All appearance, no substance

Rating: 3/10 (1 July 2000)

Weak script, mediocre acting but spectacular cinema. Ridley Scott has brought modern movie technology to the Roman Empire genre. The money shot is the recreation of the Coliseum with its awnings providing shade for the multitudes. We can thank the folks a Nova, the PBS science series, for funding the research that the recreation was based on. Too bad the rest of the movie could not live up to the quality of the Nova show which provided the inspiration.
Except for its connection to Nova, "Gladiator" is a very forgettable movie. My mind has already wander away from this dog of summer. What other movies are based on the Nova series? Well there's "Twister" and...