Maybe it's the genre, but this movie was awful

Rating: 3/10 (4 May 2000)

I thought the film was atrocious. Part of this was the mob
mentality that pervaded the college theatre where I saw it, with
hordes of frat boys cheering and applauding at the goriest
scenes. Do they not realize they are just like the Romans in
this sense? I couldn't believe some of the dialogue that was
allowed to come out of characters' mouths. Some of the special
effects were interesting, particularly the construction of the
Coliseum, but the sped-up look of the scenes was extremely
irritating. This film just seemed thoughtless and predictable,
while not particularly entertaining or insightful. Definitely
not worth 2 1/2 hours or $8 for the price of ad