Cecil B. would be proud...

Rating: Null/10 (28 April 2000)

Great movie! I would see it again if only for the well realized environments. Ridley Scott has done for Rome what he had done for the L.A. of the future in Blade Runner. The battles are intense and sweeping. The arena contests are brutal and well staged. Many nice little cinematic touches.
Russell Crowe is again exceptional and believable in this role. He conveys his feelings with a subtlety where there could have been much scenery chewing and gnashing of teeth. He allowed me to care about Maximus. A lesser actor would have been lost in this production, there is so much going on. To be honest there is some heavy melodrama but that would seem to be inherent within this genre. And in spite of some slow and indulgent stretches there is actually some injection of sly humor. Joaquin Phoenix actually humanizes his evil character who is nonetheless in the end, evil.
Gladiator is a spectacle, larger than life and this is why we go to movies. Isn't it? See it.