Gladiator as good history and a good movie

Rating: Null/10 (5 April 2001)

I enjoyed Gladiator both as history and as a movie. The real Commodus was murdered in the Arena by a gladiator. Commodus liked to impress the populace by fighting in the Arena but the last time the plotters got to his opponent. Earlier on, his sister had plotted with Senators against him, although he won. As for the detail in the movie, I liked the attention to detail even in military uniforms. As for Russ, he was wonderful, as brooding as anyone who had seen their family murdered. As for the Emperor, the real Commodus was a nasty piece of work. Of course many of the real Emperors were psychotic - Nero, Caligula, etc.
The sound track is wonderful, I really enjoyed Hans Zimmer's soundtrack documentary on the DVD version of Gladiator. To hear his intentions with the music and then re-visit the film has added to my appreciation.
As for comparisons with "Crouching Tiger" or the self-styled cinema experts - we differ in our opinions. "The Heart of Rome is not the floor of the Senate but the sand of the Colosseum" (one of many realistic and memorable lines).
I think the Academy did well in recognising both the movie and Russell's work. I regret Ridley Scott missed out as best Director, it was not an easy shoot but he gave us a wonderful cinema experience. Thank you, Ridley. As a Roman history buff, I look forward to playing my DVD of Gladiator again and again. A wonderful re-telling of the classic story of a person battling for family and personal integrity/honour against the all the odds.