Roger Ebert complains of people with short memory spans praising this film while forgetting that films like Spartacus have supposedly done this before. Well, I have a good memory, and I remember Spartacus. In fact, I kept on remembering that film while watching Gladiator, only in the context of, "This is so much better than Spartacus. It goes beyond." The action is better, the visuals are better, the story is better, and the acting is better. Sorry, Kirk.

Since this is an action film, the story isn't the most important element, but for an action film it is actually quite good. For one thing, I liked the disturbing under-the-surface incest element going on between Commodus and Connie Nielson. Furthermore, it was interesting to see how Crowe gained support among the gladiators until it became as if he were a general leading his army again. The plot itself needed to be there in order to fully create a sense of grandeur. With its insurrection story, the rise of the hero and his trek to the capitol of Rome, and the look at the people in power, the plot creates a sense of time-and-place necessary for an epic that couldn't exist with the visuals and action alone.

The acting is among the best one can ever seen for an action film, and there is plenty of fine dramatic work pulled off by the two main actors. Russell Crowe is now one of the best "new" (four or five films so far) actors in film. We believe, in his glances and the ways he delivers his many great lines, that he is Maximus. He is poignant, hate-filled, and sorrowful all at once. The praise he is getting is deserved. But why isn't Phoenix being lauded just as much? He carries the film in the second-largest role just as well as Crowe. His Emperor Commodus isn't a good villain and has no real character, but Phoenix adds so many layers to him and turns him into a great antagonist that that alone makes his performance excellent. He commands attention just as Crowe does. All by himself (no help from any great dialogue or development), he creates a villain that is prissy, whining, ambitious, pathetic, and malevolent, and worthy of our hate as well as our pity. It's a wonderful transformation. To sum it up, the characters themselves aren't really developed at all- but the acting is so good that it seems they are.

Now, onto the action, which, as I had hoped, is plentiful and intense. It has diversity and grandeur. All the fights were fast, hard-hitting, uncensored, and very bloody, which is what they should've been like. And every single fight sequence is unique from the others. There's the match where two men fought chained to each other, the opening war battle, Maximus vs. numerous other fighters, and the final sword duel, to name a few. This is so much more than just two half-naked men fighting with swords, which is what it could've been. The film also captures the feel and the motion of combat. Ridley Scott speeds up the film slightly during fight scenes to show the chaos and rapid reflexes necessary to survive. During the fight scenes, the camerawork is nonstop and covers the combat as one big blur to the fighters. (But we can still follow the fights themselves.)

This film also stands out in my mind as one of the most visual, image-driven action films I've ever seen. Thanks to Ridley Scott, practically every scene is jammed with wonderful detail, art direction, even distinct lighting (the Collosseum orange, other parts of Rome dark blue). Just look at the wide multitude (seemingly infinite number) of battle masks, weapons, and locales. Cinematography is skillful and impressive. There are tons of memorable shots, like Maximus entering the ring with rose petals coming down on him like rain from above, Commodus' pure white battle costume (when he's being risen up on the platform he looks like a demented angel ascending to heaven), and the images used to represent Crowe's home- the gentle hand carressing the wheat reeds, the door to his house, etc. They had a surreal quality and each were bathed in their own distinct color. Excellent work, Ridley.

A very impressive film. So why can't all summer movies be this good? We'd be spoiled.


A riveting but gory spectacle   January 25, 2001
 59 out of 95 found this review helpful

GLADIATOR is riveting cinema, the kind of movie that grabs you by the throat. The stakes are high, the ancient Roman Empire stunningly recreated, and the body of Maximus is . . . well, buff Russell Crowe. Because of the fast-paced sequences, you won't find yourself bored, or even with enough time to ponder the sometimes confusing details. (For example, if Maximus had never seen Rome, how did he know Lucilla and Commodus as children, as Marcus Aurelius states early in the film?) But this is not an intellectual movie, so why bother to figure things out? This is pure entertainment, as much gory spectacle as the Roman gladiator contests in the Colliseum. Add a wronged Roman General (Crowe), an effeminate, incest-craving, and slimy new Caesar (Joaquin Phoenix, who portrays Commodus so well his screen presence gave me the creeps), his beautiful and scheming sister Lucilla (Connie Nielson), and a bunch of slaves who band together behind the mysterious Spaniard to save their lives on the largest life-and-death stage, the gladiator arena, and you have Ridley Scott's Gladiator. You will be rooting for Maximus to exact his revenge no matter how peace-loving you thought you were.

I found it ironic - and a little self-referential - when a Roman senator declares that people will love you if you bring them death. This film thrives on slaughter, from start to finish, as it portrays the brutal side of the Roman Empire. Although the butchering is not as graphic as in some films, avoid this film if you can't stand violence. Children, too, should be steered clear of this one. Take the rating seriously.


Crowe and Phoenix shine in this new film by Ridley Scott   May 13, 2000
 56 out of 66 found this review helpful

Most times when studios go out to produce a movie of this size and grandeur the most important parts of the movie, mainly the plot and the acting, are lost to the fight scenes and the special effects. What makes this movie rise above all other action/drama film is that it has both a strong story and cast as well as very complex and beautifully shot battle sequences. And not to mention stellar performances by leads Russell Crowe (The Insider), Joaquin Phoenix (8MM), Connie Nielsen (Mission to Mars), and Oliver Reed (Funny Bones) who passed away during the filming of Gladiator.

Having defeated the last hoard of Barbarians, sealing the lands for the Roman Empire, General Maximus (Crowe) had proven himself to be loyal to Rome and to its Caesar, Marcus Aurelius (wonderfully played by Richard Harris). As a result, the dying Aurelius plans to hand over the Empire to Maximus rather than his corupt son Commodus (Phoenix). Upon finding out that his father has named Maximus the sucessor to the throne in place of himself, Commodus becomes angered by his father's decission and takes matters into his own hands. Knowing that Maximus is a threat to him, Commodus places him under arrest and orders his guards to execute him in secrecy. Narrowly escaping death, Maximus rushes home to try to save his family from a similar fate, only to arrive after his son and wife have already been murdered by Commodus' troops.

With nothing left to live for and no where left to go, Maxiums eventually finds himself a slave to a former Gladiator named Proximo (Reed). Having gained his freedom long ago, he now purchases slaves to fight in the battle arena, betting for his experienced fighters and against his worthless fighters in order to make a profit. However, when Maxiums, feuled by rage and a need for vengance, easily defeats all whom he encounters, surpassing all other fighters in every way, Proximo realizes that there is something different about this man the other slaves call "The Spaniard". And when Commodus, the new Caesar, initiates the Gladiator games in commemoration of his late father, Maximus, who Commodus believes is dead, is determind to go Rome, where the games are being held, and take revenge on the man who took everything away from him.

Connie Nielsen who playes Lucilla, Commodus's sister, is the sole female character in this male dominated film. However, she holds up very well with Phoenix and Crowe during their numerous dialogues and shows great talent in each scene as both sister to the Caesar and mother to her eight year old child Lucius (Spencer Treat Clarck).

Djimon Hunsou (Amistad) also appears in the film as a fellow slave/Gladiator who becomes friends with Crowe, helping him complete his goal of taking his revenge on Commodus.

And Director Ridley Scott, most well known for his Sci-fi/fantasy flick Blade Runner, has brought Rome and all it's spectacle, glory, and gore to the big screen in a way that puts it along side classics like Ben Hur and Sparticus. It has quality, quantity, and a uniqueness to it that makes it worth the $9.50 price for addmission.

All in all, this movie reigns supreme in my book. Visually stunning, wonderfully acted, beautifully shot, and superbly directed. If people want to see how a great action/drama movie is made, then this is the movie you gotta see.

Revuman: Live by the sword, die by the sword, but eat first...peace!


Absolutely awesome!   May 20, 2000
 51 out of 61 found this review helpful

A terrific and spectacular throwback to older historical epics such as BEN HUR and THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, but here with new SFX technology recreating Rome as it might have looked in 180 AD in all its glorious detail, notably in the Coliseum gladiatorial combat scenes! Truly breathtaking. Russell Crowe(ROMPER STOMPER) plays General Maximus, a soldier who defies his emperors and is imprisoned. He is eventually forced to fight as a gladiator to avenge the deaths of his wife and child, who were slain by the emperor Commodus who killed his father to rule the empire. The battle scenes, in the film's introduction where Roman soldiers attack Germanic barbarians are very graphic, as are the Coliseum arena death matches! The performances are great all round - Connie Nielsen is also woth a mention as Lucilla, Commodus's sister - was this the same role played by Sophia Loren in THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE in 1964? Oliver Reed and Richard Harris also appear, along with Derek Jacobi. Stunning setpieces and costumes add to the spectacle. A true epic that is definitely not to be missed!


This movie well represents the time period.   September 14, 2000
 46 out of 62 found this review helpful

By far the story and action in this movie are well synchronized it is based on actual characters and truth. Maximus was the one fictional character of a real story. We don't know if it happened this way, but it could of. Marcus Aurealis dies one of the greatest of Roman Emperors and the last of the golden age of Rome. Only to be succeeded by his son, Commedus, who was a vain, foolish, and comtemptable tyrant. I believed that this story was stunning visually and dramatically, the effects were delicious with just enough gore, to provide with one of the best stories I have ever seen. I was moved countless times, by all the characters. Even Commedus, the tyrant, you loved him and felt sorry for him, because he didn't really want to be the tyrant, he wanted the love of his father, and without that he became horribly ambitious. Five stars just sometimes doesn't seem good enough.