History isn't so boring after all, now is it?

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2000)

I thoroughly enjoyed this film! This film was filled with pleasant surprises: from the grand cinematography, action, gore, special effects, to the plot itself, and the great support cast, including Derek Jacobi and Richard Harris. As a historian, there were a few minor things I could quibble about, such as some of the armour used was clearly from a later period, such as that used in the Crusades, and even spied a Viking Helmet from the era of Canute. That and the prescence of a Sinaloan Milksnake(indigenous to the western hemisphere), crawling in bed with someone.....a presumed victim of a harmless snake...The only other criticism was that to make the evil Commodus even more despicable, they had to throw in an implied incest scene to villify him more. But still, Commodus was never as vile and clearly insane as Gaius Caligula.
I also liked it when the emperor was telling stories about Claudius...who was played so effectively in the series "I Claudius" by Derek Jacobi....who did a nice job playing a senator in this film.
Otherwise, I thought it was a fantastic film, and I plan to go back and see it again!