The Spartacus: The Complete Series box set you've been waiting for is finally happening, with a release date set for September. Not only does the Blu-ray set for the gladiator drama include Digital HD with Ultraviolet and a few new bonus features not included on the previously released sets, but the limited edition set also comes packaged with a Spartacus collector's figurine. It looks pretty cool, and as you might have guessed, it's not cheap.
Suggested retail price for the Blu-ray set (without the figurine) is $149.99, while the DVD set's suggested retail price is $119.98. If you want the Blu-ray + Digital HD with Ultraviolet edition with the collector's figurine, the suggested retail price is $199.99. Here's a look at the figurine:
The 13-disc set comes with all 39 episodes of the series -- that's Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Gods of the Arena, Vengeance and War of the Damned -- along with three new audio commentaries for the first season that are exclusive to this set, along with the following new bonus features:
• SPARTACUS Fan Favorites With Liam McIntyre• Scoring A Hit: Composer Joseph LoDuca• An Eye Full: Roger Murray• SPARTACUS: Paul Grinder• The Last Word: John Hannah
“The gods finally bless us with the complete collection,” says creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight. “Spartacus was a true labor of love for everyone who worked on it and I’m incredibly proud to present all 39 episodes in stunning High-def for the fans to enjoy at their leisure, but make sure you watch them in the order they first aired to revel in the experience as originally intended.”
DeKnight -- whose next venture leads him away from Capua and over to Hell's Kitchen for Netflix's Daredevil series -- makes an excellent point. For those who haven't watched Spartacus, the series begins with Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which introduces us to Spartacus as he's enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator. That season is followed by Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a prequel series that was crafted after star Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer. Gods of the Arena is set in Capua in the time before Spartacus arrived there, and it introduces some elements (no spoilers) that become relevant in Spartacus: Vengeance, the season that picks up where Blood and Sand left off. By that point, Andy Whitfield had unfortunately lost his battle with cancer and the role of Spartacus was recast with Liam McIntyre, who played the character through Vengeance and the final season, War of the Damned.
So, technically Gods of the Arena is a prequel series, but it fits into the show as Season 2.
Factoring in the additional bonus features and the figurine for the limited edition set, the complete series set is a really tempting situation for those of us who already own the individual DVD or Blu-ray sets. Those who held out (and those who aren't above repurchasing), your chance to pre-order these sets will begin August 13. The sets will be released September 16, 2014.
