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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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"Empire"
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Reviewer:
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Wayne
A. Klein
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Studio: |
Touchstone |
| Genre: |
Drama |
Release:
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11/29/05
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| Special
Features: |
"Rebuilding an 'Empire'", "Empire:
Before and After-Creating the Look of Ancient Rome", Unrated,
unaired scenes |
| Review:
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Sometimes it seems as if the flurry of bad films and
bad TV shows about the Roman Empire produced during the
20th and 21st Centuries were really what caused the empire
to collapse. ABC's epic mini-series while lacking some of
the grandeur of HBO's "Rome" still provides an entertaining
evening soap opera with historical trappings. Set just after
the assassination of Julius Ceaser, "Empire" chronicles
the experience of a fictional gladiator named Tyrranus (Jonathan
Cake) as he protects the soon-to-be new emperor Octavius.
The historical events portrayed in the show are nice window
dressing but overall about as accurate as Ridley Scott's
"Gladiator". That's fine as it creates the environment and
allows the drama to unfold without getting caught up in
the dusty machinery of politics that ruled Rome. ***
While some of the better episodes do recall the nasty
double crossing and backstabbing seen in "I, Claudius" most
of the time the show is like a lesser knock off of "Desperate
Housewives" with men in togas. The show's marvelous production
design, strong performances and capable visuals help bouy
it preventing it from sinking. The images are sharp and
the colors are lush and as an overripe Roman orgy. Overall
the show looks quite good in this widescreen presentation.
The 5.1 channel mix manages to be involving throughout the
program juggling sound effects, music and dialogue equally
well. ---
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| Special
Features: |
We get a couple of very good
featurettes on the making of the series. The first "" focuses
gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the genesis and
production of the show. "Empire: Before and After" shows us
the actual sets before and after the use of digital effects
used to recreate the beauty and squalor of anicent Rome. It's
a neat behind-the-scenes glimpse into a recreation of the
past. There are also a number of unaired scenes which were
unaired for a reason--they would have slowed down the pacing
of the show. --- |
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Final Words:
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As a soap opera melodrama, "Empire"
succeeds in involving the audience in the story of Rome after
the assassination of Julius Ceaser. It was a troubled and
difficult part of Roman history that made for fasincation
TV in "I, Claudius" and HBO's "Rome" (although both of those
included part of Julius' rein). If it lacks the epic grandeur
of "Gladiator" it certainly has greater depth and while it
sacrafices the drama of history for the melodrama "Empire"
works extremely well most of the time. "Empire" is definitely
worth a rental or purchase particularly if you're a fan of
films like "Gladiator". Accepted on its own terms "Empire"
is just as entertaining as the other TV shows looking at the
same time frame. |
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