Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 3.0
Poor Sound Quality
I was disappointed by the sound quality. I knew something would be wrong the moment I saw that the theatrical and extended versions shared the same disc. On top of that, there is a French track (Il est là pour quelle raison? Je ne sais pas), the commentary (good to have) and the trivia track (nice to have). Disc 1 suffered from having all that material crammed into it. The audio quality is worse than the Dolby track of the original Signature DVD. But if you've heard the DTS track on the original you just could not sit through this one. Once you go DTS you can't go back! Why didn't the producers of the extended edition simply put each version of Gladiator on a separate DVD? A 3-disc box could easily have been a 4-disc box without much extra expense. They could have done away with the French track to increase the bit rate. Heck, they could've done away with the theatrical version altogether! Near the end of the trivia track they suggest that the fans keep both DVD editions together as one 5-disc super edition. Then what is the point of having two theatrical versions in that collection? Although I'm disappointed I still have to say that the documentaries on disc 2 are very good. I have a suggestion: I think anyone who buys this edition is entitled to a free empty box and sleeves to put the 5 discs of both editions in it. They can call it "Gladiator: Consolation Edition". Now, about that 10th anniversary high definition edition...