It's fantastic and horrific!

[Imperator]

I went yesterday.  Sure, I know, who would go on a Sunday with all the families and kids groups...anyway, I went and in all honesty it took about 20 minutes to buy my ticket.  I was then told that the only time I could get in was from 1PM...so I had about an hour to kill.
I hadn't had lunch yet so I went to the cafe downstairs near the entrance to the Pompeii exhibition and ordered the fried olive entree, vino of course and the lamb main...wow!  It was absolutely delicious and within the Pompeian theme of the restaurant was a great way to start the tour.
At 1PM I was in line (for a short while) and I went in.  I was told when I bought my ticket that I could not leave without buying another ticket for entry so I made sure nature would not call by utilizing the museum's toilet facilities beforehand.
Inside you are immediately immersed in the town of Pompeii...latin is spoken over speakers and you see the food, culture, industry, religion of this ancient town.
We wind our way along until we come to the theatre.  Entry is limited so if you can't fit in please wait the 8 minutes or so, its worth every second!  Inside you don 3D glasses and sit and watch a movie that literally jumps out at you.  You watch the eruption and how the town fared over a 24 hour period...accompanied with screams and people yelling it can be quite an emotional ride.  Not one for small kiddies to watch.
After the movie we wound our way around to more of the mechanics of a volcano and in particular Vesuvius.  That bad boy is going to blow again and I wouldn't like to live in Napoli!
The body plaster casts were there...a solemn and very sad area...disturbing.

...and then we wandered out into the Gift shop.  What a disappointment!  The odd book and lame toy figurines coupled with cheap necklaces and notepads and postcards...this was the downside to the tour.  Why they didn't have posters of the artwork of Pompeii is beyond me, or at least something you could purchase that was worth the price!

All in all this is a wonderful exhibition.  It really shows just how close to Roman life we are today.  I saw a Roman bed, couch, table (it was magnificent), lamps, ship's anchor, and various other cooking implements and household items.  I even saw a Roman B-B-Q! 
Because the people of Pompeii were living a life very similar to today it really brought home the tragedy of the eruption...the death and destruction of everyday townspeople, women, kids, pets....it was truly horrific.

[Lambruscius Potator]

I finally saw the exhibition a week ago. I first went in during the schools holidays, hoping to avoid noisy children and teachers, but the cue of families was so long I went straight home. My spinal injury would have prevented me getting around after cuing that long. Still, it was very encouraging to see so many families going either to the museum or the exhibition.

The exhibition didn't have the same personal impact as the National Gallery one back about 1980. That was my first close-up view of such things. Perhaps I have become a little less awed after two visits to Pompeii, Vesivius and the Naples Museum. I have hours of video and numerous phoyos too, so I am well served for reminders - although I still hope to return in a few years when I am up to travel.

I think a good job was done on the exhibition overall. Some of the items were very common "day-to-day" things that are sometimes overlooked with the desire to have the best and most valuable. More upmarket pieces, such as the bronze Bacchus, were great. A good balance. The 3D of the Vesuvius eruption was good but I think underplayed the effects - the opposite to what one might expect.

I too was very disappointed with the shop. I left the 80's exhibition laden down with posters (large and small), touristy bronze replica statuettes and whatever else took my fancy. I bought nothing this time - not even slightly tempted.

The local Learning Centre, where I am a volunteer teacher, took a couple of adult language classes (many recent arrivals) to the exhibition and they were all very impressed. I gave a bit of a presentation the week before to put it in perspective. It is often difficult with these exhibitions to see beyond the artifacts. There were a few videos playing throughout and some people were watching, sp perhaps many got the bigger picture. I stressed to our students the significance of the whole town being sealed in a single day - a type of large-scale time capsule. The casts of victims, people and animals, well placed near the exit, was very thought provoking. People seemed affected. I was too, even though I've seen it all before.

Let us enthusiasts hope that the success of the exhibition will lead to more of such in this country. Even if it just means rummaging through storage.