A refreshing new tale of an old story...

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2000)

After a successful campaign against the barbarians in northern Germania, General Maximus' only wish is to return home to his wife and son, back in his native Spain. However, a dying Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, asks him as a final favor to take control of Rome upon his death and help reinstate the Republic. Reluctantly, he agrees but the emperor's son, Commodus, did not and murders his own father after hearing the news. Maximus suspects that Marcus Aurelius has been murdered and is not quiet about it. Fearing unsubordination, Commodus orders his execution as well as his family's. He manages to escape, but not before they got to his wife and son. His poor physical and emotional conditions made him an easy capture for a nomadic gang, which sells him in Morocco as a slave. He's trained as a gladiator and becomes somewhat of a local celebrity. His life becomes meaningful again when the opportunity arises to travel to Rome for the Gladiator Games and stand in front of Commodus in the Colisseum...