Sword and sandals (or medieval/ancient/fantasy) type shows.

[Gen. Chris]

Hello all. I hope this doesn't get buried by all the "Favorite" threads too quickly .

Been thinking lately about this particular genre (or genres) lately, and wondering what is out there for it. So far I have watched:


Game of Thrones (obvious)
Merlin
Vikings
Spartacus
Da Vinci's Demons
Rome

What do I like about these shows? Well Game of Thrones is pretty obvious: suspenseful, intriguing, a fair bit of action, etc. Also very well made. Rome is the same really; an excellently made TV show, but sadly cut down.

Merlin is a fun show to watch. When I first got into it a year and a half ago, I quickly liked it because it was sort of a "Game of Thrones" lite, and I was looking forward to using it as sort of a bridge between each season of Game of Thrones. Then it was ended...kind of badly.

Vikings is similar, in that it is fun to watch, and it is really well made considering the network it is on (History Channel, being its first serial). A good mix of action and adventure.

Spartacus and Da Vinci's Demons are both fun to watch, Spartacus for the action and Da Vinci for the fantasy/historical elements with a fair bit of action.

Now, what else is out there that can cover this set of criteria? Camelot, the show on Starz, sounds kind of good, but only lasted for ten episodes. Black Sails, soon to be coming out, looks like it might be a good show as well. Then there is the new show Atlantis, which I have watched a single episode of, but haven't gotten around to the other episodes yet.

Anything else out there?

[mr_kennedy]

The Tudors, It kind of fits in this thread, i only got to season 1 of this show, i dont know i just couldn't get into it..... maybe i will revisit it later who knows?

Legend of The Seeker - if you haven't seen this show do yourself a favor and check it out, its pretty good kind of short tho

Hercules/Xena - two shows i keep meaning to revisit from my childhood, i must say though i haven't really seen all of either of them but i liked what i saw

[Gen. Chris]

The Tudors, It kind of fits in this thread, i only got to season 1 of this show, i dont know i just couldn't get into it..... maybe i will revisit it later who knows?

Legend of The Seeker - if you haven't seen this show do yourself a favor and check it out, its pretty good kind of short tho

Hercules/Xena - two shows i keep meaning to revisit from my childhood, i must say though i haven't really seen all of either of them but i liked what i saw

I don't know how I forgot about those...Doh

I have watched most of The Tudors...still haven't finished season 4.

Watched one episode of Legend of the Seeker but...idk why I didn't keep watching. Sadly it is no longer on Netflix.

As for Xena and Hercules, that's on my "eventually" list...I honestly have no idea how I forgot that.

[Gatefan1976]

Are you only after series?

[Gen. Chris]

Well, I wouldn't mind discussing movies and miniseries. On that topic, I found Ironclad and Centurion to be pretty good.

[Morgania]

Theres also the Beastmaster show. It's kinda silly, but a guilty pleasure of mine.

[mr_kennedy]

Have you tried Once Upon A Time?

[Gatefan1976]

Well, I wouldn't mind discussing movies and miniseries. On that topic, I found Ironclad and Centurion to be pretty good.

AFAIK, most series have been covered by now, Sword and sandals as a genre only seems to be gaining more prominence now as it was scifi that tended to dominate the "escapist" genre during the 70-'00, and there was not a lot of fantasy to be had in TV. With the shift of Scifi to a darker tone however, you tend to see more Fantasy based stuff rising to the fore.

There are modern fantasy series around such as lost girl and OUAT as Mr K mentioned, but not a lot in that "sandals" era.

[HaveYouSeenMyForceLance?]

Hello all. I hope this doesn't get buried by all the "Favorite" threads too quickly .

Been thinking lately about this particular genre (or genres) lately, and wondering what is out there for it. So far I have watched:


Game of Thrones (obvious)
Merlin
Vikings
Spartacus
Da Vinci's Demons
Rome

What do I like about these shows? Well Game of Thrones is pretty obvious: suspenseful, intriguing, a fair bit of action, etc. Also very well made. Rome is the same really; an excellently made TV show, but sadly cut down.

Merlin is a fun show to watch. When I first got into it a year and a half ago, I quickly liked it because it was sort of a "Game of Thrones" lite, and I was looking forward to using it as sort of a bridge between each season of Game of Thrones. Then it was ended...kind of badly.

Vikings is similar, in that it is fun to watch, and it is really well made considering the network it is on (History Channel, being its first serial). A good mix of action and adventure.

Spartacus and Da Vinci's Demons are both fun to watch, Spartacus for the action and Da Vinci for the fantasy/historical elements with a fair bit of action.

Now, what else is out there that can cover this set of criteria? Camelot, the show on Starz, sounds kind of good, but only lasted for ten episodes. Black Sails, soon to be coming out, looks like it might be a good show as well. Then there is the new show Atlantis, which I have watched a single episode of, but haven't gotten around to the other episodes yet.

Anything else out there?

These come to mind:

Series:
The Borgias (Historical fiction)
The Tudors (Historical fiction)
Highlander (Historical fantasy fiction)

Mini-series:
Arn the Knight Templar (Historical fiction)
The Pillars of the Earth (Historical fiction) -- I haven't seen them all though.
World Without End (Historical fiction) -- I haven't seen it at all and heard that it wasn't that great.

Animated series:
Samurai Jack (Fantasy / Sci-fi)
Gargoyles (Fantasy)

Film:
Gladiator (historical fiction)
Kingdom of Heaven, director's cut (historical fiction)
Robin Hood, director's cut (historical fiction)
Centurion (historical fiction)
The Last Legion (historical fiction)
Iron Clad (historical fiction)
Willow (fantasy)
The Princess Bride (fantasy)
Beowulf (animated fantasy)
Beowulf and Grendel (fantasy)
Solomon Kane (historical fantasy)
Highlander (historical fantasy)
Highlander Endgame (historical fantasy)
LOTR trilogy & The Hobbit (fantasy)
Rob Roy (historical fiction)

[HaveYouSeenMyForceLance?]

Oh, and I forgot to mention these Napoleonic war nuggets:

Sharpe (TV movies)
Horatio Hornblower (A&E mini series)
Master and Commander : The Far Side of the World (Film)

[Thunderstorm]

I see someone mentioned Highlander (half set in past)

The various versions of Robin Hood. The old Robin Hood series from the 50's is running on one of our local channels now. And Robin Hood movies, most recent was 2010 version with Russel Crowe. I thought it was pretty good.

[Gatefan1976]

I see someone mentioned Highlander (half set in past)

The various versions of Robin Hood. The old Robin Hood series from the 50's is running on one of our local channels now. And Robin Hood movies, most recent was 2010 version with Russel Crowe. I thought it was pretty good.

[/quote]
Is that the robin hood series with Clanned as the background music??
If so, it's a great RH drama series.