Masada Boris Sagal Digital Life VHS

Masada
starring: Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss, Barbara Carrera, Anthony Quayle, David Warner
directed by: Boris Sagal

Used Price: $3.00
Collectible Price: $19.95
Third Party New Price: $59.00

Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300182387
Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 630018238X
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: February 28, 1995
Running Time: 394 minutes
Sales Rank: 554
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: April 05, 1981

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com essential video:
This 1981 television miniseries, based on Ernest K. Gann's historical novel The Antagonists, is a dramatization of a documented revolt by nearly a thousand Jerusalem Jews against Roman oppressors in A.D. 72 to 73. Following a city-wide siege by Rome's soldiers, Jewish Zealots move into a fortress in the mountains of Masada, from which they present a defense strong enough to convince the enemy to negotiate. Peter O'Toole, in all his golden dignity, plays Cornelius Flavius Silva, commander of the Roman legions, and Peter Strauss is Zealot leader Eleazar ben Yair. Both are outstanding as representatives from each side trying, in good faith, to find a way out of the deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, neither realizes that Rome has no intention of yielding, resulting in one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. A strong cast of character actors--David Warner, Barbara Carrera, Timothy West, and Anthony Quayle--is rewardingly watchable, the action and sets are persuasive without overwhelming the story's human dimension, and direction by Boris Sagal (The Omega Man) is crisp and enthralling. This was a pleasure to watch when it was first broadcast, and it holds up very well today. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com:
'A victory? What have we won?' laments a breathtaking Peter O'Toole as the Roman warrior Flavius Silva. 'We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea.' Thus does Masada, the epic 1981 miniseries about a horrific battle in ancient Palestine, echo the terrible toll of war in general, and of the brutal conflicts in today's Middle East in particular. Masada, from the golden age of miniseries (Roots, Shogun), is a transportive viewing event--shot on location, and apparently no expense spared.

The film retells (with some dramatic license) the true story of an uprising in Palestine of a ragtag band of Jews, in a fortress called Masada, who refuse to surrender to the governing Romans. O'Toole, as Flavius Silva, is the brilliant commander who, over the course of several years of trying, and failing, to breach Masada, comes to regard the leader of his foes, Eleazar ben Yair (the charismatic Peter Strauss), with a certain amount of respect and awe. If left to Flavius, he might have simply leave the holdout fortress and return to the Italy he so longs for; but the Roman emperor demands victory--at any cost.

The performances are uniformly crisp and believable; the direction by Boris Sagal, economical; the screenplay, sharp and incisive. David Warner, who won an Emmy for his performance, plays the brutal Roman henchman Falco with seething determination. The location shooting is nothing short of spectacular. There is sorrow in the story of Masada, but an uplifting message in the ability of true believers to create their own destiny. --A.T. Hurley

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Powerful Historical Drama - Recommended!
Much more than a costume drama, very powerful movie! I was a teenager when Masada aired as a mini-series back in the early 1980s and bought the movie to show my teenage children who are now studying Roman history.

While some of the historical "facts" may be in question, the portrayal of 70 AD period Roman and Jewish life and politics is captured in fantastic detail and brought to life by a very fine collection of actors (O'Toole and Strauss). The cinematography and music score are just outstanding and really add to the dramatic feel of the movie.

Based on the excellent book, The Antagonists, the story covers deep issues that are still relevant today.

Highly recommended!

Rating:

- Masada The Epic Mini-Series
Since I recently spent three weeks in Israel and visited Masada the Epic Mini-Series brought to life that wich I could only imagne. Thank you for provideing all this at such a reasonable cost.

Rating:

- Brief opinion
Attractive historical event, perfectly chosen movie crew and technique usually gives perfect results or perfect movie. It is a pity that You don't offer even english titled version???

Rating:

- "We have won a rock in the middle of a wasteland on the shore of a poisoned sea."
Back in 1981 this epic mini-series about the ill-fated Jewish rebellion against Roman rule pulled in what was then the biggest TV audience of all time, yet it's languished on the shelf forgotten for the past couple of decades. This DVD isn't even released by producers Universal and comes with no extras, though it does include the six-hour-plus series, but not the abridged feature film version released outside the US as The Antagonists, which apparently featured some different scenes (the abridged version was not a success: in the UK it had the dubious honor of being the lowest-grossing film of it's year).

As with most siege epics, the action is limited to the beginning and the end, with much of the interim filled in with intrigue and character development while we wait for the big battle that in this case, famously, never actually happens. Not altogether surprisingly it spends more screen time with ... Read More

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