Fall of the Roman Empire to be released on April 29 (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

My copy came today. Yes, the Deluxe Edition contains a third disc with the Encyclopedia Brittanica shorts...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don't know what the original film sounded like, but this one has some mild directional dialogue. Very subtle in its use - nothing obvious, and the dialogue mostly sounds pretty centered...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don't think the deleted scene will be on a later DVD of Fall - I think they'll include it in a later "Miriam Collection" release of some OTHER movie. That's how I interpreted the note on the DVD, at least...

 

[john a hunter]

Probably one of the other Bronston films.

 

[OliverK]

I strongly hope that the note regarding the deleted scene points to a Blu-Ray version that will include it. Why would I have to buy 55 Days in Peking to get additional footage from this film ? Does not make much sense to me.

Oliver

 

[Stefan Andersson]

I think they should add the deleted scene to both a Blu-Ray of FOTRE and to a SD of another Bronston film. Maybe they could save all Bronston material lately discovered and collect in a Bronston Archive featurette on the last Bronston DVD to be released. Should be enjoyed by Bronstonians who collect all his productions on DVD.

BTW, does the Miriam DVD not include the trilemma scene? And is it included in only the Scandinavian DVD or in the French DVD also? Yes, I know, it´s been mentioned earlier in this thread, but only in passing. All readers might appreciate a post with clear info. Thanks for reading!

 

[Bob Cashill]

DVD Savant has a review: DVD Savant Review: The Fall of the Roman Empire.

 

[PatrickDA]

Not much of a review. Oh, well! Hopefully, better ones will come out.

 

[OliverK]

The trilemma scene is missing from both the French and the Weinstein version. Is there a scandinavian DVD that has it ? How long is it and how is the picture quality ?

Oliver

 

[OliverK]

I always enjoy reading his reviews, although not for the two or three words Glenn has to say about the picture quality of a release. Regarding picture quality I mostly rely on screenshots if available and a few individuals whose judgement I trust which I think is a good way not to fall for overly enthusiastic reviews.

Oliver

 

[PatrickDA]

I think he totally missed the boat on the Livius character. Yes, perhaps,
Boyd wasn't the strongest performer, but he had 'Ben-Hur' street cred with
the people who, more than likely, would've been interested in seeing "Roman
Empire." Also, I'm sick of people calling his character 'weak' because he didn't
kill 10,000 people because his wife (and/or child) were raped and murdered.
He was loyal to the EMPIRE and that's why he didn't go after Commodus at
certain points in the film. Only when Livius was pushed to the breaking point
did he finally go against Commondus. Oh, another point, Livius warned
Commodus against sending him to Arabia to combat the rebellion there. I
think it was quite clear what might happen if Livius returned with his armies
intact. Look, 99% of the people reviewing "Roman Empire" for an official
website in the coming weeks will have only seen the film once, twice, or
,at the most, three times. I've watched the film close to 50 times. I guess I'm
just very protective and I'm sick if these body blows delivered over the years
based on the how the film has been been preceived by the critics and/or
movie media and NOT based on how one actually views it. His review was
a copy-and-paste of most others I've read. I wish somebody would do
something original like...DEFEND it! Oh, well.

P.S. - I also didn't like his shallow attack of "Gladiator," which is a very fine
film, IMO.

 

[Robin9]

I think you're on very shaky ground here. A reviewer is under no obligation to "defend" a movie, no matter how much critical injustice has been done to it. A reviewer's job is to assess a movie thoroughly, to identify his own prejudices that will affect his judgement, and then to give an honest opinion about the movie.

I'm not even sure that Fall Of The Roman Empire has suffered any great critical injustice or needs to be defended. Most younger movie lovers know nothing about the movie and possibly have never even heard of it. In the past forty years many people have expressed their admiration for the movie in magazine articles, and my guess is that on balance FOTRE has received far more praise than criticism.

 

[Stefan Andersson]

OliverK: re: the Scandinavian FOTRE DVD. An earlier post in this thread referred to this DVD and gave a link to it. This link does not now lead to anything at all. I checked up the DVD at Välkommen - LOVEFiLM (Swedish online rental/retail dealer) and the consumer reviews there had a very low opinion of the video quality. Running time nowhere near the 185 mins. of the Weinstein DVD. Haven´t seen the DVD myself.

BTW, OliverK, if and when you see the Weinstein DVD, please post about whether the DVD has other scenes missing from the various cuts (Drusilla before the senate etc.) There are more details at Imdb, the Alt. Versions link to FOTRE.

 

[Douglas R]

I empathise with you totally on this. I too am sick and tired of constantly reading criticisms of the film. For whatever reason, there are people who repeatedly want to rubbish the film. I've never understood the scorn that has been heaped on it - usually, as you say, by people who simply repeat what others have said. I loved the film when I first saw it in 70mm and still think it's great.

 

[OliverK]

And yes, I only watched the movie twice - could not bring myself to watch it more often because I did not have a software version that did the film justice. I hope to be able to watch it again in better and higher resolving versions.

Despite all the other positives that often get rightfully mentioned I will say that what I think the movie is very good at and what was above all its downfall was a feeling of doom and decay from the overture on. This really IS the beginning of the end that we're seeing and this is something I very much liked about the film. Not really a business-savvy decision to make such a downbeat film but very impressive in my opinion and without equal among epic movies - loved that.

Oliver

 

[john a hunter]

Surely you can still enjoy TFOTRE and still be critical of its shortcomings?
I for one am really looking forward to seeing it again despite the problems I feel exist with the script and some of the performances. It's probably because it gets a lot so right(the visuals), that it's still very enjoyable and recommendable to anyone interested in the subject matter or just epic films in general.

 

[OliverK]

FOTRE could be a lesser film than it actually is and I would still enjoy it for its visuals, it does look that stunning to me.

 

[AdrianTurner]

Got my 3-discer today - even though it says 2 discs on the box. First thoughts are a decent 'Making Of' doco, though many of the quotes have been grafted on from El Cid. Sad that no one mentioned Gladiator in their otherwise well-argued attempts to claim just how modern a movie Fall is. I am slightly disappointed by the picture quality - it seems very grainy and unstable to me. Annoyed once again by the Intermission music being on Disc 1 - this has also meant losing a rather splendid brass fanfare that should close Part One, accompanying Plummer's lovely smirk. Miriam's people MUST get this right for Peking. They are displaying a worrying ignorance of how these films were presented.

 

[Douglas R]

I didn't think the picture was at all grainy or unstable. I think it's considerably better than EL CID, although like that DVD, the colours seem washed out. The flesh tones, in particular, look too pale. Weinstein have certainly done an excellent job on the extras though.

 

[OliverK]

I am considering to play this one from my PC harddrive, that way I will be able to recut it in order to have the intermission where it belongs.

Regarding the picture quality: I think that Weinstein has done a better job on this one than with El Cid but don't we all want the original Ultra Panavision aspect ratio anyway, or at least the 2.55 AR ? That would have been the usual roadshow AR if the roadshow release of the movie had not have been abruptly curtailed and only flat 70mm prints produced.

Oliver