Boring, overrated piece of garbage

Rating: 1/10 (28 April 2001)

Boring, boring, boring!!! When this film won Oscar's best picture award, I finally realised that mindless Hollywood entertaiment is all that people want; which made me really sad. This film is no Oscar material at all - it's just another one of those no-brain Hollywood blockbuster action movies. Russell Crowe did nothing more than using his grunts to win his way to the Oscar statuette. Gosh, I even remember being bored to the death by this shallow galore. The colloseum sequences are dry, and Joaquin Phoenix was not threatening enough as a villain. The characters are as flat as cardboxes and as interesting to watch as looking at the thermometer going up. When Commodus said to Maximus (gee, Maximus; what an original name) that he ravished his wife repeatedly, it was a point that the audiences should feel anger. But, instead of me feeling angry towards the bad guy, I let loose with a big, gaping yawn.
The victory of Gladiator at the Oscars only shows the current, sorry state of American filmmaking. Pathetic movies disguised with coating candy, like American Pie, Road Trip, and that Tom Green movie. Ridley Scott should stick to making his Alien flicks. So if you want a boring pile of action trash that happens to win Oscars, which it can have Van Damme as it's main lead and it wouldn't matter anyway, go and see Gladiator.
(PS: a better alternative would be "Spartacus" which is a way, way better film - trust me on this)