Spartacus: Blood and sand

It's on Starz, not Showtime.

Otherwise I agree. It looks like garbage, and historically speaking it's pretty spectacularly wrong.

At least Xena shows her tits in this, so it has that going for it.

The is the funniest show of the year.

This wants to be 300 meets Gladiator so very badly.

And it IS 300 meets Gladiator so very badly.

Whoever is making the decision on the 300 slo-mo scenes has no understanding of how it was used in 300, but that doesn't stop them from thinking it was really really cool.

In a nutshell. Watched this last night, and the CGI/speed ramping was taking me out of the story (I've seen direct-to video shit with better CGI than this). So was every "fuck" and "cunt" uttered (drinking game!).

Only thing keeping me watching this... wreck... is the possibility of some naked Lucy Lawless. I was also shocked to see Sam Raimi and Rob Tappert were attached to this. This shit made their Xena stuff look like LOTR by comparison.

And the nudity isn't even all that titillating. How they managed that I have no idea.

This is the worst fucking thing I have ever seen.

My friend Erin is in this.

This is just about the funniest/worst thing I've ever seen.

Too bad for her, because there's no way this thing will last.

They've already have a guarentee for 2 seasons.

I actually thought this was kind of fun.

Story-wise it's not that bad in a cheesy way, it's just how it has no real visual style of its own. It's just blatantly ripping off 300 in such a boldly ill-advised way, with none of the panache Snyder brought to his film.

The dialogue in this show sounds like it was written by a high school drama club.

And if they took the camp and ran with it, it'd be fine. Not great, but hey, nudity and gladiatorial fights, okay. But it takes itself so damn seriously, and it's not worth that kind of effort.

Nope, already picked up for a second season.

Erin Cummings, Spartacus' wife? She's pretty naked in the first episode.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

and the princess leave the door wide open.

Ahhh, who am I kidding? Cheese, gratuitous sex and violence. It's straight up 70's exploitation. Even down to the William Castle like warning before each episode. "This series will be considered as too sensual, violent and profane by some but we only did it for accuracy's sake." So I'll probably watch at least a few episodes of it. I just hope the people who made it actually meant for that result.

Lucy Lawless' nude scene from the second episode is out on the web, so you don't have to watch the second episode now. And yeah, it's worth a look.

No wonder this show is so over-the-top and bloody. Raimi and Tapert are behind it. It's like the heavy metal version of ROME and I am hooked.

Also, Joseph LaDuca doing the music is a very nice touch as well.

This....is a live action comic book.

And it's definitely as historical as Xena/Hercules ever was. I'd put this more in the fantasy with historical trappings rather than historical fiction like Rome. 2nd Episode was pretty decent, I thought. Much more coherent than the first.

I'm going to watch it when I can. Spartacus is one pretty, pretty man, there is PENIS for the ladies like myself mixed in with the breasts, and Lawless and Hannah are really, really fun to watch.

70's exploitation is right. It's fantastic.

You know there's porn websites for that sort of thing, Kate.

How can a show with this much gratuitous nudity, sex and violence be so boring? Full disclosure though: I did laugh at some of the terrible combat porn scenes crudely stolen from 300 at the end of the first ep. And I will probably Netflix fast forward to those scenes if they keep carrying them for the LULZ. Oh and for naked Xena. Hope she visits the Isle of Lesbos sometime to find a cute redhead.

The first episode was pretty jarringly bad but I've stuck with it and the show develops and is steadily improving.

I agree, it's been steadily improving. The Theocoles fight was fun.

Agreed. I've read in an interview of Lawless that it's her opinion the show 'finds its groove' around this episode. Each episode has been an improvement on the latter...And I'm really enjoying this.

Historically accurate? Not so much, but damn, it's fun to watch.

so is Spartacus, the Spartacus , or just a Spartacus?

Spartacus is The Spartacus, as in the leader of the slaves in an uprising against the Roman Republic.

Only it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

SPARTACUS is stupid unpretentious shit, and I love it for that. Tits, pussy, cock, fighting, more tits... I'll take SPARTACUS over LOST any freaking day of the week. Seriously, there's nothing about it that I don't like.

Fuck it, I'm on board. It's so silly and earnest that you have to like it. The design for Theocles was kind of underwhelming but it was redeemed by a good fight and the ancient wet t-shirt competition.

So was Theocles just the gigantic Persian guy from 300 who had his head cut off by Leonidas, but with hair?

And Albino!

Spartacus is retarded, and I understand the appeal in it, but your lack of taste is as dismaying as eating your own feces and taking pictures of that.

Hey! it's gotten better! And that's just mean.

I'm not advocating the "Turn off your brain" approach to viewing it, but there is something visceral and pulpy about its presentation. While I don't mean to knock LOST's quality...I guess I'm rather simple and taking a mouthload of feces in enjoying the non-labyrinthine plot and story.

So who should I send the pictures to?


So, Episode 6, Delicate Things. I've got to say, the series has progressively gotten better with each episode, and if they continue this trend, I can see this being the sluttier, younger sister of ROME. The story is a little less well defined, and I'm sure they're taking more liberties with things...but hey, I'd argue Rome was just about as accurate, production design values aside.

So girls, what do you think of the latest episode? Did you see the Barca bait and switch coming? And was this Batiatus' plan all along with Sura? Do you think that Spartacus' plan would have worked at all?

It's rather nice seeing them sort of lay the groundwork for him being the leader of the slave revolt...but I hear they've already casted someone as a potential love interest.


And Devin? Your friend Erin rocked the shit out of her brief screentime on the series, given the most recent episode. She is to be applauded.

I like simpler shows, like Chuck, or even 24. Spartacus was close to being Heroes/type of bad. Being better than shit ain't exactly a great sign.

perk

Eh?

I've only caught one episode of the show so far, the one where they fight the big albino dude, and I thought the show was hilarious. Cartoonish blood sprays, the comic relief guy from the Mummy beating someone to death, Xena sucking slave cock... It's no Rome, but entertaining none the less.

I'll admit I was surprised with the direction they took with Sura. I'm getting Starz for free for a few months, and since Starz pretty well blows I figured I'd at least watch this.

Mummy guy is playing a pretty good villain. The look Xena give him when the wife's wagon get there is classic.

I think you can watch it via Netflix online as well, since it's on Starz.

It's funny--I DVR it, then FF through most of it. I stop just long enough to understand what's going on, then FF through the longing looks, dramatic pauses, etc. Oh, and I also stop when there's tits. I also laugh whenever Mummy guy pauses to either get jacked off, blown, or just bang in general a slave girl.

It's produced by Tapert, Raimi, et al., so I assume there's a hell of a lot of tongue in cheek in this show, no matter how "serious" it is.

After watching the last episode, *SPOILER*So now that Spartacus' wife is dead (I'm assuming), what's his motivation now?*END SPOILER*

To end up as a coke commercial?

To find Wood Strode's corpse and kick its ass in the arena?

To un-blacklist some writers?

Find Xena's little blonde sidekick and have a 3-way?

I really have to watch this fucker soon.