Pluskylang Great Film overall

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

snorvick My complaint is that I cannot find a closed captioned version. I have lost my hearing and can no longer enjoy one of my favorite disks.

alexeykorovin This TV series is a must-watch for anyone interested in movies. Although, as a TV show, it's pretty low-budget, the plot is strong and the actors' performances are so good that overall the movie is simply great.It's interesting that the portrayal of Caligula is somewhat different here from the one in the Caligula movie from 1979. This series shows the degradation of Rome in much greater detail and at a much larger scale.The main character, Claudius, is a very likable character. Even though I watched this series years ago, I still have the phrase in my head which one of the imperial advisers says to the young Claudius: "Do you want to live a long a happy life? Exaggerate your stuttering..." Says it all.

DrDFox This is a television great that has aged extremely well considering it was made nearly forty years ago.The story is cleverly told as an autobiography of the emperor Claudius neatly covering the social, family and political comings and goings of the five emperor Julio-Claudian dynasty in which our storyteller's life spans: from the late reign of first Roman emperor Augustus to the imminent succession of the corrupt Nero.Many used to modern productions may be disappointed in the lack of outside scenes, great cinematography or lavish production quality that modern movies give us, but the fact that I soon forgot about this was a testament to the pure theatre this whole series is an excellent example of. Sian Phillips portrayal of Livia Drusilis is chillingly perfect (and sowed the seed for the name of Livia being used for the wife of character Tony Soprano in a television series in later years) It is a great introduction to the social, family and political history of the dynasty. This is obviously from the perspective and bias of the title character, which in the point. Only the profoundly obtuse would see as a criticism.For historical pedants, there might be some slightly annoying things and in one episode we are insultingly (or comically depending on your mood) treated to modern German accents being used by soldiers from Germanic Tribes. That and the generally weaker performances in the later episodes prevented me giving it a 10.

thinker1691 When this film (entire series) is viewed by any student of history or for that matter, anyone " wishing to see Rome, . . .as it truly was " will hardly be surpassed for enjoyment. The story told here is that of the first five emperors of Ancient Rome. Brian Blessed plays Augustus and is very accepted as the benevolent dictator. Siân Phillips plays Livia, his scheming wife. George Baker is Tiberius, who waited too long to become emperor and was despised during his tenure. John Hurt plays Caligula who garnered more praise for his role than nearly everyone else. Christopher Biggins plays the fiddle playing Nero. James Faulkner is Herod Agrippa, the jovial friend from the East. His was a particularly sympathetic soul and friend of Claudius. But it is Derek Jacobi as Claudius who tells the tale of his family and does such a fantastic job, that this series has created such a high plateau, he may never surpass it. An excellent series which should also establish for itself the crown of Classic. *****