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[Lukaku's First Touch]

Anyone seen this yet? I'm a sucker for ancient rome stuff like spartacus and Rome.

Not a very good rating atm.

Those About to Die (TV Series 2024– ) ⭐ 6.8 | Action, Comedy, Drama

| TV-MA

m.imdb.com

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Got bored halfway through the first eps.

Didnt seem to make much sense.

Some vfx looked very cheap

Writing felt atrocious

 

[jason10mm]

Watching the first ep now. It's not great but it ain't bad either. It's got boobs, it has a good "feel" for Rome, and the casting makes sense. Scenes are crowded and full of actors, it FEELS like a city. Ambitious first episode, hope they can keep it up. I think they suffer from time getting the CG just right, not $$$ making it look good. Anthony Hopkins just cashing that check though, he could do this role in his sleep

 

[Sulaco]

I’m about four episodes in. As a fan of Roman history it’s definitely watchable and whilst the CGI is mostly serviceable the plot and characters make up for it. Don’t be put off by those who say it looks cheap.

 

[jason10mm]

And it MOVES. Every scene advances the plot. It covers more ground by the end of ep2 than House of the Drsgon has all season.

It doesn't have quite the bombastic cast and tight focus of Spartacus but it feels more like a spiritual successor to that show than to something like Rome.

 

[AJUMP23]

I was curious about this too.

 

[SirKicksalot]

It's diet Spartacus. The physical sets are wonderful. Worth watching.

 

[jason10mm]

It's diet Spartacus. The physical sets are wonderful. Worth watching.

I'm actually curious to see what it looks like on set. The whole show has that hazy digital "volume" look but I can't tell if they do all the time, even on real sets, just to sync better with the mostly digital sets used for some scenes or if it's all a big green room or volume stage.

But damn, they PACK it with extras. Really feels like they are in a populated city. And they light interiors at night with like 1-2 candles and lots of blue light, so you can see WTF is going on but they don't have 1000 candles everywhere to give all natural light, so it feels more realistic with the compromise to the viewer to see everything. Having all three brothers squeeze into a single small room was great as well, lots of cool little details. I just hope they do the public toilet shitting scene with the sponge wipe that Spartacus did, that was fantastic as well for showing just how weird life was back then.

 

[SirKicksalot]

I'm actually curious to see what it looks like on set. The whole show has that hazy digital "volume" look but I can't tell if they do all the time, even on real sets, just to sync better with the mostly digital sets used for some scenes or if it's all a big green room or volume stage.

But damn, they PACK it with extras. Really feels like they are in a populated city. And they light interiors at night with like 1-2 candles and lots of blue light, so you can see WTF is going on but they don't have 1000 candles everywhere to give all natural light, so it feels more realistic with the compromise to the viewer to see everything. Having all three brothers squeeze into a single small room was great as well, lots of cool little details. I just hope they do the public toilet shitting scene with the sponge wipe that Spartacus did, that was fantastic as well for showing just how weird life was back then.

It's shot at Cinecitta in Rome. They forced Gladiator 2 to rent another location lol
The Circus Maximus is the same one built for Ben-Hur. Some of the locations are part of the Cinecitta theme park.
They also used the volume and most likely Unreal:


And yes, being a Roland Emmerich production means you can actually see what's going on!

 

[trancefreak64]

Thoughts on 'Those About to Die'? Worth watching for ancient Rome fans?

 

[RJMacready73]

Been to Rome a few times so I'm a sucker for all things ancient and this ticks the boxes, don't expect anything amazing as the writing is indeed terrible but if you're a fan of ancient Rome you'll get some enjoyment out of it

 

[Lunarorbit]

I'm actually curious to see what it looks like on set. The whole show has that hazy digital "volume" look but I can't tell if they do all the time, even on real sets, just to sync better with the mostly digital sets used for some scenes or if it's all a big green room or volume stage.

But damn, they PACK it with extras. Really feels like they are in a populated city. And they light interiors at night with like 1-2 candles and lots of blue light, so you can see WTF is going on but they don't have 1000 candles everywhere to give all natural light, so it feels more realistic with the compromise to the viewer to see everything. Having all three brothers squeeze into a single small room was great as well, lots of cool little details. I just hope they do the public toilet shitting scene with the sponge wipe that Spartacus did, that was fantastic as well for showing just how weird life was back then.

It's shot at Cinecitta in Rome. They forced Gladiator 2 to rent another location lol
The Circus Maximus is the same one built for Ben-Hur. Some of the locations are part of the Cinecitta theme park.
They also used the volume and most likely Unreal:


And yes, being a Roland Emmerich production means you can actually see what's going on!

I'm glad you posted the behind the scenes. I just assume most stuff is filmed on a sound set with the technology that Disney uses for the mandolrian. Very nice to see they are in Rome.

And Ramsey Bolton is in it. Never seen him in anything else.

 

[jason10mm]

So I finished this up. Overall I really liked it, it has a bit of that 00's vibe that Spartacus, Banshee, early Game of Thrones had. Lots of nudity, lots of violence, fast plot progression, no character feels safe.

It drags a bit in the middle because they saved their budget for a pretty awesome animal filled gladatorial battle but stick with it!

My only real complaint is the African family feels like they are from a different show. They suffer few consequences, get beat on MERCILESSLY with no injury, and don't really seem to earn their place in ways the rest of the cast do. I wonder if that storyline was added in later. Regardless, the actors make the best of it.

So I recommend it. Along with Obliterated it gives me hope for a return to more testosterone fueled action dramas.