Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series

Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series
by Boris Sagal

Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series
List Price: $29.98
Our Price: $24.99
You Save: $4.99 (17%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $16.06 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Anthony Quayle, Barbara Carrera, David Warner, Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss
Director: Boris Sagal
Brand: Koch International
Cinematographer: Paul Lohmann
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Producer: George Eckstein
Producer: Jennings Lang
Producer: Richard Irving
Writer: Ernest K. Gann
Writer: Joel Oliansky
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 394 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Koch Vision

DVD Reviews of Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series

DVD Review: Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series
Summary: 5 Stars

Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series
This is an amazing mini-Series, excellent quality great to have to view many times with family and friends.

DVD Review: Masada
Summary: 4 Stars

Execellent movie, if you want history this is the movie you want to watch. I have been to Israel and went up Masada via cable car and it is nice to see a Masada on film.

DVD Review: I am presently watching and enjoying this movie.
Summary: 4 Stars

This is well acted and a great tv miniseries for anyone who is a history buff. It is fairly accurate historically and shows the Israelites determination to be a free people. As a Christian, much of what is shown in the movie are the roots of my faith. I would recommend this, absolutely.

DVD Review: Entertainment or Propaganda?
Summary: 2 Stars

Being a student of Roman history, the butchery of the facts in this DVD is quite appalling, but I suppose it's no worse than Disney's version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In any event, the melodramatic script is preposterous Hollywood fluff. Anyone who knows anything about the Romans would cringe at O'Toole's scripted part as a Roman governor.

Aside from the fact that the story is ridiculous, and that this is blatant Israeli propaganda, I have to give at least two stars because the Roman uniforms were fairly accurate and the scenes with the siege engine were first rate; also, a smattering of the dialogue was actually passably good.

Acting wasn't bad either. The poor actors made do with what they were given. All that was missing was Charlton Heston.

DVD Review: A Gift
Summary: 5 Stars

This was a gift for someone else so am not sure about the DVD but I really appreciated the fast delivery and reasonable price. Thank you

Description of Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series

In first century A.D., Flavius Silva (Peter O'Toole), commander in Roman Palestine, leads his forces in combat against the remaining Jewish Zealots who have taken refuge in the seemingly impregnable fortress of Masada. There, the engineering and military might of Rome faces the passion and ingenuity of Eleazar Ben Yair (Peter Strauss) and his people. Based on the novel "The Antagonists" by Ernest K. Gann, this epic, 4-part mini-series was shot on location in Israel.
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
"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

General DVDs

DVD Video
Bestsellers in General DVDs
The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray] ImageThe Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $17.69
Price in other shops: $35.99
Taken (Extended Cut) ImageTaken (Extended Cut)
Release date: 2009-05-12; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $29.98
Gran Torino (Widescreen Edition) ImageGran Torino (Widescreen Edition)
Release date: 2009-06-09; DVD
Best price: $17.49
Price in other shops: $28.98
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) ImageThe Day the Earth Stood Still (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops: $29.99
Bedtime Stories ImageBedtime Stories
Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: $29.99
Australia ImageAustralia
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $29.99
The Wrestler ImageThe Wrestler
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-04-21; DVD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops: $29.98
Quantum of Solace ImageQuantum of Solace
Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $8.85
Price in other shops: $29.99
Caprica ImageCaprica
Universal; Release date: 2009-04-21; DVD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops: $26.98
Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageTwilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Universal; Release date: 2009-03-21; DVD
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops: $32.99
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
James Clavell's Noble House ImageJames Clavell's Noble House
Lions Gate; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $8.42
Price in other shops: $14.98
Exodus ImageExodus
Release date: 2002-10-15; DVD
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops: $14.98
Holocaust ImageHolocaust
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-05-27; DVD
Best price: $14.33
Price in other shops: $39.99
Taras Bulba ImageTaras Bulba
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $7.56
Price in other shops: $14.98
Centennial: The Complete Series ImageCentennial: The Complete Series
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2008-07-29; DVD
Best price: $31.99
Price in other shops: $59.98
Kings of the Sun ImageKings of the Sun
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $8.23
Price in other shops: $14.98
Becket ImageBecket
MPI; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $13.52
Price in other shops: $24.98
The Fall Of The Roman Empire (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) ImageThe Fall Of The Roman Empire (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)
WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $24.95
El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) ImageEl Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)
WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-01-29; DVD
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of Scots ImageAnne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of Scots
Universal; Release date: 2007-09-18; DVD
Best price: $12.13
Price in other shops: $19.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners