Spartacus: Vengeance Season 2 - DVD

Content: Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker), who has now risen to the position of praetor in Rome and dreams of a great political career, is ordered back to Capua. There he is to hunt down the escaped gladiator Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) and his entourage. Since the bloody uprising in the house of Batiatus, the escaped slaves have been hiding in the sewers beneath the city, but keep resurfacing to brutally reduce Rome's following. The bloodshed is now to be stopped by Glaber. His pregnant wife Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) must accompany him against her will. Since she narrowly escaped the uprising, but is responsible for the death of Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) by closing the gates, she really only wants to give Capua a wide berth. She is all the more shocked when she finds Lucretia alive. Glaber now wants to use her survival and her supposedly seer-like abilities to win the people over to his side and turn them against Spartacus. He is also struggling with the fact that the men around the Gaul Crixus (Manu Bennett) don't seem to follow Spartacus' ideals and the group of fugitives is in danger of breaking up. So far, Crixus is the only one who can stop this from happening. But when his search for his beloved Naevia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) ends in a tragic embassy, it seems Crixus can no longer be relied upon. Still, Spartacus sticks to his promise: he intends to shake the walls of Rome and give freedom to all slaves who join him...

Spartacus: Vengeance picks up directly from the first season, both in content and style. Still, fans need to brace themselves for one very big change. Because after Andy Whitfield, main character of the first season, lost his fight against cancer much too early, now Liam McIntyre had to take over the not exactly easy legacy. And even if McIntyre does his job quite well, he seems to be much less distinctive and pithy than his predecessor. He also lacks the certain charisma that made Andy Whitfield a credible leader of the slave revolt. McIntyre, on the other hand, is mercilessly upstaged by his co-stars like Manu Bennett and Peter Mensah. So it is not surprising that the titular Spartacus is no longer the most interesting character of the series.

Also, the again very intriguing story is not quite as engaging and surprising as it was in the first season. Already the prequel mini-series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which was inserted between the first two seasons in the hope of a recovery of Andy Whitfield, could not really surprise dramaturgically. With Spartacus: Vengeance, this wear and tear is even more noticeable. Nevertheless, these ten episodes offer extremely good entertainment worth watching, despite minor dramaturgical weaknesses. Again, there is no shortage of sex, intrigue and extremely bloody violence. There are orgies in the best Caligula manner, brutal gladiator games and big fight scenes. Sometimes the violence was so drastic that two episodes had to be cut for an 18er release. However, in addition to the cut DVD and Blu-Ray versions, an exclusive Blu-Ray version of season 2 is also being released, which is completely uncut.

But it's not necessarily the frank depiction of sex and the excessive fountains of blood that make the series so appealing. Rather, it's the way in which those elements are woven into suspenseful stories that, once you get used to the somewhat arguably artificial look of the series, are genuinely gripping and entertaining. For the most part, the cast act in a wonderfully self-centered manner befitting the events, with Lucy Lawless, Craig Parker, Viva Bianca and Peter Mensah in particular leaving a lasting impression. Those looking for historical accuracy will almost certainly find themselves scratching their heads in wonder or even annoyance on many occasions. But if you are simply looking for exciting historical material and neither bothered by many naked bodies and drastic depiction of violence, you can again confidently access this second season. Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The DVD presents the series in first-class technical quality. The very clean picture allows even small details to come into their own superbly thanks to the extremely good sharpness. The colors are vibrant and the contrasts are very well matched. The sound is in a good Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which can convince with some very good surround effects, especially during the fights in the arena, and coherent ambient sounds. In addition, dialogues and music are well coordinated, which is why in the end there is a deserved very good for the technical implementation.

Extras: On the fourth disc, this season again has a few nice extras for fans of the series to offer. Starting off are two making ofs (approx. 11 + 5 min.), which offer a concise overview of the making of this second season. After that, producer and director Michael Hurst takes the viewer behind the scenes (approx. 4 min.) and also the new main actor Liam McIntyre lets us look over his shoulder on the set (approx. 6 min.). Featurettes on the effects (approx. 12 mins), on the legend of Spartacus (approx. 11 mins), and on the demise of some characters (6 mins) are also included on the DVD. 3 minutes of amusing outtakes and a short trailer for the third and final season (approx. 0:31 min.) round out the additional offerings. Good!

Conclusion: Spartacus: Vengeance does not quite reach the quality of the first season Spartacus: Blood & Sand and seems in some moments clearly trashier, as in season 1 and the prequel Gods of the Arena. Otherwise, however, viewers get the usual mix of blood, sex and intrigue that has quickly won the series a decent following. Even if the new Spartacus Liam McIntyre, who took over the role from the sadly deceased Andy Whitfield, does not quite reach his strength, this second season with its high fun and entertainment factor leaves an overall very positive impression. For this there is a deserved: Recommendable - although fans of course reach for the uncut Blu-Ray version, because in the FSK 18 version (DVD and Blu-Ray) had to be shortened two episodes. Otherwise, however, there is also with this variant due to the good technical implementation and the worth seeing bonus material no reason to complain!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp