Wonderful Crowe combined with amazing action

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2000)

Russell Crowe has a definite presence on the big screen and he makes Gladiator his own as Maximus, a general in ancient Rome. Beginning with an impressively staged battle in Germany, Crowe embodies this warrior with his whole being. The favorite of Richard Harris' Caesar to take over Rome, Crowe refuses, and ends up as a slave whose only existence is to fight in the arenas, where most of the warriors die very young deaths. Maximus sees this as his chance to redeem himself.
Besides Crowe's terrific performance, Harris and the late Oliver Reed, as Profumo, Maximus' master, deliver wonderful performances.
The special effects are amazing as well, from the battle and action sequences, to the renderings of the Colosseum and ancient Rome. Gladiator is a top-notch action film, and one that signals Russell Crowe as a major star on the rise.