Which is the best DVD version of this series? I have a multi-region DVD player so region doesn't matter.
Also, I'd like to find out if any of the DVD version have subtitling available? (Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the characters' names and such and subtitles could help! Also with the poetry and stuff.)
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I suppose the two major DVDs are the 2002 Region 2 PAL edition (set is in Imperial Purple and a picture of Young Jacobi Claudius) and the 2012 "35th Anniversary" edition recently released in the US. Both feature:
-An option of seeing "A Touch of Murder" and "Family Affairs" in the premiere combination AND as separate episodes with original opening and endings intact.
-Yes, both editions feature the "Agrippinilla gets it on with Nero" sequence omitted from previous US editions.
-The "I, CLAUDIUS: A TELEVISION EPIC" documentary, with Herbert Wise, Jacobi, Philips, Baker, Blessed, Hurt, Tyzack, and Biggins.
-A featurette of the director and actors talking about their favorite scenes.
-"The Epic That Never Was", the 1965 docu about Alexander Korda's ill-fated 1937 adaptation.
-Both editions have subtitles (I know the US 35th edition has 'em!)
There are differences though. From what I've read, the PAL DVD has clips of Jacobi and Philips winning awards (wearing bad 1970s fashion). It also has a Family Tree featuring photos of the cast (the US 35 edition has a tree but no photos). The US 35th Edition has an essay about the historical inaccuracy, and a new interview by Jacobi.
I'm mainly interested in subtitling. And also since people have been complain about sound quality/volume, also that.
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Can't say about the PAL edition, but here is a review of the NTSC US "35th Anniversary edition", with screen comparisons with the earlier US edition.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_reviews56/i_claudius.htm
The 35th anniversary edition released in 2012 does have subtitles, which is a blessing for many of us who saw the original series and now suffer from age related hearing loss.
I found the sound very uneven and needed to turn it down at times, especially the theatrical delivery by stage actors.
OK thanks all!
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The dvd I saw was an uncut vhs rip (it had the scene with nero and his mother, as well as other shots cut out of us broadcast). But it was split into 4 parts, each 2 and a half hours each, not individual episodes. Any restored versions of this one? The editing between episodes was seamless
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