remake of Fall of the Roman Empire

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2000)

What nobody's noticed is that this is basically a remake of the 60s epic 'Fall of the Roman Empire', with Alec Guiness, Sophia Loren, Christopher Plummer and Stephen Boyd. While 'Gladiator' has great acting and a surprisingly involving story, not to mention amazing action scenes, the older film beats it in one very important area: producer Samuel Bronston rebuilt the Roman Forum in Spain, so the sets are real. 'Gladiator' is all digital and looks it. There's probably not one bit of natural light in the entire film. That's too bad, because otherwise it's very entertaining. As for 'Fall of the Roman Empire', it's pretty dated, but it's also one of the most visually stunning films ever made and has a GREAT Dimitri Tiomkin score. Try to see it letterboxed if you can.