DVD : Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0026359795527
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Label: Hbo Home Video
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
Number Of Items: 11
Publisher: Hbo Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 07, 2007
Running Time: 1320 minutes
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: August 28, 2005
Sales Rank: 292
MPN: HBOD97955D

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 08/07/2007

Amazon.com:
Family dysfunction. Treachery. Betrayal. Coarse profanity. Brutal violence. Graphic (and sometimes brutal) sex. No, it's not The Sopranos, it's Rome, HBO's madly ambitious series that bloodily splatters the glory of Rome just as savagely as Monty Python and the Holy Grail soiled the good name of Camelot (but with far fewer laughs; very few funny things happen on the way to this forum). Set in 52 B.C. (Before Cable), Rome charts the dramatic shifts in the balance of power between former friends Pompey Magnus (Kenneth Cranham), leader of the Senate, and Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds), whose imminent return after eight years to Rome after conquering the Gauls, has the ruling class up in arms. At the heart of Rome is the odd couple friendship between two soldiers who fortuitously become heroes of the people. Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) is married, honorable, and steadfast. Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) is an amoral rogue whose philosophy is best summed up, "I kill my enemies, take their gold, and enjoy their women." Among Rome's most compelling subplots is Lucius's strained relationship with his wife, Niobe (Indira Varma), who is surprised to see her husband alive (but not as surprised as he is to find her upon his homecoming with a newborn baby in her arms!) Any viewer befuddlement over Rome's intrigues and machinations, and determining who is hero and who is foe, disappears the minute Golden Globe-nominee Polly Walker appears as Atia, Caesar's formidable niece and a villainess for the ages. In the first hour alone, she offers her already married daughter as a bride to the recently widowed Pompey. Rome is a painstakingly mounted production that earned eight well-deserved Emmy nominations in such categories as costumes, set design, and art direction. Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter) was honored with a Director's Guild Award for the first episode, "The Stolen Eagle." But artistic considerations aside, instantly addicted viewers will agree with Atia, who notes at one point, "I adore the secrecy, the intrigue. It's most thrilling."

Season 2 begins in the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, and charts the power struggle to fill his sandals between "vulgar beast" Mark Antony (James Purefoy) and "clever boy" Octavian (Simon Woods), who is surprisingly named Caesar's sole heir. The series' most compelling relationship is between fellow soldiers and unlikely friends, the honorable Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus "Violence is the only trade I know" Pullo (Ray Stevenson), who somewhat reverse roles when Vorenus is overcome with grief in the wake of his wife's suicide. Season 2 considerably ups the ante in the rivalry between Atia (an Emmy-worthy Polly Walker), who is Antony's mistress, and Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) with attempted poisonings and sickening torture. Another gripping subplot is Vorenus's estrangement from his children, who, at the climax of the season opener are presumed slaughtered, but whose true fate may be even more devastating to the father who cursed them. Rome's second season does not scrimp on the series' sex and violence, in both cases exceedingly brutal. But in this cauldron of treachery and betrayal, words, too, are vicious, as when a defiant Atia ominously tells Octavian's new wife, Livia, "Far better women that you have sworn to [destroy me]. Go look for them now." In writing Rome's epitaph, we come to praise this series, not to bury it. Although two seasons was not enough to establish a Rome empire, it stands as one of HBO's crowning achievements. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Magic BBC & HBO Collaboration
The BBC has a justified worldwide reputation for producing top-draw dramas, and HBO has a reputation for producing hardcore dramas such as The Sopranos.
Although I was a bit skeptical about this tie-up, it worked pretty well in Rome. I ordered both Season 1 and Season 2 from Amazon, and loved every minute of both of them.
It's a crying shame that there will be no Season 3, because the viewer numbers were not good enough. Everyone wants reality tv these days, it seems....humph!
My ... Read More

Rating:

- Rome, Seasons 1 and 2
This series is great! I've watched many shows about Rome(a notable one being I, Claudias) but this is my favorite. I like that it's told from the point of view of the common soldier. Vorenus and Pullo seem as though thay really existed.

The show was shot in Rome and used Roman extras, and this added a sense of realism to it. If you are bothered by full frontal nudity, you may not like it, as there is a lot of sex.

I do confess I have a crush on Kevin McKidd who plays Vorenus. ... Read More

Rating:

- Awesome to watch
Loved the series, hoping for season 3. This is a great series based on history.

Rating:

- Rome: Television's finest hours
This captivating, compelling, culturally accurate rendition of ancient Rome is a well-written, acted, directed, staged, and screened story of two soldiers. Their story intertwines with Julius Caesar, Brutus, Anthony, and Cleopatra. Rome captures the world of Rome in detail, from the music, to the graffitti on the walls, the town crier, the orgies, the parades, the gladiator pit, the calender, life at the family dinner table, the slaves, the religious rites, the street gangs, homosexuals, the Jews, Egyptians, ... Read More

Rating:

- Ordering Both Seasons from Amazon is Most Likely a Bootleg
DVD's and case are made of good quality material. All DVD's are viewable, but are similar to the 'Complete 1-6' of the Sopranos...unauthorized boxset with bootleg DVDs. The actual DVDs have Chinese writing on them...and a small logo on the back is burned off (on every disc).

Note that some players have issues with these. Better off buying both seasons seperately.

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