02-20-2005, 05:32 PM
Rented the DVD "Augustus" and watched it over the last two nights. And, shoot me with a ballista bolt, but I didn't think it was awful. Not terrific, by any stretch of imagination, but not awful.<br>
<br>
Of course, my teeth started grinding whenever those leather loricae showed up onscreen (which was often), and a lot of the gear (especially officer's helmets) looked cheap and ill-fitting, and all the battle scenes were pretty crummy (especially the battle of Munda, which made no sense-- why did Pompey's army charge out of their nice, well-defended fort to engage Caesar's guys in the open? What were those massive, silvery spear-like things they were chucking?). But if you could look past all that, if you could ignore anything remotely military...<br>
<br>
I thought it was a rather affecting Roman soap opera. Some of the interior sets were great, and the scene of O'Tool/Augustus walking through the populace in a simple tunic and big floppy sun hat, pressing the flesh, was so completely at odds with the usual scenes of a Roman swathed in purple and gold, sitting imperiously on a high platform somewhere, that I was rather completely won over by it. I thought Charlotte Rampling made a great Livia, and I liked the way they kept you guessing as to whether she was an evil poisoner a la Robert Graves' version, or a cool, calculating but ultimately devoted wife. I also liked the Canadian dude who played the younger Augustus and the studly fellow who played Agrippa; the guy who played Maecaenus was just too over-the-top gay, but I liked the mere fact that Agrippa and Maecaenus were even characters in this story, that with Augustus they formed a sort of Roman "Three Musketeers" devoted to serving the Roman state.<br>
<br>
And I liked the fact that Augustus finally got his due as a great statesman in a motion picture. In "Cleopatra" he is an emotionless, evil little runt; in "I, Claudius," he is a buffoon at the mercy of his sinister wife. Here, is a complex human being, weighed down by the burden thrust upon him, emotionally torn apart by the turmoil within his family, but ultimately a decent man with the best interests iof the Roman people at heart. That's the way I've always thought of him, and I admit that my inclination to like this movie is colored by the fact that the producers agree with me about his character.<br>
<br>
And, hell, I'll see anything with Peter O'Tool in it. Even when he's not at his best, he still towers above most of today's actors.<br>
<br>
T. Flavius Crispus<br>
Leg VI VPF<br>
CA, USA<br>
<br>
By the way, Theodosius, what the heck have you got against Hadrian, anyway? His life would make for a fine movie in this vein. I would imagine Titus/Vespasian (and probably some of Domitian) will be subjects of the same movie, since their stories overlap more or less ocmpletely. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flaviuscrispus@romanarmytalk>FlaviusCrispus</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/legiovi/vwp?.dir=/Flavius+photo&.src=gr&.dnm=flavhead2.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 2/20/05 6:39 pm<br></i>
<br>
Of course, my teeth started grinding whenever those leather loricae showed up onscreen (which was often), and a lot of the gear (especially officer's helmets) looked cheap and ill-fitting, and all the battle scenes were pretty crummy (especially the battle of Munda, which made no sense-- why did Pompey's army charge out of their nice, well-defended fort to engage Caesar's guys in the open? What were those massive, silvery spear-like things they were chucking?). But if you could look past all that, if you could ignore anything remotely military...<br>
<br>
I thought it was a rather affecting Roman soap opera. Some of the interior sets were great, and the scene of O'Tool/Augustus walking through the populace in a simple tunic and big floppy sun hat, pressing the flesh, was so completely at odds with the usual scenes of a Roman swathed in purple and gold, sitting imperiously on a high platform somewhere, that I was rather completely won over by it. I thought Charlotte Rampling made a great Livia, and I liked the way they kept you guessing as to whether she was an evil poisoner a la Robert Graves' version, or a cool, calculating but ultimately devoted wife. I also liked the Canadian dude who played the younger Augustus and the studly fellow who played Agrippa; the guy who played Maecaenus was just too over-the-top gay, but I liked the mere fact that Agrippa and Maecaenus were even characters in this story, that with Augustus they formed a sort of Roman "Three Musketeers" devoted to serving the Roman state.<br>
<br>
And I liked the fact that Augustus finally got his due as a great statesman in a motion picture. In "Cleopatra" he is an emotionless, evil little runt; in "I, Claudius," he is a buffoon at the mercy of his sinister wife. Here, is a complex human being, weighed down by the burden thrust upon him, emotionally torn apart by the turmoil within his family, but ultimately a decent man with the best interests iof the Roman people at heart. That's the way I've always thought of him, and I admit that my inclination to like this movie is colored by the fact that the producers agree with me about his character.<br>
<br>
And, hell, I'll see anything with Peter O'Tool in it. Even when he's not at his best, he still towers above most of today's actors.<br>
<br>
T. Flavius Crispus<br>
Leg VI VPF<br>
CA, USA<br>
<br>
By the way, Theodosius, what the heck have you got against Hadrian, anyway? His life would make for a fine movie in this vein. I would imagine Titus/Vespasian (and probably some of Domitian) will be subjects of the same movie, since their stories overlap more or less ocmpletely. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flaviuscrispus@romanarmytalk>FlaviusCrispus</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/legiovi/vwp?.dir=/Flavius+photo&.src=gr&.dnm=flavhead2.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 2/20/05 6:39 pm<br></i>
T. Flavius Crispus / David S. Michaels
Centurio Pilus Prior,
Legio VI VPF
CA, USA
"Oderint dum probent."
Tiberius
Centurio Pilus Prior,
Legio VI VPF
CA, USA
"Oderint dum probent."
Tiberius
