Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 3.0
Are you not entertained?!?!?!
Having just watched it, the reports of Gladiator's travesty on blu-ray seem to have been somewhat exaggerated by a mob of detractors befitting of the Roman Coliseum. I can certainly acknowledge that it does indeed exhibit very noticeable edge enhancement causing shimmering images and flickering most noticeably on objects such as chainmail and other accoutrements and the opening titles suffer most of all from heavy color banding and solarizing the result of the DNR post-processing. However the (blu-ray) sky isn't falling and claims of "vanishing arrows" and spears "disappearing" in mid-air seem to have been blown out of proportion and I had no problem at all seeing them on my 46" LCD. There is no doubt that the picture quality could have been improved, and for the debut of Paramount's so-called "Sapphire Series" this presentation is something of an embarrassment for the studio and its reputation for future releases under this banner seems questionable, but the detail and clarity of resolution are better than watching the upscaled DVD copy. The extras are insightful and the sound is nothing short of spectacular. Still, I did not let these moderate technical flaws detract from the overall enjoyment of the spectacle of the film itself.As Maximus would say, "Are you not entertained?!?!?"*spits*