Spartacus: War of the Damned, The Complete Third Season

This third and final season of the Starz cable series about the titular slave who led an uprising that almost toppled the Roman Republic combines blood, beefcake, and soft-core porn, to which is added arch speechifying, liberally salted here with f-bombs. The overall result is similar to one of those ridiculous sword-and-sandal movies that Italian studios churned out in the 1950s and '60s, goosed up with gratuitous sex and nudity, and a nonstop deluge of violence (including regular doses of decapitation and dismemberment, as well as an occasional crucifixion). The storyline offers a fanciful depiction of the military cat-and-mouse game played between noble Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) and crafty Crassus (Simon Merrells) on their way to a final showdown, which in this case involves a hand-to-hand duel. Both sides are also ripe with dissension, as Spartacus argues with his more bellicose second-in-command, Crixus (Manu Bennett), and Crassus is unable to mediate between his ambitious son, Tiberius (Christian Antidormi), and the arrogant young Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance). Those hankering for another helping of comic-book-level heroics will eat War of the Damned up, but most viewers would be better off watching Stanley Kubrick's brilliant 1960 epic Spartacus. Compiling all 10 episodes aired in 2013, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. An optional purchase, at best. (F. Swietek)