People are so cynical these days

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2000)

I've read many comments and thoughts on the film Gladiator (not just what's written below) and it's come to my attention that this amazing piece of film-making is going to be one of those movies people love, hate or are non-plussed about.
I've seen many people who have commented on the historical accuracy of the film. Well, no offence, but I'm not a student in history and I don't really care about details. I can't speak latin and I didn't want to go and see a movie that was subtitled for the apparantly less intelligent or observant viewer. Also, no matter what archaeology tells us or what history books inform us of, the actual look and design of the film was still speculative, based as it is on a culture two thousand years ago. They were trying to tell a story, not go back in time, and I think what they presented on screen was more than enough.
A reviewer I saw on TV recently wanted to know 'why has Hollywood taken a thirty year step back to make such plotless films?' So, the golden age of cinema is dead, then, yes? All Hollywood churns out is putrid re-hashes of old ideas and that's it, yes? And as for no plot, I really don't think the film can be accused of that. It sets itself up nicely and travels through to an excellent and deserved conclusion. No passion? No heroism? If you cannot see that on the screen then the cynic in you is obviously your strongest trait.
My own personal view is this - Gladiator stirred something in me that I have not felt in a long time. It dealt with personal pain and revenge and did not get fouled up by modern-day values and twenty-first century political correctness. It even portrayed the Roman Empire as the preferrable alternative to the barbarians throughout the known world, even showed their belief system and that it actually worked for them. In short, Gladiator was an honest film that simply laid out the details and told you how it was.
I loved it for everything it was and everything it gave to me. Many people's views I have read have basically enlarged a single aspect of the film they didn't like. People are so cynical these days.