Brilliant but...

Rating: Null/10 (1 July 2000)

For me the best part of the movie was the beginning. The battle seen is the best, I have seen, of any movie. Past movies have depicted ancient battle scenes with clean soldiers, on unsullied battlefields and with uniforms that are just fresh from the dry-cleaner. This battle scene encapsulated to a degree never seen before what any battle must be like. But, in particular, it accurately depicts a Roman campaign with a battle weary/hardened Roman legion, dug in (like some unit, in the filthy trenches from the First World War) with their superior technology and training facing a barbarian horde. The battle itself was magnificent!
The rest of the movie was less plausible. I welcome any twist on historical fact (c.f. Shakespeare in Love) however this one lacked something. Maximus seemed to give in and accept his lot when "picked-up" by the gladiator owner. If my family had just been murdered I would made an attempt to escape and headed straight for my legion and then marched on Rome.
The scenes at the Coliseum and there on were lacking too. Comodus not just murdering Maximus on immediately hearing of his survival just doesn't seem right to me. The last ten minutes were the usual sentimentalist rubbish. The writers obviously couldn't agree on an ending.
However, all-in-all a good spectacle. I give it 8.