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BBC's Colosseum and Pompeii: The Last Day

€5.00EUR

These two prime time history documentaries peel away 2,000 years of time to reveal just how real the Roman world was to those living �and dying� in it.

Product description

POMPEII: THE LAST DAY
and
COLOSSEUM: ROME'S ARENA OF DEATH

NEVER BEFORE OFFERED IN A BOX SET COLLECTION

A special edition box set with two great BBC documentaries. Pompeii is a co-production of BBC, TLC and NDR in association with France 2. Colosseum is a BBC, Discovery Channel and RTL co-production in association with France 2.

Both films were never released on DVD in the UK. Colosseum was released in the USA as a region 1 DVD. A used copy of Pompeii can be found at Amazon for £17 and a used copy of Colosseum is sold as region 1 DVD for £13.

Pompeii won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) in 2005 and was nominated for a Flaherty Documentary Award (TV) in 2004. Colosseum was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 2004 for Best Photography (Factual).

The films are presented in a box set of 2 DVD discs.

See the plot summaries and other details under Additional information.

This movie comes from our personal collection and only one piece is available
DVD Rating	Like New: a DVD in perfect condition. The box or jewel case is clean and vivid, with no signs of wear.
= New = Like New = Very Good = Good = Acceptable

Additional information

Starring	Michael Pennington, F. Murray Abraham (narrators), Jamel Aroui, Lotfi Dziri, Jeffrey Gibson, John Benjamin Hickey, Aykut Hilmi, Ross Kemp, Derek Lea, Hichem Rostom, Liev Schreiber, Robert Shannon, Dorra Zarrouk, Rachel Atkins, Omar Berdouni, Emily Canfor-Dumas, Jim Carter, Rebecca Clarke, Chrissie Cotterill, Jonathan Firth, Martin Hodgson, Leigh Jones, Neji Nejah, Tim Pigott-Smith, Chad Shepherd , Alisdair Simpson, Katherine Whitburn, Robert Whitelock, Inika Leigh Wright, George Yiasoumi
Format	Box set, Colour, PAL
Main soundtrack	English or Greek (selectable), Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles	OFF or Greek (selectable)
Special features	Trailer
Region
Aspect ratio	16:9
Number of discs	2
Classification	Exempt
Studio	2 Entertain Video
DVD release date	-
Run time	100 minutes
EAN	-

List of episodes

Disc 1 - Pompeii: The Last Day

The documentary tells the story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius from the point of view of assorted inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum whose names and occupations are known, including a local politician and his family, a fuller, his wife, and two gladiators. Historical characters included Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger.

It draws heavily on the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger as well as historical research and recent discoveries in volcanology. Extensive CGI was used to recreate the effects of the eruption.
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Most of the people who were in Pompeii when the fourth pyroclastic surge hit died instantly or slowly suffocated to death.

The death throes of those in the family of Julius Polybius are based upon the 1975 discovery of the skeleton of a heavily pregnant girl (Julia) surrounded by her family, in the actual House of Julius Polybius. Julia's husband, Sabinus is shown to have most likely poisoned himself, and presumably was the skeleton lying near the foot of the bed that Julia's body was found on, with the bones of her fetus found as well.

The death of Stephanus the Fuller is based upon a cast found of a man sucking his thumb (locked up in an on-site warehouse for safekeeping).

The death of Stephanus's wife, Fortunata, is based upon the discovery of the body of a rich bejeweled lady in the gladiator barracks, alongside those of gladiators.

In Herculaneum, the death throes are much simpler, as most people were found during excavations either on the beach or inside the boat houses. Additionally, unlike Pompeii, when the pyroclastic surges hit Herculaneum, people there were instantly killed whereas most Pompeians slowly suffocated, although some died instantly.

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii:_The_Last_Day

Disc 2 - Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death

The Colosseum in Rome is one of the world's most amazing buildings. This immense oval stadium was home to the most violent and deadly spectator sport in history, gladiatorial combat. The Roman gladiator whose story is told here is Verus, one of two victors in the only gladiatorial battle that was ever described in detail (by the Roman poet Martial in 80 A.D.). Using this factual record as its basis, Colosseum follows Verus as he is recruited from slavery, trained in gladiator's school, rises to favor among wealthy Romans, and ultimately battles his best friend, Priscus, to a crowd-pleasing draw in the inaugural games of glorious, brand-new Colosseum, the construction of which is shown in fascinating detail. Combining authoritative narration with diary-like voiceovers from Verus's perspective, this riveting 50-minute BBC production is simultaneously intimate and epic in scale, employing the latest in digital compositing techniques to achieve its unparalleled visual splendor. With well-cast actors speaking authentic Latin, this sumptuous production is both dramatically involving and exacting in every detail.

Source: DocuWiki http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Colosseum_-_Rome's_Arena_of_Death