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Features: DVD
A stunning milestone n the history of cinema, this is director Bernardo Bertolucci's original director's cut, presented for the first time on video, the way it was meant to be seen. John Lone (M. Butterfly) stars as Pu Yi, emperor of China, who comes form a long history of a tradition that is irreversibly altered by two world wars and fierce political upheaval. Guided by his English mentor (seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole), Pu Yi is forced to leave the lavish, protective walls of his kingdom and somehow find the strength to build a new life in a strange world he has always longed to explore, but has never really known.
"...[a] fascinating story of a living anachronism." Apollo Guide
Editor's Note
Although it is 160 minutes long and shot with breathtaking scope and sumptuousness, Bernardo Bertolucci's film is a story about claustrophobia. Pu Yi, the Manchurian emperor of China who ascended the throne in 1908 at the age of three, is a prisoner in the palace he rules over. Outside, real power changes hands with each coup d'etat. Pu Yi grows to manhood, is tutored by a Westerner (Peter O'Toole), and marries a gorgeous princess (Joan Chen). However, the adult Pu Yi (John Lone) is destined for a communist reeducation camp when the war is over. From start to finish, Pu Yi is a passive antihero who can never come to grips with the idea that the absolute power conferred on him as a child was only a mirage. The mistakes Pu Yi made trying to realize that power, especially collaborating with the Japanese during the war, provide Bertolucci with the chance to explore his familiar theme of collaboration and its moral consequences (as he did in THE CONFORMIST and 1900). In the end, Pu Yi seems to have reached a kind of peace, and the terrible waste of a special man's life disappears into a drab, grey-clad Beijing.
Plot Summary
THE LAST EMPEROR is the true story of Pu Yi, the last monarch of a China that changed drastically during his lifetime. Though he comes to power at the age of three and is waited on hand and foot by an army of servants and consorts, Pu Yi is politically powerless. His life becomes a tortuous struggle with this reality, as he is used as a puppet by the Japanese and later reeducated by the communists. Bernardo Bertolucci's award-winning film is epic, lavish, and poignant.
| Features | Widescreen Version | | English 2.0 Dolby Surround Audio | | Digitally Mastered | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Theatrical Trailer | | Production Notes | | Cast & Crew Information | | Contains An Additional Hour Of Never-Before-Seen Footage |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Artisan |
| Release Date: 2/23/1999 |
| Running Time: 218 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1987 | | Catalog ID: 60496 | | UPC: 00012236049609 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 4:3 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1988) |  | Bruno Cesari, et al., Winner, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration | | Vittorio Straro, Winner, Best Cinematography | | Bernardo Bertolucci, Winner, Best Director | | James Acheson, Winner, Best Costume Design | | Gabriella Cristiani, Winner, Best Film Editing | | David Byrne, et al., Winner, Best Music, Original Score | | Jeremy Thomas, Winner, Best Picture | | Bill Rowe, et al., Winner, Best Sound | | Bernardo Bertolucci, et al., Winner, Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...Numbingly beautiful....Sumptuous chinoiserie..." -- Rating: B 03/05/1999 p.71Variety
"...A film of unique, quite unsurpassed visual splendor, THE LAST EMPEROR makes for a fascinating trip to another world..." 10/07/1987 Film Comment
"...[The film] has the feel of other-worldliness, of science fiction..." 07/01/1987 p.61-3 Los Angeles Times
"...If you want a staggering and certainly singular movie experience, THE LAST EMPEROR will do very nicely..." 11/29/1987 p.C1 Total Film
"[T]here's no faulting the use of genuine locations, the magnificent costumes of Vittorio Storaro's breathtaking cinematography." 04/01/2004 p.42 Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 9 of 10
A magnificent journey to another time... Nothing can top the spectacle of life in the Forbidden City (where scenes were actually filmed)--or the twists of fate that fill Pu Yi's life... [a] remarkable film...
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http://www.buy.com/prod/last-emperor/q/loc/322/40106948.html
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  4.5 | | Plot | 4.5 | | Acting | 4.5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 4.5 |
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1 of 1 customers found this review helpful.
3 of 5 Good movie, very bad DVD Tuesday, December 04, 2001
A Viewer from Gainesville, FL
What made this film great was its cinematography. However, the DVD transfer was out of focus with very bad washed-out colors. The original movie was long but enjoyable. The DVD added so much unnecessary footage that it became a soap opera. Was this review helpful?  
5 of 5 excellent buy Monday, November 15, 1999
sunil_datla from phoenix az
The grandeaur and the extraordinary life of the emperor is potrayed so naturally and beautifully.
It is a repeat movie in the genere of gandhi , benhur ... Was this review helpful?
0 of 1 customers found this review helpful.
5 of 5 MUST SEE ! Monday, November 08, 1999
ZISSIS CHIRAS from ANNAPOLIS,MD
THIS IS REAL STUFF,IT IS ONE OF MY BEST PICS.
BUY THIS ONE BEFORE YOU MISS OUT ! Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 I love it Friday, September 03, 1999
Rocky from Boston, MA
The story was based on a true history of the Ching dynasty. Excellent pictures and the movie was actually taken in the real place where the last emperor lived. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 The biggest scale movie i've seen Wednesday, August 18, 1999
John Doe from Annapolis MD
The movie is long(can't remember) but it is a masterpiece. by the end of the movie, you will be so attached to the emperor. A must see and own. period. Was this review helpful?
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