My wife and I bought the DVD because we couldn't find anything for this price and we had to spend a voucher. But the series was over our expectations! Hollywood made a lot of historically unauthentic movies with a lot of monumental scenes,and unrealistic characters (e.g. Gladiator) so I was a bit suspicious, but the good old BBC quality can't make you disappointed. The sets and costumes are perfect however the storyline and the characters are in focus. Battle scenes were smartly made to keep the budget lower. I was glad to see Gracchus, the Jewish rebels and Constantine besides Nero and Caesar. The quality is very even throughout the episodes, I found only Rebellion a bit worse. The theme itself (based upon Flavius's book) was not too popular with screenwriters and the fact that they made an attempt at it is OK, though the plot of this episode doesn't really have a point as a drama. And nor Flavius, nor the zealots, neither Titus, nor Vespasianus were real heroes. The writers couldn't really grasp their personalities. After all, it's a must see for every lover of historical movies!
Reviews
4 Reviews
Would have been better, but worth watching if you've seen the first
27 November 2008
In the other half of the 1990’s Scream started a horror revival. Horror movies became financially successful again. However movies of that era were more or less rip offs of Scream: teenage horrors like I Know What You Did Last Summer. The Blair Witch Project with its previous media hype, was something completely different. And of course it was a fake documentary without special effects, kind of a fresh breeze. I have seen it in a theatre in 2000. Some of you who might have seen it only on a TV screen believe me: it was scarier on the big screen, in the dark room. Anyway, let’s talk about its sequel which was mocked by horror fans all over the world. If anyone hates sequels, I am that guy, but I know that film industry doesn’t have any hindrance, especially when it comes to sequels. So I faced the fact that a sequel exists and dared to see Book of Shadows: Blair Witch Project 2 (Note that there isn’t a Book of Shadows in the story!!! :-)). I think that this movie has the same problem that many movies (especially horrors) have nowadays: the writers and the directors didn’t have a sense for rhythm. SPOILER! I just watched and watched and I were 50 minutes into the movie and nothing really happened. Then came the interesting part after they watched the tapes and strange things started to happen. What is happening in the first part? We see a bunch of young tourists going to see the haunted house known from the first movie. They arrive, meet another group who go elsewhere, then they start to get bored and then have a party drinking alcohol and smoking pot. During these they are talking a LOT. We learn that BWP was only a movie for them just like for us, real viewers, and I think it’s a great twist and a good starting point for a sequel. END OF SPOILER. When I’m into a horror flick and nothing scary, even interesting happens in the first part of the movie I press STOP on the player. But I was patient, and my patience was rewarded. I don’t wanna spoil the ending of the movie. I have to tell you that I really liked it and if there is a way to make a sequel to the one and only Blair Witch Project, this is it. They didn’t explain the mysteries of the first part, they remain mysteries, on the top of that, we have another mystery now. They didn’t put a lot of special effects into it, at the same time it’s not a fake documentary made with a handycam. It is a psychological horror, just like the first part. As I said before, the only problem is the rhythm: if I recut the movie, the first 50 minutes would be densed into 25 minutes, and the last 30 minutes would be stretched to 40, even 50 minutes with an increasing suspense. And we would have 10-15 minutes for something that is not in the original script: meeting with some unfriendly Burkittsville folks or something like that :-) Anyway: if you really liked the first part, try this too.
Strange Days
(1995)
A forgotten, heavily underrated cinematic gem
10 November 2008
I've seen the trailer for this movie in the middle of the 1990's and I became interested in it but I missed the chance to see it. I've watched it last week and I was totally amazed by its consequent and tense storyline (very rare in these days!), the well written dialogs and the film noir references. I'm always glad to see a movie of a genre (like sci-fi or horror) and realize that it's nothing more than a good story witch could have taken place in any space or time. The makers of this movie didn't want to blow your mind with too much gadgets or fires and detonations. Note Ralph Fiennes acting in a period movie when the period is not before or during WWII!:-) He never was so "dirty" and cynical, and at the same time a hero! Just like Harrison Ford as Han Solo or Indy. I was surprised to see that James Cameron was the producer and even one of the writers. Will he ever make something similar? Maybe he did (The Abyss? I'm not sure). The cinematography is great: this is a variation of colors and lights and shadows but the whole picture has a cool, deep blue basic color. A typical example of a movie ahead of its time.
Batman Begins
(2005)
An average big budget action flick
5 November 2008
I was very interested in seeing this movie after the Tim Burton kind of Batman movies. I am not a real Batfan: I don't know much about the comic books and I just expected to see a great "fantasy" movie with interesting characters. Burton's movies were great. I knew that it will be darker now, but it was much more boring. It's an average big budget action flick. The writer and the director has no idea about a SUPERHERO: we got an average action hero of the Nicholas Cage/Steven Seagal type in a bat-suit. However, I haven't seen The Dark Knight movie with Heath Ledger yet and I still hope that it will be more exciting. See my comment there.
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