For your eyes only

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2000)

I expected something stunning from from this film, and it delivered. Ridley Scott has gone off the deep end at last. He isn't even movie director anymore, in the way people normally think of movie directors. He's an artist who makes things that look good when you project them on a screen -- especially a BIG screen.
"Gladiator" has a plot of sorts, some good acting, a decent script. But Scott just had to throw those in to get the money. What he did with it was create an icy blue forest, decadent Roman tents lit by fire, an idyllic Spanish farm, and a rendering of Rome in gold and charcoal gray. There is not one "straight" shot in the film. There are filters from beginning to end. He clearly spent more time dreaming up colors than plot twists -- and it paid off. Lots of great shots add to the beauty, plus jolting edits, fast motion, and slow motion. But Ridley Scott didn't just make his own Rome on a computer because he couldn't film the real one, anymore than Whistler painted his mother because he didn't have a camera handy.
Don't wait for video, take it all in on the big screen!