Historically inaccurate but entertaining

Rating: 5/10 (10 December 2004)

This Roman extravaganza is fun to watch but bowderlized in typical "Hollywood" fashion. The final scene in the Roman Coliseum is ridiculous and descends to the level of a Cecil B. De Mille circus. Aside from that the story is entertaining and the acting, generally, very good.
Russell Crowe began his international film career with this movie and has gone from strength to strength in subsequent roles. An amazingly versatile actor, he holds the film together. The other strong performance is from the stunning looking Connie Nielsen's Lucilla, she is pure eye-candy. The two of them just about manage to blot out the miscast Joaquin Phoenix.
Bit parts are cast from the usual suspects; Derek Jacobi's predictable performance as the ersatz I Claudius senator and Oliver Reed's slovenly and decadent Proximo.
Worth a look-see but I got rid of the VHS I bought. The distortions of the truth about Emperor Comodus are just too much for this film to be taken seriously as an historical drama. It's blood and guts fantasy, nothing more.
The technical aspects are excellent.