Empire

( 3 )

Overview

This gritty tale of a drug lord whose attempts to go straight lead him even deeper into crime gets a polished presentation on DVD. Empire has been given a widescreen transfer, letterboxed at 2.35:1 and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 X19 monitors. The audio is mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, and the dialogue is in English (there's also a separate Spanish language edition); subtitles in English and Spanish have also been included. In addition to the picture, this DVD release includes a number of special ...
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More About This Product

Overview

This gritty tale of a drug lord whose attempts to go straight lead him even deeper into crime gets a polished presentation on DVD. Empire has been given a widescreen transfer, letterboxed at 2.35:1 and enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 X19 monitors. The audio is mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, and the dialogue is in English (there's also a separate Spanish language edition); subtitles in English and Spanish have also been included. In addition to the picture, this DVD release includes a number of special features, including an alternate commentary track from director Franc Reyes, a collection of deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the film, Empire's original theatrical trailer, biographies of key members of the cast and crew, and footage from the film's world premier in Los Angeles.
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Special Features

Closed Caption; The Making of Empire; Feature commentary with director Franc. Reyes and director of photography Kramer Morgenthau; Deleted scenes; The Los Angeles premiere; Samples from the Empire soundtrack
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse
Are Wall Street’s high-powered financiers any less ruthless or corrupt than the violent drug dealers who control entire neighborhoods in the Bronx? That’s the question forcefully posed in this gripping, innovative crime drama written and directed by promising young filmmaker Franc Reyes. John Leguizamo, a well-liked comic and an underrated dramatic actor, portrays Victor Rosa, an upwardly mobile Puerto Rican mobster who’d like nothing more then to move into a Manhattan penthouse with his lovely girlfriend, Carmen newcomer Delilah Cotto. He thinks his chance might be just around the corner after meeting Wall Street hotshot Jack Peter Sarsgaard, the smooth-talking boyfriend of Carmen’s college chum Trish Denise Richards. Jack convinces Victor to launder drug money in a promising investment, which doesn’t quite pan out. Without giving away too much of the convoluted plot, we’ll just say that Victor doesn’t take to market losses with the passivity of most investors. Leguizamo pulls off the neat trick of engendering audience sympathy for a basically unlikable character, a hard-as-nails tough guy a killer, in fact who yearns for a respectable life with the woman he loves. Sarsgaard is deliciously smarmy, and Richards makes an alluring and amoral femme fatale. Empire will strike some viewers as a cross between GoodFellas and Wall Street, and justifiably so. This is a deftly written, skillfully played, and endlessly fascinating movie that thumbs its nose at genre conventions. The plot twists and turns with invigorating heedlessness, and you’ll be glued to your chair from first scene to last.
All Movie Guide
Overreaching from its title onward, Empire has a lot more ambition than ability to deliver on it. The film borrows liberally, though not skillfully, from Martin Scorsese's template for crime drama, and it owes a specific debt to Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way, with John Leguizamo substituting for Al Pacino as the Latino gangster trying to get out. To be fair, Empire does flirt with big ideas, and has real desire to give the mob movie a 21st century urban makeover. Its distinct chapters give it that epic quality, as the plot starts with the intense cauldron of gangland politics, then pulls off a radical shift in tone to the gangster's movements within yuppie society. Empire conjures both ends of Leguizamo's criminal spectrum with credibility, from legit street characters to a smartly seductive white savior (Peter Sarsgaard) dangling the carrot Leguizamo can't resist. The film even has the odd good sense to cast Isabella Rossellini as a matronly drug lord with acid in her veins -- one of several inspired supporting performances. It's Leguizamo, himself usually a supporting actor, who weakens under the weight of the movie, much as he did trying to carry Spike Lee's sprawling Summer of Sam. But he can't be blamed for the movie's hasty third-act collapse, which shrinks director Franc Reyes' deliberate build-up into a scant, single-scene payoff. The climactic clash between the financial world and the underworld -- a focal point of the film's ad campaign -- gets swept under the rug, and a stillborn epic whimpers to a finish at a miniscule 85 minutes.
Entertainment Weekly
Between bursts of automatic gunfire, the story offers a trenchant critique of capitalism. Bruce Fretts
Los Angeles Times
Leguizamo ... gives one of the best performances of the year in a lead role in an American movie. Kevin Thomas
San Francisco Chronicle
A gangster movie with the capacity to surprise. Mick LaSalle

Between bursts of automatic gunfire, the story offers a trenchant critique of capitalism. Bruce Fretts
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 3/18/2003
  • UPC: 025192305320
  • Original Release: 2002

    • Rating:

  • Source: Universal Studios
  • Region Code: 1
  • Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Language: English, Français, Español
  • Time: 1:40:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 10,088

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
John Leguizamo Victor
Peter Sarsgaard Jack
Denise Richards
Vincent Laresca Jimmy
Delilah Cotto Carmen
Sonia Braga
Isabella Rossellini La Columbiana
Granville Adams
Rafael Baez Jay
Ruben Blades
Anthony "Treach" Criss
Stracy Diaz Gina
Fat Joe Tito
Nestor Serrano
Technical Credits
Franc. Reyes Director, Screenwriter
Steven Beer Executive Producer
Daniel Bigel Producer
Ruben Blades Score Composer
Robert B. Campbell Executive Producer
Jill Footlick Executive Producer
Peter C. Frank Editor
Ted Glass Production Designer
Evan Lamberg Executive Producer
John Leguizamo Executive Producer
Michael Mailer Producer
Kramer Morgenthau Cinematographer
Frank White III Art Director
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Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Main Titles [2:19]
2. The Entrepreneur [3:13]
3. Trouble [4:59]
4. Respect [3:38]
5. Carmen [5:58]
6. Jack and Trish [4:56]
7. A Bullet in the Back [5:10]
8. War [5:42]
9. The Sure Thing [6:12]
10. A Loft in Soho [4:35]
11. The New Vic [5:50]
12. Smart Money [3:51]
13. La Colombiana [4:08]
14. Jimmy's Way [7:58]
15. A Talk With Trish [3:18]
16. Jimmy Has to Go [7:53]
17. Taken [8:11]
18. Getting Even [5:42]
19. The Consequences [2:08]
20. End Titles [3:30]
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Menu

Side #1 --
   Play
   Scenes
   Bonus Materials
      The Making of Empire
      Feature Commentary With Director Franc. Reyes and Director of Photography Kramer Morgenthau
      Deleted Scenes
      The Los Angeles Premiere of Empire
      Empire Soundtrack Sampler
         702 - I Still Love You
         Rachel - Best Thing
         Mobb Deep - Beyond White Lines
         Jose - J.O.S.E.
         DMX - Fame
         India.Aire - Slow Down
         Ironclad - I Seen It All
         India - Welcome to My Empire
         Jon Secada - My Life (Through the Spirit in Your Eyes)
         Luis Fonsi - Amante
         Angel Lopez - As I Stand Alone
         India - Te Invito a Mi Imperio (Welcome to My Empire; Spanish)
         Jene - I Will Remember Your Smile
      Theatrical Trailer
      Production Notes
      Cast and Filmmakers
         John Leguizamo as Victor Rosa
         Peter Sarsgaard as Jack
         Denise Richards as Trish
         Isabella Rossellini as La Colombiana
         Delilah Cotto as Carmen
         Treach as Chedda
         Fat Joe as Tito Severe
         Written and Directed by Franc. Reyes
      DVD-ROM Features
      Recommendations
   Languages
      Spoken Languages: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
      Spoken Languages: Español 5.1 Dolby Digital
      Spoken Languages: Français 5.1 Dolby Digital
      Captioned for the Hearing Impaired: English
      Subtitles: English
      Subtitles: Español
      Subtitles: Français
      Subtitles: None
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 3 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(2)

4 Star

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Seen that... done that...

    An uneducated Puerto Rican drug lord from the Bronx is looking for a way out of the drug game so that he and his family can live a better life. In the process, an up tight white business man betrays him. This was called Carlito's Way the first time I saw it. I've got to be totally honest ... As a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, I'm tired of movies like this that support these stereotypes of our people. I'm also tired of the stereotypes these movies create for white people in this country. This movie has been done before and (I personally think) creates more problems in the long run. This holds especially true for young latinos who look at this movie as some source of inspiration.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Another of Leguizamo's diverse characters ...

    In this movie John Leguizamo's character is different than say from Moulin Rouge or Ice Age. It has a lot of action and drama in it. The end is SOOOO sad. It is a great movie! If you want to see something exciting and leaving you on the edge of your seat this is definently the movie for you!!!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    SO MUCH ACTION!

    This movie isn't for the viewer who has a problem watching violent, bloody action scenes. It's a realistic look inside the world of a bigtime drug dealer in the South Bronx. The soundtrack is HOT. The action is constant. There is nothing pretentious about this movie, and that's what makes it great.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews