Crowe, Scott shine in mesmerizing epic of revenge

Rating: Null/10 (30 April 2000)

By far the best movie of this year and best action-packed epic since Braveheart, Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" shines from the start to finish. In fact, this movie is so mesmerizing that it's worth the price of admission to just go and look at the beautiful images. Gladiator, however, also features excellent performances (especially Crowe), a great script, and action-packed, fast-paced battle sequences. These battle scenes are very exciting including an opening Saving Private Ryan-esqe style forest battle and several unique gladiator fights. Yet, the movie's success goes to 2 people: Russell Crowe, who will probably be nominated again for an oscar, as the tough, rough, and seriously ticked off general/gladiator Maximus and Ridley Scott, who returns to great form after average movies like GI Jane. So see this movie when it comes out, as it deserves to be seen at least once on the Big Screen.