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EMPIRE

max1963 from , 19th August, 2008

Excellent piece of roman history & Michael Byrne who plays Cicero (Coronation Street Ted Page) is very good. Epic four-hour series about the rise of Octavius who succeeds Julius Caesar and tangles with Marc Anthony for control of the Roman empire and finally went on to become the emperor Augustus.

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Rome But With Less Gore And More Talk.

filmsaremypassion from , 18th March, 2009

After seeing the excellent BBC tv series Rome come to a close, I came across Empire on Sky Three. Many said that it's a better series than Rome without the gore, sex and obvessive langauge so I gave it a try. But due to sleepless nights, I kept missing it so I put it on the rental list and finally finished it today. It begins with Julias Caser's brutal assasstion and the rise of Octivious along with his gladiatior friend while Marc Antony becomes from a friend of Caser to becoming a mad one and wanting Octivious dead. During the journey, he falls for a woman that can not be with him and struggles with the reality of ruling Rome as it crumbles. There is a lot of difference to the BBC Rome, lots of twists and new characters that haven't been noticed before. There is also less known faces in this, only Emily Blunt, Sting's Wife and Vincent Regan from 300 fame that I really know. Yes, there isn't a lot of gore and the action scenes are played down to make a 12 rating. The script and the acting seemed to be weak, I couldn't really feel for them as they looked emotionaless and the guy who played Octivious really annoyed me. But still, there is some stunning scenes of Rome and good ideas in it but really it's a mess. I'm glad I have seen it though, I would recommend it to anyone who loved Rome and to see a lighter verison of it.

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