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06-06-2003, 03:35 PM

I saw a commercial announcing a new mini-series on Caesar. shows on 29 and 30 JUNE from 2000-2200 hrs on Turner Network Televison (TNT). The story will start from Caesar's youth. didn't see any battle scenes. Web-site gives impression that is mainly about interpersonal relations but I hope they will cover some battles, (I'd hope Alesia and Pgarsalus at least) I don't see how you could do a movie/mini-series on Caesar without showing the military aspect. 
 
Unfortunately TNT has not impressed me with its previous history based movies. Attila was a farce as was Tecumseh and Geronimo. Buffalo Soldiers was OK. We'll see how this turns out.

Los456 · 06-07-2003, 10:00 PM

I don't think Attila was TNT, that was a USA network production. 
 
Los

06-08-2003, 03:44 AM

Attila was definitely a USA production (the same network that recently aired Helen of Troy) and it was definitely terrible! I didn't see TNT's Tecumseh or Geronimo, however I did see and liked Andersonville. But I understand that mine is a minority opinion in regards to that miniseries. 
 
I also hope that they cover the Battle of Alesia- after the terrible treatment given it in that wholly terrible movie, Druids. 
Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=historygeek>historygeek</A> at: 6/8/03 5:47 am

Caius Fabius · 06-22-2003, 02:10 AM

Next weekend TNT will be showing.... "His ambition knew no bounds. His military command became legendary. His arrogance would lead to his betrayal. TNT's Original miniseries CAESAR tells the remarkable story of one of the most powerful leaders in history and the men who ultimately betrayed him. This sweeping epic features an all-star cast, including Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under) in the title role, the late Academy AwardÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â®-nominated actor Richard Harris (The Field), Academy AwardÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â® winner Christopher Walken (The Deerhunter, Pulp Fiction), Golden GlobeÃƒâ€šÃ‚Â® nominee Chris Noth (Sex and the City) and Valeria Golino (Rain Man). The four-hour miniseries is a co-production of TNT, The DeAngelis Group and Five Mile River Films, along with Victory Media Group. Uli Edel (TNT's The Mists of Avalon and Purgatory; The Little Vampire) directs from a script by Peter Pruce and Craig Warner. Lorenzo Minoli (Jesus; TNT's Emmy Award-winning Joseph), Guido de Angelis (The Magnificent Ambersons) and Russell Kagan (Jesus; Nicholas' Gift) are the executive producers. Shot on location in Malta and Bulgaria, CAESAR will premiere on TNT on Sunday, June 29, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and conclude on Monday, June 30, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT)." 
(quoted from TNT website) 
................................................................................. 
 
I just finished watching this film, (although in Russian language) and I thought I'd give it a short review. 
 
The scenes with Richard Harris as "Sulla" are interesting. The film is dedicated to Richard Harris. Chris Noth actually is a good "Gn Pompey Magnus" and has a part that seems to be in touch with contemporary histories. (Christopher Walken makes a disturbing Cato!!!) 
Jeremy Sisto plays Julius Caesar, but no matter how good his performance he suffers from the writer's lack of historical research. There are several "facts" from Caesar's life that are butchered in this screen play. 
 
Caesar flees Sulla and is captured by pirates who keep him in chains. (No mention is made of what happened to the pirates....) ou are left to suppose that Pompey kills them, maybe. 
Don't watch this film for the armor, although from time to time there are some almost accurate helmets or hamata, (especially the Macedonian helmets!.) 
There is a good battle shot with the "Celts" charging up a hill, in what looks like a similar terrain situation to what Peter Connolly showed us as the battlefield for the Helvetii. 
There is a good visual of Vercingetorix's forces who ambush Marc Anthony and kill 14,000 cavalry. (????) The computerized cavalry column looks cool. The siege of Alesia is accomplished without any battle scenes, but the oncoming relief force actually is computerized on to terrain that looks a bit like the area of Alesia! Again, it is probably an accident. The legion(s) waiting by the Rubicon are interesting, although at least 40+ years out of date with their armor, (if you like leather segmentata you'll be happy). 
There is no nudity, so you can show it uncut on TNT or in the classroom. I would rate this one to add to your collection, but not to use as a reference, except for some of the civilian costumes. 
You might want to set your VCR to record some more amusement along the line of a bloodless "Gladiator". There are better versions of "Julius Caesar" already on film! "Just before class started, I looked in the big book where all the world's history is written, and it said...." Neil J. Hackett, PhD ancient history, professor OSU, 1987

06-22-2003, 04:24 AM

No nudity! 
 
Outrageous! 
 
But will it come out on DVD or VHS. Wife refuses to cut a Purchase Order for cable. 
 
"If the Romans didnt have cable why should you want it!" 
 
Gaius

Los456 · 06-30-2003, 01:26 AM

Saw the first part tonight and thought it was alright. Good story. The fighting didn't really start till 90 mins in and then little snippets and fade-ins of fighting. Though things are all set up for a big ALesia battle at the beginning of part two. 
 
Los

Los456 · 06-30-2003, 12:59 PM

BTW it's clear that the focus of this film is more about the relationship with Pompei, his wife, Cato, etc then it is about his generalship. The viewer is only meant to take away (at least from the first episode), that Ceasar goes up to Gaul to fight (and in his mind he needs military vctories to gain power). There's no mention made of his time in hispania (and raising legions, in the movie he gets legions form Pompei) or many details about the Gaul campiagns until he deals with Alesia. (just fade in fade out snippets of the fighting.) 
 
So in that vein to date it's not much of a combat film, though I suspect that will change a small amount in part 2. Someone mentioned before that all the legionaries are pretty much decked out in segmentata, but at least everyone has kit with that grubby, mish-mashed, muddy, dulled-out appearance of troops on campaign so that is good. there are some nice little details, i.e. the Seubi with their distinctive hair knots and what-not, the Western Archers uniforms right out of the Corvus Belli 15mmm range, etc. 
 
Anyway definately worth a watch so far as it is an interesting story, with some liberties taken I am sure. 
 
Los

06-30-2003, 03:39 PM

It was just OK, IMO, as the Sulla depiction was laughable in the extreme - he is shown trashing the senate in favor of the "people". He also pulls a Caligula type move by having a senator executed who dared ask him who he was going to kill next. Ha! 
 
The depiction of Roman politics was also weird - to say the least. What I gleaned from the movie is that you became council for life and that only Pompie and Caesar where so annointed. Oh, and what the heck happened to Crassus?? 
 
Still it is better than nothing. 
 
Barkhorn. Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=barkhorn1x>Barkhorn1x</A> at: 6/30/03 5:41 pm

Los456 · 07-01-2003, 12:36 AM

Yeah actually I have to revise my mini-review a tad. Cato seems to be more a central character in this film then Pompei. Heck the whole civil war up to the battle of Pharsallus is covered in like 10 seconds. The second episode focuses on things like Marc Anthony's change of heart towards Caesar and all the scheming and plotting. In fact a fair amount of the movie is dealing with sceming andn plotting eitehr by the Senate or other individuals against Caesar. The battle of Alesia does get a good fifteen minutes of hacking in slashing (and it's just that, it seems the Legionaries discard their shileds for one on one sword fighting once the shieldwalls collide.) Anyway still worth watching but no much fighting or legionary action. 
 
Los

Hibernicus · 07-01-2003, 03:53 AM

I saw it (yawn) and frankly I belie... 
.....zzzzzzz.zzzzzzz......zzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzzz.... 
 
Hibernic...... zzzzzzzzz......zzzzz

07-01-2003, 03:58 PM

I give this one a B for effort. They did use Roman gear, though from different periods (and did you catch Sulla's Spanish cuirass and 4th century eagle head sword?) The visualization of Rome of the period was good - a rather small, dingy city with a few impressive buildings. They compressed some characters and eliminated some others, but 4 hrs. (3 1/2 minus commercials) is way too short to tell this story. A 10-12 hr miniseries is needed. They did pretty well with what they had.

Los456 · 07-01-2003, 11:21 PM

I agree. At four hours they captured a good sense of the political intrigue in the senate and amongst Caesar's acquiantainces that contributed to his rise and downfall. I'd say les sthan 30 minutes of the whole movie had anything to do with the Army, which is a central part of his story. You'd need another four hours to flesh out Gaul, Hispania and the Civil War. 
 
Los

07-02-2003, 12:43 PM

Lorica Segmentata in the 1 century BC? 
 
3 Battle lines, each only 3 men deep? I could pull that off with the local marching band! 
 
Rarely does Hollywood understand that you are supposed to throw javelins. Roman miles just stand at attention, don't hunker down or charge the enemy. And then suddenly every last scutum has evaporated and everyone is engaged in one on one combat, no press of battle, no Roman lines, looks like a minor rumble. 
 
About the only thing I liked was the architecture. The orations were particularly poor when you consider the wealth of speeches that are recorded. The vocabulary was dumbed down and quite pedestrian. 
Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=paulusflaminius>Paulus Flaminius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://sc.communities.msn.com/tn/8F/52/PaulsPhotosofRomanLegionaires/1/43.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 7/2/03 5:12 pm

Los456 · 07-02-2003, 02:26 PM

A close look at the different segmentatas, shows that they must have pulled prop segmentata from all kinds of various sources. It was definately easier to come by then hamata. Movies have to work within budgets and they probably felt a better return on investment would be on the sets and buildings rather than making a thousand sets of Lorica Hamata complete with doublers and what not. I recognized some of the gear from "Masada" which was made back in the eighties. But then again it was clear that the movie never had any intention of focusing very much on the military aspects of Caeser's career. 
 
"Rarely does Hollywood understood that you are supposed to throw javelins." 
 
You know what movie has a good battle scene where the Romans discharge their Pila at once? "The Fall of the Roman Empire" an epic movie made back in the early sixties. It has a good balttle against the parthians (IIRC) where they discharge Pila. 
 
"And then suddenly every last scutum has evaporated and everyone is engaged in one on one combat, no press of battle, no Roman lines, looks like a minor rumble." 
 
I found this the most perplexing part of the little fighting they did show. I mean, the Gauls retauined their sheilds in the fighting, why not the Romans? Didn't make sense. I undertsand that the battles in real life weren't these neat things many believe and then ultimately any fight that went long enough devolves into an SCA-like scrum(even they maintain shield walls for some time), but the movie didn't even attempt to show it. 
 
Los 
 
Someday I'll have to rip the best parts from each roman battle and maybe I can put together one proper battle.

NightHunter24 · 07-21-2003, 10:10 PM

wow.....'The Fall of the Roman Empire'....a classic in my eyes...it's been a while since I last saw that movie. They did a better job of depicting the Roman military than some of the crap that I've seen as of late...although I still enjoyed the movie Gladiator alot.

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