"ROME" The Complete Series DVD/Blu-ray Nov. 17th

[JamesG]

More West Wing than Gladiator, the HBO/BBC co-production ROME traces the tumultuous career of Gaius Julius Caesar -- from his rise to power to his assassination by members of the Roman Senate.

Meticulously detailed and filmed entirely on location in Italy, the series focuses on Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) and his intimates, including: his mistress Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) and her traitorous son Brutus (Tobias Menzies); his niece Atia (the gleefully wicked Polly Walker), great-nephew Octavian (the fantastic Max Pirkis), and great-niece Octavia (Kerry Condon); the famed general Mark Antony (James Purefoy); and the various principal players of the Senate, such as Cicero (David Bamber), Cato (Karl Johnson), and Scipio (Paul Jesson).

Fictional characters afford viewers a rank-and-file perspective on Caesar's takeover of Rome; they include Roman Legion officer Marcus Vorenus (Kevin McKidd); his wife, Niobe (Indira Varma), and their children; and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), a centurion under Vorenus's command.


Made with HBO's typical creative freedom and the BBC's eye for detail, ROME is a series that's worthy of multiple viewings on DVD.




Special Features:

- “All Roads Lead to Rome” provides information put together by the show’s historical consultant Jonathan Stamp, leaving very few gaps throughout the series’ runtime as it provides you with historical facts relevant to the scene and actions on-screen.

- “Bloodlines” functions the same as the above track, however, this track allows you to select a character from the menu, as it informs you of their connections, and blood-relations to other characters.

- “Episode Previews“





Audio Commentaries:

- Commentary on Episode 1 with Bruno Heller, and Jonathan Stamp.
- Commentary on Episode 2 with Bruno Heller, and Jonathan Stamp.
- Commentary on Episode 5 with Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo).
- Commentary on Episode 7 with Bruno Heller, and Jonathan Stamp.
- Commentary on Episode 7 with director John Maybury & Lindsay Duncan (Servilia).
- Commentary on Episode 8 with director Steve Shill.
- Commentary on Episode 8 with executive producer John Melfi & director Carl Franklin.
- Commentary on Episode 9 with director Jeremy Podeswa.
- Commentary on Episode 9 with James Purfoy (Marc Antony).
- Commentary on Episode 10 with Bruno Heller, and Jonathan Stamp.
- Commentary on Episode 11 with Kevin McKidd (Lucius Vorenus).
- Commentary on Episode 12 with Bruno Heller, and Jonathan Stamp.




Featurettes:

- “Friends, Romans, Countrymen”: includes a broad array of various topics concerning the series; the cast discuss their characters, the general Roman religion of multiple gods is analyzed and the series relevance to historical known accuracies to compared.


- “The Rise of Rome”: general discussion about the production’s physical development, such as the set design and building, filming on location in Rome, and recreating the setting to best as known of.


- “Shot X Shot: ‘Caesar’s Triumph’ ”: interviews with much of the crew as they discuss the details and effort put forth in making this sequence of the series shine, and to bring a realistic point of view to this history of this happening.


- “Shot X Shot: ‘Gladiator’ ”: nice summary of the production working on this scene, attempting to create a ‘gladiator’ sequence unlike any other seen in previous films.


- “A Tale of Two Romes”: details and facts in comparison to the show, really showing audiences how far the production team went to recreate the historical city, including factual information from Jonathan Stamp that you may have otherwise overlooked as simple creative production design.


- “The Making of ‘Rome, Season II’ ”: consists of discussions of the production’s obstacles in further developing the second season of the series. Here, you will find an informative facts about the extremes the crew and cast went through to create further depth of the story of Rome, following the history of the society’s rise of gangs, and the peeks of the city’s political decline.


- “The Rise of Octavian: Rome’s First Emperor”: discusses much of the factual history of the first Emperor; very much as likable as other supplements outlining Roman history.


- “Antony & Cleopatra”: is a historical outline of the general known history of the couple’s relationship in comparison to the series.