I was not impressed with the first two hours of the new drama EMPIRE Here are a few things that I think missed the mark or made it:
1. Sets and costumes were GORGEOUS to the eye. 2. Caesar, how British must you be to always play Caesar? While I like Colm as an actor, too bad that he was a total waste of talent in the short lived role. 3. Cleopatra - totally absent from the first two hours - according to history, she was in Rome at the time of the assassination, Caesar left her bed that morning to go to the Senate. 4. The addition of people who were not really there is so LAME on the part of the writers. History shows us that these people were ruthless, back-stabbing, murdering clan of leaders and would-be leaders! 5. The lack of CGI - really well done. I prefer to see the real city and not some CGI interactive work of art. Realism should never be forsaken for cheapness! 6. Wives, Lovers, and Enemies abounded in Caesar's world, and in the world of Marc Antony, a little more backdrop story of who was really betraying who in the senate would have been better to see than the freeing of a gladiator slave. 7. Gladiator is the prime example of how to make a fight scene really draw you into a movie. The fight scenes here are so well choreographed that they appear to be dancing instead of fighting. A knock-down, drag out fight to the death is what the Arena was, not a night at the Gladiator's ball. 8. Aggripa - I'm lost on this character - damn cute actor - but not what the man truly was in history. The reviews are right about this one. 9. Historically, it's a worthless piece of TV BS that must be taken with a WHOLE SHAKER OF SALT, not just the grain! 10. Now that I have said that about the first two hours, I need to see the rest of it, hopefully with less commercials than this.
Television needs to get wise - when shopping this movie around - pick a sponsor, show it in 30 minute increments with a 5 minute commercial break. Commericalism will kill any tension, excitement and anticipation of the next scene. While it was filmed to be shown on TV - the DVD version will be far more superior to this highly cropped piece of historical BS.
1. Sets and costumes were GORGEOUS to the eye. 2. Caesar, how British must you be to always play Caesar? While I like Colm as an actor, too bad that he was a total waste of talent in the short lived role. 3. Cleopatra - totally absent from the first two hours - according to history, she was in Rome at the time of the assassination, Caesar left her bed that morning to go to the Senate. 4. The addition of people who were not really there is so LAME on the part of the writers. History shows us that these people were ruthless, back-stabbing, murdering clan of leaders and would-be leaders! 5. The lack of CGI - really well done. I prefer to see the real city and not some CGI interactive work of art. Realism should never be forsaken for cheapness! 6. Wives, Lovers, and Enemies abounded in Caesar's world, and in the world of Marc Antony, a little more backdrop story of who was really betraying who in the senate would have been better to see than the freeing of a gladiator slave. 7. Gladiator is the prime example of how to make a fight scene really draw you into a movie. The fight scenes here are so well choreographed that they appear to be dancing instead of fighting. A knock-down, drag out fight to the death is what the Arena was, not a night at the Gladiator's ball. 8. Aggripa - I'm lost on this character - damn cute actor - but not what the man truly was in history. The reviews are right about this one. 9. Historically, it's a worthless piece of TV BS that must be taken with a WHOLE SHAKER OF SALT, not just the grain! 10. Now that I have said that about the first two hours, I need to see the rest of it, hopefully with less commercials than this.
Television needs to get wise - when shopping this movie around - pick a sponsor, show it in 30 minute increments with a 5 minute commercial break. Commericalism will kill any tension, excitement and anticipation of the next scene. While it was filmed to be shown on TV - the DVD version will be far more superior to this highly cropped piece of historical BS.