Hardly original, but terrific entertainment

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2000)

"Gladiator" is not an original film. There's tons of comparisons to "Braveheart" floating around, but there's dozens of movies that came before, and dozens more will come that have this same basic story. Sympathetic powerful man is wronged by those around him, loses everything, comes back to attempt vengeance against the forces that destroyed him. Frankly, there's much better comparisons than "Braveheart". "High Plains Drifter", "Rob Roy", even films like "Payback" just to name a few of many.
But this is unimportant. A film like "Gladiator" is not about originality. It's about sweeping vision, high production value, and engrossing entertainment. And "Gladiator" achieves all this extremely well. You'll hardly believe 2 1/2 hours have gone by when you reach the end of this film. The portrayal of ancient Rome is exciting and believable, the story is predictable yet gratifying, and the directing is interesting without being distracting. I particularly enjoyed the rapid cutting of fight scenes, which Ridley Scott has managed to make both exciting and excruciating without showing excessive gore, and without highlighting fake swordplay.
While I think the cries of "Oscar!" only serve to illustrate how haphazardly Oscars are handed out, the performances are very good. Joaquin Phoenix is particularly effective as the despicable, creepy, yet pitiful Commodus. Russell Crowe is an excellent fit for our grimy hero, and Connie Nielsen lights up the screen with her refined beauty and presence.
Ridley Scott has demonstrated his slick professionalism as a director in a way that has not been seen since "Blade Runner". "Gladiator" is a big movie, and it deserves to be seen on a big screen. Go to the theater before it's too late, there hasn't been a movie as deserving of a big screen and big sound since "Titanic".
I rated this movie 9/10.