..the whole movie was wonderful..

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2006)

I absolutely agree with every favorable comment written here. I can find no fault with David Frazoni's story nor Ridley Scott's direction. The cinematography was amazing and colorful; I did not find the CGIs to be intrusive. That the entire production involved so many thousands of people is a testament to filmmakers' ability to produce beautiful, thoroughly enjoyable movies, eve today. "The Gladiator" serves them all up in a gorgeous heap.
Mention "gladiator" and "Rome" and a whole plot comes to mind, but this one certainly combines the necessity of bloodshed, gentility and nobility with action in one grand epic. It is sufficiently historically accurate, but it really IS the story which is the "star" in this film. Although all of them gave magnificent performances, it isn't necessary to list all of the cast here. I've read eleven pages of the huge total; I'm sure other readers will read some of them, too. It is, however, irreverent not to praise "bad-boy" Russell Crowe doing his act here so eloquently, with principled reverence. Truly, Bravo! Mr. Crowe. AND - an early exposure to Djimon Hounsu in a good role.
With the polyglot that Rome was, one should not be surprised to find a contradiction to "chris_j_albanese", who says (I think) there was no homosexuality in "The Gladiator". "Chris" must have missed the scene when Roman guards come to the senator's home to drag him off to jail, with the senator shoo-ing his "painted" companion away.....
When I tried to re-wind my VHS-cassette - a home-made gift from a friend - it wouldn't. Therefore, I'll be buying the wonderful DVD in the near future, so that I can continue to put-in a lot of time watching this movie, just as I've been doing for about four years. I consider it to be the best of this genre. It must sound rather like a broken record, but I thank every technician who did anything to bring this gem to the screen. It's good for every emotion - an easy 30....