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"Roar" More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 42 reviews in total |
48 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
Another show with potential assassinated by its own network, 16 May 2004
Author:
balkaster from United States
geoffw (see below) is quite right about what happened to this show:
poor network marketing support (complicated by network interference
with the concept). The Christian Right had nothing to do with its
cancellation, and the individual who suggested that is out of touch
with the facts.
The fact is that this was another wonderfully original and
well-developed concept from Shawn Cassidy (who also created 'American
Gothic', among others) that was mis-marketed by FOX. Apparently FOX
wanted to grab some of the riches generated by camp sword and sorcery
shows like 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' and 'Xena: Warrior
Princess'. They gave Roar very little marketing support (I remember
vague promos showing people in leather armor that gave no idea what the
show was about), and what little support they did give it implied it
was a Hercules/Xena clone. It wasn't. When the wrong audience tuned in
and rejected it, FOX started moving it all over the schedule, again
without proper marketing support. They also applied pressure to the
producers to dumb it down and make it more like Hercules/Xena. Watch a
marathon on Sci-Fi sometime, and you will notice the following
network-inspired trends:
1) The importance of Conor's struggle to unite the Irish clans
diminishes. By the middle of the series, his efforts in this regard are
only described in throwaway dialog and aren't seen on screen. These
efforts should have provided the meat of the series. What table scraps
we do get imply that the mission was effortless, which it certainly
would not have been (clan rivalries historically prevented the Irish
from uniting for the common good, which is how the English got a
foothold centuries later). We frequently see Conor and Fergus
travelling aimlessly about doing good deeds (instead of raising a
resistance against the Romans) ala Hercules and Iolaus.
2) The importance of Conor's war band withers over the course of the
series, until finally they don't even appear -- even though they are
still credited as regular characters. By midway through the show's run,
we usually see Conor and Fergus travelling alone, despite the fact that
Conor is an important king who should be regarded as a deadly enemy by
the Romans.
2) Vera Farmiga's costume becomes smaller and smaller, until the
introduction of Melissa George as Molly, after which the character of
Caitlin is rarely seen at all. Obviously a misguided attempt to "sex it
up", and when the writers couldn't distort the Conor-Caitlin
relationship enough to permit romance, they introduced a new love
interest.
3) Originally intensely dramatic, with tragic loves, murky intrigues,
murders and double-crosses, by mid-run it had become a campy adventure
comedy.
4) The character of Longinus was a well-crafted and mysterious villain
with tons of potential. Unfortunately, with the tone of the show
shifting, he simply wasn't silly enough, so they unsuitably disposed of
the character (it violated the integrity of the character to have him
fall victim to such a plot) and made the ridiculously camp Diana the
sole villain.
This could have been a great show, and it didn't hurt that the cast is
actually quite competent. But I suspect that -- after the failure of
'American Gothic' -- Cassidy was willing to do anything to keep his new
masters happy. Unfortunately it diminished his vision, and killed the
show.
Ultimately, Roar became indistinguishable from the ilk of
Hercules/Zena, but because the characters weren't designed to be camp
it couldn't compete with that class of show. Had FOX left well enough
alone and helped it to find the RIGHT audience, we would at the very
least have a great short-lived series to collect on home video. Now, we
don't even have that.
14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Well thought out, 18 June 1999
Author:
Rory O'Kelly (rok2@tinet.ie) from Ireland
I first saw this show about a year ago. They aired the whole season over
here, because as it was set in Ireland, it saved our networks lots of time
and money,and made them look good.
It mixed a good amount of historical detail with myth, and plenty of
swords
and sorcery. It also was completely devoid of stereotypical irish stuff
like
leprechauns and dodgy accents (because half of the cast were from
NewZealand). This made it appeal to everyone here as well. It was also
full
of kick ass battles and warrior babes, with some classy characters, and a
great villain in the form of Sébastian roche (the peacemaker, merlin) as
the
Roman Centurion who tortured christ on the cross, and was cursed with
immortality. It really was a good story, and should be brought back as
soon
as possible!
18 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
Why, oh why?, 31 August 2000
Author:
gwenbaggins (gwenbaggins@hotmail.com) from Johannesburg, South Africa
I accidently taped Roar one day and having nothing else to watch, decided to give it a go. It was one of the best TV shows I have EVER seen. It was funny and so well written, and the fact that Ledger is so good just added to it's perfection. And then - GONE!!! When I saw Ledger a few months later in "10 Things I hate about you" I knew then and there that (a) Ledger would not be doing his Conor thing again and (b) without Ledger as Conor, there was no Roar. So, again we were given the taste of near-perfect entertainment to only have it ripped away from us.
10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A promising beginning allowed to die on the vine, 17 February 2005
Author:
aynnepm from United States
I saw this show when it first came on and I applauded the original line
they were taking. I loved the depiction of the struggle against the
encroachment of the Roman troupes.
By the end, with the serious dumbing down they committed I only
lamented the end of the original promise. I'd love to find a DVD copy
of what little there was. FOX blew this one seriously with the tacky
shift in focus and the lack of support. I've never completely
understood why they couldn't expand on the relationship between Kat and
Connor. There was a deep feeling of respect between them and during
that time in history, pagan and Christian, if they came to an
understanding between them intermarried easily enough. Especially in
the early days of Christian introduction to the Celtic tribes. Molly
was a distraction, an interesting character but a distraction from the
relationship of Kat and Connor. Disappointing in the lack of
development of either relationship.
I'd like to thank SciFi for giving me a chance to see it once in a
while again.
12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
One of the best Tv. series I've ever seen, 15 July 1999
Author:
Spider-36 from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
When the series ran during the summer of 1997, I watched every single episode. Each episode was full of history, excitement, good writing and most importantly, drama. These things are sorely missing from poorly done series like Hercules or Xena, whose only appeal is the size of Sorbo's muscles or Lawless' chest, respectively. Unfortunately, T.V. producers would rather make idiotic shows like "Worlds Most Dangerous/Funniest/Stupidest/home videos" or maybe just another ripoff of Melrose Place (Thank God that's gone!) Roar must be brought back !!
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Agree we need to see more Roar!, 24 April 2005
Author:
cazheartlight from Australia
Completely agree with other comment here about this great series, Roar. When it first showed I was absolutely blown away by the then fairly unknown Heath Ledger, aside from being easy on the eye he was a fabulous young actor and every week I wanted more Roar. This show had it all, brilliant acting, wonderful cinematography and directing, great cast, exciting story lines, passion, intrigue, fighting and magic - what more could they possibly want? At a time when Zena and Hercules were getting huge ratings Roar should definitely have been a winner. When it suddenly disappeared from the screen "disappointed" did not cover it - years later I spotted it's name slotted at midnight in the TV guide for two weeks running - so I taped it - only to get late night shopping instead! It never showed that I could see. Obviously Heath Ledger is too big a name now if the series continued but there are plenty of other great young actors who might attempt to fill his shoes as "Conor" - or simply rerunning the series would be big ratings now he is who he is. Maybe I just miss his Irish accent?
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
What happened to Roar?, 24 April 2003
Author:
Barry Goodsmith from West Orange, NJ
Before he became a household name and invaded the dreams of almost every
teenaged girl in North America, Heath Ledger starred in a little known
action adventure series called "Roar."
I remember singing "Roar"'s praises when Fox first premiered it as a summer
fill-in six years ago. It was a daring show--an action adventure series
which took place in Celtic Ireland in the 5th century CE (1200 years before
Shakespeare) starring a cast of unknowns. The story lines were great: a
reluctant hero fulfill his destiny by uniting clans against the Romans. It
lasted maybe eight or ten episodes, but it was a smart, imaginative,
entertaining drama.
(I watched an episode on Sci-Fi last night, trying to figure out where I
know Sebastian Roche (Longinus, the immortal) from. He played heavy metal
star C-Square in an episode of "Law & Order.")
10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Can I get a kickass?, 18 June 2000
Author:
swingkid1027 (swingkid1027@aol.com) from New York
Could this show just BE anymore kickin'? I loved it!!! It was sooo cool. I
cried when I found out that it was cancelled. EVIL FOX! Why did I like
it?
Well, first I've always been drawn to Celtic mythology and this surpassed
my
expectations in using it. The acting was great, the music kicked, and the
writing was so great I can't believe it. Why do shows like this ALWAYS get
cancelled???
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Rarity that made watching TV great!, 27 September 2006
Author:
arasiriel from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
ROAR was a rarity in TV viewing. Hands down. Not only did you have a period piece, but it was a period piece with a soul that beat through out it. In reading one review I saw mentioned about lack of character development. Well, they didn't have much chance for it after being shut down after only 8 episodes being aired (in the USA). Yes some episodes were campy and others were down right tear wrenching. But there was no doubt from the beginning this show marched to the beat of a different drum from other shows like Xena and Hercules which invaded the scene at the same time. Perhaps it was the lack of marketing promise since the whole pulse of the show was spiritual rather than "fun" and action hero figure inducing. Or it could have been the 1 million an episode that FOX couldn't take on. Perhaps it was a little of both. The one thing I do know it wasn't the audience rating which remained pretty high for a summer first run. Today, it has a cult following all over the globe, repeats are aired on the SciFi channel all the time. It was just now released on DVD (though disappointed they left out all of Loreena McKennitt's songs and they don't have the episodes in their right order *grrrrr!* but still just as magical). If you love Celtic myths and legends, a show which is spiritual (including Druidic and Christian beliefs that merge), you love action and adventure and you want to view a show that makes you FEEL something... makes you laugh and cry (sometimes at the same time) get the DVD. You WILL NOT be disappointed.
6 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
NOT Boring, 22 December 2004
Author:
DireWolf-4 from United States
If one sits to watch 5 straight hours of anything, it might get boring.
But taken an hour at a time, this was a tremendous series. The scenery
and music are great, the story lines are interesting, and 7 years later
it is fun to see what these actors looked like back in the day.
I am glad that Sci Fi is re-showing the series. I will record (TiVo) it
when it airs, but watch an hour at a time during the winter rerun
season.
And I think I will create my own set of DVDs of the series -- too bad
FOX Network. I would have paid you a lot of money for DVDs of this
series.
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