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By
WAYNE KLEIN
The second (and sadly
last...why does HBO keep cancelling the shows I
like? First "Deadwood" now this)season of "Rome"
is just as compelling as the first. The first
season ended with the assassination of Julius
Ceasar in the Senate. The second season begins
with Ceasar's will being read and Octavian being
named Ceasar's heir and adopted son. This leads to
conflict between Octavian and Antony over who
shall lead the Roman Empire. Vorenus falls into
despair when he is told his children have been
murdered and his friend Titus Pullo must try and
give him a reason to live.
Featuring a number of stunning performances by
Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Lindsay Ducan, Kerry
Condon,James Purefoy and taking on the role of the
older Octavian Simon Woods, the production design
looks terrific and the show has the rich look of a
big screen production. Direction and writing are
top notch as well every bit the equal (and in my
opinion superior to)the first season.
HBO has done a great job as usual with "Rome". The
show looks just as rich and vibrant as Rome - The
Complete First Seasonlooked. We get some terrific
extras as with the first set and the packaging is
deluxe as well with the same design as the first
season.
For extras we get "All Roads Lead to Rome" the pop
up trivia commentary track. We also get five
commentary tracks(one featuring James Purefoy who
plays Antony, two from creator Bruno Heller and
Historical Consultant Jonathan Stamp, one from
director John Maybury & actor Lindsay Duncan and
one from writer John Melfi & director Carl
Franklin)that vary from extremely good to so-so
but, more importantly, we get some very good
featurettes. The one I liked best was the one that
discussed Octavian, a look at the two different
Romes--the one for the Plebs and for the wealthy
Patricians. Finally we get a very good featurette
discussing Antony and Cleopatra's backgrounds,
their love affair and the consquences of
challenging Octavian. The former featurette also
discusses the decisive Battle of Philippi.
As with the first season set "Rome" comes in a
wooden case with the DVDs in a fold out cardboard
case inside. We also get small booklet with
excerpts from the offical "Rome" book with a page
on the Ides of March, Togas and the Temple of
Jupiter along with a brief intro from the book by
creator/writer/producer Bruno Heller.
I'd highly recommend the second season of "Rome"
and am just sad that the series only ran seasons. |
