Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons
List Price:
Our Price: $89.99
You Save: $29.43 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $69.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: RomeBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 1320 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Movie Reviews of Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons
Movie Review: Rome season 1 & 2
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finished viewing both seasons of Rome in late June 2008.Personally I think both seasons are excellent. This is very good entertainment and should be enjoyed accordingly. Is it historically correct, no. But who cares, this is HBO, not the History Channel.Season 1 introduces most of the characters and focus on the strugle of Roman life.As in most cases the rich are the most interting.There continues be a struggle between two families and their interests. One backs the Ceasar, the other the Senate.This theme runs throghout the entire series. What makes it interesting is there are 3-4 subplots going on at the same time. This shows the common man strugles, the soldiers,the shop keepers,and general life in and around Rome.
Some of the battle scenes are the best and interesting to watch Roman superiority.Well organized, with a will to fight to the death.The characters are always interesting and each eposide moves to hold the viewers interest.
I would caution you about the nudity and language, as it may be undesirable or offensive. Certainly this is adult entertainment with lots of violence and blood. However for me this is one of the better projects HBO has produced.
This series has been far better than anything produced by Hollywood to watch this summer. Believe me, I am a big movie fan. No one film in the last 6 months comes close to entertaining you like Rome. Finally you do need to watch both seasons, as they are quite different.
Summary of Rome - The Complete First Two Seasons
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
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
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Best shows on Television
Rescue Me - The Complete First SeasonSony; Release date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $26.98
Price in other shops:
American Dad!, Vol. 2TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $21.48
Price in other shops:
American Dad!, Vol. 1TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-04-25; DVD
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops:
Burn Notice - Season OneBURN NOTICE - SEASON ONE (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-06-17; DVD
Best price: $26.43
Price in other shops:
Battlestar Galactica - Season ThreeUNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $32.28
Price in other shops:
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)Release date: 2005-12-20; DVD
Best price: $30.98
Price in other shops:
Battlestar Galactica - Season OneOLMOS,EDWARD JAMES; Release date: 2005-09-20; DVD
Best price: $36.99
Price in other shops:
Rome - The Complete First Two SeasonsWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-08-07; DVD
Best price: $74.00
Price in other shops:
Scrubs- Seasons 1-6Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $123.76
Price in other shops:
24 - Seasons 1 - 6Release date: 2007-12-04; DVD
Best price: $134.98
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Lost - The Complete Seasons 1-3Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $91.50
Price in other shops:
The Sopranos - The Complete Series (Seasons 1-6.2)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $214.99
Price in other shops:
Carnivale - The Complete First SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
Family Guy - Freakin' Party PackFAMILY GUY; Release date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $75.88
Price in other shops:
Carnivale - The Complete Second SeasonRelease date: 2006-07-18; DVD
Best price: $27.94
Price in other shops:
Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series CollectionTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-10-09; DVD
Best price: $149.74
Price in other shops:
The Tudors - The Complete First SeasonPARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-01-01; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
James Bond Ultimate Collector's SetTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-11-06; DVD
Best price: $158.44
Price in other shops:
Angel - Seasons 1-5 30-Disc DVD SetRelease date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $81.89
Price in other shops:
Deadwood: The Complete Seasons 1-3Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $118.88
Price in other shops: