Great movie! Haven't seen a true "epic" in a while.

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2000)

When I first saw the previews for this movie, I thought someone had colorized a Richard Burton film. Then, of course, I realized that I was looking at Russell Crowe in a Ridley Scott movie, and I was even more intrigued. After seeing it last night, I have to say I was not disappointed in the least; all the performances were top-notch (I always love watching Oliver Reed in anything, and Richard Harris is as good as ever), the use of special effects was very efffective, and the battle scenes were realistic enough to make me wince but not so over-the-top that it felt cartoonish.
And Mr. Crowe was, to put it succinctly, understated perfection. I was a little worried about scenery-chewing (and, in an almost-three-hour movie, that gets old really fast!), but his Maximus was the epitome of soldierly restraint. And, let's face it, he looks great in a tunic. Joaquin Phoenix, as the young emperor Commodus, was appropriately dramatic and miserable.
What I realized most after seeing this movie was how nice it is to see a film about a truly noble individual, someone you'd like to try to emulate (in nobility, not perhaps in career choice), and how rarely one gets to see those sorts of characters in today's world. It's also refreshing to see an unromanticized version of Roman history; it wasn't pleasant to live in those times, no matter who you were, and the film captures the uneasiness of the time quite well.
I'm rating it a nine out of ten just because it could have been edited a little better (this did not need to be 2 hours and 45 minutes long!), but, truthfully, I was surprised to look at my watch and see that 2 hours had passed. It goes by very quickly. Go see it! You won't be disappointed.