Accuracy of HBO Series: Rome (would like opinions before buy

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

That's odd. Christians were already overly represented in the old movies about Rome (even Burton's Alexander foresaw them!). Why dig them out once again for such a secular series like "Rome"?
I would have preferred to watch Vorenus rising to centurio (or primus pilus?) in Caesar's Gallic campaigns. Or, alternatively, his son joining the Eagles and marching with Drusus to Germania or Tiberius to Illyricum. Many things would be much more entertaining than the same old clichés about Jesus.

I agree 100%

[M. Demetrius]

Well, back on the orginal, my recommendation would be, if you have the 60 or so dollars to spare, buy it, and you will most likely find it money well spent, for the time you invest in watching it. I don't know anybody who owns the DVDs that hasn't watched more than once. It sort of grows on you. Some of the story lines are well intertwined and give a good look at Roman family life, and to a certain extent the internal workings of the various families jockeying for position in the upper classes.

Anybody have any updates on the progress of the next set of programs?

[texascavtrooper]

Ok I don't know about 60 or 70 bucks for the two seasons. I only paid 20 buck for both seasons. Oh yes I forgot I got them at the Iraqi market.Sorry :lol: mrgreen: Anyway I bought the real sets as well and it was worth every penny!!!! I think I've watched them three times already. My soldiers and I had a Rome night twice a week. The guys here would always bug me to let them watch ahead of the others. Once you start watching you don't want to stop. I think this is one of the best shows out there. But that's just me. Buy it, Buy it, Buy it!!!!!!!!! :lol:

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I definately agree with Bryan, I watched the whole ofthe first series offshift in about 2 nights, event though I had see nthe series not too long before that! And several times since then. 8)

[Narukami]

Amazon has just announced they are accepting pre-orders for the complete HBO Rome on Blu Ray for $97.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0028R ... il_title_1

For those of you on the cutting edge of technology, who already have an HD monitor and a PS3 or BD player the choice is no choice at all.

For the rest of us, could this be the title that finally drives you to purchase that 52" LCD monitor or the PS3 BD player?

:wink:

Narukami

[Wander]

I saw that. I already have both seasons on regular DVD, but I was tempted to buy this one anyway. Do you know if it has any additional features that the original DVD sets don't have? That might justify the upgrade decision...

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

Well the word on the street is the PS3 will drop significantly in price come next month. If it drops so much as $100.00 or more than I'm picking one up just for the Blu-ray player. I think in the long run HD is going to be the winner here, but Blu-ray does look pretty sweet.

Then of course I'll be getting the series (though I own it already and can't get enough of it). I really wish they would do a series based on the reign of Octavian.

Now what bugged me about the show was the mix of this and that. Here you have a shot from Gaul... and what do they throw into the mix, a curved (Republican) scutum and straight edged (Imperial) scutum.



But my understanding of the era is that the Republican was used then phased out as the Augustan came into use. So anyone viewing the show without much knowledge would be confused. You then have stuff like the helmet which appears to me as an Imperial Italic helmet modified... but in the wrong era?



I think soldiers even carried the Pompeii style sword in the show, and then there's the yellow, white, etc tunic colors. Lots of confusing mixes of armors, weapons, etc. Makes for better Hollywood than to follow history closely I suppose.

Would be interesting if someone could create a list (a thread dedicated to it) of all the discrepancies from the show. That way the un-educated (like me) wouldn't be so confused by the show. I saw it years ago when it first came out and some of things I saw I thought was correct. Come later to find out they weren't. It seemed much more realistic than say 300 which totally butchered any sense of realism.

[M. Demetrius]

Would be interesting if someone could create a list (a thread dedicated to it) of all the discrepancies from the show. That way the un-educated (like me) wouldn't be so confused by the show.

I'm sure many would agree that the shorter list of this and other film/video productions about Rome would be what the got right.

I have come to expect they'll botch history pretty badly, but overall, I think Rome was a very entertaining program. I thought the switch between the two Octavians was a little abrupt, but the second one did a good job, once I got used to who he was. He had that stern look that the first one did not.

[Wander]

I agree that the switch between Octavians was abrupt, but given the years that were supposed to pass between the siege of Alesia (where the series began, IIRC) and the end, with Titus Pullo talking to Cesarion, they couldn't possibly stay with the same young (but admittedly good) actor who started as Octavian.

And once the change is deemed necessary, when better to do it than between seasons?

The jarring note comes because of the way the series compresses time -- even if we ignore the enforced rush of the second season, the first season took us, in a few months, from Alesia (52 BC) to Caesar's assassination (44 BC) -- eight years. While it made it look like it all happened in a few weeks, I guess the producers didn't want to go so far into stretching history as to have Octavian taking on Marcus Antonius while seeming 14 years old. (He was 19 in 44 BC, and should be 32 when Antonius is defeated at Actium.)

Given the realities of producing a show or movie, I don't think we'll ever see 100% accuracy. But while I agree a lot of things could be better, I still think HBO's series is one of the better portrayals.

[Narukami]

Wander,

There are no details as yet concerning additional scenes, material, supplements, etc for the Blu Ray release, but adding more is SOP for BD releases so it would not surprise me. There should be some more details shortly.

Titus,

Yes, from our experience at work the PS3 is one of the best Blu Ray players at any price, though all of the manufacturers are now releasing some very good upper end models so there are more choices. Even so I'm happy with my PS3 and have no regrets there. (Now I just need to get an HD monitor... :oops: )

As for a price drop... E3 is coming up in a couple of weeks and all the majors players (Sony, Nintendo, etc.) love to steal the spot light from each other with a big announcement a day or two before the show officially opens. A price drop would be news, and a big price drop would be big news. If there is a price cut (despite the denials to the contrary) it will happen at E3. My daughter is looking for a price drop on the Wii -- not sure she will be that lucky, but we will know in a couple of weeks.

Sony is talking about a NEW motion sensitive controller and that may be their big announcement for the show. However word leaked out on that weeks ago so not much of a Show Stopping Announcement if that is it. :?

http://www.e3.net/

:wink:

Narukami

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

I'm hoping that the recent poll of the systems placing PS3 4th in the running (even behind Playstation 2) will spark the price drop. They're losing a LOT of money. As for the Wii the current price is perfect as far as I was concerned. I picked one up on a fluke (this is when they were nowhere to be found, and walking through the store I spotted the last one on the shelf while shopping for something completely different). Not sure how old your daughter is... but they are definitely worth the cost. If they go down in price then all the better.

As for the Rome Blu-ray... it would be nice to have some added scenes. Not sure what was left over after they edited it for television air time but the original DVD set didn't have much extra. So who knows... at least the quality will be fantastic.

[Justin of the New Yorkii]

Quite frankly, a perfectly accurate depiction of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey would make for a much less entertaining drama. The sources we have tend to focus on the higher-ups of Roman society, with very little information about what life was like for the average people.

Sure, the plotlines they wrote for the legionaries Vorenus and Pullo are a bit implausible at times, but it's nice to see an authentic, if not entirely accurate, depiction of the ups and downs of everyday life for the average person in Rome during Caesar's time. I'd rather see this than watch simply an account of how glorious the rich and famous folks of the era were.

The acting and cinematography alone make the series worth watching. If you watch the series hoping for a supremely accurate account of the civil war, you're looking for the wrong thing. But if you're interesting in a compelling drama that provides an authentic "feel" of the dynamics in ancient Rome, you'll enjoy it.

[Wander]

What I've always liked best about the series is that it provides what is, to my mind, the best and most realistic image of what life in the city was probably like. It's not the "white city" we saw in Spartacus and Ben Hur, or even Gladiator -- it's got dirt, grit, crime, graffiti, all the things that make it look lived in. You can almost smell it.

Sure, it's got a little more sex and violence than some people like -- but so did the city. It's one of the best blends of history and watchable, engaging drama I've ever seen.

[Titus Juventius Tertius]

What I've always liked best about the series is that it provides what is, to my mind, the best and most realistic image of what life in the city was probably like. It's not the "white city" we saw in Spartacus and Ben Hur, or even Gladiator -- it's got dirt, grit, crime, graffiti, all the things that make it look lived in. You can almost smell it.

Sure, it's got a little more sex and violence than some people like -- but so did the city. It's one of the best blends of history and watchable, engaging drama I've ever seen.

Definitely thought the same. You can see the difference between classes, and really see how very different life probably was between sections of the city. Even if most of what was in the show may not be backed up by actual evidence... it was "realistic".

[Lunico]

I always wondered why the movie makers decided to use these kind of helmets. As far as I know these are the type that are depicted on the trajan's column. These helmets aren't the right ones for caesar's troops and the accuracy of the depictions is questionable. Does anyone know of a reasonable explanation for that?