Spartacus! And the hype it brings to the Rome II setting!

[PlacidDragon]

Despite the shortcuts, HBO Rome was too expensive to produce, therefore they only made two seasons. Season 2 also depicts a lot of events with many years apart due to an attempt to get the Octavian/Augustus versus Mark Anthony to its conclusion.

Not to derail the thread completely, but Rome was initially a 5 season story. In the original script, season 2 would end with Brutus's death, the third and fourth seasons concentrating on Egypt, etc.. but then they were cancelled, and basically compressed the season 2 - 5 storyline into what became season 2. Thats why season 2 moved fast at times

[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]

Despite the shortcuts, HBO Rome was too expensive to produce, therefore they only made two seasons. Season 2 also depicts a lot of events with many years apart due to an attempt to get the Octavian/Augustus versus Mark Anthony to its conclusion.

Spartacus... Hate it, it's another good reason to stay away from MP in R2 due to the influx of Spartacus fanbois.

Rome wasn't produced after season two because the set on the studio in rome burned down after an accident. That was why we have for example Octavians Victory Parade not at the place like in season 1 the one of Caesar. It was just to expansie to rebuild the set. Without the fire, we would propably seen more seasons.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Alexander Skarsgaard speaks modern day Swedish in True Blood, Even though the character is supposed to be from Trondheim, lol.

I am not a scandinavian language expert but i allways thought that Norse and Swedish is not that diffrent? Or that a Swedish speaker would understand a Norse speaker.

[Aeneas Veneratio]

Rome wasn't produced after season two because the set on the studio in rome burned down after an accident. That was why we have for example Octavians Victory Parade not at the place like in season 1 the one of Caesar.

It might be part of the reason, but

HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht announced in a July 2006 news conference that season two of Rome would be its last, citing the fact that the series (called "notoriously expensive" by Broadcasting & Cable) had been developed under a two-year contract with the BBC that would have been difficult for the BBC to extend due to the series' cost

The film project is currently stalled, but we might see a movie with the same cast, Vorenus and Pullo.

Back to Sexgorethinplotus.

Scandinavian: Swedish is more different to the other two, while Norwegian and Danish look a lot alike (try to look at the same text in each language). Swedish and Norwegian are pronounced in sort of the same manner, which trick people into believing the two are a lot alike. As for understanding eachother, Swedes, Norwegians and Danes can understand eachother, if the individuals speaking are a bit patient and show a bit of retraint (slow and clear pronouncation of each word).

[Påsan]

ehhh, he is supposed to be "Norwegian" ? lol, i had no idea.. Yes, he speaks normal Swedish, and the others who also speak "Norse" in the series speaks Swedish with a variety of accents, from fairly good to "this must be an American who got thrown a few lines of foreign language to speak out loud". Sort of like the 13th warrior

I don't think he is meant to be "norwegian" But they mentioned he owned land in Trondheim.

Spartacus... Hate it, it's another good reason to stay away from MP in R2 due to the influx of Spartacus fanbois

Spartacus is one of those shows you watch on its own merit. Sort of like Transformers or 300. Its not meant to be realistic, its meant to be fun.

[xjlxking]

I find it allways funny when mothertongue americans try to talk German in a Series. The Germans in Spartacus are simply ridiculous. 1. They would clearly not have spoken modern german, but what they speak in the series is only really broken modern german. In this case i prefer Alexanders Skarsgard who speaks Norse in his Viking parts.

The Series in entertaining but i prefer Rome over Spartacus. They also made things wrong in Rome, but much less than in Spartacus, which has no intention in this direction.

I view Rome ad the most historical accurate tv series of the ancient world

[Aeneas Veneratio]

I can't see the fun in it. The main star sucks, the plot is thinner than butter used on bread in DK during WW2, and the nudity and sex make it look like amateur porn.

Whine, kill and sex. The first makes the main star suck, the second is overdone and the latter can't match porn.

[Påsan]

I can't see the fun in it. The main star sucks, the plot is thinner than butter used on bread in DK during WW2, and the nudity and sex make it look like amateur porn.

Whine, kill and sex. The first makes the main star suck, the second is overdone and the latter can't match porn.

Eh, I disagree on both the Main star and the plot. The plot is fairly excellent with both depth and interesting characters with widely different motives. The "bad guys" in Spartacus is also always relatable and well presented with interesting story arch of their own independent of the main hero Spartacus. The set and costuming of the show is also easily on par with ROME or Game of Thrones, easily surpassing the latter in terms of scale. (Compare the Turnament sequence in GoT compared to any arena battle in Spartacus)

Seriously, I'd be interested in hearing an actual good argument against the plot rather than a superficial impression based on watching one or two episodes.

[HinFoo]

samnite/mirmillo gladiators as mercenaries?

[DeliCiousTZM]

Love it or hate it! That don't change the fact that Spartacus is batshiet popular right now. I personally love it. But that wasn't always the case Spartacus was superficial and over the top, and it came to points where i gave up on the show only to come back later and give it a second chance. Only now at S03E04 did i feel that it matured into a show worthy of the top tier praise. i still would take the show Rome over it anytime. To hear that Rome were supposed to go into 5 season but ended at 2 makes me very sad.

I hope that CA can find ways to monopolize on the current hype by offer some Spartacus trailer. I mean just add a historical battle that Spartacus fought, show it in a trailer.

Eh, I disagree on both the Main star and the plot. The plot is fairly excellent with both depth and interesting characters with widely different motives. The "bad guys" in Spartacus is also always relatable and well presented with interesting story arch of their own independent of the main hero Spartacus. The set and costuming of the show is also easily on par with ROME or Game of Thrones, easily surpassing the latter in terms of scale. (Compare the Turnament sequence in GoT compared to any arena battle in Spartacus)

Well GoT hasen't really come into its own when it comes to battles yet, you could see that at the battle at Blackwater. All tho it surpassed any battle in Spartacus it was a long stone throw from what it was in the book with massive inaccuracies they cut due to budget no doubt. Like the chain Tyrion raised is not even present in the show.

I would question anyones judgment who were to claim that the newest season of Spartacus lacks substance or depth it has plenty of both, and the fact that they use sex and violence to such lengths now allows them to emphasize everything so much stronger. To see a character you like get their head literally caved in is a lot more tense than, just having it cut too black.

Game of thrones is a perfect example of how it revived the Westeros total war mode and made half TWcenter use GoT avatars.

[xjlxking]

Only time ib consider spartacus a good how was season 1 and the amazing prequel. Season two was horrible and three isn't looking any better

[Cyrus Da Great]

I watch it to see how it's portrayed in this series since Spartacus isn't portrayed much nowadays. Even if someone "spoils" the ending I will still watch how it unfolds prior to the outcome. If you take entertainment over history, be my guest. I just like reading the history behind certain things and I will watch the entertainment version of it anyhow.

[Påsan]

To bring some sort of validation to the thread: There will probably be some sort of "enslave" option in the capture of a province/city in Rome 2, with obvious economic benefits, but the possibility of slave rebellions should proportionally increase with the amount of slaves you capture. This will be a better solution in my opinion than a scripted event of a rebellion led by Spartacus in a Rome that might not have that many slaves at all based on the players decisions and performance.

[PlacidDragon]

Eh, I disagree on both the Main star and the plot. The plot is fairly excellent with both depth and interesting characters with widely different motives. The "bad guys" in Spartacus is also always relatable and well presented with interesting story arch of their own independent of the main hero Spartacus. The set and costuming of the show is also easily on par with ROME or Game of Thrones, easily surpassing the latter in terms of scale. (Compare the Turnament sequence in GoT compared to any arena battle in Spartacus)

oh dear lord, are you serious Påsan ? Granted, i cannot comment on the current season as i gave up in season 1 (with a different main actor)... but seriously.. unless they've changed the whole show around, it can basically be summed up like this :

The fights are mediocre at best.. some pre-planned moves, and lots of bad CGI... oh i forgot, its not bad CGI, they are making it look that way on purpose (so they claim)
90 percent of the show could be filmed in someones basement, any location is essentially created with CGI that looks so bad that Rome Total War (the first) looks like Crysis 3 on max settings by comparison.
The sex and nudity (which i generally have nothing against), is one very small step removed from outright porn. It just turns silly at some point.
The acting from everyone (except veteran B actors Hannah and Lawless) is horrid. It is in fact so bad that im at a loss for words on how to describe it

And so on and so on. Good show ? *retches*

And for the people saying Spartacus is such a big hit, etc.. do you guys know what a rating is ? Comparing it to GoT is sort of an insult.. it has 20 percent of the viewers that GoT has.. it has (far) less viewers than a talk show on a pay channel (HBO)... it has less viewers than the majority of dirt cheap reality crap shows out there. And it costs what, 50 mill a season or something (at least season 1 did) ? Yeah, successful indeed

[Edelfred]

Imo real Spartacus had lot of followers but they were military worthless . Some of his gladiator comrades abandoned him to plunder Sicily ,where they were
destroyed . Good thing though that pirates ,who betrayed him were later on destroyed by romans - fitting payback .

[Lord Dakier]

I find it allways funny when mothertongue americans try to talk German in a Series. The Germans in Spartacus are simply ridiculous. 1. They would clearly not have spoken modern german, but what they speak in the series is only really broken modern german. In this case i prefer Alexanders Skarsgard who speaks Norse in his Viking parts.

If you do not appreciate, then hold f'ing tongue before I see it removed!

Seriously though, there is nothing worse than someone trying to pull off an accent they clearly cannot do. Better no accent than a fake one. It would be like me visiting Germany and speaking aggresively like Hitler did in Downfall.

[Edelfred]

Modern German differs from ancient proto-Germanic because it has an important shift in 3-5th century AD

[Påsan]

oh dear lord, are you serious Påsan ? Granted, i cannot comment on the current season as i gave up in season 1 (with a different main actor)... but seriously.. unless they've changed the whole show around, it can basically be summed up like this :

The first four episodes of Season 1 was horrid. The Show grew from there though. So yes, they have changed the whole show around.

The fights are mediocre at best.. some pre-planned moves, and lots of bad CGI... oh i forgot, its not bad CGI, they are making it look that way on purpose (so they claim)
90 percent of the show could be filmed in someones basement, any location is essentially created with CGI that looks so bad that Rome Total War (the first) looks like Crysis 3 on max settings by comparison.

This is just plain wrong. The sets are excellent, from Batiatus villa to the Arena all the way to the current battlefields, cities and roman camps and whatnot in season 3, the sets are some of the best parts of the series. I'm just going to assume you have not seen much of the show really. As for the visual style its a matter of taste, but it does have its own charm and I find it highly entertaining. If you don't, well that its just your loss.

The sex and nudity (which i generally have nothing against), is one very small step removed from outright porn. It just turns silly at some point.
The acting from everyone (except veteran B actors Hannah and Lawless) is horrid. It is in fact so bad that im at a loss for words on how to describe it

There is about as much sex as in an average HBO show, and it is part of the shows explicit nature. It is done more stylish than in GoT which fits with the tone of the show (While GoT is more gritty and realistic). Personally I don't complain about naked girls as long as it does not influence the story too much. And the sex does serve a purpose to show part of the roman tyranny over the slaves which gives Spartacus his purpose as a liberator.

As for the actors, that is a matter of opinion, you might not like them, I do. The dialogue is a bit tweaked to resemble Latin grammar which some people find annoying.

And for the people saying Spartacus is such a big hit, etc.. do you guys know what a rating is ? Comparing it to GoT is sort of an insult.. it has 20 percent of the viewers that GoT has.. it has (far) less viewers than a talk show on a pay channel (HBO)... it has less viewers than the majority of dirt cheap reality crap shows out there. And it costs what, 50 mill a season or something (at least season 1 did) ? Yeah, successful indeed

Starz is a smaller channel than HBO, so obviously the ratings is going to be less. Game of Thornes have its own sett of problems though, most of which have to do with the horrible phasing and half of the cast being generally unlikable and boring in the show as well as in the book, not to mention the unbearable cheap shortcuts Game of Thrones uses in nearly every episode. Personally I much prefer the driven action oriented story of Spartacus.

[PlacidDragon]

The first four episodes of Season 1 was horrid. The Show grew from there though. So yes, they have changed the whole show around.

I saw the first 6 or 7 (i cannot remember). I do not recall seeing any improvement whatsoever, which is why i gave up. I remember forumites at the time (on the IMDB forum) saying the same thing.. it gets so much better in episode x. It didnt

This is just plain wrong. The sets are excellent, from Batiatus villa to the Arena all the way to the current battlefields, cities and roman camps and whatnot in season 3, the sets are some of the best parts of the series. I'm just going to assume you have not seen much of the show really. As for the visual style its a matter of taste, but it does have its own charm and I find it highly entertaining. If you don't, well that its just your loss.

The only outdoor shots i recall in any detail was pretty much the ludus and the arena, the vast majority of shots was indoors. If that has changed, then good for the show

Starz is a smaller channel than HBO, so obviously the ratings is going to be less. Game of Thornes have its own sett of problems though, most of which have to do with the horrible phasing and half of the cast being unlikable and boring in the book as well as the show, not to mention the unbearable cheap shortcuts the show uses all the time. Personally I much prefer the driven action and story of Spartacus.

I've not read the ASoIaF books, so i couldnt say. I find the show ok, but nothing special. As for Starz being a smaller channel than HBO, that doesnt make a lick of difference for rating purposes. The raters have access to all channels available in the entire US. If not, it would be...difficult to rate accurately

[DeliCiousTZM]

oh dear lord, are you serious Påsan ? Granted, i cannot comment on the current season as i gave up in season 1 (with a different main actor)... but seriously.. unless they've changed the whole show around, it can basically be summed up like this :

And for the people saying Spartacus is such a big hit, etc.. do you guys know what a rating is ? Comparing it to GoT is sort of an insult.. it has 20 percent of the viewers that GoT has.. it has (far) less viewers than a talk show on a pay channel (HBO)... it has less viewers than the majority of dirt cheap reality crap shows out there. And it costs what, 50 mill a season or something (at least season 1 did) ? Yeah, successful indeed

Since you haven't followed it after, season 1 you render your opinion invalid really. Also doing some basic research shows that Season 1 of Spartacus cost 10-15 million USD. While GoT cost 60 million USD(Nice statistics you pulled out of your ass).

According to IMDB Spartacus is considered top five of the most popular series in the world, at place 5, just recently losing ground to the new show called arrow. I do suggest you do a basic google search before making false claims and make up fake statistics.
1. The Walking Dead
2. The Big bang theory
3. Game of Thrones
4. Arrow
5. Spartacus

Creative assembly is in good shape that is for sure.

I've not read the ASoIaF books, so i couldnt say. I find the show ok, but nothing special. As for Starz being a smaller channel than HBO, that doesnt make a lick of difference for rating purposes. The raters have access to all channels available in the entire US. If not, it would be...difficult to rate accurately

Season 1-2 was mediocre, they had some artistic merit for sure. But the prologue and Season 3 are both great. Again you should go back and watch all of it, and come back and give an educated response preferable in the thread mentioned above. But if Spartacus was a piece of manure it would not matter popularity is good for CA period. And with SEGA recently acquiring Dawn of war and Company of Heroes i think we will see their influence spread to other universes.

[Cyrus Da Great]

I saw the first 6 or 7 (i cannot remember). I do not recall seeing any improvement whatsoever, which is why i gave up. I remember forumites at the time (on the IMDB forum) saying the same thing.. it gets so much better in episode x. It didn't

Well, what was it that you didn't like about it.