LTTP: Spartacus: Blood & Sand

ExtremelyBitter · Jan 4, 2020

This show starts terribly but ends great; it's occasionally hard to recommend because the pilot is so bad it takes some faith to get people to stick with it.

This and HBO's Rome are usually easy cross-recommendations. It's not guaranteed if you like one, you'll like the other, and there's a lot about the shows that feel different, but there's just something about them I find complimentary.

cognizant · Jan 4, 2020

Has anyone seen Brittania? That's the only other modern show about Romans that I'm aware of, also on the backlog. The old Romans are not much in vogue these days, even finding a movie set in the Republic era is hard, most movies from the last twenty years are set in the era of emperors.

It blows my mind how we don't have biopics of Caesar, Augustus, or even Hannibal. Rome's conflict with Carthage would be incredible, three generations of two families battling each other during three wars. WTF is Hollywood doing sitting on its ass, make these movies and TV shows already!

Elliott · Jan 4, 2020

Andy Whitfield was going to be a star.

Rolodzeo · Jan 4, 2020

It starts quite bad, but it only goes up from there until the very final episode, becoming an incredible show that has been criminally underrated all these years. Prequel series is also really, really good.

Darkonda · Jan 4, 2020

cognizant said:
Has anyone seen Brittania? That's the only other modern show about Romans that I'm aware of, also on the backlog. The old Romans are not much in vogue these days, even finding a movie set in the Republic era is hard, most movies from the last twenty years are set in the era of emperors.

It blows my mind how we don't have biopics of Caesar, Augustus, or even Hannibal. Rome's conflict with Carthage would be incredible, three generations of two families battling each other during three wars. WTF is Hollywood doing sitting on its ass, make these movies and TV shows already!

You seen HBO's Rome yet? Follows Caesar and Augustus a bit but it's mostly historical fiction.

cognizant · Jan 4, 2020

Darkonda said:
You seen HBO's Rome yet? Follows Caesar and Augustus a bit but it's mostly historical fiction.

Yep of course! Shame it ended abruptly.

Sheepinator · Jan 4, 2020

cognizant said:
Has anyone seen Brittania? That's the only other modern show about Romans that I'm aware of, also on the backlog. The old Romans are not much in vogue these days, even finding a movie set in the Republic era is hard, most movies from the last twenty years are set in the era of emperors.

It blows my mind how we don't have biopics of Caesar, Augustus, or even Hannibal. Rome's conflict with Carthage would be incredible, three generations of two families battling each other during three wars. WTF is Hollywood doing sitting on its ass, make these movies and TV shows already!

We watched one ep of Britannia and it was so bad we gave up.

Have you seen Roman Empire on Netflix? It's part documentary, but with proper sets and actors etc. so it looks really good. 3 seasons covering Caesar, Caligula and Commodus, and you can watch the seasons in any order.

hateradio · Jan 4, 2020

This show definitely sneaks up on you.

You're like this is awful, cut to, this is the best thing in my life right now!

rude · Jan 4, 2020

I liked the equal opportunity nudity.

Merkunt · Jan 4, 2020

I rewatched this a few months ago, and it's easily one of my favourite tv shows of the past decade, don't think I've ever hated a single character as much as I did Ashur, what I loved the most though is how at the surface the show seems to be an exploitation series, filled with male gaze and hedonistic sex scenes, but it actually flips all these themes and does a tremendous job exploring stuff like male toxicity and equality. Great show.

Mansa Mufasa · Jan 4, 2020

One of my favourite shows and the Showrunner Steve DeKnight was also the Showrunner for Daredevil S1. This and Black Sails were the most underrated shows of the last decade to me. You don't have a lot of shows Rebound after having to recast their main lead BUT THEY PULLED IT OFF.

Dreams-Visions · Jan 4, 2020

ExtremelyBitter said:
This show starts terribly but ends great; it's occasionally hard to recommend because the pilot is so bad it takes some faith to get people to stick with it.

yep.

Septimus Prime · Jan 4, 2020

rude said:
I liked the equal opportunity nudity.

I liked that every time they introduced new characters, I knew I would see them naked soon enough.

Sheepinator · Jan 5, 2020

Apparently this leaves Netflix in about 4 weeks time.

Hayeya · Jan 5, 2020

Fantastic show.
Watched it back to back last year for the first time.

rashbeep · Jan 5, 2020

Sheepinator said:
Apparently this leaves Netflix in about 4 weeks time.

Welp time for another run

cognizant · Jan 5, 2020

Sheepinator said:
We watched one ep of Britannia and it was so bad we gave up.

Have you seen Roman Empire on Netflix? It's part documentary, but with proper sets and actors etc. so it looks really good. 3 seasons covering Caesar, Caligula and Commodus, and you can watch the seasons in any order.

It's on my backlog, but I've read that it's very inaccurate, which I wouldn't mind if it were fiction, but it presents itself like a documentary with reenactments, which is an issue to me, especially as I've read so much about the era by now that inaccuracies would bug me a lot.

I started the Spartacus miniseries today. Episode one thoughts:

Batiatus and his wife look so young! Good job makeup team.

Didn't take five minutes before he was cursing like a sailor, and "Solonius!"

The new hotshot gladiator looks like Colin Farrell.

I didn't recognise Ashur at first, that little weasel.

"Words fall from you mouth like shit from ass" :D :D :D

Rangerx · Jan 5, 2020

Absolutely brilliant show. So over the top and I loved it for that. RIP Andy Whitfield.

zma1013 · Jan 5, 2020

Sheepinator said:
We watched one ep of Britannia and it was so bad we gave up.

Britannia instantly gets better on the 2nd episode. I'd recommend trying it again. Still it's not on the level of a show like Spartacus, but it's certainly better than that 1st episode would suggest. I'd probably put it around Vikings level. Not great, not bad, it's okay with at least one really good character if not more.

Camwi · Jan 5, 2020

This is the next show we're watching after The Expanse and The Witcher.

Can't wait, because sex scenes tend to increase the likeliness of my wife banging me.

zma1013 · Jan 5, 2020

Camwi said:
This is the next show we're watching after The Expanse and The Witcher.

Can't wait, because sex scenes tend to increase the likeliness of my wife banging me.

I hope you're not self-conscious because these dudes are like horses.

Orion · Jan 5, 2020

I miss this show... why aren't there more naked gladiator shows? Life is unfair.

Camwi · Jan 5, 2020

zma1013 said:
I hope you're not self-conscious because these dudes are like horses.

lol, as long as it gets her engines revving, it's all good.

cognizant · Jan 5, 2020

Camwi said:
This is the next show we're watching after The Expanse and The Witcher.

Can't wait, because sex scenes tend to increase the likeliness of my wife banging me.

haha. The sex scenes get more elaborate as the season goes on I think. There was one that felt like a music video, slo-mo, grand music, opulent background, sexy ludicrous attire, you will know exactly what I'm talking about when you get to it lol...

Sheepinator · Jan 5, 2020

cognizant said:
It's on my backlog, but I've read that it's very inaccurate, which I wouldn't mind if it were fiction, but it presents itself like a documentary with reenactments, which is an issue to me, especially as I've read so much about the era by now that inaccuracies would bug me a lot.

[Roman Empire] That's a valid complaint. I don't know if overall it's very inaccurate, but there are certainly parts of it that way, so I totally get where you're coming from there. We still found enough that was interesting and enjoyable, despite that.

Camwi In case you missed the post, Spartacus leaves Netflix in about 4 weeks, and there's 4 seasons.

Nospaceinmyname · Jan 5, 2020

One of my favorite shows of all time!!

"My COCK RAGES ON!!"

bionic77 · Jan 5, 2020

Great show.

You really have to give it to the actors. So many absolutely absurd lines of dialogues and yet they were able to sell almost all of them. Some of the dialogue seems like it was written by Vince McMahon. Not every actor can pull off saying Jupiter's cock. Hannah and Lawless were so good in this show.

Nameless · Jan 5, 2020

Give yourself over to the Queen, OP

zero_suit · Jan 5, 2020

Nameless said:
Give yourself over to the Queen, OP

Excellent performance.

Was so glad when she died, though.

Darkmaigle · Jan 5, 2020

You don't "watch" Spartacus. You let it's warm waters of cock, ass and gore wash over you like giant waves.

Darkmaigle · Jan 5, 2020

Camwi said:
lol, as long as it gets her engines revving, it's all good.

me asking my wife if she wants to watch 50 shades again.

ZackieChan · Jan 5, 2020

CommandThrower said:
I've watched the entirety of this show over the past year, and I absolutely love it. It's one of my all time favorite television shows.

A lot of people rag on Jai Courtney as an actor, but I thought he was excellent in Season 1 of Spartacus. Varro was a great character, and integral to Spartacus' arc later in the season.

Yeah, I love him. The haters have never seen Spartacus, I guess

Cabana Boy said:
Great timing, I'm starting E2S3! Been binging this for a week and a half and it so so good. It's scratching the same itch as Black Sails with the characters, politics and the notion of everyone could die at any moment. Getting a little fatigued so will give it a couple of days before continuing but great to hear S4 is good! Going from the worst CGI in S1 to better CGI and awesome scene transitions in the prequel was very good.

God I need a rewatch. I can't believe how bad it starts, but once they get to the Pits, it's fucking amazing.
Dialogue is top tier. Their affectation is so ridiculous, but Hannah plays it straight to perfection.
Based Gannicus and can't forget my man Onemaus. Great stuff.

Disclaimer · Jan 5, 2020

Nameless said:
Give yourself over to the Queen, OP

Sheepinator · Jan 5, 2020

ZackieChan said:
God I need a rewatch. I can't believe how bad it starts, but once they get to the Pits, it's fucking amazing.
Dialogue is top tier. Their affectation is so ridiculous, but Hannah plays it straight to perfection.
Based Gannicus and can't forget my man Onemaus. Great stuff.

"Capua shall *I* begin?" is when the show really kicks off. Episode 5. I still can't believe the lines Hannah delivers, I mean if you look at him in Four Weddings, The Mummy etc., then he's doing this.

Shout out to Katrina Law too. I was sad to see she was recently relegated to Hallmark Hell, where actors go to die, but she somehow escaped that and is now a regular in Hawaii Five O, although this may be its last season.

Joni · Jan 5, 2020

Still sucks Starz never moved onto either Incursion or that spin-off.

Grimm Fandango · Jan 5, 2020

Sheepinator said:
Apparently this leaves Netflix in about 4 weeks time.

Gratitude.

Salty_Josh · Jan 5, 2020

Every time I see a thread of someone discovering Spartacus I get excited and go for a rewatch.

cognizant said:
I need to cram the rest of this show into this month because apparently it's going off Netflix UK on the first of February!

Nooooo. Netflix can't take Spartacus away from me like that. "You spread cheek only to place cock in arse"

Hayeya · Jan 5, 2020

Joni said:
Still sucks Starz never moved onto either Incursion or that spin-off.

Yeah, why didnt they do any of the them? The show was not profitable?

Biske · Jan 5, 2020

One of the finest series of television ever made. It just builds and builds and builds and the season finale is just jaw dropping.

The rest of the series is amazing too, I'm blown away what they were able to do with the prequel season and then the final two seasons. Just the fact that they wrapped the story up instead of extending it with bullshit, super impressed.

Also Crassus was awesome.

Camwi · Jan 5, 2020

Sheepinator said:
[Roman Empire] That's a valid complaint. I don't know if overall it's very inaccurate, but there are certainly parts of it that way, so I totally get where you're coming from there. We still found enough that was interesting and enjoyable, despite that.

Camwi In case you missed the post, Spartacus leaves Netflix in about 4 weeks, and there's 4 seasons.

I did miss that, thanks.

Darkmaigle said:
me asking my wife if she wants to watch 50 shades again.

lol

cowbanana · Jan 5, 2020

My wife and I loved this show. We we're definitely entertained. John Hannah is marvelous in this.

Joni · Jan 5, 2020

zma1013 said:
I hope you're not self-conscious because these dudes are like horses.

Just remember, they are fake. Those are prosthetic penis.

Hayeya said:
Yeah, why didnt they do any of the them? The show was not profitable?

Starz had a bit too much trust in its other shows I think. The science fiction incursion would be expensive

Disclaimer · Jan 5, 2020

Joni said:
Just remember, they are fake. Those are prosthetic penis.

Yeah, the super hung examples were all prosthetics, though not all the male full frontal nudity was. Still had far more real male nudity than... any other show I can think of. Ahead of its time with equal opportunity, in that regard.

discotheque · Jan 5, 2020

Gareth said:
Loved this show, one of my favourite finales too.

The correct viewing order is absolutely the release order, for anyone wondering. S1 then Prequel then S2 then S3.

This. I spent half of S2 wondering why this new Gannicus guy was so important before finding out that a prequel season existed.

Fatoy · Jan 5, 2020

The first few episodes are absolutely horrendous, but if you push past them, you'll be treated to probably the best-written TV show of all time.

zero_suit · Jan 5, 2020

Fatoy said:
The first few episodes are absolutely horrendous, but if you push past them, you'll be treated to probably the best-written TV show of all time.

It was laughably bad, but newcomers should stick with it until episode five.

CommandThrower · Jan 5, 2020

Joni said:
Just remember, they are fake. Those are prosthetic penis.

"I'd like to alter my bet. Everything, on the man with the horsecock."

Bazza · Jan 5, 2020

Salty_Josh said:
Every time I see a thread of someone discovering Spartacus I get excited and go for a rewatch.

Nooooo. Netflix can't take Spartacus away from me like that. "You spread cheek only to place cock in arse"

This is why I always buy bluray box sets for series that resonate with me whenever available. Streaming is all well and good but Spartacus is a perfect example of why physical media should always be an option.

discotheque said:
This. I spent half of S2 wondering why this new Gannicus guy was so important before finding out that a prequel season existed.

I fucked up the same way, it wasn't until season 3 started on TV that I discovered the prequel season existed. While I was gutted when I realised I'd ballsed up the viewing order, at the same time it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the subsequent seasons.

Yautja_Warrior · Jan 5, 2020

Great cast, tons of nudity, sex and over the top blood & gore, fantastic show, loved all 4 seasons.

radosiewka · Jan 6, 2020

I, just as many of you, was quite unimpressed at first. I've watched first episode just after the premiere and decided that it's a "nay" category show for me. But later on IGN reviews were getting more positive and people were recommending me this show and encouraging to just go through first episodes and it gets better. And you know what? It does!

Spartacus and it's prequel with charismatic Gannicus (that smile!) Blood & Sand is a well-made TV show which developed nicely through time. It has epic fights, politics, a lot of sex and interesting characters (Spartacus, Gannicus, Crixus, and female ones like Lucretia and Mira). The only one that I did not like was Naevia, who got actress-switch during the show and the second actress just wasn't as good as the first one.

LTTP: Spartacus: Blood & Sand

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