American allegory

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2000)

Even though the film is based on the same historical elements as an earlier film called THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, what we have here is an interesting allegory of the potential fall or rebirth of America.
The Roman eagle and the US eagle are obvious connections, but there are others dealing with political corruption, vicious athleticism, and ethical indifference. Unlike the earlier film, the ending here gives some hope for the future even though the historical Rome, in fact, only had about three centuries more to go before the ultimate fall due its own internal deterioration as well as the invasion of the Goths.
The FX here are well used to give us a sense of what ancient Rome looked like although some of the visuals show up clearly as fakes especially on a large screen where human beings are overly-dwarfed by CG images.
The cast is strong, and we are given a grand epic in the style of films such as BEN HUR -- but without Heston's stuffed-shirt performance. Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix in particular stand out as the two opposing forces, the conflict between whom will determine the future course of history.