Gladiator - Sapphire Series Blu-ray Review & Comments

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Reviewed by Chris McEneany, 12th September 2009
My final comments for Paramount's Sapphire Series flagship fumble are exactly the same as for the UK edition.

One of the most troubled and controversial titles ever to make the leap to Blu-ray arrives with a sub-par transfer that, miraculously, still doesn't look as bad as so many are determined to make it seem. Nevertheless, my most eagerly anticipated Blu-ray release ever (with Jaws running a very close second), the wait awfully protracted by post strikes and made all the more unbearable by the wave of hostile reviews elsewhere, is an immense disappointment.

I had a dream that was Gladiator on Blu-ray - this is not it!

Yet there are glimpses here of what could have been. If only they'd used the 2005 print for the entire film, then there would be none of this resentment and Gladiator could justifiably sit beside Braveheart as a shining example of how to treat epically prestigious movies. However, no-one can dispute the startling value of this lavish package, and for most people who pick this up, the irony will be that they will adore its picture and revel in its audio, without question believing that this is the best it could ever be. And trying to point out its failures to them will have all the success of a Christian pleading with the lions. But I must confess that now I have finally seen what has been done to Gladiator, I am not as horrified as I thought I would be. There are enough elements here to have me spinning this edition many more times, I can tell you. But I would be lying if I claimed that I was happy with this image.

As Juba says to the spirit of Maximus, “I will see you again. But not yet … not yet ...”, we should, perhaps, feel the same way about a future release of Gladiator that eradicates all the errors made with this one. But, as things stand right now, the mob is, indeed, fickle and the potential boycott of this release does smack of Commodus' sulky petulance – at least as far as studios like Universal and Paramount are concerned. The image is most certainly not the abomination that many cite it as being, and the majority of punters will love what they see, I'm sure. The package, overall, is simply magnificent and the “event” of Gladiator's BD debut, as tarnished as it is, is still not quite a travesty. Regardless of the rather pointless argument about something in hi-def being better than the DVD “not being good enough”, I know which version of the film I will be watching in the future. It is NOT what it should have been, by an Appian Way, but the extra detail and colour of this transfer make it a worthwhile viewing experience, just the same.

At least the smoothly CG'd Oliver Reed now blends in with the rest of the image a bit better, eh?


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