Spartacus

This series rocks! It is full of action packed historical fiction plots. As well as plenty of gratuitous nudity! Hehe

I can't stand much of whats on TV. What I love about this show is the amount of sensuality and poetry it brings to the table, while not being sensory with respect to sexuality, violence, and ethics. I usually hate romance, but the romance in this movie is genuine, there are several forms of love and lust that are identified in the episodes. The fact that they have homosexuality in it despite possible conflicting interest--what would seem to attract small target audience--does suggest a good portrayal of sexuality at that time (Although i doubt that only a couple of them would be subject to homosexual lust because many of the mentors and mentees mated at that time).

As a previous rater stated, the characters have shades of evil and good. Their ethics seems to match what values were imbedded in the roman civilization. The reason there is so much blood and it over indulges is because the show not only explicitly includes sensual dialogue, but the way it is directed and the tactics of capturing violence and glory are not 2D and speak to its sensuality. Bottom line: if you are a passionate person, you will enjoy the dramatic dialogue and poetry, the sexuality, and the brutality.

It's so good I'm watching it all over again. 10 years later it still holds up. Amid all the glorious violence I had forgotten just how surprisingly emotional this series was.

If you have not seen it, watch it!

For fans of Gladiator, Xena, Hercules, and works by Sam Raimi. You need not have seen the original 1960 film Spartacus to enjoy the series as they are not related.

Warning - every episode contains nudity and explicit sex scenes. You have been warned.

And don't forget to watch the 6 episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which aired between seasons one and two, but could be watched after this series. This was basically a holdover for the fans while it was hoped for and assumed by everyone involved that Andy Whitfield's return would be eminent.

Sadly, Andy Whitfield was taken from us a year and a half after the final episode aired. If you like Andy and enjoyed his performance make sure to check out the documentary Be Here Now. RIP Andy Whitfield.

This is not a series for everyone and many people will find a lot in it offensive. They will have good cause. If you are under 16 you should not watch it. Why am i so excited by it then: For the ones that want to see fights, blood, brutality, sex, men looking like gods, blood, erotica, excitement, blood, swearing, allot of skulls being bashed, sweat, savagery, arena fights, honor, friendships intrigues, assassinations, and lets not forget some more blood, this is a show for you.

It is brutal and it is one of the best shows out there. It is not a soup opera and if you are one of those people that got excited by a show like CAPRICA skip this one.

This show makes your hart race. The first episode is the weakest, but by episode 4 which i just saw i am swearing by all the Roman Gods that this is what i was born to watch. It is raw bloody entertainment!

This show is so unique, it is in a category with THE WIRE, thought they have noting in common and their uniqueness lies in completely different places, they are bot light years away of what is being made.

For a low budget with computer graphics, after the first weaker episode, the show becomes so realistic, by episode 4 it has griped me in its razor sharp clutches and the downward spiral of darkness is leaving bloody marks on my soul!

If you like it you will love it, if you don't like it you will hate it.

If you want a series about Roman history, one can watch HBO's Rome (a very fine TV show). If you want to see a trashy and outrageously entertaining TV show with nonstop gore and nudity (both male and female) as well as graphic sex, Spartacus (very loosely based on the history of Ancient Rome's slave gladiator turned rebel leader) should be the choice.

Supposedly, TV shows are by necessity tamer than movies, yet I haven't seen any movie as consistently graphic about sex and violence as Spartacus. Suffice to say that almost everybody in the large cast of mostly muscular men and gorgeous women, gets naked in the series at some point. Episode 9 in particular – subtly called "Whore" – is a highlight in that regard.

A bit slow to start (I struggled with episode 1, but get hooked after episode 2), this admittedly not for all tastes series, was filmed in New Zealand with a mostly Australian and Kiwi cast. Its striking visual style can be compared with 300 (the gladiator's trainer, the great Peter Mensah, had a small role in that movie). The show is finely led in the titular role by Andy Whitfield (unfortunately he died of cancer after the first season, and was replaced by another actor in the following season). Yet, even if most of the cast is great, the best performance to me is by John Hannah as the devious Batiatus, the owner of the Gladiator's school. Hannah, whose background has been mostly on British comedies, excels here. While he initially seems to lack the toughness one supposes a master of a gladiator's school should have, he is eventually seen as a charming yet also very cruel and cunning man. Also remarkable are the performances of Manu Bennett as the knucklehead (but eventually noble) gladiator Crixus, Viva Bianca as the gorgeous but scheming Ilythia, and Nick Tarabay as Batiatus slimy aide, Ashur.