Just OK. (warning mild spoiler)

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2000)

As a fan of Ridley Scott's previous movies "Alien" and "Blade Runner" I awaited "Gladiator" with great anticipation. I really wanted to like this movie, but was sorely disappointed for several reasons.
Firstly, the Gladitorial battle sequences are all fairly short lasting maybe a minute or two at the most. They are shot in such a fragmented, jerky and close up way that often it's very difficult to make out what exactly is going on. I hate to say this, but Ridley needs to take a few lessons from Mel Gibson on how to shoot a battle sequence. The look Scott uses here just doesn't work. Really, the only battle sequence that I enjoyed watching was the Chariot one and that did give me goosebumps, it was so good. Unfortunately, that does not make the movie.
The rest of the movie contains political intrigue which is quite mediocre.

A little too much here is similar to "Braveheart". Against great odds, Our hero wishes to avenge the death of loved ones. He carries a symbolic token of his wife and son. He dies in the end.
All in all this is a decent movie, but not as great as all the reviews are saying. This goes in the wait until it's out on video category. Sorry, it wouldn't have taken much to make me like this movie, but it just doesn't follow through.