Good but not great, in fact...

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2000)

.....the more I think about it, mediocre. After so many duff movies since Blade Runner I was sceptical that Scott had suddenly become the great auteur we once expected of him after the afore-mentioned android epic. And so it proved. The direction is frankly awful in the first half. As an executive once said of 'Heaven's Gate', there is scene after scene of beautiful images, but no film. Too adverty, too many filters and irritating slow-mo. Curiously for an epic, Scott shoots a lot of the film in close up which does not work. How did Crowe escape execution in the wood? Damned if I could work it out. The close up and fast cutting of the fight scenes proves disastrous too. Why do it? Because it's in vogue, so forget personal directorial vision. Ben Hur is years old but the fight scenes here pale in comparison.
Why did he choose to film the whole thing as if you are seeing Rome through light tinted sun glasses? Perhaps to create a disconcerting atmosphere of facism, but the overall effect is one of mental illness. Rome was sunny, that's why they managed to hold games for 120 days in a row. The constant squinting at sepia soon grows tiresome. The ending was moving but it's going to be if you cynically go for the film making by numbers approach. It's routine, push the buttons stuff. Why did he insist on having music playing in the background throughout most of the film? It's a comman complaint against documentaries at the moment and is distracting here as well. Just give us a sense of reality for a moment, please. The use of (I think) Holst's 'The Planets' is el naffo as well.
Classy actors are used as window dressing. Crowe is one note. Despite the hype, Oliver Reed is given little to do. It's not a dead loss, the strange atmosphere is compelling, but there's a sense that contemporary film makers have forgotten how to tell a story and could care less. Check out Spartacus as a reminder. Great performances, especially Olivier, and a cracking script too. For those who want to see a proper historical epic, see Tarkovsky's 'Andrei Rublev.' It's awesome.