I thought this would be just a blood fest, but I was wrong.

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 2007)

For the last seven years, I heard many people rave about Gladiator. I put off viewing the movie, because I thought it would be just another gore fest. I was wrong. This movie has a great plot and great heart to it. It doesn't sugar coat life in ancient Rome. Rome an assume civilization, but it also was one of great brutality. Life was very hard. Russell Crowe was excellent as a hero who was pure of heart. He could fight and defeat the best of them, but he never did it out of sadism. His character, a Roman general, was a bit naive actually, and believed in "good intentions". Unfortunately, he is up against the amoral son of the Roman Emperor (Richard Harris), who is all into macho-ism, but never has really been on a battle field or in the gladiator ring. That makes the son (Joaquim Phoenix) filled with spite, fear, resentment, jealously and hate for all that the Gladiator-General (Crowe) represents. The hero is all about bravery and valor, but not out about playing politician and hurting people out of spite like the Emperor's son was. I really liked this movie a lot. It was very well acted, very well filmed, very realistic, and also portrayed how hard and brutal life was in the Roman Empire. It was also Oliver Reed's last role. He plays an Arab or African owner-leader of the "Gladiators". He can be brutal and ruthless, but develops a heart when he sees that the hero is really standing up for the "common man", and not just a "coward".