don't deserve the credit it got.

Rating: 5/10 (19 August 2005)

When I saw the movie in the theater for the first time I said it was OK. Not a great movie but worth seeing. Of course this is mainly for the battles that are amazing. And the score to the movie is fair enough. But I had a feeling that there is something wrong with this movie. It seemed that this is a replica of Braveheart. Only in Braveheart I got emotional without wanting it and in Gladiator I wanted to but I couldn't, It just wasn't so.
The next time I saw it on DVD I noticed that each time I waited for the fights, because everything else is dumb. The plot unveils in turtle pace, the dialogs are over dramatic, it just like all the characters will burst with tears in minute after they say something. The most annoying thing is the plot itself. The characters look very unrealistic and unconvincing, a lot of time is wasted on unnecessary talk and the end can be predicted from the beginning.
Well, a little bit of history for the end. There was an Emperor Marcus Aurelius that was considered as a "good" emperor, that ended the era of "the five good emperors". His son that succeeded him was Commodus ( just like in the movie ), but he's not killed his father. Marcus Aurelius died from a disease. Commodus himself was an excellent fighter. He fought with his father in the north, and after he became an emperor he tested himself each time in the coliseum arena with the gladiators and the beasts, and won each and every battle. Commodus killed by an athlete called Narcissus in his bath. Commodus considered himself a god and wanted people to think of him the same which can be viewed as insanity but for sure he wasn't weak and Coward as he was portrayed in the movie. He also ruled for 12 years, something that the movie doesn't count for.
One commercial movie for Ridley Scott, but definitely one of the dumbest he made ( there is always G.I.Jane for this title ). Go see Alexander. Much closer to history, much better movie.