Spartacus: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

While I missed the opportunity to watch Spartacus in its entirety while I was a Starz subscriber, I watched the first number of episodes after having it recommended to me as a fan of Netflix's "Barbarians" and HBO's "Game of Thrones." The first number of episodes were enough to pique my curiosity. It was good enough that I decided to splurge for the complete series on Blu Ray here on Amazon and soon found myself marathoning the rest of the show.Know this - Spartacus is AWESOME. The supporting cast is incredible, consisting of 300/ Lord of the Rings / Hobbit alum along with the always-entertaining John Hannah and Lucy Lawless. The visuals and set design borrow from the stylized CGI backgrounds and slow-motion fight scenes of Zack Snyder's "300," combined with a taste of (co-producer) Sam Raimi camp that was evident in productions like "Hercules" and "Xena," and though this does create a very particular flavor for the show that makes it difficult to take totally seriously, there is no denying that the end product is some of the best eye candy and addictive viewing I've experienced on the small screen. The stylized, intentional CGI-heavy look may not be to everyone's taste, but it undoubtedly gives "Spartacus" much of its character and helps set it apart from shows like "Barbarians" and "Game of Thrones." Beautiful people in full frontal nudity and softcore porn are the rules rather than the exceptions in Spartacus, and you will find no lack of six-pack abs, bulging biceps, voluptuous breasts, and other visual showcasing of flesh. Fight choreography is often breathtaking and brutally violent, and while the show's plot somehow manages to blend a "Cliff notes" version of historical accuracy with the requisite twists and turns of a juicy soap opera and serves it up with epic prose that sounds like a poor man's version of Shakespeare, the entire experience is utterly compelling from beginning to end. This is not a plot-heavy show, but you will find plenty of character development to go along with all of the sex and violence. While said sex and violence is what "Spartacus" is ultimately known for, such blunt distillation unfairly undermines the show's artistic merits, including its set design and dialogue, which makes watching even simple conversation between characters more interesting and engaging than it has any right to be.The show truly finds its footing after the conclusion of the first season, for while main star Andy Whitfield would be unable to return due to his battle with cancer, the second and subsequent seasons solidify the show's fight choreography and move the plot forward in ways that the first show could not do due to its central setting. Season 1.5 (Gods of the Arena) provides an opportunity to set up additional characters and motivational arcs that become relevant in future seasons, as well as add depth to relationships that were developed in the first. It is here that we also see the show start to truly master the look and feel of the visceral combat sequences, which become noticeably more technical and nail-biting than what the first season was able to produce. It cannot be overemphasized how artistically stunning many of the fights and battles in Spartacus appear to be choreographed and performed, especially considering that these can be seen throughout the show and were achieved on a budget that was probably a fraction of what Hollywood blockbusters have to work with.Liam McIntyre steps into the role of Spartacus for the final two seasons, and while things initially feel a bit off with his portrayal, he soon makes the role his own and helps these final episodes be even better than what came before. Set pieces and battles are bigger and more impressive and the show manages to continue to keep viewers enthralled and in suspense even as the show marches towards the inevitable conclusion carved (loosely) into history books. Despite the departure of John Hannah after "Gods of the Arena," these final seasons also deliver the goods when it comes to devious villains. Gaius Claudius Glaber, Ilithyia, Ashur, Marcus Crassus, and Gaius Julius Caesar all offer worthy opponents for Spartacus and his allies, and half of the show's fun is witnessing the mental tactics waged between the protagonists and antagonists. While the final season's conclusion was not the show's high point for me, it was satisfying enough to recommend the purchase of this set and viewing of the show in its entirety.In conclusion, "Spartacus" is Steven DeKnight's magnum opus and one of the best premium cable shows ever produced. It, along with "Ash vs Evil Dead," stands as the best of what Starz has ever offered in original programming. This Blu Ray set, authored and released by Anchor Bay, offers razor sharp picture clarity, reference-level sound quality, and plenty of audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with cast and crew. Highly recommended for fans of Zack Snyder's cinematic "300," pseudo-historical epics (like Ridley Scott's "Gladiator"), Shakespearean tragedy topped with Sam Raimi cheese, combat sports (like MMA), and gratuitous sex and violence who don't mind a side helping of artistic flair and character development.

Yá había visto esta serie en DVD, pero en bluray es otro nivel. Para los que nos gusta éste tipo de series, vale la pena tener la colección con tan magnífica imagen. Aunque los discos llegaron un poco desordenados en el empaque, todo llegó en muy buen estado.

Just as advertised great value

Love this series it is so underrated. NiceLook of the box. Price was cheaper at amazon.com vs amazon.sweden.

This will be a spoiler free review of the series, so I will refrain from writing about characters unless absolutely necessary. I will also describe the box set.The review stars will encompass the series as well as the box set and special features.I stumbled upon spartacus when the first season was beginning, and from then on, the series held my attention as one of the greatest television series I have ever seen.I will get one thing out of the way first. The first episode is pretty mediocre in my opinion. It tries too hard to be like the movie "300" and because of the budget, it's not up to the level of Hollywood films. So as a precaution, please do not expect te first episode to be like the rest of the series.Season 1, called "Blood and Sand", tells the story of spartacus, played by the late Andy Whitfield, from his journey of Thracian soldier to legend of the arena. After the dismal first episode, the rest of the season is an awesome ride to vengeance filled with tons of violence and sex. Besides that, the acting is top notch and all the characters are awesome and you will more than likely develop and attachment to them.Following "Blood and Sand," the prequel season, "Gods of the Arena," begins. Tragedy befell the spartacus series with the sudden illness of Andy Whitfield being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Because of this, the series decided to give backstory by way of prequel telling the story of Spartacus' Roman owner, Batiatus and his wife Lucretia.The prequel deals with Batiatus' rise from lowly owner of gladiators to the man we see in "Blood and Sand." There are only 6 episodes for this season but every single one is awesome and moves the story at a great pace. Besides Batiatus, we also see the introduction of a new character, the Celtic gladiator, Gannicus.Andy Whitfield was no longer able to play the character because of his illness and sadly, Andy passed away from the cancer.Following "Gods," we go back to the current time with season 3, called "Vengeance." We once again follow the titular character, now played by Liam McIntyre. Andy was a great spartacus and fortunately, Liam makes the role his own and the season does not falter. We follow the ex gladiator and his band of rebels as they free more slaves and face the Roman Praetor called Glaber. The season is awesome as the previous seasons have been and sets up the last season for an amazing end.The last and final season is "War of the Damned," and for me this is probably the best season of the entire series. Spartacus' group of rebels has grown to an incredible army and we now face the inevitable clash between the powerful Roman legions and the courageous band of rebels. On the Roman side we have Marcus Crassus and also an unexpected but awesome appearance from arguably the most famous person in Ancient Roman history. This last season is an incredible thrill ride and the series ends with some of the greatest large scale fight scenes I have ever seen. I will also get it out of the way and say that this is the first time I have ever cried at the end of an episode. The final episode is a tearjerker and it reminded me of how far the rebels came for the reason of freedom.The entire series is amazing and if I was to only review the series itself, it would get a full 5 stars.On to the special features. All the special features from the previous stand alone season blu rays are here as well a few extras. I haven't seen all of them but I believe it gives more bang for your buck.The box set itself is pretty crappy. I expected all the seasons to be separated in their own mini boxes but all of them are basically crammed into a mini booklet almost like a little photo album. If you look at other box sets, especially the breaking bad barrel, this would look like someone found empty cardboard and used that to put all the discs in.As a whole, this complete series is great and if you haven't watched the series or are a fan, I would definitely recommend this.

Nicely packaged with all 4 seasons of Spartacus. I would suggest looking at "Gods of the Arena" first, if you like an orderly timeline. The series is superior to others made for tv series. The series is R rated so it's not for young kids. There is much violence, blood, nudity and sex in this series. The quality is that of a large scale movie. The scarce information of the time period of Spartacus is filled in with great acting and fictional story. What I have read of those times, this series is fairly accurate to the big real vague historic events. I've watched the entire series maybe five times. I see something new each time, highly recommended.

Great addition to my collection