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Amadeus - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Director: Milos Forman
Actors: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice, and Simon Callow
Rated: R (Restricted)
Retail Price (not our price): $26.98
Release Date: 2002-09-24
Theatrical Release Date: 1984-09-19
Studio: Warner Home Video
Run Time: 180 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Discs: 2


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential video
A note-perfect cinematic event whose immortality was assured from its opening night, Amadeus is an unlikely candidate for the director's-cut treatment. Like one of Mozart's operas, the multiple Oscar-winning theatrical version seemed perfectly formed from the outset--ideal casting, costumes, sets, cinematography, lighting, screenplay, music, music, music--so the reinstatement of an extra 20 minutes simply risks adding "too many notes." Yet though this extended cut can hardly be said to improve a picture that needed no improvement, it does at least flesh out a couple of small subplots and shed new light on certain key scenes. Here we learn why Constanze Mozart bears such ill will towards Salieri when she discovers him at her husband's deathbed, and we see deeper into the reasons why Mozart has no students. The structure of the picture is otherwise unaltered. The director's cut of Amadeus finally accords this masterful work the DVD treatment it deserves. The handsome anamorphic widescreen picture is accompanied by a choice of Dolby 5.1 or Dolby stereo sound options, and it's all contained on one side of the disc. Director Milos Forman and writer Peter Shaffer provide a chatty though sporadic commentary, but they're obviously still too mesmerized by the movie to do much more than offer the odd anecdote. The second disc contains an excellent new hour-long "making of" documentary, with contributions from Forman, Shaffer, Sir Neville Marriner, and all the main actors, taking in the scriptwriting, choice of music, casting, and problems involved in filming in Communist Czechoslovakia with half the crew and extras working for the Secret Police. --Mark Walker

2) Description
Gripping human drama. Sumptuous period epic. Glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This marvelous winner of eight Academy Awards(R) portrays the rivalry between the genius Mozart (Tom Hulce) and the jealous court composer (Best Actor Oscar(R) Winner F.Murray Abraham) who may have ruined Mozart's career and shortened his life.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Tp Notch Amadeus   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I absolutely loved the movie. It is captivating to learn the level of his abilities as a musician. My son who is studying music got so much from the movie. My son was also able to explain to me how a lot of the metal music is rooted in classical music and why.

2) Amadeus   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Amadeus was Mozart's middle name. It means "loved by God." The film studies the contrast between Mozart's genius and Salieri's mediocrity. It is really about Mozart's rival with Pinto from "Animal House" in a supporting role. Late in life, Salieri confesses to having poisoned Mozart. Scholars generally agree that Mozart died from Rheumatic fever, Another conspiracy theory debunked! Amadeus won 8 Academy Awards. Saul Zaentz is the producer, the guy who clashed with John Fogerty over rights to the songs Fogerty wrote for CCR. Zaentz headed Fantasy Records.

3) What ever happened to Tom Hulce? ...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
So what can really be said about a film in a review that arrives 24 years after the film's first release?First, I cannot believe that it's already been that long. I saw this film in a theatre in England as a boy and it was one of the highlights of my movie going youth. And yes, I'm that old ... or young. Take your pick, dear reader.So, what did become of Tom Hulce? He was absolutely shocking in this movie as a portrayal of one of the greatest composers / humans ever to live. Well, for the record Tom Hulce, kind of decided that it must be cool to put on some weight, because that's exactly what he went and did. He also became a producer doing projects of his own liking. He was also recently in Stranger Than Fiction, but if you don't look fast you just might miss him.Regarding the film ... a lot of viewers often come away with the belief that this is an intensely accurate story about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which in fact it is a story about Mozart, but it is not all that accurate. This is a movie that was based upon a stage play called "Mozart and Salieri". What it does capture though, is period set design, wardrobe and atmosphere and it does it so well that any story told within this shell could be utterly believable and engrossing.However, all these things aside, this is an incredibly strong film to say the least and one of my all time favourites. The music is beautifully woven throughout this to carry you back to the life of a would-be madman and reckless drunkard. It's a blessing that he did not wallow in obscurity and is still esteemed as highly as he is today, for WAM, so deserves it.If you are the type of person that prefers accurate portrayals in their bio-pic features, then you should probably see Immortal Beloved, as it is about as true of an account of that Composers life as you're going to see and is wonderfully captured by Gary Oldman.

4) Amadeus   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I saw this film in the theatre when it was released and thought Tom Hulce SHOULD have received the Oscar instead of "what's his name" who went on to fame because of the Oscar. Tom was ROBBED. I purchased this video to watch on my 54" flat screen. I still think Tom should have won the Oscar! But it is still a great film about Mozart.

5) Mozart's music   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This review refers to the shorter 153 minute version of the film, although I have also seen quite a few of the extras on the two disc special edition as well.This is a truly epic film based on Peter Shaeffers's play, which tells the story of Mozart from the point of view of the aged Court Composer Salieri, looking back. Salieri is played by F Murray Abraham, who undoubtably steals the acting honours, if only because his performance is always entirely believeable, if not neccessarily any more factual. Tom Hulse gives a fine performance as Mozart, but I always felt that there was more artistic licence in his performance than in Abrahams.The music is superbly performed and the operatic settings deserve special mention. Certainly this film gives you every opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary talent that Mozart was blessed with. Whether the play the film is based on is in any way factual is unknown to me but this is an irrelevance. The music and performances are fact and that is enough for me.