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List Price: $19.99Amazon.com's Price: $15.99 You Save: $4.00 (20%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0786936297850
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Release Date: November 29, 2005
Running Time: 257 minutes
Sales Rank: 17795
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Theatrical Release Date: June 28, 2005
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The lavishly produced six-hour mini-series Empire aspires to capture the flavor and grandeur of Rome--or, failing that, the flavor and grandeur of Gladiator, a highly successful movie about Rome. Most writers, including Shakespeare, use the assassination of Julius Caesar as a climax; Empire opens with it, then follows a fictional gladiator named Tyrranus (Jonathan Cake, Inconceivable) as he protects and substitute-parents Caesar's nephew Octavius (Santiago Cabrera, Love and Other Disasters), fated to be emperor of Rome. Many have complained about how Empire plays fast and loose--very, very loose--with historical truth (the series labored over accurate details while running amok with preposterous turns of plot, ranging from Octavius hiding out in a gladiatorial prison to the emperor-to-be's romance with a rosy-lipped vestal virgin). Of course, Shakespeare did his own embellishing and it worked out fine; alas, the writers of Empire are not our modern Shakespeares. The machinations of Rome play out with cheesy speeches and cornball declamations; even a powerhouse actress like Fiona Shaw (Empire obeys the Hollywood rule that hot-tempered Romans must only be played by emotionally repressed Brits) can't inject fire into this pompous, ponderous dialogue. The scheming between Octavius and Marc Anthony (Vincent Regan, Unleashed) briefly harkens back to the genuinely thrilling duplicities of I, Claudius, but only briefly. Cabrera looks like he'd be more comfortable with the machinations of The O.C.; Cake musters some dignity but in the last few hours does little but grimace, as if wondering where he'd parked his car. The dvd release has reintegrated some unrated, unaired scenes, but don't get your hopes up. The gladiatorial combat has all the finesse and suspense of locker room buddies snapping towels at each other; the lone orgy scene works hard at fleshpottiness, but nothing kills decadence like effort. There are only two extra features: A typically self-lauding making-of doc, accompanied by a demonstration of how Rome was assembled in a computer. --Bret Fetzer
Description:
The epic event of the year comes to DVD in the mini-series EMPIRE. Complete with unrated and extended scenes, EMPIRE is presented for the first time as a seamless feature. The Roman Empire is plunged into chaos when Julius Caesar is assassinated and his power is passed on to his 18-year-old nephew Octavius. With his guardian, former gladiator Tyrannus, Octavius is forced into exile to escape those who wish to sever Caesar's bloodline permanently. Under Tyrannus' tutelage, Octavius prepares to face off against the treacherous Marc Antony and fulfill his destiny as the leader of Rome. EMPIRE boasts 'powerful acting,' says the Wall Street Journal, with a hot young cast that includes James Frain (24), Colm Feore, Jonathan Cake, Santiago Cabrera, and Emily Blunt. Filmed entirely in scenic Italy, EMPIRE tells the thrilling story of a hero's rise amidst the greed, intrigue, and lust of ancient Rome.~
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - empire
Excellent.first class service replaced faulty disc on request would recommend this seller to anyone with complete confidence
Rating:  - I Guess HBO's Rome Spoiled Me
It may not be fair to compare this production with HBO's Rome, since Rome had a larger budget and a broader and less inhibited cast, but even leaving Rome out of the picture, Empire was simply lacking.
I found myself bored much of the time I was viewing Empire, and can't say I ever got into it to the point where I was excited about what I was seeing. Where in both its seasons the more glorious Rome looked like it could hold its own against any motion picture, Empire pathetically radiated ... Read More
Rating:  - Skip This and Head to "Rome"
I just finished with this miniseries rented via Blockbuster (thank God I hadn't brought it) and let me just say that I feel like sueing the producers for having lost several hours of my life to this trash. How awful is it, you ask? The actors are extremely dull, the writing is poor and doesn't even attempt to stay true to any historical facts, the costumes look like something that a mother might throw together the night before her kid's play, everything is just horrible. Watch "Rome". The casting is superb, ... Read More
Rating: - Rome in transition
This is quite an ambitious, entertaining and interesting work of historical fiction. The story opens just before the Ides of March and takes us through the beginning of the reign of Octavion (who would come to be known as Caesar Augustus). At the outset, it needs to be admitted that there are a great many liberties taken with history in this film. Even calling it a "representation" of what actually took place would be a bit of a stretch.
The story centers on a fictional gladiator named Tyrannus ... Read More
Rating: - Great acting, great landscapes
A fine mixture of young and experienced actors, and the story of the Roman Empire is always interesting. Great landscapes.
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