Recently I have been gathering any DVD's set in Ancient Rome and having seen so many recently I can truly say that this series is one of the best I have ever seen. Overall, I would only rank HBO's Rome higher. I saw A.D on television back when it first aired and it has stuck with me ever since. It is unique as it covers both the history of the Early Church and the Early Imperial period as well. The main problem with the abridged version available on DVD is that it cuts out the vast majority of the Early Imperial material and leaves only the material germane to the Early Church. Now even that is still worth seeking out as it has the greatest depictions of Peter, Paul and Stephen ever on film. It has only one of two appearances of the character Simon Magus ever on film (that I am aware of, the Silver Chalice being the other) and it is quite faithful theologically to the New Testament. But it is only half of the story! And that is a shame because there are so few films that deal as seriously with the Early Imperial period as this film does. I truly hope that whoever owns the right to this will see the light and release the full epic on DVD. Until then I am contemplating acquiring the VHS set and attempting to transfer it over to DVD myself. Yes it is THAT good!
Review of A.D.
