I'm suprised that no one has started a thread for this. I was expecting to come into work on Monday and find that there was a discussion well underway since this show kicked off Friday evening. Anyhoo....so here are my initial thoughts...
They are trying *way* too hard to be 300 the series. And I'm not talking about the soldiers who go off to war wearing basically just their underwear and a few bits of armor. Instead, I'm refering to the huge amounts of...well fake blood. And by fake, I'm not speaking of corn surup, but instead the "animated" blood. Was it me or did it just not look like computer blood, but looked like animated, comic book blood (think 300 credits, not movie proper).
They are trying *way* too hard to be 300 the series. And I'm not talking about the soldiers who go off to war wearing basically just their underwear and a few bits of armor. Instead, I'm refering to the huge amounts of...well fake blood. And by fake, I'm not speaking of corn surup, but instead the "animated" blood. Was it me or did it just not look like computer blood, but looked like animated, comic book blood (think 300 credits, not movie proper).
The blood bothered me at first, but after a bit i just decided to see it as their artistic(read money saving) way of showing the graphic violence.
Along this same line, the backgrounds looked *very* computer...and not in the slick or fantastical sort of way, but instead of "lets up a blue screen up and save on set design." Maybe it will look better in the next episodes.
I think this is more along the lines of Starz not having a huge bankroll to put to use for original content, again i tried not to let id distract me, as i was actually enjoying the story a bit.
As per all the flesh that is on screen...it was graphic to the point of being...well overly graphic. The main character & his wife have sex twice on screen. Pretty much everything is seen minus him actually inside of her (or him erect for that matter). And then there was full frontal female nudity, and *plenty* of boobs...as in like everyone. The prospect of seeing Xena's nudity kinda freaks me out. It seemed more like soft-core porn...as in the story was just sort of in the way, and the flesh was put there to drag the viewer along. I am a *BIG* fan of Rome, and that show was graphic, but ultimately it was the story that pulled the viewer along...not the sex/flesh. Rome didn't shy away from anything sexual, but it certainly wasn't the focus.
I also found it to be distracting. I am a fan of nudity, but i usually save that for other types of entertainment. The party with all the slaves dancing nude, and other scenes like the crowds at the arena are fine, but some of the scenes were just nudity for its own sake, which actually took me out of the story.
So ultimately I think that the show has potential to be good if it can find its own footing. If it can stop being 300, Rome, and Gladiator...it may be good.
~Jeordam
I will continue to watch it for a few weeks with the hope that the writers will find their stride as i agree that the show has a lot of potential to be great. That being said it also has the potential to be outrageously bad.
I had a hard time getting into the characters, because we didn't get much depth, just the nudity and CGI blood spatter. I'd like to see how it goes, because artistically some of the shots were fun to look at and it has potential.
Ultimately the other cable series are compelling because of the story and depth of the characters/actors, with a capacity for violence and nudity as needed. Hope this one doesn't get it backwards.
Initial thoughts regarding "Sparticus: Blood & Sand"
- 25/01/2010 06:56:14 PM
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Well, that's disappointing.
- 25/01/2010 10:17:25 PM
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Neither. Starz.
- 25/01/2010 10:21:34 PM
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I see. Which according to Wikipedia doesn't have much original content yet...
- 25/01/2010 11:32:34 PM
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I agree with most of what you said
- 27/01/2010 12:05:01 AM
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Same here. Trying to give it a chance.
- 28/01/2010 04:27:12 PM
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