An epic.

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2000)

First thing a friend of mine said when he left the movie theatre was "Too many small things were wrong. They didn't pay attention to detail. And the old guy was breathing!" (see: scene in Marcus Aurelius' tent)
Another friend of mine and I were speechless and on the verge of shouting "Maximus! Maximus" at a volume that most likely would have gotten us a free night in a local police station. Perhaps even with padded walls.

"Gladiator" is by no means a small movie. It is a HUGE movie.
I'm not familiar with the exact moviemaking dictionary definition of an epic.. but I'd say this movie was definitely one. The acting was grand, the scenery was grand, the fights were grand, and also quite surprisingly, the emotions were too.
I hate to be harsh on movies, but the day afterwards I went to see "Story of Us".. a cute little middle aged marriage problem drama. Not my kind of thing, especially not after "Gladiator". To those of you who have seen both movies you can imagine what a surreal experience that must have been.

My friend was right, as some critics will point out.. the little details weren't quite there... but WHO CARES??? Sit through "Gladiator" in a sizable THX movie theatre and I can almost promise you that you will feel the same way.