Did anyone here happen to watch the STARZ mini-series SPARTACUS BLOOD AND SAND?


It was fantastic!


For those who did or who may be interested, on Friday, January 21st, STARZ will air the first episode of the PREQUEL, which is titled SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA

By Jupiter's COCK I did!!

And it was pretty great. I don't get Starz, but rented it from Netflix. I didn't know there was a prequel, but I know they're replacing the main actor (due to health reasons) and filming the sequel this Spring.

Okay, just ordered Starz/Encore for $15.99/month.

Pretty damn sad. Back in June they had reported that he was cancer free....but unfortunately by September his cancer returned and therefore he could not even do the cameo part that they originally were going to give him in this Prequel.

The whole cast is fantastic. Batiatus and Lucretia are characters that you love to hate! Great characters! Lucy Lawless and John Hanna are fantastic in playing those characters!

I really can't wait to see the back story of Crixus.... another great character!

Yes we have had these shows. Great stuff. You cant beat a bit of blood curdling sand infested violence i say.....

I thought that the 1st episode of GODS was excellent.

I watched Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) tonight for the first time.

Pretty great.

it is the kind of show that makes cable worth paying for!
Great story, with the ladies, nudity and all, perfect sets, and the acting is right on.

No commercials! and a hour long!

One of my all time favorites Capo.

Was it the original uncut version?

I'm not sure; it was over 3 hours. I wrote this elsewhere:

Engrossing Roman epic that displays a fine balance between the personal emancipation of Spartacus, from lonely slave to popular revolutionary leader, and the political intrigues of Rome itself; the dual narrative with which both are intertwined makes an episodic but dynamic mode of storytelling, by no means unique to this film but so expertly done that it's enjoyable throughout. Ironically, as the titular hero, Kirk Douglas (also executive producer) does less with his onscreen time than the three English heavyweights around him: Laurence Olivier adds nuance as the tortured villain and Charles Laughton steals the film from him, while Peter Ustinov juggles scenes with both effortlessly. Kubrick took over from Anthony Mann after a week's shooting, and it's his least bombastic work; Mann did a fine job with The Decline of the Roman Empire four years later (both films heavily influenced Scott's Gladiator).

This is a scene which was originally cut from the movie. Several years ago when they remastered the movie it was added back.

To me it is a scene which when added back shed a totally different light on the character of Crassus.



'Snails Or Oysters' Scene
The Spartacus 'Snails Or Oysters' scene is brilliantly and most tastefully written. The subtle words convey that Crassus is bi-sexual. The famous words delivered in this short dialogue between Crassus and his new body slave Antoninus are as follows:


Crassus: Do you eat oysters?

Antoninus: When I have them, master.

Crassus: Do you eat snails?

Antoninus: No, master.

Crassus: Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?

Antoninus: No, master.

Crassus: Of course not. It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?

Antoninus: Yes, master.

Crassus: And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals.

Antoninus: It could be argued so, master.

Crassus: My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters.

Yeah, I saw that. Anthony Hopkins voiced Crassus because by the time they came to re-dub the scene, Olivier had died.

I remember this, too...

Just not whether it was from the ol' movie or last year...

Excellent season finale! It brought everything together, character-wise, from last season.

Can't believe that we have to wait another year!

I WILL GO WITH Spartacus: Blood & Sand BECOZ I REALLY LIKE THIS SHOW.

Love the series. It's on Dutch Television too. We're in second season episode 3 now. Really love it. My favorite characters: Batiatus, Doctore (the negro one in season 1) and Ashur

Season 2 has ended. But I must say it was just a shade compared to season 1. I know they had to fill up a gap with the absence of Andy Whitfield, but it's a little bit shitty IMO.

'Spartacus' star Whitfield dies of lymphoma at 39

I don't know this guy but how sad. And, so young.



TIS

oh my god I just caught an episode for the first time last night and then I find out Spartacus is dead

even though I'm fascinated with ancient Rome history I didn't really love it though. I'll definitely try a few other episodes, but the slow-motion close up in the middle of an action scene is always a killer for me.

They did take the Sin City approach at times, but it's still awesome... give it a shot...