Empire
Empire
| 28 June 2005 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Lightdeossk

    Captivating movie !

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    AnhartLinkin

    This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

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    Erica Derrick

    By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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    Fatma Suarez

    The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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    VikenMekhtarian

    I am a huge fan of classical history and relish any opportunities to indulge in some good ole fashion stories about the fascinating times. The events that led to the fall of a Roman Republic and the rise of an Empire that ruled over a thousand year does not require embellishment or sexing up. It but does demands some rigorous attention to detail while keeping a historical perspective that does not dive into soap operatics. The story of the rise of Octavius, one of the geniuses of the classical times, from pretender to a throne to a God who sired a dynasty never before seen is told through the lens of a freed gladiator slave. First Mistake! of all the different ways of telling this story, why pick such a weak narrator as a noble fighter - this gladiator, though played with genuine intentions could just as easily be a hero in any mid-summer blockbuster movie. His presence does not make the story easier to tell, it just cheapens it. Second huge mistake is the Casting: everyone looks like they were selected from a catalogue: totally archetypal features yet still pretty enough to sell sweaters or insurance.Lastly, the story: it is based on a true story, but only as much as Christian cartoons are based on what life was in the year 00. I am not sure if you will learn much from this story, except a few dates and places, which can easily be found in a 5th grader's history textbook. Despite the huge amount of archaeological and archival documents available to filmmakers nowadays which when properly combined can almost make you "smell" Rome, that city of a Million people which was the centre of the known world. Rome was the modem day equivalent of New York, Paris and Hong Kong combined. Instead what we get is a dirty village scenes, that could easily have been leftover from the set of Stargate, filled with a very homogeneous Italian looking set of extras living in huge well lit homes. I would give The Empire a pass. Instead check out Caligula, or Gladiator or even the old classic Fall of the Riman Empire.

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    brucefant

    Truly wished I had not wasted my time, or money. Needless to say, unnecessary historical inaccuracies and falsehoods abound...leading me to suspect that the writers may not have passed their history classes in college. If the writers wanted to make up something entertaining, and accuracy be damned, then why not make up something completely outlandish and exciting--maybe sending Octavius to Mexico to fight the Mayans or Aztecs...or maybe turning Marc Antony into a transgendered dwarf sent to find the abominable snowman..or how about "Julius Caesar--Vampire Hunter"...cause, hey, if all you're concerned about is entertainment value, why hold back? But beyond the horrendous screen play and the poor writing, what really ticks me off about these movies with their 'casts of thousands' are the extras. To me, you only have to look at the extras in the background to tell the quality of the film. When the director tells every extra to pump their fists up and down in the air in every crowd scene...such obviously unenthusiastic and unrealistic, even fake, fist pumping which doesn't match the expression on the extra's face, tells you right away that this is a cheap piece of film even though its budget was in the tens of millions of dollars. And the battle scenes where the extras are arrayed in battle... just watching the extras in the background as they pretend to strike and parry their swords reminds me of bad amateur community theater--swear I saw a couple of rubber swords bend... and really poor unrealistic sword-fighting choreography... With the budget this film had, no reason they couldn't have gotten more 'acting' out of the extras...or maybe a fencing lesson or two. Stay away from this film unless you have no interest history.

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    Robin Jacob

    Well how about fabricating a lot of Roman History! Augustus just didn't do a lot of the stuff in this movie and it isn't as if Roman history wasn't written down. Augustus joined Caesar in two campaigns before he was 18.After Caesar's murder there was a lot of political wrangling with Marc Anthony and eventual battles, etc. There is no need to fabricate stories when Roman history is full of good stuff.There are many occasions in history when we just don't know much and one can speculate then... but... well what's the use... Hallmark seldom delivers on these sort of projects...Their modern drama are much better...

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    usmcf4driver

    Other commentaries have criticized this series for its historical inaccuracies. Well, it was not presented as a documentary. The critical question in reviewing any film or mini-series is "Is it entertaining?" This series is entertaining. It is presented well. The sets are excellent. The acting is far better than most television fare. The two most engrossing character portrayals are Cassius (Michael Maloney) and Tyrannus (Jonathan Cake). Those two and some of the lesser roles carry the film. Cassius is the most believable villain since Hannibal Lecter. If you enjoy good acting, Mr. Maloney's performance alone makes the series worth watching. The central character, Octavius (Santiago Cabrera) is not strong enough to create an interest for the viewer, think of Colin Farrell in Alexander. The viewer will be far more concerned with the fate of Tyrannus than that of Octavius. Other performances are so strong as to emphasize the weakness of the lead. However, only the first three episodes have been shown to date, and at this point Octavius is only a 17-year-old kid. Perhaps the weakness is an actor's or director's choice and should not be mistaken as a weak performance. As the character grows into Augustus will the performance seem stronger? Time will tell. Until then, pop some corn and enjoy the entertainment.

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