The movie that puts back History on your radar

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2003)

Can you still make a great period movie, which is commercially viable too in these days? Apparently you can, as Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe prove with this magnum opus.
What strikes you most about "Gladiator" are not the dazzling sets and costumes - though they contribute to the effect too. Where "Gladiator" delivers is in the area of raw human emotions we are so familiar with.
As somebody said, switching to the other mind-set is half the fun, and Gladiator takes you right to the midst of Romans' politics, their passions, their dreams and their weaknesses.
After Ben-Hur, I feel this is the best period movie to have ever emerged from Hollywood.
-Murali Chari