Lousy script saved by great pictures & actors

Rating: 3/10 (22 June 2000)

Although the great scenery, costumes, camera and actors are impressing, the film as a whole is not.
After having seen a good and wise, grey-haired caesar in the beginning, who wishes nothing but a fair government for his people, followed by a two-day's horseride from Germania to Spain, you can't take the plot serious anymore, so even the most tragic scenes become ridiculous.
Other highlights in braindead scriptwriting include a bunch of freshly enslaved gladiators-to-be, listening to a motivational speech by their owner instead of slicing him with one of the few dozen swords scattered about the scene and leaving the place.
For anyone who can switch off his brains in favour of some nice monumental action, the movie might still be worthwile. I didn't expect anything thelike from the man who directed Aliens or Thelma & Louise, though.