Product Description

Winner of Best Picture and Best Actor Academy Awards, director Ridley Scott's stirring spectacle stars Russell Crowe as heroic Roman general Maximus. Crowe is chosen to succeed ailing emperor Richard Harris, but scheming imperial son Joaquin Phoenix orders Crowe and his family killed. Left for dead and sold into slavery, Crowe emerges as the empire's greatest gladiator and seeks vengeance in a showdown at the Colosseum. With Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou. Special three-disc set includes both the original theatrical version and an extended version with 17 minutes of extra footage; 155 min./172 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; audio commentary; deleted scenes; documentary; featurettes; storyboards; photo gallery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11419 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2005-08-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: .67 pounds
• Running time: 177 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

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Stills from Gladiator (Click for larger image)

DVD features
As Ridley Scott proclaims at the top of the exhaustive three-disc set, the new cut of the film is not the director's cut--that was in the theaters. This new cut expands the running time by 15 minutes, adding a few talky scenes and extensions of others. We have richer character moments though most involving Commodus and Lucilla. The massive 200-minute documentary takes a long look at the making of the film. It's not filled with lots of new, flashy fluff; it digs into the heart of producing a movie: How do you re-create the Colosseum? How do you costume and choreograph hundreds of extras for a battle? How do you work when the unfinished script is "in play?" How can you finish a film when a key actor dies? Some of the comments are refreshing tart and honest. The third disc is even more in-depth with several key behind-the-scenes talents talking at length about their work (including a storyboard artist). This is a set for the movie-production buff and even the most apparent glitzy extra--a new commentary trick from Scott and Russell Crowe--is uneventful. Note: both cuts of the movie are on the first disc, but the fantastic DTS track from the first release is sacrificed. The reasons are buried at the end of the excellent trivia track for those interested. --Doug Thomas