Great acting; horrible soundtrack

Rating: 6/10 (17 July 2005)

Phoenix makes an especially good bad guy as emperor Commodus. He practically froths at the mouth from his box as gladiators butcher one another. As for Crowe: if you have any doubts about his acting ability, please see Romper Stomper (1993). His character in that movie, the charismatic but terrifyingly cold leader of a gang of skinheads, is the polar opposite of the one he plays here in Gladiator.
The soundtrack, insipid new age vocals, is so bad it nearly ruined the movie for me. What starts out embarrassingly anachronic, by climax just grates. Scott managed to get competent innovative sound out of Vangelis for Blade Runner, so what's up here?