But wait! Things aren' t quite so black and white as that. The producer is none other than Robert Tapert, creator/producer of "Xena". And Mrs. Tapert herself, Lucy Lawless, has a role in the series (and flaming red hair to boot!!). The music is by Joseph LoDuca, who scored so many "Xena" episodes, and--surprise, surprise--the writer of this first episode was Kittenfriend Steven S. DeKnight (who, you will recall, was the only "Buffy"-connected writer to ever express any regret about Tara publically). Small world, ain't it?
So what have we got here? Well, like I said up top, we are offered much T&A, both male and female, and even full frontal nudity. The blood flows like a mighty river: they must have used gallons of the fake stuff, and added even more with CGI. Limbs and heads go flying with the greatest of ease, all pointedly overcranked à la "The Matrix". As in "300" warriors are fighting nearly nude, even in the snow. Color temperatures go from natural to nearly black & white in seconds, as if they'd found a new toy to play with.
And all this is about what? Thracian warrior Spartacus is enslaved by the Romans. That's it for the first episode. Is this going to improve later on? I can't say. But as a lover of "period" pieces, I think I'll stick with it a little while longer to find out how it develops. After all, given the people involved, I figure it can't be a total stinkaroo.
Of course, the best take on Spartacus remains the 1960 Kubrick film. Be sure to see it if you haven't.
) and the blood thing was so overused, it bored me (which is saying quite a lot).
