Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 1.0
Buy Braveheart on Blu-ray, it's stunning, but skip this stinker!
Universal Home Video was responsible for this horrible contribution to the much lauded, premium "Sapphire Series" for Paramount's Blu-ray division. According to Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits, they more than likely used an HD master from way back in 2000 for all theatrical footage and a newer HD transfer from 2005 for the extended scenes.Therefore, the 2005 material looks pretty good, though not as good as the best modern HD telecine work and definitely not as good as Braveheart (it received a fairly recent HD transfer), with no trace of Edge Enhancement and only minor Digital Noise Reduction applied. In comparison, the 2000 transfer for the bulk of the film is a completely waxy, smeared mess devoid of fine detail with EE up the wazoo.Hopefully, pressure can be brought to bear towards Paramount and Universal and they will re-release this modern-day masterpiece with a brand new HD transfer devoid of all the various problems presented here, and issue an exchange as Sony did with The Fifth Element.You have been warned! Avoid Gladiator at all costs and instead spend your money on Braveheart on Blu-ray instead. Of the two, it's the only "Sapphire" title worthy of its name.