Product Details

• Actors: Raul Julia, Richard Jordan, Ana Alicia
• Directors: John Duigan
• Format: Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: Spanish
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Vision Video
• DVD Release Date: January 19, 2009
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001Q56XOA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,333 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #100 in Movies & TV > DVD > Faith & Spirituality

Editorial Reviews

About the Actor

After years of struggle to break free from the stereotypes that plagued Latino actors, Puerto Rican-born Julia emerged as one of the most versatile and distinctive performers of stage, motion pictures and television. In addition to Romero, his many film credits include A Kiss of the Spider Woman, Presumed Innocent, and two Addams Family movies. Diagnosed with cancer in 1993, Julia continued acting until he suffered a stroke the following year. He died on October 24, 1994 at age 54.

Product Description

Romero is a compelling and deeply moving look at the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who made the ultimate sacrifice in a passionate stand against social injustice and oppression in his country.

This film chronicles the transformation of Romero from an apolitical, complacent priest to a committed leader of the Salvadoran people.

Acclaimed actor Raul Julia (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) stars as this man of God forced by the unspeakable events going on around him to take a stand -- a stand that ultimately leads to his assassination in 1980 at the hands of the military junta.

This film features powerful performances by Richard Jordan (INTERIORS, THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS) and Ana Alicia. Australian writer-director John Duigan (THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE) makes his directorial debut with Romero.

DVD features:
Spanish Language Track
Optional English Subtitles
Deleted Scenes
Scene Access

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THE ROAD IS NARROW, AND DOWN THE MIDDLE February 28, 2003

By Patrick Hubbell

Format:VHS Tape

The most unlikely of heroes, Romero, with owlish glasses and demeanor, is reluctantly thrust into a role much like Thomas More almost five centuries earlier.

20th century El Salvador, like 16th century England, is enduring bloodshed and havoc. Insurgent Communist rebels compete with paramilitary squads and the oligarchy for control of the tiny Central American nation. Priests and the flock they lead are caught in the middle. Those who cry for justice are photographed and marked for extinction because they speak the language of Marxism.

Archbishop Romero recognizes that Marxists and the ruling oligarchy are merely obverse sides of the same coin-- ideologies who rule by force contrary to the the rule of God.

He is equally harsh with Communist sympathizers as he is with the paramilitary squads who rape, torture and execute advocates of justice and human rights.

Like a nail driven into wood, Romero meets each new situation, bewildered at first, but rising to the occasion with increasing faith, anger and determination.

In one scene, he arrives at a church which has been turned into an army barracks. He announces that he has come to remove the Blessed Sacrament. A belligerent soldier responds by unloading a round of bullets into the tabernacle and shatters the crucifix hanging above the altar. Romero stands transfixed, astonished at the utter desecration, then leaves. He pauses outside where a crowd has gathered, unsure as he himself is what he will do next.

Suddenly, collecting his courage, he wheels around. He brushes past the insolent soldier and stoops to gather the consecrated wafers in trembling hands. The soldier fires another round above Romero's head. Undeterred by the gunfire, the intimidation, and the soldier who shoves Romero with his boot, he completes his work then exits.

But he isn't finished. He returns yet again to restore the church to its rightful owner--the people of God. The soldiers in their turn stare blandly at the audacity of this meek soldier of God who dares to stand up to their jackbooted authority and in his turn expel evil.

Archbishop Romero fights every battle his Redeemer once fought: the apathy of the elite, the treachery of those in power, and betrayal within his own ranks. One of his own priests reveals that he carries a weapon. Romero angrily and loudly denounces him because "You lose God just as the others have!" Another parishioner denounces Romero for betraying their class by "forcing" her baby to be baptized along with "all those indians."

This video should stand next to A Man For All Seasons. Raul Julia, like Paul Scofield, has memorably portrayed one of the Church's most celebrated martyrs.

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Story of Conversion to the Poor May 4, 2002

By Elderbear VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, had the courage to live the teaching of Jesus, even though this meant alienating the rich and powerful who oppressed, tortured, murdered, and defrauded the poor of that nation. He stood in the pulpit of the national cathedral and urged soldiers to obey their Lord and disobey commands of oppression. He paid for this, taking a bullet to the heart while blessing the wine during mass.

This movie portrays the story of a quiet, bookish man who stood in the gap between the machine of dehumanizing globalization and the children of Jesus. We watch him wrestle with discovering an authentic Christian response to the injustices and oppression prevalent in El Salvador. We see him reprimand all those who would practice violence, whether as military authority, rebels, or institutionalized violence that robs people of their humanity and ability to feed their families.

The movie was filmed in Mexico, not Hollywood. Raul Julia deserved an Oscar for his performance as Romero. Mexican extras bring a feeling of authenticity that could not have been realized in Hollywood. The telling manages to avoid most of the "splatter" depictions of violence that most box office draws include, and by so doing, makes the violence even more heinous.

This is a powerful story, whether you are Christian or Pagan, Marxist or Capitalist. It is superbly told. This is the story of a person finding his authentic place in the midst of a struggle for justice.

(If you'd like to discuss this review or video in more depth, please click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Where the sacred *is* political September 29, 2004

By Jean E. Pouliot

Format:DVD

Through this imperfect movie, I learned to love a saint.

The movie depicts Oscar Arturo Romero from his new appointment as El Salvador's archbishop until his murder while saying Mass in 1980. Between those endpoints Romero experiences the poverty of his people and their suffering at the hands of the military government. More and more, he takes an active role in opposing the brutalization of his people, opposing also his bishops who preferred to deal with purely spiritual matters. But Romero's vision of the gospel doesn't let him off so easy. To live as a follower of Jesus means encountering the Cross. Romero comes to see that avoiding "politics" means abandoning the poor and oppressed to their tormentors.

Raul Julia does a creditable, if somewhat plodding job of portraying the Archbishop. Julia doesn't quite get down to the interior fire that drove Romero to a date with martyrdom. Romero's real speeches are fiery and poetic, qualities that Julia's Romero does not seem able to capture.

In spite of its shortcomings, "Romero" delivers a stirring portrait of a man who risked all, opposing his institution's placidity in the face of evil, challenging its reluctance to engage the world as well as his sacrificing own inclination to live quietly.