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Specifications:

- DVD-Video

- Two discs

- Each single-sided

- Each dual-layered

- Region 1

- Run time: approx. 162 minutes

- Subtitles: English, Spanish

- Scene selection: static

- Package: Keep case

Video Features:

- Anamorphic Widescreen

- 2.35:1 aspect ratio

Audio Features:

- English 5.1 Surround

- English Dolby Surround

Bonus Materials:

Disc One:

- Commentaries by Julie Taymor

- Scene specific commentary by
    Anthony Hopkins and Harry Lennix
    (16 scenes total)

- Isolated score with commentary by 
     composer Elliot Goldenthal

 
Disc Two:

- "The Making of Titus" featurette

- Director Julie Taymor at Columbia 
     University

- "Penny Arcade Nightmares" 
     featurette of the making of the 
     special effects behind the 
     nightmare sequences

- Costume gallery

- American Cinematographer Articles

- Theatrical trailers (2) and 
     TV spots (4)

Release Dates:

Theatrical Release:       1999

DVD Release:              08/15/00

Review Date:               09/10/00

List price:                     $ 34.98

Avg. on-line price:       $ 24.49

Pre-order price was:    $ 24.49

Starring: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange,
     Alan Cumming, Harry Lennix, Colm Feore, 
     James Frain, Laura Fraser, Harry Lennix, 
     Angus MacFadyen, Matthew Rhys, and 
     Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Director: Julie Taymor

MPAA Rating: R

Studio: Clear Blue Sky Productions (Fox Home Video)

Movie: B+        Video: A-        Audio: A-        Extras: A+

Summary: Titus is director's Julie Taymor's brilliant interpretation of the
   play script by William Shakespeare.  It is a very powerful story about vengeance 
   and what it can do to you and your loved ones should you pursue this course of 
   action.  Some of you may find the Shakespearean dialogue difficult to follow at 
   first, but you will probably get accustomed to it after some scenes.  This two-disc 
   special edition DVD is packed with many extra features.  Director Julie Taymor 
   offers many insightful views of her interpretation.  It is a worthy title 
   for those who appreciate good drama and Shakespeare classics.

The Story

Titus is director Julie Taymor's (creator and director of Broadway's "The Lion King" play) interpretation of William Shakespeare's "Titus" play script.  Though she wrote the screenplay for Titus, she kept most of the original words from Shakespeare's play script.  The film is a powerful drama about Titus Anadronicus (Sir Anthony Hopkins), a general of the mighty Roman Empire. The film starts with Titus' homecoming after defeating the Goths.  In celebration of his victory, he makes a sacrifice to his Gods with the first born son of the defeated queen of the Goth (Tamora as played by Jessica Lange).  In her rage, Tamora promises to survive to avenge her son.

The story gets really interesting when Saturninus (Alan Cumming) is elected as the new emperor of the Roman Empire and takes Tamora as his queen.  Obviously, Tamora takes advantage of her new found power and weaves a plot to punish Titus.  In the tradition of Shakespeare's play scripts, the story is very powerful.  The over-arching theme is vengeance and what it does to you personally as well as the people you love most should you choose to follow that course of action.  Pay attention to what happens to Titus, Tamora, and Aaron the Moor (Harry Lennix) as the story develops. 

Since the dialogue is true to Shakespeare's play script, some of you may find it difficult to understand the dialogue at first, but give it a few scenes and you may find it second nature.  The movie's strong theme almost drew an "NC-17" rating from the MPAA, but thanks to the efforts of Julie Taymor, it was given an "R" rating.

The Extras

This DVD is loaded with a ton of extra materials, spanning the two-disc volume.  On disc one is the movie with an audio commentary by director Julie Taymor, scene specific commentaries by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Harry Lennix, and an isolated score with commentary by composer Elliot Goldenthal.  On disc two, there is "The Making of Titus" featurette, an excerpt of Julie Taymor's appearance before film students at Columbia University, "Penny Arcade Nightmares" featurette about the special effects in the nightmare sequences, a costume gallery, "American Cinematographer Articles", and two theatrical trailers and four TV spots.

Each of the three commentaries on the first disc is very informative, particularly the one by director Julie Taymor.  The scene specific commentaries feature 16 scenes in which Sir Anthony Hopkins and Harry Lennix re-tell their experiences of shooting these scenes.  The commentary by score composer Elliot Goldental, although quite sparse, explains what emotional effects they were trying to achieve throughout the film and what he did with the musical score to achieve each desired effect.

"The Making Of Titus" is a 49-minute featurette that takes you behind the scenes, from the moment the cast first meet each other, to the first reading of the script, to the rehearsal sessions, to the principal photography, to the making of the soundtrack.  It is a wonderful, candid, and detailed look at making the film and makes you appreciate the talents of director Julie Taymor, all of the cast members, and the crew to put this huge production together.

The featurette, "Director Julie Taymor at Columbia University" is a 34-minute excerpt of Julie Taymor's appearance at Columbia University after a screening of Titus by film students.  In this featurette, she talks about her background in directing Titus play, her take of the non-verbal scenes, her choice of locations, costumes and wardrobe, her decision of storyboarding.  "Penny Arcade Nightmares" is a featurette that explains the special effects used in the Titus nightmare sequences.  All in all, there's enough material here to make a film student understand the creative mind of director Julie Taymor. 

Video & Audio

The image quality of this anamorphically enhanced widescreen DVD is first rate.  The image is very detailed and the colors are beautifully saturated, paying tribute to the beautiful cinematography.  The digital surround sound was wonderfully mixed and the engaging musical score rounds out this exciting epic drama.

Recommendation

Julie Taymor directed her own interpretation of Shakespeare's powerful "Titus" play script.  Because the dialogue is in classic Shakespearean English, not everyone will immediately take to this film.  But if you enjoy Shakespearean classics (such as "Romeo + Juliet"), then you will probably enjoy this movie.  This is one of Shakespeare's very strong-theme pieces of work.  There is a lot of bonus materials in this two-disc Special Edition DVD and they easily justify its price.

Buy the "Titus" Special Edition DVD at:
 

Amazon.com

Express.com

Buy.com

Rent it at NetFlix.com (Sign up for NetFlix.com "Unlimited" DVD Rental Service 
                                           for only $19.95 per month, click here for details)
 

Visit the Titus movie web site and the Fox Movies web site.

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