Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 24, 2016

There’s a time honored tradition in so-called sword and sandal epics, especially those that might be considered “second string” sword and sandal epics, to offer tons of spectacle in the hopes of masking fairly turgid dramatics. The same might be said of History’s miniseries Barbarians Rising, yet another fitful attempt to provide information through this or that prism, in this case from the perspective of any number of provocateurs attempting to overcome the tyranny of Rome. Barbarians Rising is, like many a History outing, full of fascinating factoids, but it suffers from the typical History ailments of hyperactivity and fictionalized reenactments that frankly never quite have the ring of historical accuracy. The miniseries is flashy as a lot of contemporary History entries have tended to be, and it may serve to introduce some viewers to folks lesser known than the minseries’ “marquee stars” like Hannibal, Attila (of Hun fame) and Spartacus, and perhaps for that reason alone it will merit a cursory inspection by some armchair history buffs. That said, and without being too cheeky about it, few would probably have the same visceral reaction to a statement like "I am Fritigern" as they would to the now iconic "I am Spartacus."

One of the kind of ironic things about the very term “barbarian” is that it originated not with the Romans, but with the Greeks (one wonders whether the Greeks would have considered the first Romans they encountered worthy of the moniker). Both the Romans and Greeks utilized the term to define “others”, typically those who spoke “foreign” languages or who were not considered as civilized as the ones throwing around this pejorative. Barbarians Rising doesn’t really get into the etymology of the term, simply stipulating the fact as to how the Romans used it, and then moving on to create various vignettes around a series of individuals who would generally be thought of as falling under the rubric.

Hannibal might be most famous for that whole elephants over the Alps thing, but as is often the case with History versions of iconic stories, a whole slew of background information and supposed character building moments are included, beginning with Hannibal as a child being urged by his father to wreak havoc on the tyrants of Rome. This involves a frightening ritual involving the adolescent Hannibal smearing the blood from a slaughtered bovine through his hair and over his forehead. The fact that Hannibal’s father forces him to watch the fatted calf being sacrificed might lead some to wonder about Carthaginian parenting techniques, but it’s actually in vignettes like this one that Barbarians Rising presents some of its most interesting material.

The miniseries is split into four episodes which chart a more or less chronological path of the ascent of Rome over its enemies and frankly even its more or less friendly neighbors. This allows Barbarians Rising to feature various “foreign” freedom fighters, all of whom were less than pleased to be subjugated under Roman Imperial might. While the stories of some of these are already at least somewhat well known, other “featured players” will probably be lesser recognized by many, even those with an interest in Roman history.

What’s a little funny about this is watching the Romans “reach out and touch” virtually everyone within their grasp, encountering manifest resistance, sometimes fatally (as in the case with Germania, which managed to stave off a Roman incursion), and then simply moving on to some new territory where victory might be more easily achieved. There are some interesting character studies presented here, with resistance leaders like Viriatus and Fritigern getting equal billing more or less with the other, better known, historical figures. There’s a rather long section devoted to Arminius’ frankly pretty interesting tale, as he moves from being a Roman conscript to a rebel attempting to keep his native Germania free of Roman intrusion.

Unfortunately, for all the real history Barbarians Rising offers, it overloads virtually every vignette with needlessly histrionic dramatics, probably nowhere more than in the story of Boudica, the queen of a British Celtic tribe called the Iceni. Assuming a leadership position after the death of her husband, Boudica, at least according to some questionable “history” provided in a dramatized section, may have resorted to subterfuge to inspire her troops to follow a female commander. This leads to a completely silly showdown between Boudica and her teenaged daughter that may remind some of an ancient history outtake from some alternate universe version of Gilmore Girls.

Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Barbarians Rising is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and History with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The look of this miniseries is very much in line with most other History outings, with a generally crisp and well detailed image that nonetheless gives way at times to some fairly soft looking CGI. This particular miniseries also tends to exploit a lot of color grading, often toward the seemingly inescapable blue tones that are so prevalent, and detail levels are mitigated at times during these moments. There are also a glut of "arty" processes applied to various scenes, as in some gruesome vignettes involving Romans torturing gladiators (see screenshot 14). In cases like this, the imagery is intentionally fuzzy with very little in the way of detail or fine detail. When not graded, the palette looks fresh and natural. Fine detail levels in some close-ups are excellent (see screenshot 4).

Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I've been at this reviewing game long enough that I clearly recall regularly calling History out for its old DVD releases which did not offer anamorphically enhanced video content. Something along those same lines may occur to those who routinely expect contemporary Blu-ray releases to offer lossless audio. What's perhaps even more surprising than this release having only lossy Dolby Digital audio as an option is the fact that it only offers a Dolby Digital 2.0 track, forsaking even a lossy surround option. This seems almost willfully disrespectful not only to the high definition consumer, but to the creative forces behind the miniseries itself, since this outing, like many History offerings, is filled to the brim with huge sweeping sound effects, especially in the frequent battle scenes. I haven't been able to find any authoritative source that lists whether Barbarians Rising was broadcast with a surround track, but this choice for lossy stereo is a disappointment. What's here is fine as far as it goes, but my hunch is those already on the fence as to whether this release merits a purchase may see a Dolby Digital 2.0 track and take that as a "bad omen," if I might use an historically pertinent term.

Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sorry, Lionsgate and History, bookmarks and trailers are not "Special Features."

Barbarians Rising Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the probably unintentionally humorous things about Barbarians Rising is its credits sequence, which offers its "star" barbarians all grimacing with their mouths wide open as if baring their teeth and screaming automatically makes them a force to be reckoned with. History seems to struggle at times with an apt way to present its information, and Barbarians Rising shows that struggle. The actual history is often fascinating, but the endless reenactments, especially with some needless and historically questionable material thrown in, often defeat the purpose of the piece. Video quality is fine, but a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track is a definite disappointment.