An epic classic along the lines of Braveheart and Spartacus.

Rating: Null/10 (3 September 2000)

Ridley has created nothing short of a masterpiece with Gladiator. Russell Crowe was incredible as Maximus, and Joaquin Phoenix was an excellent villain.
Historically, the film was surprisingly accurate. It is not so, as I have seen elsewhere here, that the film portrays Rome as a great patriarch. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the five good emperors, and he did much for Rome in his reign of twenty-plus years. He did die on the battlefield in Germania in 180 AD, most likely of the plague. Commodus was a twisted man who reigned for 12 years. He kept a harem of 300 boys and 300 women. The film does well to portray this - obviously, there is no historically prominent Maximus to take from.
The battle scenes and the plot are incredible - I have no qualms with either of them throughout the course of the film. It's more or less a perfect balance between plot development and character development. Either way, the films leaves you spellbound - in 2 hours and 40 minutes I did not look at my watch once.
Perhaps most importantly is the fact that Gladiator did so well based on plot alone. Unlike many other popular films, Gladiator placed absolutely zero emphasis on sex. Where would American Beauty have been without a young naked girl? Where would Titanic have been without the legions of 10-16 year old girls shelling out their allowance? (Both aforementioned films come absolutely nowhere near Gladiator.)
Again, a salute and a flying 10 to Gladiator. If you haven't seen it, do so as soon as possible.