Mafia films have always intrigued me, and as this one is based on a true story, I was fascinated. Though many people are no doubt familiar with the story of John Gotti, as his trial is less than a decade old, I had not been exposed to it before I saw 'Witness to the Mob' a few months ago, which details the same events, only from the point of Sammy Gravano. Both movies work really well at presenting both sides of the same story, and watched together, the viewer gets a more complete picture of the relationship between Gravano and Gotti, along with the workings of the Gambino family. The acting in this HBO film is remarkable; both leads do a terrific job with their roles, as do many of the supporting actors. I was also impressed that during the opening credits, a breakdown of the Gambino family of 1973 and their positions are detailed in a chart; this helped immensely in knowing everyone's role and relationship to the others.

Picture:
Gotti is presented in 4:3 full frame. There is some noticeable grain and a few marks in the transfer, though mostly the image is clean. Colors are vibrant with accurate flesh tones, but occasionally they are a bit too pink. There is also some pixelation present. The blacks in the film are rich and deep.

Sound:
Gotti is presented in a Dolby Surround English track, Dolby Stereo French track, and a Dolby Mono Spanish track. The dialogue is crisp and clean, but occasionally hard to understand due to the heavy accents of some of the actors. Thankfully, subtitles are included and help tremendously. The movie features more surround than I expected, with actors talking off screen, doors opening, and gunshots all making use of the surround channels.

Extras:
For extras you get five cast and crew bios and subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Summary:
Anyone at all interested in the Mafia or John Gotti owes it to himself or herself to check out this amazing HBO movie. Though the DVD has above average picture and sound, it is lacking on the extras. Definitely recommended as a rental or even a possible purchase if you can't find it on an HBO re-run.