Great Roman Epic, Better On The Second Viewing

Rating: 7/10 (18 November 2014)

When a Roman general (Russell Crowe) is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son (Joaquin Phoenix), he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.
The music is very much like that for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, which should not be surprising given that both come from Hans Zimmer. Did he recycle the music here for "Pirates", or is it just a similar style? Hmm.
This is the film that really made Russell Crowe an international star, and helped him earn an Oscar (though it probably should have gone to Geoffrey Rush). This is also probably the best film from Ridley Scott since "Blade Runner". While on first viewing it may not seem like anything special, it really does present a great telling of Rome and its problems (fictionalized) and could have parallels to empires today.