Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3275 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-21
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 155 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking 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 marveling at the glory that was Rome, when you're not marveling at the glory that is Russell Crowe. Starring as the heroic general Maximus, Crowe firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen presence and acting chops, carrying the film on his decidedly non-computer-generated shoulders as he goes from brave general to wounded 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, are shot with a veracity that brings to mind--believe it or not--Saving Private Ryan, even if everyone is wearing a toga. As Crowe's nemesis, the evil emperor Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix chews scenery with authority, whether he's damning Maximus's popularity with the Roman mobs or lusting after his sister Lucilla (beautiful but distant Connie Nielsen); Oliver Reed, in his last role, hits the perfect notes of camp and gravitas as the slave owner who rescues Maximus from death and turns him into a coliseum star. Director Scott's visual flair is abundantly in evidence, with breathtaking shots and beautiful (albeit digital) landscapes, but it's Crowe's star power that will keep you in thrall--he's a true gladiator, worthy of his legendary status. Hail the conquering hero! --Mark Englehart

Amazon.com


Stills from Gladiator (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!
Finally! The 3 disc Extended Version of Gladiator!!!!!

Here are all of the features

Disc One: Movie

Extended Version with 25 minutes of additional footage
Original Theatrical Cut
Introduction to Extended Cut by Director Ridley Scott
An "Are You Not Entertained?" Trivia track with Historical References etc
All-New Audio Commentary with Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe
Deleted Footage Marker; Guide to help identify the newly restored footage (YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Disc Two: Behind the Scenes

"Strength and Honor: Creating the World of Gladiator" Extended Version (200 mins) documentary features never before-seen footage:
- Tale of the Scribes: Crafting the Story
- The Tools of War: Weapons and Vehicles
- Attire of the Realm: Costume Design
- The Heat of Battle: Production Journals
- Shadows and Dust: Resurrecting Proximo
- The Glore of Rome: Oscar-winning Visual Effects
- Echoes in Eternity: The film's release and global reaction

Disc Three: Image and Design

Production Design Featurette and Gallery
Storyboard Demonstrations, Comparisons and Gallery
Abandoned Sequences
Ridleygrams: Ridley Scott's Own Sketches
Costume Design Gallery
Photo Galleries
Abandoned sequences including Alternate Opening Titles, Blood Vision, Rhino Fight, and a newly discovered deleted scene
Letters From the Front: Authentic memos on the challenges of production
Commodus Screen Test (Joaquin Phoenix)
Visual Effects Explorations (Germania & Rome)
An Evening with Russell Crowe
And much more...

Sound/Subtitle Options

English in 6.1 DTS ES
English in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound EX
Erench in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound EX
English in 2.0 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

So, there you have it, the list of all the features for Gladiator: 3 disc Extended Edition!!

We salute you, Ridley.
Gladiatorial combat is immortalized in this film, the only way it can be: through stunning action sequences and beautiful imagery. It also immortalizes, above all, director Ridley Scott.

Roger Ebert complains of people with short memory spans praising this film while forgetting that films like Spartacus have supposedly done this before. Well, I have a good memory, and I remember Spartacus. In fact, I kept on remembering that film while watching Gladiator, only in the context of, "This is so much better than Spartacus. It goes beyond." The action is better, the visuals are better, the story is better, and the acting is better. Sorry, Kirk.

Since this is an action film, the story isn't the most important element, but for an action film it is actually quite good. For one thing, I liked the disturbing under-the-surface incest element going on between Commodus and Connie Nielson. Furthermore, it was interesting to see how Crowe gained support among the gladiators until it became as if he were a general leading his army again. The plot itself needed to be there in order to fully create a sense of grandeur. With its insurrection story, the rise of the hero and his trek to the capitol of Rome, and the look at the people in power, the plot creates a sense of time-and-place necessary for an epic that couldn't exist with the visuals and action alone.

The acting is among the best one can ever seen for an action film, and there is plenty of fine dramatic work pulled off by the two main actors. Russell Crowe is now one of the best "new" (four or five films so far) actors in film. We believe, in his glances and the ways he delivers his many great lines, that he is Maximus. He is poignant, hate-filled, and sorrowful all at once. The praise he is getting is deserved. But why isn't Phoenix being lauded just as much? He carries the film in the second-largest role just as well as Crowe. His Emperor Commodus isn't a good villain and has no real character, but Phoenix adds so many layers to him and turns him into a great antagonist that that alone makes his performance excellent. He commands attention just as Crowe does. All by himself (no help from any great dialogue or development), he creates a villain that is prissy, whining, ambitious, pathetic, and malevolent, and worthy of our hate as well as our pity. It's a wonderful transformation. To sum it up, the characters themselves aren't really developed at all- but the acting is so good that it seems they are.

Now, onto the action, which, as I had hoped, is plentiful and intense. It has diversity and grandeur. All the fights were fast, hard-hitting, uncensored, and very bloody, which is what they should've been like. And every single fight sequence is unique from the others. There's the match where two men fought chained to each other, the opening war battle, Maximus vs. numerous other fighters, and the final sword duel, to name a few. This is so much more than just two half-naked men fighting with swords, which is what it could've been. The film also captures the feel and the motion of combat. Ridley Scott speeds up the film slightly during fight scenes to show the chaos and rapid reflexes necessary to survive. During the fight scenes, the camerawork is nonstop and covers the combat as one big blur to the fighters. (But we can still follow the fights themselves.)

This film also stands out in my mind as one of the most visual, image-driven action films I've ever seen. Thanks to Ridley Scott, practically every scene is jammed with wonderful detail, art direction, even distinct lighting (the Collosseum orange, other parts of Rome dark blue). Just look at the wide multitude (seemingly infinite number) of battle masks, weapons, and locales. Cinematography is skillful and impressive. There are tons of memorable shots, like Maximus entering the ring with rose petals coming down on him like rain from above, Commodus' pure white battle costume (when he's being risen up on the platform he looks like a demented angel ascending to heaven), and the images used to represent Crowe's home- the gentle hand carressing the wheat reeds, the door to his house, etc. They had a surreal quality and each were bathed in their own distinct color. Excellent work, Ridley.

A very impressive film. So why can't all summer movies be this good? We'd be spoiled.

A Vision of Rome - in DTS
In Gladiator, Commodus says he will show the people a vision of Rome - and that is exactly what this film gives us, a vision. Do not watch this film (or any other Roman epic, for that matter) expecting historical accuracy, watch it for the vision of Rome, which is the best that we have yet witnessed, from the bustling city streets to the torn up forests of Germania. At the film's core, of course, are the massive spectacles of the Collosseum, which are captured quite faithfully. There is a wonderful deleted scene on the DVD where Maximus witnesses Christians being fed to the lions between gladiator contests. This scene shows the horror and depravity of the Roman mob through the eyes of an innocent child, clutching his mother on the sandy floor of the arena.

In addition to grand spectacle, this is probably the best DVD I have ever purchased with regard to technical detail. The deleted scenes and documentaries are a very novel touch. Some films have a few deleted scenes, but 25 minutes' worth!?!

If you have a DTS setup for your home theater, BUY THIS DVD. I watched it with my parents at their home over Thanksgiving and had major reservations about the big screen spectacle's translation onto video, and then I got home and popped it in my DTS system. I cannot begin to explain the awe - the sound editing on this movie should win an Oscar. If it weren't R rated, every high-end home theater store would be showing this film to show of DVD and DTS capability.