Well done movie, for action fans.

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2000)

The movie is straight forward without the usual fanfare. Action fans will enjoy the fight scenes. Interesting items relating to the movie were that after 100 movies and 1000 books on the Caesars and Rome depicting the Pretorian Guard with their cloaks and helmet plumes colored red, this movie dresses them in black.It also appears that the choreographer of the battle scene, at the start of the movie, is the same person who did the battle scenes for Braveheart or at least copied the approach. The other note of comparison is that Commodus did not have the strength of power to have Maximus killed for his defiance in the arena whereas Caligula would have certainly ignored the people's demand for life. The movie does depict the power struggle within the Senate and the harsh brutality of the Roman Arena. As an action movie fan, I found the movie very enjoyable.