Customer Reviews

Pompeii - The Last Day/Colosseum - A Gladiator's Story

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A realistic docu-drama, this is a telling of the building of Rome's Colosseum which started under the rule of Emperor Vespasian and was completed by his son and heir Titus in 80 AD. It also shows the training of the gladiators, many who were slaves, but a few who would trade their liberty for a period of time for money, and sometimes fame.
The decadence and brutality of the Roman games, as well the brave and desperate men who were the entertainment, make for a riveting story;
The central figure is a historical gladiator by the name of Verus, who was a slave working in a quarry when chosen for the arena. Robert Shannon is good in the part, exhibiting much physical prowess, grace and style.

Filmed in Tunisia, it boasts the latest technological wizardry to duplicate the Colosseum and the audience, using matte paintings and crowd replication among other techniques.
Produced and directed by Tilman Remme, the dialog is in Latin, and the narration by Liev Schreiber, whose modulated voice is always a pleasure to listen to.
Having seen the empty shell of what is left of this extraordinary structure as it stands today, I found this recreation fascinating and informative, with enough drama and action to make it interesting for repeated viewings.

First of all, let me express my feelings on this movie-WOW! This DVD has a narrator that pops in and out leading the viewer through the lives of some of Pompeii's citizens. He then lets you basically enter into their lives and you somewhat feel that you are watching the "mountain" (they did not know it was a volcano in 79 AD) explode. I was really moved just seeing how people dealt with this disaster. The movie also shows the artifacts of today linking them with the characters in the story. They also show the casts of the people as they lived out their last minutes on Earth. Let me say that this is one of the best movies out there. You will not be disapointed. Even to the guys that like action flicks, I think you will like this one since it is a TRUE story. For the gals out there, you will also love it as I did since it is a dramatization of something TRUE. I usually don't buy just any movie, but I am definately glad that this is one I spent money on. ENJOY!

...but not the one shown on the Discovery Channel though.

All the reviews you are going to read below are excellent, this DVD is a very good combo (the gladiator documentary is also of very good quality) extras are numerous and interesting.

HOWEVER the version played on TV was 1 hour 40 minutes long instead of the English version of 50 minutes we have on this DVD. The editing is different, the music is different, the narrator is different (american accent). There is a 50 minutes additional part with all the actual site of Pompeii and it's dangers to the new cities that were built since the eruption which is also very informative.

Both versions, English and American are very good, I guess you just have to make your own opinion when you'll see a reprise of the show on TV (or you can still go on the discovery web site to find the American version DVD which does not include the Gladiator combo...)

It's time Amazon.com start providing the DVDs from this source as well, because if you are interested in Documentaries you don't have access to all choices available just by visiting their website right now...

Both of these programs are very well done. I have shown both of them to my university students (survey course on Ancient Cities / Ancient Civ., and Roman History), and they not only learned from them, but found them compelling as well.

In particular, my students appreciated the Pompeii program because it brought home to them the magnitude of human suffering in this disaster, as well as the helplessness and ineffectiveness of well-intentioned government officials attempting to intervene (e.g., Pliny the Elder, who sailed into the conflagration with a Roman fleet to rescue survivors, only to be overcome and suffocated by Vesuvius' poisonous fumes). It was especially poignant in view of the Katrina disaster that had overwhelmed New Orleans mere weeks before they saw this program. Especially effective is how the program follows actors portraying specific, historically-documented individuals and families of Pompeii (all drawn from various walks of life, e.g., merchants, politicians, gladiators, and slaves; men, women and children) through the different phases of Vesuvius' eruption. The final images, showing the actors in various positions of death recreated from and juxtaposed with images of the skeletons or body casts of the actual individuals just as they were found, are particularly moving. They also serve as a powerful reminder of one's own mortality... so this show is perhaps not for anyone in the throes of a midlife crisis!

The Gladiator program also does well in fleshing out the lives of Rome's professional blood-sport combatants beyond the arena. One learns how and by whom they were trained and cared for and what their daily lives could be like. It also explains how many gladiators formed guilds to ensure that none of their colleagues killed in the arena should lack proper burial, or that their widows and/or orphans should lack care. A parallel storyline involves the construction of the Flavian Amphitheater, or Colosseum, under the Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD) and his son and successor, the Emperor Titus (79-81 AD). The climax of the program is the fight immortalized by the poet Martial, in which two very popular gladiators fought to a draw before the Emperor Titus in the last days of the 100-day celebration held for the dedication of the Colosseum in Rome (in 80 AD, before the Colosseum was completed). For its depth, drama, and sensitive approach (it is NOT overly gorey, so can be shown to grade-schoolers as well), I give it top marks.

It is also nice that both programs deal with virtually contemporaneous events (they occurred within a year of each other), thus serving as a snapshot in time of Rome and Roman-Italian society in 79-80 AD.

Finally, production values are particularly high for an historical documentary, thanks in large part to CGI techniques employed throughout to recreate landscapes, cityscapes and volcanic explosions. Costumes are also largely accurate, as are the sets and set decorations (unlike "I Claudius" and Marlon Brando's "Julius Caesar" both of which committed the anachronistic faux pas of having on set busts of emperors who were not even born yet... relatively speaking, of course).

Odd mix of original language, voice-over (multiple narrators with not distinctive enough voices), filmed drama, attempt at a documentary. I found it enjoyable, because I enjoy nearly everything about the classical world, and enjoy accuracy even if the entertainment factor isn't quite there (compared to the pyrotechnics of Gladiator)

It was nice to see some myths defused, such as gladiators were always killed in the matches.

So if you're a history buff, this isn't boring. I'd recommend to anyone interested in Classical history.

The documentary/drama of Pompeii is one of the more dramatic of BBC historical productions of recent note. The last day of Pompeii, just before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This is no mere documentary presentation, nor is it a docu-drama in which things are enacted and carried along soley by the narrative. This production weaves together historical narration and live-action progress, together with very impressive CGI recreations of the cities of around the bay of Naples, including Misenum, Stabiae, and Herculanium, a city buried by Vesuvian flows before Pompeii's final fate.

Perhaps the best-known actor here is Jim Carter, followed by Jonathan Firth, both well recognisable from television and cinematic film. The other actors are lesser known, but good actors who play their parts well, both in terms of presenting a believable picture of Pompeii as a typical Roman city, as well as the kind of struggle and fear one has against the unknown. Included in the teleplay are clips of actual artifacts of the archaeological digs and reconstructions of Pompeii; these often fade into or fade out from the action in the plot narrative.

Many characters are featured -- Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, watching from afar; Polybius and Stephanus, local politicians and merchants or workers part of large households; various gladiators, slaves and other local figures whose identities are now lost, but whose presence is known from the remains found in Pompeii.

The narrator overlay tells the progress of the eruption (Vesuvius, a major volcano, erupted for in excess of 20 hours at least, according to accounts from Pliny the Younger, accounts that were not believed at the time) -- this progress is recounted hour by hour, as the first earthquakes occurred, the pillar of smoke rising (up to 15 miles into the atmosphere) -- as Pompeii's inhabitants had never seen a volcanic eruption, they had no idea what they were witnessing, and thus most did nothing to escape. The falling pumice, then rocks and coals, then the air thinning, the volcanic lightning, and the gaseous mixture into the air are all chronicled. The narrator talks about the finds later, such as looters who remained in the streets long past time there was any hope for escape.

Pliny the Elder, across the bay a bit from Naples, was too fascinated by the developments to flee for his life. A naturalist (he wrote an encyclopedia of natural history which is one of his only surviving works), he observed the collapse of the volcanic column as a piece of rare history indeed. Pliny the Younger recounted much of the details from which this particular history is reconstructed.

The piece shows a bit of the archaeological reconstruction -- Pompeii lay buried and forgotten for some 1500 years, until rediscovered accidentally during excavations for an aqueduct. The documentary also recreates what would happen to modern cities around Vesuvius today given a similar catastrophe, with literally millions living around the volcano today.

Dramatic, impressive, and historically fairly accurate (so far as my reading of Roman histories permits me to judge), this is an impressive production by any standard.

This review is in relation to Pompeii-The Last Day only.

Pompeii-The Last Day, brings to the screen the last hours of one of the most well known cities of all time. The irony lies in that the city owes its fame to the spectacular and tragic way in which it was destroyed.
The director's presentation includes effective narration in conjunction with the re-enactment, by a variety of citizens of Pompeii using authentic dialogues that have survived in diaries and other records, of actual conditions. It is an AMAZING and accurate way of conveying the feelings and emotions that the people of the time would have experienced since making use of primary sources has always been the best way to find out about and examine the past.
The actors give it their 100% and it really shows; they have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are extraordinary to say the least! Consequently, it is a film that can be watched over and over again.
Peter Nicholson and the BBC deserve credit for doing an OUTSTANDING job with this highly educational and entertaining project!
The setting, the dialogues the costumes, and the music are all wonderful!
In a nutshell, Pompeii-The Last Day will surely provide for an evening's entertainment. It is a film definitely worth watching, especially for those with a soft spot for History and all things Roman, and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection!

I used this in my classroom to teach about Pompeii. The kids loved it and it held my intrest even after the 8th time I had watched it.

A Gladiator's Story has several great things going for it, but the strongest is its factually-based story. The cinematography captures the scenes wonderfully, without becoming a cheesy over-produced extravaganza. By incorporating simple Latin phrases in the dialog, the introductory Latin student is hooked, and the Roman life details help the viewer to identify with aspects of humanity (funerals, religion). A quick pace and frequent references to help the viewer understand the significance of the scenes make the story clear and enjoyable. As a Latin teacher, I used this in a unit with my 7th and 8th grade students who enjoyed it immeasurably. A winner!

If you are curious about the geology, history, and culture concerning the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius and its effects on Pompeii and Herculaneum, this is your DVD. What I liked so much about this program was the interlaced use of the five components mentioned in the title to this review. Before you see this film, I would recommend that you become familiar with the geological term "pyroclastic flow". It took me some time to grasp just what this was.
The program on the Colosseum was, (amazingly) nearly as stunning. Similar techniques are used to show how and when it was built and just what was going on in there. There are all kinds of jobs, perhaps you have one right now, but "The Beastmaster" job was not an easy job at all. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it. Find out about this and much more.