Product Description

Anthony Mann directs this giant-size, three-hour, sweepingly pictorial entertainment (Daily Variety) that chronicles the peace-loving Caeser, Marcus Aurelius (Guinness) and his corrupt son, Commodus, (Plummer) who covets his throne. Featuring epic battles, breathtaking sets and locations, and a chariot race that easily rivals Ben Hur, Fall of the Roman Empire charts the greedy miscalculations that led to this civilization s collapse at the bloody hands of the Barbarians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2607 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 179 minutes

Amazon.com
The second and last of Anthony Mann's historical epics is a smart, handsome spectacle of the decadence, corruption, and intrigue that tears apart the greatest empire the world has seen. The sprawling story spreads itself thin over a number of characters and stories. At the center are handsome but stiff Stephen Boyd as Livius, the loyal soldier and symbolic son of the aging emperor (Alec Guinness), and Christopher Plummer as Commodus, the corrupt heir to the throne--boyhood friends turned enemies when the latter accedes to the throne and sells out the values of his father for greed and hedonistic pleasures. The three-hour running time is filled out with the tales of Sophia Loren (as the beautiful Lucilla in love with Livius but coveted by greedy Commodus) and a gallery of heroes and villains that includes James Mason, Mel Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, John Ireland, Omar Sharif, and Eric Porter. The film is highlighted with spectacular scenes (a grandiose funeral fit for an emperor, brutal battles in the provinces as the barbarians threaten the empire, and a climactic duel to decide the destiny of Rome), which Mann weaves into the shadowy intrigue of the halls of power. Like his previous epic El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire remains one of the best of the 1960s epics: well written (and largely historically accurate) with strong performances and a consistently elegant style, but it lacks a central core and the magnetic hero of its superior predecessor. --Sean Axmaker

On the DVD
The two-disc deluxe edition of The Fall of the Roman Empire comes stuffed with extras for this somewhat forgotten sixties epic. A commentary track by producer Samuel Bronston's son Bill, with Bronston biographer Mel Martin, provides info over the course of the movie's 185-minute running time. A terrific 22-minute promo movie from 1964, narrated by co-star James Mason, offers some great behind-the-scenes footage, including costume tests and the amusing sight of Alec Guinness and Christopher Plummer dueling at chess. Another new half-hour "making of" doc fills in the rest of the story, with good detail on the vast scale of the production and the money woes Bronston juggled on the Spanish location as the budget skyrocketed; the usual experts are joined by director Anthony Mann's wife and composer Dimitri Tiomkin's daughter. Two 10-minute docs give historical background on the real Rome, and a comparison of fact vs. fiction in the movie. Another 20-minute short does an excellent job of parsing Tiomkin's ambitious score. The usual stills and trailers are also here. For the special three-disc Collector's Edition, you also get a package of postcard-sized stills and souvenir booklet, plus three short films made by Encyclopedia Britannica on the film's sets, an offbeat bonus for completists. (A title card notes that a deleted sequence from Fall was discovered too late to include in the set, but will be offered at a future date.) --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

History Rolls On
A good video to understand the history of the Roman Empire. This video was instrumental in helping my child understand the history of what happened during this era.

FANTASTIC AND ENJOYABLE TO SEE OVER AND OVER AGAIN I
I ALWAYS WANTED TO OWN THIS FILM AND WAS PLEASED TO PURCHES IT AS SOON AS IT CAME AVAILEB

A Great Epic Brings History to Life
At times when the epic was often "mere spectacle," this is an attempt of taking history seriously, dissecting the real causes of the decline of the greatest empire in the ancient world. Thouh only semi-historical, with fictional elements and characters, it makes a point, that the fall of a great empire is a result of many causes, but essentially it is a decay from within that brings it about. Rome had five great emperors in succession, from Hadrian to Marcus Aurelius, in a span of two centiries, but subseuently fell into the hands of icompetent egomaniacs whose concept of Rome was based on central power and exploitation, rather than sharing its wealth and privileges with other peoples.
Though slow-paced and lacking in excitement and the dramatic action of some of its predecessors (Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia), this majestic film makes up in depth of concept and characterization. It studiously avoids compromise and makes demands on the viewer to be taken seriously as a historical and moral document that highlights themes like friendship, treachery, ambition and a larger view of humanity under the stress of war. Its characters are fascinating, all of them played by actors lacking superstar status, with the exception of Sophia Loren. Stephen Boyd plays Livius, a powerful and principled general, who was the favorite of Marcus Aurelius to succeed him. In contrast to Ben-Hur, where he plays a villain, here he is shown as a good man, and he succeeds admirably in demonstrating his range. Livius sticks to principles and despises Commodus, an ex-friend, but his is unwilling to betray him when the latter subverts his father's will and takes over a Caesar. Christopher Plummer as Commodus displays his versatility in shifting from the noble aristocrat of The Sound of Music to a despicable egomaniac who single-handedly undoes the life-long struggle of his father to instill the concept of peace and equality among a vast number of national entities that comprise the mosaic of the Empire. Plummer gives us a mad Commoddus with the same gusto that Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov gave us colorful renditions of Nero. And Sophia Loren, who hardly ever gave a bad performance, is quietly effective as Commodus's sister Lucilla, who is in love with and shares the principles of Livius. And Alec Guinness effectively renders Emepror Aurelius during the latter part of his career.
A forceful movie, with a powerful message, this is a good vehicle for both entertainment and history--carefully avoiding the pitfalls of a history lessson.
An excellent two-disc edition, brilliantly re-mastered, with many extras, this is much worth owning.