Spartacus:War of the Damned [DVD]

So, Spartacus nears its ultimate conclusion. We are but days away from the very last episode of what has been - for my money at least - the best of all four series of Spartacus.The first we saw of Spartacus was the long-haired Thracian who became Capua's greatest champion. Andy Whitfield was perfect for the role; the kind-faced, big-hearted man who was full of such bubbling rage come the end of the series. There was sex, violence, a little more violence, plenty of political intrigue, more sex, more violence, some wonderfully-created characters and most importantly of all, a killer script.When Whitfield's health declined, a prequel series aired, starring Dustin Clare as Gannicus; the greatest champion that the ludus of Batiatus had possibly ever produced earning his freedom - and title as a "God" amongst gladiators - on the sands of the new arena.Both seasons were quite frankly magnificent. The casting was superb, and the writing was even better. But the sad news came that Andy Whitfield had tragically passed away, and there was the need for a new Spartacus to be cast. Enter the relatively unknown Liam McIntyre; at first a little wooden, but he soon grew into the role. He portrayed a different Spartacus; a man so utterly hell-bent on spilling Roman blood that he seemed unrecognisable from Whitfield's earlier portrayal.And so McIntyre lead an ensemble cast in the third series; Vengeance. It was Blood and Sand on a wider scale - there was even more violence, even more sex, and this time we saw countless battle-royales between Spartacus' rebels and the hired mercenary gladiators under the scheming Syrian Ashur. We had villains left, right, and centre - Craig Parker's Glaber was a fitting lead bad-guy, but with his serpent-like wife Illithyia, the psychotic Lucy Lawless as Lucretia, and the aforementioned Ashur at his side, those dastardly Romans were a force to be reckoned with.But the main thing missing from season three was a PROPER baddie. I'm talking about someone like Batiatus, here. I have never been a massive John Hannah fan, but he played the role perfectly. At first he was in over his head, but this man had an eye for a shrewd political manoeuvre and became increasingly and surprisingly violent in his execution of his plans. It made for good drama, and Spartacus had to overpower his master both physically and mentally. With Glaber and company, it was more of an extended battle sequence, separated by scenes of running through a forest, with a major rebel character being killed every now and then along the way. The inspired decision to bring back Clare's Gannicus abated the fans, but Vengeance - despite being a good follow-up to the refreshing original series and its prequel - lacked the same cutting edge. The dialogue was as good, the acting still as brilliant as ever, but the lack of any real deep plot-line left us feeling very slightly cheated. Yes, it was all about "Vengeance" - the titular character wanted Glaber's head; Naevia and Crixus wanted to address the wrongs Ashur had committed against them; Lucretia desired to assert herself over Illithyia once again; Agron wanted to avenge his brother, and so on, and so on. But that is moreorless all it was - fighting, fighting, fighting.So with season four announced as the culmination of all that running and fighting, the producers had to make amends. The most important change was to bring back a proper villain of the ilk of Batiatus - or even Tullius in Gods of the Arena. Step forward the man to eclipse them all - Simon Merrells as Marcus Lucinius Crassus. With a supporting arc including his devious son, Tiberius (brilliantly portrayed by Christian Antidormi as the boy you absolutely love to loathe) and the simply superb Todd Lasance as Julius Caesar (in an interesting take on the Ciaran Hinds-played elder Caesar of HBO's Rome, we see Lasance play a far younger Caesar under Crassus' leadership, who promises to elevate the young general by nurturing his own political nous), Spartacus finally has a villain who can match his own under-estimated intelligence. Maybe, on reflection, Glaber and company were dumbed down to make Crassus appear the wealthy genius he supposedly was. Either way, it was a piece of inspired casting and Merrells' portrayal ranks alongside Lucy Lawless' performance as Lucretia as the best across all four seasons.And so, the scope widens further. Spartacus now has a full-on rebel army, and he is winning battle after battle. The title - War of the Damned - suggests a gut-wrenching finale that is sure to lead to the deaths of so many of our favourites, as the history of the Third Servile War would support, but such is the grandiose scale of this season that you feel it will not have been in vain. Spartacus' ultimate victory is a moral one which has echoed through legend for millennia. It is something that the show manages to capture quite wonderfully and emphatically translates it onto the screen. War of the Damned will quite certainly be remembered as the biggest, most bad-ass, and certainly the best of all four seasons. To give credit where it is due, McIntyre also comes into his own in this season, also, but the most touching Spartacus moment is the very final montage where we see Andy Whitfield screaming "I AM SPARTACUS!" - a most fitting ending.For the reasons cited above - the return of a brilliant cast (including a match for Spartacus in the genuinely-fantastic triumvirate of villains) and a killer script - this time WITH direction - makes for one magnificent spectacle. It comes with everything you might expect - the CGI is as good as ever, the sets are breath-taking, and quite frankly, this is as good as it gets.This season is bigger, better, and basically more brilliant in every possible way than the previous seasons. Starz have surpassed themselves, and I don't think they will ever match this effort. 10/10 just about gives this series justice.UPDATEI do have to be a little critical of the DVD release in the UK, however. The set is a barebones release with NO extras, and again there are no subtitles. Whether Starz are just being lazy and rushed the release to the UK market (possible as the US release isn't out for a few more weeks) or they really exhausted all possible avenues of special feature on the previous sets, it is a little disappointing.I would therefore revise this review to suggest 10/10 for the series, and 5/10 for the release.

As always never to be disappointed with the show but I agree with everyone on the rushed release,I wait for my box sets as I detest watching them on TV with adverts and bits cut out. So when I wait I expect the quality of at least some extras.That being said the show is immense,I have never before wanted to buy props and have autographs before but I found myself getting them (the purple cloak from war of the damned, Andy Whitfield's sword from series 1 and some of crassus stuff.)The eventual outcome which we knew from what history was available made the end sweeter for me seeing how the individual stories would tie up. So last Saturday with house empty I settled in for the last series with a lot of beers and by the end I was tearful that has not happened before with a tv show.I will probably fork out for the so called special edition box set that I have heard rumours of but loyalty of fans should not be exploited. I know its a business they run but more and more these days this happens or shows get cancelled with out proper ending.So until the afterlife I see many re runs of this tale from my collection.

“Now would be the time to run!” [Gaius Julius Caesar]This 2013 final [3rd] season sees the historical figure of Spartacus [Andy Whitfield], a Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic, having left Vesuvius getting holed up in southern Italy. Here the tensions between former slaves and roman comes to a head amidst the usual threats of treachery and deceit, while a determined Crassus seeks to defeat Spartacus in combat.Historical accuracy is even more lax in this as historical figures are moved through time and space to be mentioned and depicted here. Unfortunately the sex scenes also tend to be overlong, giving more of a late night soft porn feel to everything.The ten 50 minute episodes are spread over four discs but there are no added features only play, scene selection and audio [2.0 default, but use 5.1 if you can]. Rated 18 this is more an X certificate featuring decapitations, graphic slaughter, nudity [including male & female full frontal] and swearing throughout. If you can look past the blood, gore and sex, it’s a story of friendships and betrayal but above all racial and social intolerance. Despite the flaws and slower start, it remains entertaining and still holds a ***** rating really picking up in the final half.

Le coffret de DVD présente des imperfections au niveau de la lecture et 2 épisodes sont impossible à visionner sur 2 disques différents ce qui est fort désagréable lorsqu'on veut suivre la série dans son intégralité !

Mi mancava solo questa stagione per avere la raccolta completa, che ho voluto collezionare in quanto la reputo una serie meravigliosa, sottovalutata e passata un po' sotto traccia qui in Italia per via dei contenuti non esattamente da prima serata...Il cofanetto si presenta bene, compatto, leggero e abbastanza elegante (fa la sua figura nella libreria sopra la tv). I dischi sono ben alloggiati e protetti all'interno, non rischiano di muoversi nè di graffiarsi. La qualità audio/video è buona, compatibilmente con quello che può offrire un DVD. Contrariamente a quanto indicato, le tracce audio non sono solo Italiano/Inglese, ma c'è anche lo spagnolo, così come per i sottotitoli sono usufruibili ben 7 lingue.Come dicevo, è una serie che, al di là dell'acquisto del cofanetto, consiglio assolutamente a tutti di vedere. Molti la snobbano pensando sia solo sangue&sesso, ma non è così. Pur avendo un budget ridicolo, è grandiosa sotto ogni punto di vista: trama, musiche, attori, fotografia, costruzione dei personaggi, ritmo incalzante, è tutto azzeccatissimo. E poi non ha il difetto della maggioranza delle serie moderne: mille stagioni e diecimila episodi, realizzati col solo scopo di allungare il brodo e incassare qualche soldo in più, a discapito della qualità. Spartacus invece è fatta di soli 39 episodi, di qualità altissima.Provatela, al terzo episodio sarete già dipendenti.

Spartacus: War of the Damned es la tercera temporada de la serie sin embargo se podría considerar la cuarta por la precuela "Gods of the Arena" que salió entre la 1a y la 2a. Es una serie con alto contenido de violencia y sexo, sin embargo con cada temporada fue creciendo y madurando en todos sentidos. Durante la primera temporada (Blood and Sand) y la precuela (Gods of the Arena) la serie es algo particular dentro de la casa de Batiato, después en Spartacus: Vengeance trasciende a una ciudad y en esta última temporada (War of the Damned) la trama alcanzará a todo el imperio romano.Esta última temporada mantiene el alto nivel de calidad que nos ofreció la serie a lo largo de toda su historia. Una gran serie de principio a fin que sin duda vivirá en mi memoria. Para los fanáticos de Spartacus otras series que seguramente disfrutarán son Vikings y Black Sails, también ampliamente recomendables.

What I like about this entire series, including the final season, is that history is thrown out the window. I studied a bit of Roman history in school, and I know that most of the information presented was made up. About the only thing that I know was accurate is that there was somebody called Spartacus.The plot of this season is completely wild. Julius Ceasar is an undercover agent, like a Navy Seal - he is a cross between Jason Bourne and James Bond. I don't know how they came up with this, but it was quite amusing. He is smarter than the gladiators, and sneaks into their stronghold. In this final season, the fights are bloodier, the torture scenes are grislier, and the dialogue is more interesting. The torture scene that I have in mind is one in which a slave has his arms and legs tied, and is the victim of a tug of war. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading the Stephen King book "The Stand", and I then watched the DVD miniseries. The final scene has two of the stars sentenced to be pulled apart in the same manner (except that it would be by trucks, not Roman soldiers).The Crassus character acts as if he considers himself to be a man of honour, in spite of all of the torture and killings for which he is responsible. I appreciated the meeting that took place between him and Spartacus on the battle field in which they expressed their mutual admiration (obviously, this sort of thing could never happen).Another thing that I like about this season is the prisoner exchange. A man was crucified, but he didn't die. Then, a prisoner exchange was negotiated. He was taken down from the cross. He was not the only one in this position. These gladiators were crucified, they didn't die, they were taken down from their crosses, they joined Spartacus for the final battle, they lost again, and they were re-captured and re-crucified.After the final episode, I watched the DVD extras, and the comments from the cast were most entertaining. I highly recommend the entire Spartacus series. It is completely different from the Kirk Douglas movie or the tv movie that starred Goran Visnjic, both of which were great as well.

Quelle série extraordinaire , l'ambiance péplum , vraiment bien retranscris , les combats orchestrés d'une façon magistral (façon 300 ) , un scénario béton qui ne laisse pendant les 4 saisons aucun répit, les retournements de situation sont multiples et tienne en haleine sans aucun temps mort, les acteurs sont formidables. Pour cette 3e saisons ou 4e saisons avec les dieux de l'arène, les moyens supplémentaire ont été mis en oeuvre dans les effets spéciaux pour donner encore plus de crédibilité aux scène de bataille opposant les légions romaines aux esclaves guerriers de Spartacus. Cette saison de Spartacus n'a pas à rougir face à une saison de Game of thrône qui elles aussi sont excellente, sans oublier l'étonnant Banshee S1., tout ça est de la même veine, le spectateur qui aime l'action, et s'évader du quotidien, en à pour son argent, le dépaysement est assuré.,