Gladiator is a slightly flawed, but never the less entertaining, blockbuster.

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2001)

Gladiator provided one of the very few enjoyable movie-going experiences of 2000.
David H. Franzoni's screenplay is adequate. It's clichéd and doesn't introduce any new ideas or concepts to the genre but it is still entertaining.
The cast does a fairly nice job at giving life to their roles. Russell Crowe does a great at putting the human back in the hero in his role as Maximus. He does a good job at bringing ferocity and nobility to the character of Maximus. Joaquin Phoenix is pretty good as the disturbed villain, Commodus. Some of Joaquin's more emotional scenes are a little over the top and hammy, though. Oliver Reed is wonderful at bringing a hardness and edge to the character of Proximo. Connie Nielsen and Richard Harris also give commendable performances.
Hans Zimmer's score is fantastic. During the battle scenes it is effectively powerful and energetic and during the more dramatic scenes it is very sorrowful and mournful.
The set and costume designs in Gladiator are very good; they bring out the splendor and glory that was ancient Rome.
The CGI effects are acceptable but sometimes it is evident that the images seen on the screen were generated from a computer.
Ridley Scott is in top form as usual; the film carries his wonderful stylistic flare.
Pietro Scalia's editing, and Scott's direction brings the grisly battle scenes to life. Scalia utilizes quick cuts for the battle scenes, which prove to be very effective. His editing does falter however; at times the film tends to drag on a bit too long.
John Mathieson's cinematography is one of the films poorer qualities. The camera movement is occasionally too bumpy and some of the images appear to be too murky and dirty.
Overall, Gladiator is a good film; one of the few enjoyable films of 2000.