The Show
For the sake of full disclosure, there is no one named Spartacus in the newly arrived six-part Spartacus: Gods of the Arena mini-series on Blu-ray, rather it serves as a prequel to last year's Spartacus: Blood and Sand. As such, it focuses more on the colorful lives of familiar gladiator wrangler Batiatus (John Hannah) and his wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless). Batiatus is still struggling to make a name for himself, single-mindedly sleazing his way to success by all means necessary, working to make his arena fighters the most sought-after in all the Roman Empire. The equally conniving Lucretia does her part too, dispelling the notion that women in the ancient world had no real power.
As if they don't already bring enough drama and intrigue, we are also given the backstory of Crixus, a gladiator who figured prominently in Blood and Sand, and introduced to Gannicus, Batiatus' hard-living current champion. A new arena is being built in their town of Capua, and even with the roster for the opening games still being finalized, we can rest assured that it will be a bloody battle royale.
Five of the six episodes are presented here in extended versions with footage not shown on Starz, the finale running over a solid hour. This newest flavor of Spartacus continues to put the "M" in the TV-MA rating for its abundant sex, frank language, bloody/gory violence, and other unrefined behavior, and it's great grownup fun.
The Picture
Despite some minor contrast issues owing to its creation on digital video, the 16:9 Gods of the Arena boasts quite strong 1080p/24 quality, with exceptional detail evident in the blood-soaked sands and in the weave of various cloths. Even dubious specifics such as veins and pores and wrinkles are on display. Noise is refreshingly minimal, and colors are strong when they need to be, but also ratcheted down at times for dramatic effect.
The Sound
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel soundfield is wonderfully active and generous, whether it be the pounding of tools in the background as the new coliseum is being built, barking dogs in the distance or the clinking of weapons all around during practice. Of course, a 360-degree crowd fills the arena. The music has been given an elaborate multichannel mix as well, with thoughtful placement of the instruments plus a wordless chorus behind us.
The Extras
Ten featurettes, some extremely short, are included on a variety of topics, from props to costumes to bloopers and beyond. Many of these are handled with a tongue-in-cheek style, in stark contrast to the melodramatic events of the show. Interestingly, all are presented at 1080p/24 HD, but in MPEG-2 format, versus the AVC format of the episodes.
Exclusive to Blu-ray are audio commentaries for all six episodes from the following creators: executive producer Rob Tapert, directors Jesse Warn, Michael Hurst and Rick Jacobson, production designer Ian Aitken, costume designer Barbara Darragh, writer/creator/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight, writer Brent Fletcher, and actors Dustin Clare, Peter Mensah, Jaime Murray, Lucy, Lawless and John Hannah.
And in a pretty nifty home theater carrot, the climactic team battle is presented in Blu-ray 3D, for those properly equipped.
Final Thoughts
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena once again combines graphic on-field and off-field action with compelling human drama and delicious scheming. The complete two-disc set looks and sounds about as good as any TV-on-Blu-ray release I've seen/heard this year, and it all comes packaged in a lovely hardbound book. Thumbs-up.
Product Details
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