Purely Joyful Movie!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I Claudius.. Although almost everyone praises this series. There are a few that are less than positive about this truly amazing achievement. Yes I love it. But I am aware that in terms of historical accuracy it does have some short comings. (For accuracy I suggest The Caesars) But I have read the books and like the series I saw it as a kind of sligh black comedy satire. So yes the performances and the casting are larger than life. I have also watched the BBC's excellent documentary on the making of I Claudius and this answers many of its critics questions. Brian Blessed actually thought he'd been miscast. But the director said he wanted Augustus to be a man passed his prime with little to do and he'd become a little pompous. Blessed said that the actors were pretty poor when rehearsing their roles. They just couldn't get the characters until Sean Philips asks is this a Jewish family comedy. Then they all nailed it.. For me I Claudius is still one of the best things to come out of the BBC. All twelve episodes are a masterclass in acting and writing. I love the fact that everything was shot on a sound stage that gives the whole production an intimacy of a stage play and yet it lets the viewer get up and personal with the characters. It's impossible to pick a standout performance although John Hurts scene stealing Caligula is terrifying funny scary and even sad.. Of course this is Derek Jacobi's show. His Claudius is the stuff of acting legend. The so called fool who reluctantly ruled the known world. He runs the gamut of the performance spectrum aging 50 years and evolving from a timid stuttering twithing lame youth to a world weary Emperor who has seen the great the good and the mad and the bad die for the power they craved. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. For me it is the Citizen Kane of Television drama..

9/10 vs. 5/10Having read so many positive reviews, I very much wanted to like I, Claudius.I appreciate their efforts, the costumes, and sets...but....eeeeh. I've enjoyed elementary school bands and high school plays more. Much more.The pacing is slow, and the performances remind me the pompous Jon Lovitz character on Saturday Night Live.... "I"m acting!!".I want the hour of my life back spent screening episode 1.

History? Only the imperial machinations around the throne. Drama? Plotting and counter-plotting spoken around a room. Acting? It's only great if you're impressed by good posture and enunciation. (I was impressed by this Livia, her steely determinism)No, history for me to be effective in a lasting sense has to surround the lived atmosphere. This is stagebound artifice around the supposed events. There's no life here, only staging about staging. It's a Roman Days of Our Lives with the only lofty difference that the actors impersonate historical persons and the same tempestuous games about power are enacted in costume and sandals.

Saw this first of all as a 16-year old. As really wanted to know who Derek Jacobi was in Henry V as the Chorus. As he is the lead in this role. Really top class top notch acting! As the stammering but really smart and intelligent lead role. For he sees everybody in his family and the reign of Rome falter in his life and we see everything from his point of view.For Claudius is told that he needed to act dumb as much as it hurts him to in order to survive in Rome. He is the only "normal" one in his family full of schemers and traitors.Supporting Jacobi is Sian Phillips as his ruthless grandma, John Hurt as the mad crazed Caligua, Brian Blessed as Phillips clueless husband, Margaret Tyrius as Claudius mean spirited mom, among others that support him.Great and skilled writing and really shows you how ruthless Rome was in those days.