trash production made it all seem like a couple of hundred hippies losing their rag and turning over a building site before getting their heads kicked in by the local constabulary on a drunken weekend.<br>
<br>
It was truly awful and the worst thing on TV for many, many years. It was even worse than Braveheart and I can think of no worse insult.<br>
<br>
If you haven't seen it yet, DON'T!!! <p></p><i></i>
<br>
The Britons - oh dear! Most were 2d caricatures and either spoke with Zummerzet of Yarksha accents and were typically hairy stereotypes. The chariots were all wrong, Boudica's sword appeared to be adorned with red plastic bubbles and they were prone to shouting "Argh!" and "Ha-hargh!" at the most inappropriate moments. Even the "special" effects used to indicate the druid bloke was a bit spooky were decidedly not very special.<br>
<br>
The Romans - oh dear oh dear oh dear! Where did those legionary costumes come from? The fancy dress shop or the Early Learning Centre I expect. An average school production would have more authentic costumes and that is NOT an exaggeration. Truly pitiful. The scenes in Rome were laughable with the hammiest Nero in screen history prancing about and sneering at all and sundry. The sex scene with his mother was utterly ridiculous and was thrown in for idle (and totally unerotic) titilation.<br>
<br>
The tax collector whose name escapes me was also equally bad. All he needed was a top hat and a twirly moustache and he would have been a perfect screen villain! Believe me, a top hat wouldn't have been any more out of place than most other things, so what the hell! That said, the actor playing Suetonius looked suitably Roman but his homage to a valiant opponent speach at the end had me cringing.<br>
<br>
The script was a joke with Boudica talking of attacking "camerLODerNAM" in one breath and having a go at "London" the next. The sets were a joke and it looked like a cheap daytime soap.<br>
<br>
The thing that stank most though was the total absence of dramatic tension and the sheer scale of the event. The real Boudica story was one of mass rebellion over a long period with thousands of deaths in the goriest of circumstances that bordered on genocide. This trash production made it all seem like a couple of hundred hippies losing their rag and turning over a building site before getting their heads kicked in by the local constabulary on a drunken weekend.<br>
<br>
It was truly awful and the worst thing on TV for many, many years. It was even worse than Braveheart and I can think of no worse insult.<br>
<br>
If you haven't seen it yet, DON'T!!! <p></p><i></i>
