| | | The Man...The Music...The Madness...The Murder...The Motion Picture...Everything You've Heard is True.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, English, Spanish, French, Subtitled, Slip Sleeve
Amadeus triumphs as a gripping human drama, a glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart--and as the winner of eight 1984 Academy Awards, including Best Picture (produced by Saul Zaentz), Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Director (Milos Forman) and Adapted Screenplay (Peter Shaffer, based on his Tony-winning play).It's 1781 and Antonio Salieri (Abraham) is the competent court composer to Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones). When Mozart (Oscar nominee Tom Hulce) arrives at court, Salieri is horrified to discover that the godlike musical gifts he desires for himself have been bestowed on a bawdy, impish jokester. Maddened by envy, he plots to destroy Mozart by any means he can employ. Perhaps, even murder. Did Salieri silence one of the world's true musical geniuses? The mystery--and the music--remain.
"...reminds us of those rare occasions when an Oscar sweep is actually merited." Gregory Weinkauf, New Times
"About as close to perfection as movies get." Jack Mathews, USA Today
"Perfect pitch." Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
"...a feast for the eyes and ears." TV Guide
"Terrific period piece...excellent musical score, beautiful sets, nifty billowy costumes, and realistic American accents..." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
Editor's Note
In a lavish 18th century parlor in Austria, an elderly man is found, by his servant, with his throat slashed. The wound is self-inflicted, and the man is the little-known composer Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), contemporary and adversary of the now-famed, but once reviled, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce). Later, from his cell in an insane asylum, Salieri tells a priest (Herman Meckler) the story of his association with Mozart, confessing that he actually killed the brilliantly gifted but troubled young man. Based on the award-winning play by Peter Shaffer, Milos Forman's riveting, brilliant, Oscar-winning AMADEUS is a fictionalized account of the real-life mysterious death of Mozart. Abraham, in the role that won him the Best Actor Oscar, is the celebrated court composer to Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones)--his confidence and religious dedication shaken when he meets the boorish 26-year-old Mozart as he chases his future wife (Elizabeth Berridge) around a party while making obscene remarks. Furious that this clownish boy can produce such beautiful music, Salieri determines to keep Mozart's talent from lasting recognition and sets himself on a course for Mozart's destruction that leads to his own as well. Mozart continues to mount beautiful, moving operas (incredibly staged in the film), but becomes obsessed with writing a Requiem as his friends, family, health, and resources waste away, Salieri's manipulating presence always there. It is hard to imagine anyone--whether they are knowledgeable about classical music or not--who would not be held captive by this superb feast for the eyes and ears, a film whose excellence can be felt in every detail.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French | | Exclusive O-Sleeve Packaging! | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 1/8/2008 |
| Running Time: 128 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1984 | | Catalog ID: 1000035740 | | UPC: 00883929001798 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (1985) | | | Golden Globe, Milos Forman, Best Director - Motion Picture | | | Golden Globe, Amadeus, Best Motion Picture - Drama | | | Golden Globe, F. Murray Abraham, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama | | | Golden Globe, Peter Shaffer, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture | | | Oscar, F. Murray Abraham, Best Actor in a Leading Role | | | Oscar, Theodor Pistek, Best Costume Design | | | Oscar, Milos Forman, Best Director | | | Oscar, Patrizia von Brandenstein, Karel Cerny, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration | | | Oscar, Paul LeBlanc, Dick Smith, Best Makeup | | | Oscar, Saul Zaentz, Best Picture | | | Oscar, Mark Berger, et. al., Best Sound | | | Oscar, Peter Shaffer, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium |
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| | Professional Reviews | Sight and Sound
"...An unexpected and strangely moving spectacle..." 03/01/1985 p.142-3New York Times
"...[Hulce] gets better and better....[Forman] has preserved the fascinating heart of [the play]....Well done." 09/19/1984 p.C23 Variety
"...AMADEUS is loaded with pleasures....[Abraham] is quietly excellent..." 09/05/1984 Total Film
"...Milos Forman's opulent drama is sheer quality..." 07/01/2000 p.114 Uncut
"A class act." 08/01/2000 p.130 ReelViews 10 of 10
Most movies about artists (painters, composers, authors, etc.) tend to be dull and uninspired, rendering the subject of the film far less interesting than his or her work. Amadeus is an exception. In fact, it is arguably the best motion picture ever made about the process of creation and the creator. By electing not to progress in the direction of a traditional bio-pic, director Milos Forman and screenwriter Peter Shaffer have crafted an amazing portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, filled with rich details, powerful drama, and a commanding score. Amadeus is an achievement, and was deserving of every one of the eight Oscars it captured on that late March night in 1985...Not only is Amadeus a fascinating character study, but it also features a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions in the twisted triangle of Mozart, Salieri, and God. No movie before or since has so effectively woven music into the tapestry of the motion picture. Many films treat sound as an adjunct to the visual aspects; Amadeus views them as equals. Lovers of classical music will be enraptured by this soundtrack. Those who prefer Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot will find themselves introduced to a new dimension of music here, and won't be bored or turned off by it in the least. Amadeus is, without question, a modern classic. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Milos Forman's "Amadeus" is one of the riskiest gambles a filmmaker has taken in a long time -- a lavish movie about Mozart that dares to be anarchic and saucy, and yet still earns the importance of tragedy. This movie is nothing like the dreary educational portraits we're used to seeing about the Great Composers, who come across as cobwebbed profundities weighed down with the burden of genius. This is Mozart as an eighteenth-century Bruce Springsteen, and yet (here is the genius of the movie) there is nothing cheap or unworthy about the approach..."Amadeus" is not only about as much fun as you're likely to have with a movie, it also is disturbingly true. The truth enters in the character of Salieri, who tells the story. He is not a great composer, but he is a good enough composer to know greatness when he hears it, and that is why the music of Mozart breaks his heart..."Amadeus" is a magnificent film, full and tender and funny and charming -- and, at the end, sad and angry, too, because in the character of Salieri it has given us a way to understand not only greatness, but our own lack of it. This movie's fundamental question, I think, is whether we can learn to be grateful for the happiness of others, and that, of course, is a test for sainthood. How many movies ask such questions and succeed in being fun, as well? - Roger Ebert
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