‘Spartacus’ Creator Says Viewers See More on Disc - Home Media Magazine
If there’s one advantage to TV series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight said it’s that all the gore and nudity cut to make episodes work for TV get put right back in.
“The sexual content especially was a little too much for Starz,” he said. “Look for more orgy scenes and a gladiator with a large endowment.”
Fans of the series will find that and a lot more when Anchor Bay Entertainment releases the first season of the series on DVD ($59.97) and Blu-ray Disc ($79.97) Sept. 21.
“We have a ton of bonus features — lots of on-the-set stuff, a commentary with almost every episode,” Knight said. “I’m most excited to see it in 1080p.”
The DVD and Blu-ray sets will both have featurettes about the history behind “Spartacus,” make-up effects, actors training to be gladiators, along with the commentaries, episodes with enhanced digital effects, bloopers and trailers. The Blu-ray gets an exclusive four “Director’s Cut Extended Episodes,” selected by executive producer Rob Tapert.
“For those scenes cut, sometimes it’s just because of pacing or we had too much footage,” DeKnight said. “A lot of the way the show looks is because of Rob.”
Besides the added gore and violence, DVD and Blu-ray also give people who’ve missed episodes a chance to watch them all concurrently.
“Each episode got better as the season went along, and we picked up more viewers along the way,” DeKnight said.
While Knight praised all the actors in the series, he saved special praise for the man who plays Spartacus himself, Andy Whitfield. The actor was treated for Stage 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma earlier this year.
“We looked high and low to find Spartacus,” DeKnight said. “We were lucky to find him.”
