Buy this one!
Added 9/27/2008
If you enjoyed this movie as much as I did you will want it in you DVD library, however, be aware of the fact that there is a Chinese version which is in Mandarin. I ordered the Chinese version by mistake because at the time it was not clear that it was not in English.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Yeah, what he said.
Added 2/21/2008
I agree 100% with Nix Pix. He said it all. I only wish to reiterate here. Amazing film but world's worst DVD transfer. Shame on ARTISAN for releasing such an inferior product. DO NOT waste your time or money on this version. Even if you find it in a bargain bin for 99 cents, leave it alone. Unless you need a new coaster or something.
Instead buy the new Criterion 4 disc remastered version. A little more expensive but well worth it. The preservation of excellent cinema alone justifies the expenditure. Better picture, better sound and finally the correct aspect ratio. Criterion is where it's at.
2 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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Wait for the Criterion Editon!
Added 2/14/2008
It comes out at the end of February and well worth the wait. Search it out!
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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The Twilight of the Middle Kingdom
Added 2/8/2008
"The Last Emperor" tells the amazing true story of Pu Yi,the Middle Kingdom's last emperor. From its gripping opening sequence in which the young Pu Yi is torn from his mother's arms to his life as a nobody in the gray blandness of Communist China, it is a powerful spectacle. Ryuichi Sakamoto&David Byrne's soundtrack captures the epic sweep of the movie. Bernardo Bertolucci's direction is superb&his international cast is perfect.
"The Last Emperor" begins with Pu Yi being taken to the Forbidden City. He grows up under the shadow of the menacing Empress Dowager; he is incredibly dependent on his voluptuous wet nurse,who still breastfeeds him when he's older. Eunuchs surround him. When he is enthroned as emperor,he's worshipped as a living god. All very heady stuff for a young child. Growing up,he is naive to the eunuchs robbing him blind;he's as much a slave as his own slaves are. Reginald Johnston (Peter O'Toole) comes into Pu Yi's life as the first father figure he's ever had,instructing him in Western culture. In accordance with royal norms, Pu Yi takes a wife Wan Jung (the luminous Joan Chen) and a concubine. When the Chinese Empire is overthrown, Pu Yi is vulnerable to Japan's offer of Manchukuo. They prey on his weakness,his desire for power. Pu Yi's life crumbles around him. His concubine is impregnated by his taxi driver (she gets a forced abortion);his wife carries on a passionate affair with a beautiful female Japanese spy&succumbs to a fatal opium addiction. Pu Yi's life goes from one form of imprisonment to another. From being imprisoned in the Forbidden City,he goes to being a prisoner of Communism. Communist China is just as oppressive,though it proclaims uniformity&equality. Instead of spectacles of lamas sounding horns, Pu Yi beholds the spectacle of the Red Army dancing as they wave Mao's Little Red Book. A kindly jailer befriends Pu Yi-only to be killed arbitrarily during the Cultural Revolution. Pu Yi survives Communism; it doesn't save him.
"The Last Emperor" succeeds in painting the portrait of an era. It shows how much China changed over the course of nearly a century. However,there are some interesting details that got lost,for logical reasons. Bertolucci depicts Pu Yi as a passionate heterosexual man,joyously making love to his wife&his concubine. In fact,Pu Yi never consummated any of his marriages,abandoned his Empress on their wedding night&there's compelling speculation that he was in fact gay. Reginald Johnston is depicted as a celibate bachelor. It's true Johnston never married. However,when he returned to Scotland,he had two different girlfriends there,one of whom burned his letters to her after his death.
"The Last Emperor" is a ravishing,sensual spectacle. It inspired me to write an "alternate history" in which Wan Jung finds solace&love in Reginald Johnston's arms instead of getting addicted to opium. One can only wonder what sort of rating this movie would've had if Ang Lee had choreographed love scenes between Peter O'Toole and Joan Chen. Lust,caution indeed. "The Last Emperor" is a powerful,superb spectacle. Enjoy!
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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The REAL DEAL!
Added 1/12/2008
This is the AUTHENTIC ARTISAN RELEASE of "The Last Emperor". The other DVD listings are for CRAPPY Korean and Chinese Counterfeit R1 Imports. Asian Regions do not Manufacture legitimate Region 1 for Export. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! I can't figure out why Amazon allows the other illegal counterfeits to be listed on their website!!?? Is Amazon turning into FakE-BAY?
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Great Film, Lousy Blu Ray
Added 2/2/2010
This has got to be one of the worst transfers to blu-ray I have seen. I was so disappointed in the lack of quality in this edition that I turned it off less than half way through. What a shame to treat a great film like this. It deserved better. Much better.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A Quick review of The Last Emperor
Added 1/30/2010
This 9 time Academy Award winning movie, including best picture, tells the hidden story of China's last emperor. This film shows the fall of the China's age-long Imperial Dynasty to the rising communist government of the People's Republic of China. The film portrays the young emperor's coronation at the age of 3 and his secluded and lonely life within the walls of the Forbidden City. Though he has thousands of servants, hundreds of lovely women to choose from and practically anything he wants, he soon discovers that it all comes at a price: his freedom. As an adult, he is banished from the Forbidden City by the Imperial Army of Japan with his two wives, but in his search for his self identity he ends up doing more harm to himself and to those around him, until finally at the end, when he finally loses everything, he discovers his identity as a symbol of the Chinese people (both rich and poor alike) and of an ancient past when emperors ruled.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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I hate the disc case. It's cheap cardboard crap
Added 1/12/2010
I am only rating the cardboard disc case which for blu-ray is (in my opinion) sub standard. I have become a bit of a collector of blu-ray movies and love the nice blu-ray blue plastic case. This disc was sandwiched into a cardboard case which collapses so that it is hard to read the side label when placed onto my library shelf of discs. I find this greatly disappointing. Not going to affect world hunger or peace on earth, but I did not like it. The movie was quite good however. I am only rating it one star to express my anger over the cheapening of the collector case.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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