A Tiger of a movie

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2000)

I'd agree with the reviews- this is not the summer blockbuster that it was billed as. It contains some cracking action setpieces- the gritty opener set in a German forest (imagine Saving Private Ryan with catapaults and more horses) and a chariot scene that is really the high point of the film. Ridley hasn't lost it since G.I. Jane.
Russell Crowe (The Quick and the Dead) is really turning into a proper action hero- maybe a hairier, more australian Keanu Reeves. I'd pay to see them in a gunfight. The scenes between him and Oliver Reed (Oliver!) were the strongest in the film- the old generation and the new, much like in "The Rookie".
One thing I would say against the film is it seems to have skimped on its CGI budget- Rome looked too plastic, not fitting with the parts filmed in the 'real world'- a similar problem to Episode 1. Computers just aren't good enough yet to create whole worlds that make us forget it's all ones and zeros.