Gandhi DVD Review

Title: Gandhi

Region: One

Genre: Epic Biographical Drama

Stars: Ben Kingsley, Candace Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Martin Sheen, Nigel Hawthorne, Richard Vernon, Daniel Day-Lewis, John Ratzenberger, Richard Griffiths, Ian Charlson, and Rohini Hattangady

Writer: John Briley

Director: Richard Attenborough

Feature length: 190 minutes

Extras: Ben Kingsley Talks About Gandhi, Original Newsreel Footage, The Making Of Gandhi Photo Montage, The Words Of Mahatma Gandhi, Weblink To The Official Gandhi Website, Theatrical Trailer, Filmographies, and Production Notes

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 French and Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai Subtitles

Packaging: Gold Colored Amaray Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 28

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1982/DVD Release: 2001

Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

I remember as a boy going on a grammar school day trip to some theater in Manhattan to see Disney’s “Fantasia” and right before the film started, the one and only coming attractions trailer was for Richard Attenborough’s epic motion picture, “Gandhi.” Being a goofy kid with friends goofing off, we did not take the trailer seriously and instead laughed at the image of the little bald brown skinned man introducing himself after the approximate 60 second build up in the trailer. A few years passed and I was a sophomore in high school and my social studies teacher rolls in the TV with the VCR hooked up with a VHS tape of “Gandhi” that he shows us with the intention of including questions on the film on the upcoming exam so that the whole class would pay attention and not fall asleep or generally pass notes or whatnot. He did not have to threaten us with a quiz because the entire class was enthralled by the spectacle and not one student can I recall ever did anything to disrupt the class, including arriving late or cutting class. The exam was almost a gift to the class for I cannot recall ever a history exam where one was not studying because they had to, but because they wanted to. Since then, I have borrowed “Gandhi” a few times on VHS from the local library and I have found that there is always something new to find in this film.

No screening of “Gandhi” is alike to me. I have friends who were sort of hippies in the 1960s and were disciples of various Hindu saints or gurus that gave me a bit more of an understanding of the rituals and meaning behind the Hindu philosophy and the politics of that country. Both of them are Irish Americans by birth, but a few years ago they were married in a Hindu ceremony by their guru and though I did not attend their wedding ceremony, I found myself thinking of them in a scene from the film “Gandhi” where Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) and his wife (Rohini Hattangady) are reminiscing while saying their wedding vows to each other again by a stream and I found that sequence to not only have reverberations in my personal life because it made me think of my friends, but it also made me realize something about the movie “Gandhi”, which is not only was this probably the last true epic motion picture with a cast of thousands ever to be made, but that the film “Gandhi” is timeless and will always be so because it engages the viewer in such a way that one is compelled to watch the movie and a sort of give and take exchange takes place where every time one watches this film, they bring something new of themselves to it and consequently take something new from it back with them.

Appropriately Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has adorned “Gandhi” as a DVD with extra features and deluxe treatment without labeling it as a “Collector’s Series” or “Special Edition.” Just one look at the packaging of the DVD says everything. “Gandhi” comes packaged in a gold colored Amaray Keep Case with beautiful photographic artwork under the plastic coating of the case and a white and transparent slip that goes over the case adding to the regal quality and showing the care that has gone into this home video presentation. With a quote from Albert Einstein on the cover of the insert, there are production notes within the insert inside the keep case. The DVD is dual layered and presents “Gandhi” in a beautiful anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer preserving the aspect ratio of the theatrical presentation. I have never seen “Gandhi” in the widescreen glory of it’s theatrical presentation since I had always watched the movie on VHS tapes so just the experience of seeing “Gandhi” the way it was intended to be seen in the theater makes the viewing experience profoundly different, not to mention the VHS version was spread over two tapes while the DVD has the entire film on one disc. It is obvious that the DVD looks and sounds better than the previous pan and scan VHS tapes, but aside from seeing the film on the big screen, I do not know of any way one can truly take into consideration the immense scope of the production especially when one considers that this film was produced nearly 20 years ago at a time when there was no CGI technology to digitally make a crowd of 100 into 1000. Every person on screen was there and if one really wants appreciate this fact just take a look at the film’s reenactment of the funeral procession for starters. The colors and contrast all seem dead on perfect preserving the cinematography and look of the film in a way no other home video version has and aside from two scenes with some light grain, this is nearly a reference quality transfer from Columbia TriStar.

A new English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack remixes some of the soundtrack music and Foley effects to create a better theatrical sound quality than has ever existed for this film on home video. French and Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0 Soundtrack options are also available along with English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai Subtitles. The main interactive menus features motion images and animated transitions with Hindu music playing in the background. The other standard interactive still frame menus are well rendered and easy to navigate.

The DVD also has a number of extra features that include a retrospective videotaped interview with Actor Ben Kingsley recorded last year where the Actor gives him own personal insights and anecdotes into playing the role and the film’s production. The interview runs for approximately 19-minutes and is fascinating. To support the interview and the film are four vintage newsreel clips that run from as short as 53-seconds to just over 4-minutes. To get an idea of how scenes were recreated and how much Kingsley captured the man in his performance just view one of these four shorts that include “Gandhi Goes To England”, “Gandhi’s Farewell Talk In Europe”, “Mahatma Gandhi Begins Death Fast”, and “Gandhi Talks: First Talking Picture Ever Made By India’s Famous Leader.” In particular I found the last one to be the most haunting of them all.

Also included are “The Making Of Gandhi Photo Montage” with over 5-minutes of photographs taken from the film’s production, “The Words Of Mahatma Gandhi” with insightful quotes, and DVD-ROM users get a direct link to the Official Gandhi Website. Talent files with selected credits for cast and crewmembers and the film’s 5-minute theatrical trailer that I remembered from when I was a boy is included with English Stereo Sound and the trailer is presented in the (2.35:1) aspect ratio of the theatrical presentation.

Enlightening and thoroughly engrossing, the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi is a testament to the great goodness inherent within the soul of humanity. “Gandhi” will debut on DVD-Video from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment on Tuesday, August 21, 2001.

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