Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Exceeding expectations and DTS reference quality
My wife has a built in prejudice against what she calls "costume drama" movies and with films that might have too much violence in it, so in her book, this film had two preconceived strikes against it. But surprise, surprise, the story was engrossing enuff that she got caught up in it and really liked it. It also exceeded my expectations - who knew a summer blockbuster could have so much depth to it? On the technical side, if you have a decent home theater set up, the DTS soundtrack on this is truely awesome and worth the price of admission. Near the beginning of the film, some soldiers take Russell Crowe out into the woods to kill him. He grabs a sword and gets out their grasp and is hiding offscreen behind a tree. When he throws the sword at the soldier that you see on screen, the sound of the sword whirring thru the air almost makes you duck as it comes from the rear right surround and crosses to the front right to the center channel and into the soldiers chest. Wow.