I hate Ridley Scott, ....but I mean that in a nice way.

Rating: Null/10 (21 May 2000)

Warning, Spoilers ahead.
Gladiator might not be the greatest film ever, it might not even be the best this year but it is most certainly the best Hollywood hype film for years. While I was watching this I though of the other Ridley Scott film I had seen, Blade Runner, and the two share similarities. An incredible set design and background, the cities in this film look real, an unbeatable character who is beaten and an evil which must be destroyed. It is also clinical like Blade Runner, yet it had me in tears at the end. The similarities end here and I think Gladiator is a much better film because the supporting cast and the lead actors are allowed to flesh their roles out more. There are also many different moods going on here.
Gladiator is in many ways a tragedy, in the manner of Greek tragedy, where there is double crossing and death at every turn, only it is blasted on to the big screen and comes alive. The end reminds me of Hamlet a bit as well. Russell Crowe yet again shows he is a really good actor, and Oliver Reed had his best part in years, indeed as Proximo he has one of the best speeches in the film about what it is like to fight at the Coliseum, but this film is made in many ways by Ridley Scott and the little details he puts in in the huge crowd scenes, especially the ones at the Amphitheatres. Truly breathtaking in scope yet as very small, all Maximus wants to do is go home, if there has been a better huge budget film since Blade Runner, I don't think I've seen it.