Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci - Starring John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole Live/Artisan - Rated PG13 - 218 min - Biopic [feature] - Region: 1 (USA & territories, Canada)/2 (Europe, Japan, Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland)/3 (Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia)/4 (Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand)/5 (Russia, Eastern Europe, India, most of Africa)/6 (China) In this unprecedented Sino-Western co-production, Bernardo Bertolucci turned the strange life of final Chinese crown ruler Pu Yi into a sumptuous epic. Shooting on location in China in the first Western production allowed to film in Beijing's Forbidden City, Bertolucci spent $25 million on lavish sets and costumes, as well as a cast of thousands, for a story spanning six decades, from Pu Yi's 1908 coronation to his 1960s life as a poor civilian. The story is structured through flashback memories as Pu Yi comes to grips with existence as a villain and commoner under Communism, and Vittorio Storaro's exquisite cinematography subtly underscores the emperor's rise and fall by shifting from a palette rich in reds, oranges, and yellows for Pu Yi's imperial years to somber blues and grays for his exile and imprisonment. Despite critical complaints that the story was lacking in emotional involvement, many viewers agreed that Bertolucci had created another visual marvel. Nominated for nine Oscars, The Last Emperor scored an unexpected sweep, winning all nine, including Best Picture and Best Director. An hour of footage cut from the release version was restored in the 1998 theatrical reissue reedited by Bertolucci.

Average Customer Review: ( 103 customer reviews )
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The film is a poignant, heart-breaking, tragic and sweeping saga that won, among its other award, the Oscar for best cinematography. But you'd ever guess it by looking at this DVD transfer. The 2:35:1 image has not been anamorphically enhanced and exhibits just about every digital anomaly that one can find on a poorly mastered DVD. There's edge enhancement, aliasing, fine detail shimmering, color smearing, tiling, color distortion, loss of fine details, extremely low contrast levels, disturbing halos and fading of the film?s negative. There are chips, scratches, tears and camera negative jitter. The audio is a rather dismal 2.0 mix. After viewing this travesty it is my sincere hope that whoever was responsible for mastering this DVD will never get the opportunity to be near such equipment again. There are no extras and no reason why anyone should invest in this DVD.
BOTTOM LINE: JUST DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE! There's nothing to recommend the print used or the mastering employed to bring it to the small screen. If there was room to rate this disc as 'zero' stars I would have done just that. Unfortunately, 'one' is the lowest I could go.

14 of 14 found the following review helpful:

Excellent movie, *very* terrible DVDDec 06, 2001
By Beeeil
While this is an excellent and engaging movie, DVD collectors should wait until another release to become available. The picture quality of this DVD is amazingly BAD, worse than VHS in some segments. Picture is dark in general, resolution low, colors bleed all over the place, and dialogs are difficult to understand. I am not sure how the disc was mastered, but the person who did it should be fired.

It was a mistake to have purchased it sight unseen. 1 star for being a good movie and the commentary.

20 of 22 found the following review helpful:

LOUSY DVDNov 28, 2003
By Dennis Forcier
This is a WONDERFUL movie. One of my favorites. But this is a TERRIBLE DVD.

There are no special features, although there is a text box on the back of the box supposedly enumerating the "Special Features" (including the "4:3 Widescreen" format).

The "widescreen" format is simply a scam! The original (2.35?) aspect ratio of the film has been reduced to 4:3 pan and scan, then "enlarged" for 16:9 by cutting off the top and bottom! The resolution is AWFUL. Worse than over-the-air analog broadcasts.

I was so horrified at the quality of the picture I can't speak to the value of the additional footage, or even to the sound quality. I was simply unable to watch such awful treatment of a great cinematographer's work.

19 of 21 found the following review helpful:

excellent film, terrible dvdNov 11, 2004
By rc
what's the point of releasing a marvelous film on DVD if you do such a bad job? the dvd has no subtitles. Compared to the original theatre release, the picture quality on the DVD is terrible, colors and contrast level are all ruined. It's a shame the film makers actually let this happen to a masterpiece. I wouldn't purchase this DVD even if the manufacturer gave me money.

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