Gladiator (Special Edition)

Advantages: effects, acting
Disadvantages: length?

...to Proximo (Oliver Reed), a gladiator trainer. As a gladiator he fight his way from the outer reaches of the empire to the gladiator games in Rome and a chance to be face to face with Commodus again. Director Ridley Scott was badly in need of a hit after a few recent misses (GI Jane) but here he returns to one of his main strengths, stunning visuals from the fly-over of Rome (see also beginning of Blade Runner) to the wonderful gladiator fights. ...
...characters. Audio Gladiator is the first major British R2 release to include a DTS soundtrack as well as a DD 5.1 track on the disc. And whilst there is not widespread ownership of DTS amplifiers in this country at the moment, hopefully this trend of releasing DVDs with both sound options will mean people are willing to pay that little bit more when they buy their surround system. To be honest, you are not likely to be disappointed with either sound ... Read review

Advantages: DTS soundtrack, loads of extras
Disadvantages: none

...blockbuster treatment on dvd and gladiator has received such a treatment. I won't go into details about the film as I'm sure the majority of the people reading this will be familiar with the story. The dvd is a 2 dvd set that comes in a standard case with a hinged insert for the 2nd dvd. Theres also a 4 page inlay that deatils the chapter listing and has some production notes. The first dvd contains the film. It's presented in 2.35:1 and is anamorphic. ...
...explores the history of roman gladiator games and is very good from a historical standpoint. There is a brief shot of the Hillsbourgh tragedy that is too be removed from future pressings. Next are 12 deleted scenes that you can view with or without Scott's commentary. These are presented in non-anamorphic and are slightly rough in look. The menus here give you a brief description of what they are before you view them. A few scenes are just extended ... Read review

Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: Nothing

...Golden-Age Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes movie-making back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. While not as fluid as the computer work done for, say, Titanic, it's an impressive achievement that will leave you marvelling at the grandeur that was Rome, when you're not marvelling at the glory that is Russell Crowe. Starring as the heroic general Maximus, Crowe ...
...fugitive to stoic slave to gladiator hero. Gladiator's plot is a whirlwind of faux-Shakespearean machinations of death, betrayal, power plays, and secret identities (with lots of faux-Shakespearean dialogue ladled on to keep the proceedings appropriately "classical"), but it's all briskly shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary sensibility. Even the action scenes, somewhat muted but graphic in terms of implied violence and liberal bloodletting, ... Read review

Advantages: see opinion
Disadvantages: none

I watched Gladiator on video when it was was released and liked it that much i bought it on DVD. Gladiator was the hot release of 2000 and has subsequently sold like hot cakes on both video and DVD (great feature, but I’ll review that part elsewhere). Now that the awards season is kicking into gear you should be prepared for this film winning a hatful of them. My personal guess is it will scoop around 6 or 7 Oscars. ****** That section is ...
...for those who have seen Gladiator and want more. They show some behind the scenes shots and have interviews with the cast and crew. Most notable is Richard Harris’s praise for Russell Crowe. Hans Zimmer Profile – Composing Gladiator. A 20 minute documentary covering the making of the musical score of the film (which is also in the running This is one of my favourite features on this disc as it reveals some details that you just didn’t ... Read review

Advantages: An epic story & DVD
Disadvantages: Its not a short film

THE FILM Gladiator is the story of Maximus one of Rome's greatest generals. He leads a great victory in Germania and the emperor Marcus Aurelius joins him on the battlefield to congratulate his victory. However, Marcus is an old man and is ill and knows he will die soon. His son, Commodus, believes that he will lead Rome after his father's death, however, Marcus asks Maximus to be the 'protector of Rome' and return the power to the people. Commodus ...
...forced into slavery as a gladiator in the outer provinces. In the mean time, Commodus (who is more that a little deranged) has chosen to give the people of Rome 150 days of games in order to commemorate his fathers death. This means that Maximus returns to Rome to fight in the games. The senate is now plotting against Commodus and Maximus sees this as his chance for revenge. An outstanding film in the true meaning of the word 'epic', everything from ... Read review

Advantages: Great fighting scenes, excellent story.
Disadvantages: A bit too long, sometimes slightly boring.

...---------GLADIATOR--------- Released in 2000, Gladiator was one of the biggest movies of its time, and its popularity at its release can be compared with that of more recent movies such as The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Every cent of its 103 million dollar budget was used with splendor on a range of things - from all the breathtaking landscapes and scenery, to the excellently chosen cast and crew, and magnificently realistic CGI effects. ---PLOT--- The dying Emperor of Rome chooses Maximus, a General of the Roman army, to be his successor. Before he has a chance to make this decision public, he is murdered by his own son, who wanted to rule the Empire. After taking over from his father, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) orders the execution of the General Maximus (Russell Crowe) and his family. Maximus escape... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The best version of an exceptional film.
Disadvantages: Slightly disappointing presentation of the box and discs.

...of the characters and are very good. The outer box artwork is poorer. It does not stand out and is certainly worse than the original set (which was good) and the region 1 version of the extended edition, which I saw in a shop in Canada (as opposed to a picture online). The title is written down the right hand side of the box front, which I do not like, but parts of the outer case are embossed, which is good. Video presentation on the discs themselves is unfortunately poorer than the original too. The very cool main menu video intro on disc one of the original is gone, though the main menu does have some motion. Scene selection no longer gets motion menus, but the different music for each screen remains, which is a nice rare touch. Overall, presentation is simple but good. However, I did expect a little more from a special edition for a film... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A decent story, brilliant drama, powerful action sequences, stunning performances and a great soundtrack
Disadvantages: At 2 hours 44 minutes it is a very long film

...you really need to know the film inside out to pick up on all the additional scenes without using one of the DVDs special features and very few add anything really new to the way the film comes across. The most notable inclusion is additional scenes surrounding the Roman Senators which paints them in a different light but also there are extra scenes which help show how psychotic the character of Commodus truly was. In a brief introduction to the film director Ridley Scott explains that this is not his directors cut as that was the original cinematic release and this is purely a version which includes cut scenes. Also on Disc 1 is an audio commentary from Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe a nice addition seeing other DVD versions of "Gladiator" lacked this feature. The commentary is very specific to each scene and both Scott and Crowe... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful