The Fall Of The Roman Empire – Limited Collector’s
Edition (1964/Miriam DVD Box Set)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B- Film: B-
After the
big commercial success of El Cid,
reviewed elsewhere on this site, Director Anthony Mann and Producer Charles
Bronston reteamed for a larger production that included the largest set ever
made and had the goal of outdoing the likes of its predecessor production, Cleopatra, Lawrence Of Arabia, Spartacus
and Ben-Hur. The result was The Fall Of The Roman Empire, released by Paramount in 1964, has
reverted back to the original producer’s estate and the Weinstein Brothers have
had the rights since their Miramax years.
They took the films with them when starting their own company.
Offering 185
of the original 188 minutes-long running time, finally arriving in a quality
DVD release and issued in a regular set and a nicer boxed set we received. That way, after so many years of bad copies
that were often too short, you can finally see a decent, nearly complete version
of a film with ten of thousands of extras, enduing production design, a solid
screenplay by Ben Barzman, Basilo Franchina and Philip Yordan. The film is not always consistent throughout
and like El Cid, some moments go on
too long or seem stagy. However, the
epic sweep and density of the overall film win out, especially here where it
becomes visually compelling and turns out to be one of the more underrated
epics.
The
amazing cast includes the return of Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Christopher
Plummer, Alec Guinness, James Mason, John Ireland, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle,
Mel Ferrer and Andrew Keir. The
cross-chemistry between the actors is also better than you get in most epics,
holding up well in a post-Gladiator
world, with the plus that nothing here is digital!
Besides
that, it is always great to see an ambitious, rich, ultra-expensive, expansive,
all-out film production that is a peak of world cinema production. When Hollywood and like companies serious
about making the best possible product and are not posers, you get
built-to-last filmmaking like this. It
is such a pleasure to see a big screen film that is smart, loaded with major
action scenes, great acting and only gets better and better as it roles along. Sure, some scenes might not work, but I would
rather see risks that don’t work out than the laziness we are subjected to
these days.
Thanks to
this DVD set, The Fall Of The Roman
Empire will be rediscovered by a whole new generation of film fans and
filmmakers and not a moment too soon. And
when you see the cast in action, you will be re-reminded of the true definition
of what “movie star” is supposed to be all about.
This is
one of only ten films ever shot in Ultra Panavision 70 (which debuted as MGM
Camera 65) offering the widest of all production aspect ratios at 2.76 X 1 to
approximate the width of three-projector Cinerama. Unfortunately, the version offered here is a
problematic, anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 version, either from 35mm or a
“zoomed-in” version from the original 2.76 frame. Did the Weinstein’s think the wider 2.76
would disappoint buyers and fans by not looking as good in low-def DVD or is
this the only print they have? Note that
the 1962 Mutiny On The Bounty remake
and The Battle Of The Bulge are also
2.76 X 1 Ultra Panavision 70 productions that have impressive HD-DVD releases,
soon heading to Blu-ray. You can read
more about Ultra Panavision and those films at the following links:
The Battle Of The Bulge
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5415/The+Battle+Of+The+Bulge+(1965/HD
Mutiny On The Bounty (1962)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4786/Mutiny+On+The+Bounty+(1962/HD
The
picture looks a little better than the El
Cid transfer from the Miriam series, but not by much. Like El
Cid, the 35mm prints of the time were three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor
and 2.20 X 1 70mm print were issued of Empire
as well. Robert Krasker, B.S.C., was the
Director of Photography on both and continued to show his mastery of the large
frame format and widescreen composition.
Even cut on the sides, this still looks epic enough, but detail and color
can still be an issue and depth can suffer as well. I hope when they issue this on Blu-ray, we’ll
get the full wide frame and see the consistent color here be more vibrant.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix reconfigures the original 6-track magnetic stereo sound as well
as possible, including another winning score by Dimitri Tiomkin in his late
glory. I hope the Blu-ray had DTS MA or
Dolby TrueHD, but this is not a bad remix, though sound is towards the screen
and if you pay attention, you can hear the travelling dialogue and sound
effects.
Extras on
DVD 1 include text filmographies, stills, the original theatrical trailer,
vintage 1964 promo film and a full length audio commentary throughout the 185
minutes of the film that continues onto DVD 2 by Bill Bronston (Producer Samuel
Bronston’s son) and Mel Martin, Samuel Bronston’s biographer that is a
must-hear, a Hollywood Vs. History
analysis and Dimitri Tiomkin: Scoring The
Roman Empire featurette and two new featurettes: The Rise & Fall Of An Epic Production showing the making of the
film and The Rise & Fall Of An Empire
with another historical take on the real Romans. DVD 3 adds a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica
tie-in educational films to the film to get students to study the history
backing it. The box set version we
received includes a reproductions of lobby cards and the original program.
For more,
see the Miriam release of El Cid at
this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6482/El+Cid+–+Limited+Collector’s+Edition
- Nicholas Sheffo