What Were They Thinking?

As attentive readers of this blog may have noticed, of late I have been thinking about the Roman Empire.

This led to me finally cracking open my Blu-Ray box set of the two seasons the highly lauded HBO series Rome, starring the excellent Ray Stevenson, Trainspotting's Kevin McKidd and one of my favourite actors, James Purefoy.

However the first thing that struck about both boxes was the very old fashioned way the individual Blu-Rays were packed in each.

Rather than a succession of plastic leaves or even cardboard sleeves for each individual disc, the five discs for each season were all stacked on a single central pillar!

All the discs stacked like donuts

This was fine for watching the first disc and even swapping out for the second, but after that cack-handed me began to worry about juggling the discs to get to the third, fourth, or fifth on the central rosette. 

I'm clumsy at the best of times, but when I'm trying to sort something out carefully like this - when I'm worried about marking, smudging, or scratching my precious Blu-Rays - then I usually get more stressed. And clumsier.

As a staunch campaigner for the eternal utility - and retention - of solid media, I knew these discs deserved better, something more "modern".

So I, of course, looked on Amazon and ordered myself some multi-tray Blu-Ray cases capable of holding five discs.

There was a bit of a 'technical' snafu along the way as I first ordered DVD cases and it didn't hit me until I'd torn them out of the packaging that these would be stupidly large to hold the cover inserts for the two seasons.

So, back to the drawing board and Blu-Ray cases were ordered:

I'm much more comfortable with the set-up now that I've transferred the discs over into the new cases.

It's so much simpler, and safer, to pop out the required disc. 

This is how it should have been to start with

Of course, now the box sets of the the two seasons are too big to fit inside the original card sleeve they came in (pictured up top), but that's a small price to pay for knowing that my discs are going to be a lot safer when I'm accessing them.

Ironclad (2011)

From the moment I stumbled over the intriguing trailers for this mighty mediaeval siege movie I knew I had to see it - totally unaware of the fact that Ironclad is based upon the 1215 siege of Rochester Castle.

Rochester Castle being right on my doorstep (after Tonbridge Castle, which is in my back garden, although doesn't have such a martial history) added a whole new element to this for me - knowing that I could easily go and visit the site where the real events took place.

But even without the local angle, Ironclad is an engrossingly powerful, visceral, bloody, muddy and brutal story that left me physically shaken after it had run its two-hour course.

Having been forced to sign the Magna Carta, King John (an insanely brilliant Paul Giamatti), enlists a horde of Danish mercenaries - led by Tiberius (Vladimir Kulich) - to take back his country and exact revenge on the barons who made him put his name to the "Great Charter".

However, he finds one obstacle in his way, the strategically crucial castle of Rochester on the banks of the River Medway, which bars his path to London.

Holding Rochester is William d'Albini (Brian Cox) and a rag-tag handful of soldiers, including the Knight Templar Marshall (James Purefoy), whoremonger Beckett (Jason Flemyng), cool archer Marks (Mackenzie Crook) and grizzled villain Coteral (Jamie Foreman).

A clever cocktail of the Magnificent Seven and Zulu, Ironclad is must-see material for gamers with its graphic demonstrations of the lethality of various hand weapons as well as its insights into 13th Century siege warfare.

There may be no fantastical, supernatural elements, but this stands high in the ranks of inspirational Dungeons & Dragons movies, for its sheer ballsy brutality and grimy verisimilitude.

It's by no means a historically accurate portrayal of the actual siege, but is gorgeously heroic and incredibly emotional and thrilling nonetheless, with breath-taking performances from all the cast.

Sometimes there is a bit too much "shaky-cam" and the camera can get a bit too close to the fighting on occasions to actually make out what's going on, but these are trivial issues when put up against the brilliance of this movie.

As you may have gathered, I rather like Ironclad.

I was always expecting it to be great - from the sporadic trailers I had seen on the 'net - but it went so far above and beyond my expectations that it would be remiss of me not to insist that everyone who loves low fantasy roleplaying games - or such fare as Game Of Thrones - should watch this as soon as possible.

Is Red Sonja's Retro Vibe A Bug or A Feature?

Red Sonja is in theaters August 15 and on digital platforms August 29!

Directed by MJ Bassett and starring: Matilda Lutz, Martyn Ford, Robert Sheehan, Wallis Day, Michael Bisping, Philip Winchester, Trevor Eve, Luca Pasqualino, Rhona Mitra

Enslaved by an evil tyrant who wishes to destroy her people, barbarian huntress Red Sonja (Lutz) must unite a group of unlikely warriors to face off against Dragan The Magnificent (Sheehan) and his deadly bride, Dark Annisia (Day).

If this trailer is anything to go by, the long-gestating adaptation of comic book character Red Sonja looks like an '80s throwback to the swords-and-sorcery cheesefests of yore. But will this work in its favour? Will it be so bad it's good or actually good?

Bear in mind that MJ Bassett directed the criminally underrated Solomon Kane movie starring James Purefoy, so she has form with this kind of storytelling. 

I can't see Red Sonja triggering a resurgence in sword-and-sorcery cinema, but, at least, it's keeping the genre alive.

Adding to the movie's "direct-to-video" feel is the fact that on the day this trailer was released the Blu-Ray was already available for pre-order on Amazon (in the UK, at least, with a mid-September release date). So, yes, before you ask: I have ordered it.