A must-see movie

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2000)

I have never written a review before but thought that it would be nice since I saw a sneak preview of this movie last Tuesday... This movie was spectacular. I thought it would be very boring and I only went because we got free tickets to it. The story is about Maximus (Russell Crowe), a general with the Roman forces. He knows the Caesar, Marcus Aurellius, and Marcus Aurellius wants him to take over when he dies. When Marcus Aurellius tells his son Commodus about this, he gets really mad and kills his father. No one knows that Marcus Aurellius wanted Maximus to take over, so Commodus does and proceeds to try to execute Maximus. He sent out men to kill him, but didn't realize he wasn't slain. He also killed Maximus's family. Maximus is found and becomes a slave. All he can think of, though, is how to get revenge on Commodus. This movie is brilliantly acted and gets 9 stars by me. The beginning of this movie is a war against barbarians and is not too graphic. I would have rated it PG-13 if it wasn't for the small amounts of gore. All in all, see this movie!