House of Saddam on HBO

[Descartes]

Yes, I searched and didn't find it. If it's a repost... meh.

This is a great series. It reminds me why I keep HBO. These little miniseries, shows and documentaries make everything worth it.

The scene at the end of the first episode where Saddam was coming down the elevator was great. The accompanying music was perfect.

 

[Modelworks]

Anyone else want to chime in on how this show is ?
I see its on HBO in 10 minutes, parts 1-4

 

[iamwiz82]

I just tuned in.

 

[TheInternet1980]

Thanks. Had forgotten about it. Will be dvr'd.

 

[Descartes]

Bump for the final two hours of what has been a great series.

Great acting all around. Great soundtrack. I wish HBO would put things like this out with more frequency.

Enjoy!

 

[Modelworks]

It is really good so far.
They are showing him pretty much accurately I think, paranoid, power hungry, but also showing some of the more human sides of him.
So it isn't an all out saddam the monster type portrayal.

 

[SandEagle]

All the Arabs are played by Israelis?

fail

http://www.newsweek.com/id/174323

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: SandEagle
All the Arabs are played by Israelis?

fail

http://www.newsweek.com/id/174323

I didn't know that, but I'm not sure why it matters. How many movies that are targeting demographics outside of the country in which the story originated actually feature actors from that region? Very few. Schindler's List, Munich, Eastern Promises, Godfather, etc.

It is entertainment after all, and I think the actors did an outstanding job with this series. One of the best in a long time.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: SandEagle
All the Arabs are played by Israelis?

fail

http://www.newsweek.com/id/174323

give me a break.

many israelis ARE arabs. many were booted out of places like iraq.

anyways, the portrayal was pretty good....saddam was a gangsta

 

[DangerAardvark]

I only caught the tail end of it, but damn it's good.

 

[Modelworks]

After watching the whole thing I think it was really well done.
There were a couple things I didn't understand about his sons before watching that it cleared up for me.

It is easy to make a movie about someone like Saddam and show how bad he was, but to make one and still show he has some humanity is really hard. They did that really well.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I liked Uday. He seems like a pretty cool dude to just chill with.
.
.
.
Yeah.

 

[Homerboy]

Just finally got to this series.... wow. Incredible acting to say the least. Top notch HBO yet again.

 

[SmoochyTX]

It was a great series. I liked it much better than I thought I would. And yeah, the acting was pretty damned good.

 

[SoulAssassin]

I have only watched the first half so far but there definitely seems to be a political slant to it where they are not making him out to be that bad of a guy. They really glanced over the whole gassing the Kurds thing, they seem to be trying to say that Saddam had no other choice but to invade Kuwait and that the US gave him our blessing and then we changed our mind. Good show so far but, again, there seems to be an agenda.

 

[Aimster]

Originally posted by: SandEagle
All the Arabs are played by Israelis?

fail

http://www.newsweek.com/id/174323

Where did the Jews live before they went to Israel?

Millions of them lived in the Arab world. They are Arab but Jews call themselves Jews.

 

[kevman]

documentary ? or drama?

 

[RapidSnail]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
It is really good so far.
They are showing him pretty much accurately I think, paranoid, power hungry, but also showing some of the more human sides of him.
So it isn't an all out saddam the monster type portrayal.

He was a great father, husband, and leader. He will be missed.

 

[Aimster]

The guy was a monster.

 

[darkxshade]

How many episodes are there?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
How many episodes are there?

4. Though HBO aired 2 at a time.


I wasn't overly impressed. I was looking for more depth, but I guess they didn't want to add too much "spin" on it.

 

[VoteQuimby]

Originally posted by: darkxshade
How many episodes are there?

4

 

[darkxshade]

Thanks, I guess I can spare the time to check it out, sounds interesting. HBO hasn't really failed me in programming yet.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I have only watched the first half so far but there definitely seems to be a political slant to it where they are not making him out to be that bad of a guy. They really glanced over the whole gassing the Kurds thing, they seem to be trying to say that Saddam had no other choice but to invade Kuwait and that the US gave him our blessing and then we changed our mind. Good show so far but, again, there seems to be an agenda.

Not that bad of a guy?!?!? They showed him ordering the execution of detractors, his best friend, his brother-in-law, his son-in-law countless Kurds and an adulterer (by our standards). They portray him to be paranoid, narcissistic and tyrannically dictatorial. It couldn't get any worse unless we just watched four hours of him executing people.

I see no agenda. It's a film. I would suggest that there would be a slant only if it agreed with every US stereotype we place on Iraq, the middle east, etc. Saddam is merely a man, and while US news likes to just portray him as pure evil there's obviously much more to the story.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
I have only watched the first half so far but there definitely seems to be a political slant to it where they are not making him out to be that bad of a guy. They really glanced over the whole gassing the Kurds thing, they seem to be trying to say that Saddam had no other choice but to invade Kuwait and that the US gave him our blessing and then we changed our mind. Good show so far but, again, there seems to be an agenda.

Not that bad of a guy?!?!? They showed him ordering the execution of detractors, his best friend, his brother-in-law, his son-in-law countless Kurds and an adulterer (by our standards). They portray him to be paranoid, narcissistic and tyrannically dictatorial. It couldn't get any worse unless we just watched four hours of him executing people.

I see no agenda. It's a film. I would suggest that there would be a slant only if it agreed with every US stereotype we place on Iraq, the middle east, etc. Saddam is merely a man, and while US news likes to just portray him as pure evil there's obviously much more to the story.

I don't think they are portraying him any worse than say a mafia don who killed to get in power. I'm going to watch the 2nd half probably later today but I think they are skipping over a lot of the bad things he has done. I'm not saying they are painting him to be a guy I'd like to have a beer with but I think he is getting off easy. I don't think he is 'pure evil' from any stretch of the imagination...he was a bad mofo but there are certainly worse guys out there.

Anyways, entertaining so far.