The epic event of the year comes to DVD in the mini-series EMPIRE. Complete with unrated and extended scenes, EMPIRE is presented for the first time as a seamless feature. The Roman Empire is plunged into chaos when Julius Caesar is assassinated and his power is passed on to his 18-year-old nephew Octavius. With his guardian, former gladiator Tyrannus, Octavius is forced into exile to escape those who wish to sever Caesar's bloodline permanently. Under Tyrannus' tutelage, Octavius prepares to face off against the treacherous Marc Antony and fulfill his destiny as the leader of Rome. EMPIRE boasts "powerful acting," says the Wall Street Journal, with a hot young cast that includes James Frain (24), Colm Feore, Jonathan Cake, Santiago Cabrera, and Emily Blunt. Filmed entirely in scenic Italy, EMPIRE tells the thrilling story of a hero's rise amidst the greed, intrigue, and lust of ancient Rome.~
The lavishly produced six-hour mini-series Empire aspires to capture the flavor and grandeur of Rome--or, failing that, the flavor and grandeur of Gladiator, a highly successful movie about Rome. Most writers, including Shakespeare, use the assassination of Julius Caesar as a climax; Empire opens with it, then follows a fictional gladiator named Tyrranus (Jonathan Cake, Inconceivable) as he protects and substitute-parents Caesar's nephew Octavius (Santiago Cabrera, Love and Other Disasters), fated to be emperor of Rome. Many have complained about how Empire plays fast and loose--very, very loose--with historical truth (the series labored over accurate details while running amok with preposterous turns of plot, ranging from Octavius hiding out in a gladiatorial prison to the emperor-to-be's romance with a rosy-lipped vestal virgin). Of course, Shakespeare did his own embellishing and it worked out fine; alas, the writers of Empire are not our modern Shakespeares. The machinations of Rome play out with cheesy speeches and cornball declamations; even a powerhouse actress like Fiona Shaw (Empire obeys the Hollywood rule that hot-tempered Romans must only be played by emotionally repressed Brits) can't inject fire into this pompous, ponderous dialogue. The scheming between Octavius and Marc Anthony (Vincent Regan, Unleashed) briefly harkens back to the genuinely thrilling duplicities of I, Claudius, but only briefly. Cabrera looks like he'd be more comfortable with the machinations of The O.C.; Cake musters some dignity but in the last few hours does little but grimace, as if wondering where he'd parked his car. The dvd release has reintegrated some unrated, unaired scenes, but don't get your hopes up. The gladiatorial combat has all the finesse and suspense of locker room buddies snapping towels at each other; the lone orgy scene works hard at fleshpottiness, but nothing kills decadence like effort. There are only two extra features: A typically self-lauding making-of doc, accompanied by a demonstration of how Rome was assembled in a computer. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Comment: a great movie,They dont make them much better than this,I am going to check and see if they have it in blu-ray.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not ROME but...
Comment: Obviously in quality this is light years away from the caliber of HBO's ROME but was much of that any more historically accurate? EMPIRE at least deserves an A for effort and, if you can forget about the historical
inaccuracies, it is involving and has some good performances. It also plays much better than it did on TV.
There are some bits that weren't shown on network and minus the commercials the pace is greatly accelerated. Ignore the nay-sayers and give it a chance. Particularly if you enjoy Epic movies.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: empire
Comment: Excellent.first class service replaced faulty disc on request would recommend this seller to anyone with complete confidence

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Customer Rating:
Summary: I Guess HBO's Rome Spoiled Me
Comment: It may not be fair to compare this production with HBO's Rome, since Rome had a larger budget and a broader and less inhibited cast, but even leaving Rome out of the picture, Empire was simply lacking.

I found myself bored much of the time I was viewing Empire, and can't say I ever got into it to the point where I was excited about what I was seeing. Where in both its seasons the more glorious Rome looked like it could hold its own against any motion picture, Empire pathetically radiated its status as the offspring of the small screen. The actors in Empire were bland men and women who gave meek performances, historical fact was trampled for the sake of plot, and more than once Empire disintegrated into a swordfight action flick instead of an historic piece concerned with the politics of Rome's most dire power struggle.

Excusing limitations in budget, I'll say the scenery in Empire was at times good and on occasion was worth looking at rather than what was happening onscreen with the human cast. A stroll Tyrannus and Julius Caesar (who reminded me for all the world of Michael Gross, the father from Family Ties) took across a beautiful hillside early in the picture stands out in my mind as a good example of this.

Empire is a study in why the big three broadcast networks (or is it four or five now) cannot hope to compete with cable. On cable larger budgets and artistic license grant storytellers free reign, while the anachronistic and oppressive standards of the FCC force commercial broadcasters to stay confined to limitations any intelligent viewer accustomed to cable programming can't take seriously anymore. Empire might've been noteworthy had it been shown in the 1980's, because frankly that's what it reminded me of: an outdated, lackluster miniseries "event" from the days of my childhood.

Two and a half stars.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Skip This and Head to "Rome"
Comment: I just finished with this miniseries rented via Blockbuster (thank God I hadn't brought it) and let me just say that I feel like sueing the producers for having lost several hours of my life to this trash. How awful is it, you ask? The actors are extremely dull, the writing is poor and doesn't even attempt to stay true to any historical facts, the costumes look like something that a mother might throw together the night before her kid's play, everything is just horrible. Watch "Rome". The casting is superb, the sets are authentic and make one feel as if he were there, and it follows history as closely as it can. None of the actors (especially the ones who played Cicero and Octavian) come close to inhabiting their characters like the cast of "Rome". As for the people who have compared this to "Gladiator", may Russell Crowe come and behead you in your sleep for such blasphemy. "Gladiator" was amazing, with an all star cast, breathtaking action scenes, a deep and noble message, and a gorgeous script. This menage is simply "Let's follow naughty Octavian through his slapstick misadventures". People who have said that you need to forget the other films and series about Rome fail to mention that you need to forget every bit of knowledge that the average school child knows about Roman history and any appreciation for fine acting as well. I hate to sound like an HBO salesperson (which I'm not), but forget this and just get "Rome". Trust me, you won't be sorry.

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