Product Details

• Actors: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor, Rajendranath Zutshi
• Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
• Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Vikas Swarup
• Producers: Cameron McCracken, Christian Colson, François Ivernel, Ivana Mackinnon
• Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby TrueHD), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed: French
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (446 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001P9KR94
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,007 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Slumdog Millionaire [Blu-ray]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Danny Boyle (Sunshine) directed this wildly energetic, Dickensian drama about the desultory life and times of an Indian boy whose bleak, formative experiences lead to an appearance on his country's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Jamal (played as a young man by Dev Patel) and his brother are orphaned as children, raising themselves in various slums and crime-ridden neighorhoods and falling in, for a while, with a monstrous gang exploiting children as beggars and prostitutes. Driven by his love for Latika (Freida Pinto), Jamal, while a teen, later goes on a journey to rescue her from the gang's clutches, only to lose her again to another oppressive fate as the lover of a notorious gangster.

Running parallel with this dark yet irresistible adventure, told in flashback vignettes, is the almost inexplicable sight of Jamal winning every challenge on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," a strong showing that leads to a vicious police interrogation. As Jamal explains how he knows the answer to every question on the show as the result of harsh events in his knockabout life, the chaos of his existence gains shape, perspective and soulfulness. The film's violence is offset by a mesmerizing exotica shot and edited with a great whoosh of vitality. Boyle successfully sells the story's most unlikely elements with nods to literary and cinematic conventions that touch an audience's heart more than its head. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Slumdog Millionaire (Click for larger image)

Product Description

Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is just one question away from winning a fortune on India's version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But how has this uneducated young man from the slums succeeded in providing correct responses to questions that have stumped countless scholars before him? And will he ultimately win it all or lose everything, including his true love?

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love over gold July 20, 2009

By Glenn S. Brauer

Format:DVD

I saw this movie back in the Christmas season last year with some reluctance. Were it not for a good friend edging me on I probably would not have bothered. I incorrectly sensed that it was just another drippy foreign film about drippy people living on the edge and getting lucky.

Boy was I wrong.

This is such a smart, cleverly woven story with a classic twist--reminding me of Dickens--and all the stuff we love about life, but what's really striking--and I just watched this twice on DVD--is the precious love that is expressed here.

Lump in throat anyone?

Goosey bumps, too?

I just lap it up. Call me a sucker--but I had to re-play the last two minutes over and over again--where our hero brushes his sweetie's scarred cheek...and you either already know or will know the rest. It just kills me every time.The quintessential message is: LOVE OVER $$, GOLD, whatever, ANY DAY!

Amen.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Bogus special features October 4, 2010

By Anna

Format:DVD

Do not buy this DVD if you are interested in the special features listed on the box and at the Amazon site. This DVD does not contain the making of, the deleted scenes or the audio commentary. The special features contain only trailers for 4 other movies. The movie is great, but the main reason I bought the DVD was to watch the making of. This false advertisement was a complete disappointment.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all-time favorite movies; it never gets old October 21, 2010

By RoseWaterDreams

Format:DVD

I think this movie is a true masterpiece of cinema. So beautifully woven together - the music, the cinematography, the screenplay, the performances, the art direction, the love story. It all works together on so many levels and this movie touches me more deeply than most of the movies I've seen in my life. I went to see it like five times in the movie theater and I felt as if I had traveled to another place without even leaving my seat! It's that much of a cinematic experience. A LOVELY PIECE OF WORK!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Open your eyes to the beauty, culture, poverty, hardship, and vibrance that is India April 17, 2009

By E. A Kelsey

Format:DVD

I have read a few reviews that bashed Slumdog, and though I see a point to them, I LOVE this film. I have lived in Faridabad ( just outside of Deli), and have firsthand seen some of the things the film touched on. In the spirit of Mira Nair, Boyle opens ones eyes to this incredible country, but he doesn't sugar coat things like most Bollywood films ( which are basically musicals, some with depth others that are laughable but enjoyable nonetheless).
Slumdog divulges what real India is like: a fight for survival, but one that has moments of beauty in it as well. Again, MOMENTS. The amount of children MUTILATED and forced by parents and others to work is disgusting. It is beyond belief. I was in the Deli area, and that has nothing on Calcutta or some of the bad areas of Mumbai.
And despite this, one can see a beauty in these people that simply does not exist in the West. One brief scene ( SPOILER) in the movie when Dev is about to play the last round of Millionare, a woman on the street taps on his window and says 'go and win it all'. THIS type of genuine 'I'm happy for you', aka namaste, aka respect exists amongst the dire poverty.
And then Slumdog dives into the Muslim-Hindu tension. In the kashmir region, fighting is horrendous. This type of confusion, dislike, and sometimes hatred exists between these two religions, and now with the recent terrorist attacks, things aren't looking too good.
Slumdog Millionaire shows how hard working, diligent, determined, and driven many ( most) Indians are in their fight to survive and feed themselves/their families. The main character has to do this from when he was born, which is a sad reality for many infants/kids there.
THE FILM IS ARTISTIC, FAST PACED AND TYPICAL BOYLE STYLE, WITH A GREAT SOUNDTRACK....
Please watch it, and then DO something about what you have seen. Go and visit the country. It will change your life. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Oliver Twist goes to Bombay, and meets Danny Boyle August 2, 2009

By e. verrillo

Format:DVD

I normally can't abide Bollywood, with its predictable plots, overblown sentimentality, and saccharin endings (in which everybody dances). But this movie was a marriage made in heaven -- the realism of growing up in the slums of Bombay plus the all-important final dance number.

In all honesty, I found parts of this movie hard going, and not just because of the violence. Bombay, from the perspective of the have-nots, is something straight out of a nightmare (Charles Dickens, eat your heart out). The only reason the beginning of the film wasn't overwhelming was because Jamal's childhood was meted out in flashbacks, which gave us an occasional rest as well as the assurance that everything might work out after all.

I have to say that even knowing that a happy ending was probably in sight (this was an Indian film, after all), Slumdog Millionaire was nail-bitingly tense. There were moments when I actually wondered if our hero would get the quiz-show answer right, or if he would indeed "get the girl," as heroes generally do. But afterwards, when all was said and done, the images that remained with me were not of the happy dancing masses, but of the tattered, abandoned children of Bombay. It seems that Bollywood is finally growing up.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY April 1, 2009

By Mark Turner

Format:DVD

Movie goers love a film where the hero triumphs over the most adverse conditions to attain a goal. And this goes back further than the pinnacle of this genre, ROCKY. So what did the voters of the Academy do this year when it came to an Oscar winner for best film? They picked SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.

This movie features the most improved character when it comes to tough times. The major plot of the film is actually quite simple. A young man goes on TV in India for a WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIR show. His goal is to make enough to find the girl of his dreams and settle down with her. That's it. And yet, that's not all there is to it.

The film uses a combination of present day situations combined with well executed flashbacks to show just how fortunate he is on the show. Each and every question asked of him is something he has learned through the rough and tumble times of his life. And troubled times they were.

As the film opens our hero, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is being interrogated by the police. His suspected crime is cheating on the game show he is winning. How could someone of his background, a dweller from the poorest community in Mumbai (thus the Slumdog portion of the title), possible know the answers to these questions? As he is questioned, he provides the police chief as well as the viewers of the story of his life and how he came to know them.

As a small child Jamal and his brother Salim play amid fields of garbage while living with their mother. A riot involving the Muslim and non-Muslim factions leads to their mother's murder and their quickly becoming orphans. Along with a young girl they meet named Latika, they live off the street until they are rescued by a missionary who collects young orphans....

But this is no real missionary as it turns out he uses the small children to scam people on the street into giving them money. He collects it all. He even goes so far as to blind those that can sing so they will make more money. With a little luck, Salim, Jamal and Latika escape, only to have Latika captured before they can get away.

Jamal is infatuated with Latika and his search for her spurs the romantic side of the story. He and his brother search for her until the day she is found. But this leads to more tragedy as Salim gets a gun and becomes a young gangster involved with crooks in town. A break between brothers results in Latika and Jamal parting ways once more.

More and more happens to Jamal and each experience shows his determination to find a better life as well as Latika. And while Jamal works hard, attempting to rise above his circumstances, Salim dives into the worst the world has to offer, making a living for himself but at what cost?

The end result is Jamal's appearance on the game show where he has the chance to make more than he could have ever dreamed of. And with the money he has the chance to rescue Latika from the fate that befell her not only at the hands of Salim but of the local gangster head who has chosen her for his own.

There are more scenes and difficulties than I've listed here, but better to see them for yourself. And the best part of this film was the slow unspooling of the tale, as Jamal recounts his life and how each part of it provided the answers he needed to win, The world through his eyes is one of hope, the eyes of Salim a despair. How two brothers can see the world differently makes up a major portion of the tale.

All of the acting in the film is impressive not only for the professionals but for the children who play them in their youth as well. Chosen to play these parts were actual children from the area, the real slumdog children. Dev Patel as the adult Jamal has a future ahead of him granted he gets parts as good as this one.

So was this the best film that came out last year? Good enough that it deserved the Oscar for best film? Yes, it is an exceptional film. But I can think of others I enjoyed more. Then again I've rarely agreed with what the Academy chooses over the past few years. But if you enjoy good storytelling, then you'll want to make a point of watching this film. You won't be disappointed. Read more ›