some errors in the film.

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2001)

Warning: some spoilers ahead!
My personal impression of this film is that it is a good film, but I wouldn't have given it so many oscars as it got(my choice there would have been the Ang Lee film instead). Let me explain. The movie is set in a very realistic roman environment and its clear that the makers of this movies intention was to make it feel as a genuine part of roman history. I don't think the movie quite succeeds on this point. If you look below the surface the typical American stereotypes are even so present. Like for example when Maximus says "Bring em hell on my command". Its really ludicrous that such a line is in this move. Its just like something that Sylverster Stalone, Bruce Willis or some other American macho-hero would say. Lines like that fit in their particular genre but here its really silly and I am not even sure that the concept of "hell" was invented at the time the story takes place.
Its really hard to pin down the exact details where the sterotypes shine through but they are present. Instead of being pictured as a person with many sides the emperor is pictured as an althrough evil person. Just like the standard "badguy" in any standard hollywood action movie. When the emperor cheats by stabbing Maximus with a dagger we are supposed to get the impression that the people view this as a very injust thing to do. I'm not so very sure that the morale of that time really worked that way. Why would the people care about a gladiator? And why would an emperor fight a duel with a slave? That seems just like something an American macho-emperor would do, nothing for a civilized roman if you see my point. Anyway too much of the American culture shows through in this movie in subtile ways. This makes the movie less interesting than it could have been. I guess the American audience will never notice this and maybe thats why it got so many oscars. To me it was entertaining to see once but nothing more than the fantastic scenography and some music in it is worth remembering. All in all it adds up to grade 7 in my opinion.