Product Description

Over a hundred years after his death, Richard Wagner remains an enigma. His was a rags-to-riches saga with a fairy tale ending. He was loved, yet hated; admired, yet despised. He was a heroic villian who was worshipped and whose fame and exploits were the gossip of Europe. Above all, he was an incurable romantic whose affair with Liszt's illegitimate daughter rivals that of Romeo and Juliet. But he was also a dangerous political revolutionary whose influence penetrated the fabric of German society in the nineteenth century. He was a legend in his own lifetime, and he was one of the greatest composers to ever live. Only an actor of the stature of Richard Burton could measure up to the titanic character of Wagner, and this proved to be his final film role. Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave co-stars as Cosima, Wagner's second wife, a woman who had a dramatic impact on German history until her death in 1930. The incredible supporting cast also includes screen legends Sir Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. Filmed in wide screen 35mm Dolby Stereo, this major drama production is one of the largest East West co-productions ever undertaken.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41091 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 300 minutes

Customer Reviews

The mini-series IS definitely uncut on this DVD!
To make things once and for all clear: The exact running time of this set is 470 minutes. I own this set and it's totally uncut. I also taped a tv-broadcast almost 15 years ago (here in Europe they definitely aired it uncut!), so I was able to compare both formats.
It would have been the mistakingly advertised 540 minutes, if KULTUR had put every bit of repeating credits at the beginning and at the end of each episode, since those repeating credits run - believe it or not - 7 minutes for each episode. Now you could do the math: 7 x 10 = 70 minutes. And what a surprise: 470 + 70 = 540.
So folks, don't you worry anymore, this DVD-set contains every bit of the epic mini-series.
(A fan writing to you from Germany.)

Wagner, The Complete Epic
I was fortunate to have seen a big screen presentation of "Wagner The Complete Epic" at the San Diego Opera House (nine hours in one day), many years ago. Richard Burton really captures both the vindictiveness and creative genuis of this man, whose immoral personal life is so difficult to reconcile with his amazing compositions. From his fecund mind sprang over a dozen great music dramas, culminating in the mythological trilogy "Der Ring des Nibelungen", arguably the apex of artistic expression in the western world. In addition to Richard Burton, the huge cast includes Vanessa Redgrave as Cosima Wagner, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier, and a few opera stars who have actually sung in Wagner's music dramas, including Gwyneth Jones, Peter Hofmann, Jess Thomas, Manfred Jung and Heinz Zednik. Tony Palmer, who directed this movie, has created an epic of Wagnerian proportions.

complete but...
This is a marvelous look into the life of Wagner, one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time who was an absolute monster of a person, but none the less brilliant. Although I believe this an acting tour de force for Burton and the other fine actors, it unfortunately falls short in several ways. The transfer is awful. If they did anything to enhance it, it certainly doesn't show. The sound is lousy as well. With the amazing panoramic views and beautiful settings, there really should have been more care and time spent cleaning up the original recordings. Oh well...still worth seeing and the musical overlay are brilliant. 3 stars for poor transfer, 5 for the scenery, settings, music and acting