THOSE ABOUT TO DIE Review: Chariot Races, Gladiator Fights, Political Intrigue, Sex Scenes, Shadows Galore

Roland Emmerich directed five episodes; Marco Kreuzpaintner directed the other five. Both halves revolve around exploited people, splashed in blood and body parts.

Those About to Die
All 10 episodes of the limited series debut Thursday, July 18, on Peacock TV. I've seen all 10 episodes.

First published in 1958, Those About to Die, a novel by Daniel P. Mannix, was cited for its 'vivid' prose as it told a tale of the Roman Empire, including details on the 'training of drivers' and 'the betting techniques' of the chariot races that took place at the Colosseum in the late first century. The book reportedly inspired David Franzoni to write his first draft of the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000).

Now it's cited as an inspiration for Those About to Die, a miniseries debuting in its entirety on Peacock TV. Created by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan), who also wrote the first three episodes, as well as the concluding two episodes, the show's tone and approach is established by Roland Emmerich, who similarly directed the first three and the concluding two episodes. (Previously, Rodat and Emmerich worked together on The Patriot, 2000, and Rodat did uncredited script work on Emmerich's 10,00 BC, 2008. )

The initial episodes set up three narrative threads. Tenax (Iwan Rheon) rose from the streets to become owner of a betting parlor in Rome, but he has greater ambitions than that. Cala (Sara Martins) is a single mother who comes to Rome, seeking to rescue her three children, who have all ended up in bondage. Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins) nears the end of his life, and must decide which of his sons should succeed him: steely warrior Titus (Tom Hughes) or conniving politician Domitian (Jojo Macari).

Other characters rise to the surface from the supporting cast, such as Tenax's friend, celebrity chariot racer, and would-be partner Scorpus (Dimitri Leonidas); Cala's children, including eldest son and gladiator-in-training Kwame (Moe Hashim); Kwame's fellow gladiator-in-training Viggo (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson); and Titus's Jewish consort, Berenice (Lara Wolf).

Over the 10 episodes, it becomes easier to keep track of the characters, since not everybody survives to the end. That's not a spoiler, since the story is at least inspired by historical accounts, and the mortality rate in the Roman Empire was quite high.

A scorecard might have been helpful, which seems appropriate in view of the decision by Peacock TV to drop the season just before the latest Olympic Games commence on July 26. What stays consistent throughout the series is that there are plentiful action scenes, many gladiator battles with flesh torn apart and limbs cut asunder, many chariot races with overturned chariots and drivers stomped by horses, much political infighting and evil plotting, many perfunctory sex scenes with commonplace thrusting and exposed bodies, and many bare bottoms in athlete changing rooms.

Horses die regularly, people die horribly, volcanoes erupt, animals rip people apart, a giant lion eats people, crocodiles eat people, internal organs are exposed, thousands of people roar their approval and cheer for their favorite people to die, and some to be eaten alive. Much of the action and violence takes place in the shadows, and is boosted by the extensive use of visual effects. Billions of pixels may have died in the creation of the show, but no people that I know of.

No one in the series is truly heroic; even the so-called heroes survive only because they have killed their opponents. The audience must accept their responsibility for watching and cheering the bloodshed. As a lead-up to the Olympics, it's not very complementary to the viewers. But that's entertainment! Two bloody thumbs up.