The Fall of Rome (in movies)

Rating: 4/10 (16 May 2000)

Too bad...I was hoping for a revival of Roman Gladiator Greats.
Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" is not all that it's cracked up to be. Although most of the action sequences are astounding, the dialogue is so awful that each time a character says something it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. How many times did someone say "I will have my vengance!"? 5 times, by my count. Gladiator has lots of scenes devoted to character depth, but no real person would talk in as many cliches as these people do.
Another Gripe: The movie is much longer than it needs to be. If the last hour (of its 155 minute running time) was to be cut off, absolutely none of the plot would change! The plot is supposed to thicken in the last hour, but that never happens because every interesting scenes which surfaces is shot down by cheesy dialogue; every scene which starts promisingly falls flat on its face. I suggest cutting out 50 of the last 60 minutes and putting the ending in sooner.
A few highlights: The fighting scenes in the ring truly are amazingly staged, if over-gory, and the opening battle is a delight. Finally, Russell Crowe does try hard to rise above the script, and his performance would have been memorable if he had some actual material to explore.
I say "Gladiator" is only for those of you with three hours and eight bucks to burn. Otherwise, go rent Ben-Hur, even though you need four (well-spent) hours for that one. Grade: C-