Product Description

A generously budgeted show jointly produced by HBO and the BBC ROME takes viewers back to 52 B.C. for a chance to relive the reign of Julius Caesar. Details have been painstakingly researched to ensure accuracy so both history buffs and viewers less versed in the ways of Caesar should find something to enjoy here. The show also contains intricately woven plots fine acting and stunning recreations of the ancient city. This release contains the first two seasons of the show.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 026359795527 Manufacturer No: 97955

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #818 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2007-08-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 11
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 1320 minutes

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

lavish production!
This show took my breath away and I just had to have it on DVD. A whole new world -- a world of blood and iron, of blazing sun and sinister shadow, of larger-than-life TRUE historical characters living and dying as human beings. All created and filmed in loving detail so that I felt I had really found a time warp to get back to one of my favorite historical periods. When I recommended this show to my friend, he said he didn't trust it because it ended after only two seasons -- but each season ended with a logical full stop in history so it made sense. No make-believe, no false drawing-out of the story to fill empty episodes like so many other TV series. When it's over, it's over -- except now I can enjoy it again with my DVDs. Whew! what a ride!

Great DVD Set
This is a great DVD set. Visually stunning and well written. I would recommend this to any adult who enjoys something a little "different". The acting is fantastic. If you like history you will like ROME. The sexual intonations in this show is quite interesting and can be very intense. Especially in how they treat the slaves. This show is not for the good little christian household.
If you shop for these two sets individually (Walmart, Target) you will pay about 79.00 for each, so getting them both at one time for 89.00 was a great deal.

A great two seasons
I was skeptical that this series would be in any way historically accurate, but it surprised me. The general time-lines, major events, and most of the major characters are all true. The producers took some liberties (as is to be expected) with a few of the main characters and some events, but it is overall pretty acurate. Both seasons were interesting and grabbed my attention. They are both pretty bloody and have a lot of sex scenes, but they do not detract from the plot. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good TV series or to anyone interested in history.