I remember ads for this back a decade or so ago. I never saw it back then so I watched it recently or tried to watch it but quickly lost interest. It's too TV series-like to hold my attention even though I'm a fan of Timothy. Some of actors were miscast for their roles. The acting is soapy and bad at times. The direction is claustrophobic. The audio made the actors sound like they were in a closet. While watching it I was reminded of why I watch PEP film mainly for: for the splendour, widescreen, technicolor, costumes, sets, etc, which wasn't present in this mini-series. It's not a disaster but it has a lot of weaknesses and I also prefer the aesthetics of the vintage PEP films.
One thing I hope CGI may eventually do is bring back the spectacular imagery of the old peplum using CGI rather than actual sets. Modern films do seem claustrophic and dull by comparison ... just can't fake with cheap sets and closeups of a small number of people trying to look like a crowd. Haven't seen it used to recapture the sense of light and space the old peplum provided, but I suspect the success of Troy and 300 shows the way a bit. And I have high hopes for the upcoming "The Immortals."
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