Not as good as SPARTACUS or BEN HUR.

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2001)

I was disappointed by this film. At times I thought I was watching one of those Italian Hercules Steve Reeves films from 60's (the ones that say FINE at the end, but they really weren't that good ;). At other times I thought I was watching BRAVEHEART MEETS THE PATRIOT MEETS SPARTACUS. I was never really drawn in to the Russell Crowe character, in fact, I felt more sympathy for Comodius than Maximus.
While the slashing and chopping is entertaining in a sort of WCW way, it seemed contrived and obligatory. As a history lesson it ranks right next to MONTY PYTHON'S SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL.
If I had a choice between films along similar lines like SPARTACUS, BEN HUR, or GLADIATOR, I would definitely see one of the earlier films and skip GLADIATOR.