The Fall Of The Roman Empire [DVD] [1964]

Amazon.co.uk Review
The second and last of Anthony Mann's historical epics is a smart, handsome spectacle of the decadence, corruption, and intrigue that tore apart the greatest empire the world has seen. The sprawling story spreads itself thin over a number of characters and stories. At the centre are handsome but stiff Stephen Boyd as Livius, the loyal soldier and symbolic son of the ageing emperor Marcus Aurelius(Alec Guinness), and Christopher Plummer as Commodus, the corrupt heir to the throne. They are 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 historically accurate up to a point) with strong performances and a consistently elegant style, It lacks a central core and the magnetic hero of its superior predecessor. Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) tackles the same story with an updated action-adventure slant. --Sean Axmaker

Amazon.co.uk Review
The second and last of Anthony Mann's historical epics is a smart, handsome spectacle of the decadence, corruption and intrigue that tore apart the Roman empire. The sprawling story spreads itself thin over a number of characters and stories. At the centre are handsome but stiff Stephen Boyd as Livius, the loyal soldier and symbolic son of the ageing emperor Marcus Aurelius (Alec Guinness), and Christopher Plummer as Commodus, the corrupt heir to the throne. They are 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 with strong performances and a consistently elegant style, but lacking the central core and magnetic hero of its superior predecessor. Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) tackles almost the same story with a more crowd-pleasing action-adventure slant. --Sean Axmaker

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13 Reviews 5 star:  (6) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:  (3) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 3.7 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   10 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars A ray of hope for widescreen enthusiasts..., 8 April 2004 By  Mr. K. Ducklin (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Further to my previous review slamming the lousy transfer of this UK DVD, widescreen lovers may like to know that a full 2.35:1 edition of this movie can be obtained from www.amazon.fr under the title of "Chute de l'Empire Romain". The print quality is at least as good, and the cover artwork is taken from the original poster. I have also ordered 2.35:1 copies of "El Cid" and "55 Days in Peking", and will drop in notes on these when they arrive. Just goes to show it pays to shop around. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   18 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars ordinary print of a fabulous film, 14 Mar 2001 By  paul.goodall@btinternet.com (London, England) - See all my reviews The Fall Of The Roman Empire is one of the finest of the epic productions made during the 1950's and 1960's, far better than Gladiator and leagues ahead of anything (except Spartacus) made during its time. However, once again a great film has been given a bad treatment with its seemingly rushed delivery to DVD. Like the cheap VHS version, the film is not presented in its original widescreen format, there is no Intermission, Overture or any commentaries, documentaries about the film. What we do get is a pointless trailer for...Gladiator. Obviously, the film has been rushed out to promote the release of Gladiator, but only at the expense of the dignity of one of the finest historical epics in the cinema. Shame on you, DVD providers!! Give this film the respect it deserves. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   18 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Bad presentation., 10 Nov 2000 By A Customer Very disappointing DVD version of this epic. It is the same as the far cheaper VHS release, complete with print scratches and indifferent colour. Missing is the "cinema presentation" which other epic DVD's seem able to do. No Overture, Intermission Music or Exit Music. The laser disc version had all of this, so this is obviously taken from the VHS print. The widescreen ratio is also incorrect to the cinema presentation.Avoid, until they release the full cinema release with 5.1 remastering (it is only in stereo). Very sloppy and cheap. And why a "Gladiator" trailer? Huh? Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 13 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A Glorious Empire The 2 Disc Edition fully restores this great movie to it`s former glory.The restoration includes a stunning new widescreen print, plus a host of special features on the making of... Read more Published 1 month ago by MichaelJay 5.0 out of 5 stars The R1 Miriam version I bought this out of cautious curiosity, since I already had a R2 DVD which looked pretty good - or so I thought. In fact, this version is on a different level entirely. Read more Published 10 months ago by N. C. Bateman 5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY SUPERB ignore all other reviews Unlike all the other DVD releases of this wonderful Epic (In the True Sense) this Miriam Collection Release is absolutely superb in every way. Read more Published 14 months ago by A. Cooper 5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest Roman epic of them all The Fall of the Roman Empire is mainly remembered, if at all, for two things - being one of the biggest flops in history and for being the film that was shamelessly plagiarized by... Read more Published 17 months ago by Trevor Willsmer 5.0 out of 5 stars the ultimate epic extravaganza From the lovely murals of the opening titles to the mano a mano combat in the finale, this film has my rapt attention for all of its 188 minutes, and is one of my favorite and... Read more Published on 6 Mar 2005 by Alejandra Vernon 2.0 out of 5 stars not a great movie Long and tidius. Bad adaption for DVD. This includes a very unsharp reconstruction of the view, and this makes the whole lopk very bad on a wide screen. Read more Published on 26 Jun 2002 by daghelseth 3.0 out of 5 stars Film buffs beware! This DVD release is a howling disappointment! The print quality is certainly fine, but don't be fooled by the 'widescreen presentation' promised on the box. Read more Published on 18 Jun 2002 by Mr. K. Ducklin 4.0 out of 5 stars Relationships between people and power in Rome! The fall of Roman empire shows motives and psycholigal moves in minds behind of power. That's why it's still very timeless-and why I like it more than Gladiator. Read more Published on 24 Feb 2001 5.0 out of 5 stars It's great to have this classic on DVD This is one of the best classics ever im the cinema. And I am very happy to be able to enjoy this great movie finally on DVD, which does not but improve the quality of the image,... Read more Published on 10 Oct 2000 1.0 out of 5 stars It klunks Actually the "greatest empire the world had ever seen" was the British, but we'll forego that. Read more Published on 4 Jun 2000 by Jonathan Bryce Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 13 customer reviews...

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