Better than I expected

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2000)

Gladiator is derived from several films yet manages to remain itself and is superb. What I cannot understand is the huge gap in opinion presented by major critics. Some expound on the greatness of the film, likening it to Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. Others state that it is the "worst movie ever made." How can critics be so diverse?
Gladiator is simple and profound, violent yet beautiful. Could it be that passions aroused by this film are similar to those that drove American Beauty to its position of greatness? The terrible beauty of violence is American as it was Roman. Our violence is generally more gentile but for lust and the passions aroused by that lust are parallel. Gladiator is a great film journey. It also touches profound cords in the viewer that are deeper than some would want to acknowledge. We are the beast and the beauty, noble and savage.
We are all a breath away from being gladiators, or perhaps its just a draft.