Spartacus: Blood and Sand - The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] Reviews

Kill Them All:  How a TV Series Should be Presented

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Year: 2010

Rated: Not Rated

Film Length: 11 hours, 32 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

The Series

Because Spartacus: BLood and Sand was presented on Starz, quite a few people didn't take the time to watch.  Worse then that, the first two episodes, which were also mirrored on Encore, and seen by more eyes, were two of the weakest of the series, as early setups while the actors - and direction - found it's footing.

Early on, I saw the promise of Spartacus as an over-the-top romp set in the days of Gladiators.   But as the series progressed, the actors fell into their roles and this became one of the most enjoyable series of the last year.   Spartacus Blood and Sand, while over the top gory, with tons of sex to go along with it, is probably much closer to the realities of ancient Rome then we often see.

The Episodes

The Red Serpent(Extended)(54:56)

Sacramentum Gladiatorum(Extended)(52:48)

Legends(55:10)

The Thing In The Pit(49:09)

Shadow Games(Enhanced)(55:15)

Delicate Things(Extended)(54:13)

Great and Unfortunate Things(50:54)

Mark of the Brotherhood(Extended)(50:50)

Whore(50:22)

Party Favor(51:47)

Old Wounds(51:39)

Revelation(55:17)

Kill Them All(Enhanced)(54:03)

I want to pay special attention to the titles in Black.   These are the same episodes you've seen before, but outside of aditional footage, the timing, effects, and look are tweaked from their presentation.  In some places small, in some places the additions have real effect.  Because I don't get into spoilers, I just want to say that it was not easy to notice the changes in some episodes, but "Kill Them All" and "The Red Serpent" feature brilliant additions that help those episodes.  And that's saying something considering I think "Kill Them All" is one of the most "edge of your seat" riveting action moments presented in a while.. by the time that episode gets going, it's hard to not find yourself cheering on the characters in their bloody revolt against their masters.

The Video Quality

Video on this disc is encoded at 24.4Mbps avg in AVC.  How good is the video quality?  Quite frankly, this is one of the best looking discs I think you will find on the market.     For a show about "Blood and Sand" the Bluray really sets itself apart.  Rarely does the term 'gritty' define high quality, but this is the kind of Bluray that shows you exactly what good production values mean on a show filmed for HD.   

Grits of sand show up in all their glory as gladiators rise from the ground; clouds of sand that get kicked into the air; beads of sweat coming down gladiators, drops of blood.. Color quality, visual presentation and overall look scream HD.

The scenes mirror anything you'll find in even the best Bluray, and at times, the stunning quality of the presentation makes you feel as though this is an incredibly well produced feature film.    Black takes on an inky, deep feel.. and the graphic quality of blood and sand (yes, fitting!) take on an incredible feel.

This is one of the best looking presentations of any television program I have ever seen, and it should be a standard.

The Audio

Audio is encoded at 2.2Mbps avg in TrueHD format.  Audio presents itself with a solid sound mix, the rears primarily used in battle sequences, but you will find that the small ambience, especially in serving and bathing scenes where you feel as though servants walk around behind you is a nice touch.   Dialog is clear and crisp, and in battle sequences, truly fantastic.

LFE on this is a bit "hot" in comparison to the 5.1 mix as presented within the series, but I find it fitting and not over the top.   In a back and forth between the mixes, you can appreciate a much cleaner dialog and the addition of ambiance.. so this is obviously a somewhat new mix from the presentation as seen on Starz, and it really works to help enhance the experience.

The Extras

I'm often a sucker for good extras, and Spartacus doesn't let you down.

Disc 1 features commentary for these episodes: The pilot "The Red Serpent" with director Rick Jacobson, writer/creator Steven S. DeKnight, and executive producer Rob Tapert and executive producer Joshua Donen. "Sacramentum Gladiatorium" with Jacobson, DeKnight, and Tapert. 

Disc 2 contains audio commentaries for "Shadow Games" with director Michael Hurst and actors Andy Whitfield and Lucy Lawless. "Delicate Things" with Jacobson, DeKnight, and actress Erin Cummings.

Disc 3 contains commentaries for "Whore" with Whitfield, Lawless, and actress Viva Bianca. "Revelations" with Writer Brent Fletcher, DeKnight, and Actor Nick E. Taraby.

Disc 4 contains commentaries for "Kill Them All" DeKnight and actor Peter Mensah and actress Katrina Law.

Of the commentaries, I will admit I haven't listen to them all, but found the commentary for "Kill Them All" and "The Red Serpent" to be effective, somewhat a look at the "why we did this" "how we did this".  I've never been a big digester of commentaries, but for those that are, Starz attention to have commentaries for everything gives you every opportunity.

Disc 4 also contains:

"'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' -- Behind the Scenes" -  This is the 15 minute promo piece some of us saw on Encore/etc. as an overview.  It's short, not very detailed, and completely a promo piece.

Battle Royale - A flash through all of the best battle sequences presented in Spartacus.  Just in case you want, in 8 minutes, to see all the blood and gore without the episodes.

Gladiator Boot Camp - a 4 minute feature about the training and routines that went into turning the actors into believable gladiators.   A bit too quick, but interesting.

Grime & Punishment: The Hole - a look at the ultimate punishment to those in the ranks of the gladiators. 5 Minutes

Andy Gets Plastered - exactly as it sounds, a short about 4 minute clip into the creating a mold of Spartacus, and why they do it.  

Legend Re-Imagined - a short special explaining the liberties taken with the material for the good of the drama, a "fictionalized retelling". 

Those Randy Romans - a bit as it sounds, telling of the sex scenes, and hearing from actors about how it was to perform.   This is a great segment, actually.

Shooting the Green - a short discussing the challenges of filming a show set against a green screen background. 

Exposing the Ludus - the gag real, all of the outtakes and flubs.

My Final Thoughts

It's kind of unfortunate more people missed out on this series when it originally aired.   This is an inventive, unique take on the legend.   The story lines are fun, the actors really fall into their roles, and the last 4 episodes of this season are amongst the best presented on any pay cable network.

But what I want to note here is the attention to detail paid to this bluray TV release.  There are a lot of TV releases out there, even Bluray, that seem to just offer you "this is what it is", without a lot of extra payout.   Some I would complain just don't offer enough in the way of quality.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand really offers one of the best values for a TV series release on bluray I've found.   Excellent, top notch video quality.   They give you something unique from the TV presentation, with extended episodes, remastered audio, and commentaries.   These provide those who enjoy the show a real reason to buy.   But it's the fact that they've worked to present something here that is a real offer to those buying bluray, and they've worked to maximize the experience of the end user that should be appreciated.

I will admit, I picked this up on an Amazon special, and I spent last night and today pouring through it while taking my vacation time.   Revisiting this series really drove home what I enjoyed about it.   But it was the unique presentation, minor tweaks, and extended episodes that kept sucking me back in.

These changes were for the most part small, but they added to the sense of care you felt as though Starz and others put into this package.

And they reached all the way.   The unique, comic-esque fold out packaging is stand out pretty to look at, as an almost book of the images that sell the show.

There are lots of Bluray series that I've watched that I love.   This is one of those that makes me say: this is a series that should be a blind buy for anyone that wants to show off what Bluray can really bring to a release of a series.  And, for fans of the show, THIS is how this series should be seen.

This is a great value for a great production, and even at listed price, this is a fantastic buyasdfasdfasdfasdf