I, Claudius (1976)

Such a frustrating disappointment

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Although appearing as a series of acts in a play, "I, Claudius" is a masterpiece on every level!The acting is superb; the characters are believable; the costumes are authentic-looking; the make-up department is impeccable; and, every scene is well-done and ranges in mood from very interesting to outright shocking. Yet...less graphic, some of the horrifying events in this during Caligula's reign even puts "Caligula"(1979) to shame.I mentioned the make-up department because they really uglified the beautiful Siân Phillips to portray the conniving, nasty, and, vindictive "Livia" (just like what was done with beautiful Charlize Theron in "Monster.").Unfortunately, I missed "I, Claudius" back in the 1970s when PBS used to show wonderfully-made classics that I did watch such as "The World At War;" "Edward The King;" and, "Masterpiece Theatre," just to name a few."I, Claudius" ("I, Clavdivs") is a classic novel made for television. It's a televised-historical-play that's really second-to-none. On their budget, probably, this mini-series may come across to people nowadays as cheap and theatrically enclosed as there are no real 'outdoorsy' scenes...everything is played-out on what seems a stage. However, the story itself and the dialog, and, the manner in which it's presented, along with the acting and surroundings, is a true classic that only people-of-good-taste can appreciate.I love this masterpiece! :)

This is a television great that has aged extremely well considering it was made nearly forty years ago.The story is cleverly told as an autobiography of the emperor Claudius neatly covering the social, family and political comings and goings of the five emperor Julio-Claudian dynasty in which our storyteller's life spans: from the late reign of first Roman emperor Augustus to the imminent succession of the corrupt Nero.Many used to modern productions may be disappointed in the lack of outside scenes, great cinematography or lavish production quality that modern movies give us, but the fact that I soon forgot about this was a testament to the pure theatre this whole series is an excellent example of. Sian Phillips portrayal of Livia Drusilis is chillingly perfect (and sowed the seed for the name of Livia being used for the wife of character Tony Soprano in a television series in later years) It is a great introduction to the social, family and political history of the dynasty. This is obviously from the perspective and bias of the title character, which in the point. Only the profoundly obtuse would see as a criticism.For historical pedants, there might be some slightly annoying things and in one episode we are insultingly (or comically depending on your mood) treated to modern German accents being used by soldiers from Germanic Tribes. That and the generally weaker performances in the later episodes prevented me giving it a 10.

I can't agree more with all those who rated this 10 stars. I'd add an extra one for Classic. The subject matter is so engrossing and well directed and paced. The cast is superb from Derek Jacobi as the lead down to smaller supporting roles by Patrick Stewart, James Faulkner, John Rhys-Davies, Sheila White, Kevin McNally and so many others. Brian Blessed is perfection as Augustus, Sian Phillips beautifully evil as Livia, George Baker so sympathetic as Tiberius and John Hurt awesome as Caligula. This is truly a great Roman epic and without a single battle scene with a cast of thousands. I have watched the entire series at least 4 times and that may total a whole day or more of my life, but well worth it. I recommend it to friends but few have the time to bother watching it. They don't know what a treat they're missing!

like all TV and movies based on historical events they add things that are quite untrue.the two most glaring examples of this in i Claudius is the portrait of Livia and her son Tiberius.and the problem with this is Livia drives this story mostly so her character is so important as this murderous evil woman. i went and read many historical books on Augustus after seeing this great TV series.mind u it is one of the best I've seen besides shaka Zulu.according to most historians Livia was a devoted and loyal wife of Augustus till the end and had nothing to do with his death.Augustus lived a long and healthy life for a person back then and died old age and some aliment he caught at his old age.all these murders Livia is supposed to have done in this series has no proof of any kind.Livia by the way had all the power she could want as the wife of Augustus.he was devoted to her.Tiberius did become emperor through the death of wounds Germanic's had from battles and these became infected causing his death leaving Tiberius next in line as emperor.in his early life Tiberius was a competent general on the battlefield and was a pretty good emperor most of his early reign.only as he grew old he became feeble and what we would call a dirty old man.no one is sure if his death was by Caligula or not.and again at the beginning Caligula was a competent emperor.when he caught this unknown fever is when he became mad.so i understand the liberties taken in this great series about Livia and Tiberius but remember this is done all the time in historical facts in movies and TV series. this is still a great TV series with great performances.