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

Thorough, accurate and compelling; well documented without b

Eric Kondratieff | Philadelphia | 03/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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)."

Not bad for a docu-drama

Bruce Brocka | Quad Cities | 04/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."