Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Fulfills the promise of what a DVD should be
I think that when rating a DVD, one should consider everything offered in addition to the movie itself. This one delivers.First, the film is reasonably compelling and is certainly well-acted. But I suspect most of us have seen the film. Thus, what exactly is offered in addition to that?There is a grand making-of documentary that shows how the action and CGI are melded together, what influences went into the script and set design, how set and shots were conceived, and what the director was seeking to accomplish.There is also an incredibly interesting (perhaps since I'm a former music major) documentary on the composer, how he goes about creating films scores and the Gladiator score in particular, how the concepts of the film influence what he wants his music to communicate and how he managed to recruit a couple of hard-to-locate musicians for the pieces.There are tons of other extras as well: Deleted scenes with optional commentary, a hour long documentary (actually educational!) about the real Roman gladiators, production notes (a very interesting read--it all started with a painting!), etc.Not only is this a fun (not great; very good but not great) movie, you'll get the satisfaction of truly getting a sense for the whole creative process behind the film.