Gladiator (Extended Edition)

The ?Extended Edition? of Ridley Scott?s ?Gladiator? includes seventeen minutes of additional footage, but that?s hardly the reason to buy this DVD set. It comes at a hefty price tag - $28 on Amazon ? but it?s a good deal for fans of the movie almost exclusively for the three-plus hour documentary that comprises the second of three discs.

Russell Crowe marks a career-lifting move playing Maximus, a Roman general who leads his armies to victory in Germania, but who is then ordered to be executed when aging Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) is murdered by his power-hungry son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). He survives the attempt, ultimately ending up a gladiator slave, but when he learns that his family is killed by the new Ceasar, seeks revenge for himself and for the empire he loves.

It?s an impressive film, and as is common with epic blockbusters, derided by many critics even as it was embraced the world over. Crowe?s combination of ferocity and restraint suits the hero well, and Ridley Scott?s direction is inspired in its vision. A combination of CGI and action sequences have thus produced the ultimate Roman Empire epic, with thousands of extras, grand-scale sets and lavish costumes. But somewhere within the towering images Scott also managed to pack in an emotional story about a man whose desires are as simple as his path is complex, rendering in ?Gladiator? a story for which we can cheer.

Additional sequences in the extended version include a sequence where Commodus angrily hacks at a statue of his deceased father? a scene in which Commodus? sister Lucilla plots in concert with Roman senators, and a new version of the prison scene between Lucilla and Maximus, among others. These don?t significantly add to the film, but neither do they detract. And for those who prefer the version of the film originally released into theatres, that?s here too.