Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (TV Mini Series) The Bitter End (2011) User Reviews

One of the best episodes

[vladignationut · 10/10 · 26 February 2011]

I've watched both,"Spartacus:Blood and Sand" and "Spartacus:Gods of the Arena" , but i must say,that "The Bitter End" episode is the best episode this serial has had until now.Even better than the last episode of "Spartacus:Blood and Sand".Batiatus plays outstanding(this guy need an Emmy) and Gannicus,well,Gannicus is Gannicus.

All i can say,is that, those were one of the best 62 minutes of my movie life. This episode has everything!drama,tension,love,thug fights,friendship and last but not least....the glory of the roman society.

Eagerly waiting for season 3.

The timing is right/ripe (2019) for another trip back to Ancient Rome with another series like Spartacus Gods Of The Arena!

[metropolitansales · 9/10 · 22 May 2019]

The producers would have been happy to keep the franchise alive and the actors were all onboard. No one knows what happened. There were plenty of scripts around. Enough for 2 additional seasons of Gladiators and Roman politics. The invasion of Britain was discussed and the war with Carthage and Hannibal was a possible. But in the end everyone went home due to lack of interest by the big companies. Are Gladiators now second to Game Thrones & dragon type stuff? That'll pass, just like the vampire craze did in 2017, and soon the Walking Dead (any Zombies vs living people stuff) interest will fade as well. That's why now would be a great time to bring back Ancient rome & galdiator type series.

Roman barbarism

[johnm-14 · 9/10 · 16 May 2011]

It's amazing that we can decry the barbarity of Rome and its culture. We can condemn wholesale slaughter as entertainment, people as slaves being forced to do their master's bidding, and rampant hedonism at every turn. But what are we? Now, 2000 years later, 2000 years of increased civilization, and we are still watching the very same things. The only difference between Romans watching gladiators and our watching them is that the blood in our combat is fake and the gladiators will come back to life when the director, ironically, says, "Cut!" To me, this is a small difference, as everything we have in technology is used to make it all more real.

I agree about the quality of the acting. I agree with most of the comments about this series. I just wanted to point out that there isn't much difference between the Romans and us.

One thing I found EXTREMELY disturbing, and that was the execution of Jessica Grace Smith's character, Diona. She was used and abused from the beginning - like a blow-up sex doll. When she was killed she was dragged away like so much trash. I guess I wish that Bataitus would have shown some humanity and that somehow she's be back next season. Small comfort knowing his end.

Gratuitous gore for video gamers

[dhyer · 26 February 2011]

If you think Roman society was "glorious", especially as depicted in this episode, you need to get out of the house more. Think about what you watched--infidelity, betrayal (sexual and otherwise), killing for sport, slavery, cruel hedonism, and total domination of human beings by other "humans'. Only the slave gladiators displayed any positive attributes, mainly loyalty and bravery. I have no problem with fighting for one's honor or safety, but these gladiators have to fight for the honor of dishonorable men and their houses. They take great delight in bloodily dispatching other men trapped in the same circus. Men reduced to animals. Yes, I know that's the way it was, historically. However, I doubt the ancient Romans swore like longshoremen and used modern-day profanity, since the f-word dates only back to Medieval times. My thoughts were but two: it's the Sopranos transplanted back in time to their roots, and, what with the slow-mo chopping up of fighters, this show is designed to appeal only to emotionally and intellectually retarded young men. No doubt the intention is to lure them away from their violent video games. And, it's not a movie. Some of the sets ARE impressive, but the cinematography is only a notch above home video. Other than the profane dialog, some of the acting is quite good. Too bad the material and message as some perceive it is quite bad.