The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)

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Product Description In appointing a successor to his throne, the Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius, chooses his adopted son Livius over his own son, Commodus. Prior to Livius' coronation, Commodus murders his father and proclaims himself the new emperor, prompting an epic reign of terror and corruption. His brutish tyranny alienates his brother, and the power struggle between Commodus and Livius culminates in the ultimate battle between the Barbarians and the Romans. Set Contains: The two-disc deluxe edition of The Fall of the Roman Empire comes stuffed with extras for this somewhat forgotten sixties epic. A commentary track by producer Samuel Bronston's son Bill, with Bronston biographer Mel Martin, provides info over the course of the movie's 185-minute running time. A terrific 22-minute promo movie from 1964, narrated by co-star James Mason, offers some great behind-the-scenes footage, including costume tests and the amusing sight of Alec Guinness and Christopher Plummer dueling at chess. Another new half-hour "making of" doc fills in the rest of the story, with good detail on the vast scale of the production and the money woes Bronston juggled on the Spanish location as the budget skyrocketed; the usual experts are joined by director Anthony Mann's wife and composer Dimitri Tiomkin's daughter. Two 10-minute docs give historical background on the real Rome, and a comparison of fact vs. fiction in the movie. Another 20-minute short does an excellent job of parsing Tiomkin's ambitious score. The usual stills and trailers are also here. For the special three-disc Collector's Edition, you also get a package of postcard-sized stills and souvenir booklet, plus three short films made by Encyclopedia Britannica on the film's sets, an offbeat bonus for completists. (A title card notes that a deleted sequence from Fall was discovered too late to include in the set, but will be offered at a future date.) --Robert Horton