Oscars aside...

Rating: Null/10 (17 July 2001)

I have heard debate over this film's Oscar-worthiness, and it may have not been the greatest film of the year. But disregarding that, it is a fine film, and one of those cases where you can't let all the hype fool you into thinking it's over-hyped. Great direction, cinematograpy, score, etc, etc. A friend of mine (also a teen) bashed it for its "MTV-style direction ," perhaps referring to the frantic pacing in the battle scenes and the surreal dream sequences. I didn't see those as flaws. I think that if there's one that that this film has more than anything, it's feeling. Pain, anger, sitting through the whole film wanting to see Commodus dead. And that final scene - I can't find the word to describe it, but it simply left me awestruck. Or something like that. I once thought that if this film had any flaws, it would be its title, which seemed simplistic and stupidly obvious, sort of like "Titanic." But I eventually realized that this film isn't just a film about a gladiator in Ancient Rome, and I think some people have yet to see that.