i think i liked it even more than braveheart, which is hard to say

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2000)

ok, in order to talk about this movie of course one gets embroiled in talking about braveheart. i really liked braveheart. it was the 1st good epic in a while. i own it. really, i liked it. however, here are some reasons i have, after much deliberation, decided gladiator is a better movie. there will be some SPOILERS probably. 1. mel gibson is a good actor. i liked him in braveheart and even more in lethal weapon. he has a unique ironical twist to his acting. but i think russell crowe is overall a superior performer. he is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, from what i've seen him in: l.a. confidential (awesome!!), the insider (didn't really like it but he was great), and now this(also some movie the name of which i don't know but i think bridget fonda was in it and it was about magicians). 2. better story. braveheart was very simplistic, which worked, but i thought there was a more substantial plot here. roman politics i personally find very interesting. 3. i could care less that it's historically inaccurate. anyone who thinks braveheart was accurate needs to brush up on some history. geez, robert the bruce was way more historically significant than wallace. 4. i thought the action was better. braveheart had great battle scenes but i thought gladiator's action scenes were more inventive and original. 5. phoenix was real good. some people will say he was too whiny but i thought that was what made it good. i don't know a lot of pathological villains but my gut tells me real bad guys probably have at their core real insecurity issues. a word about the 1st scene - SPOILER!! - i thought the shift to blurriness at the end was great, it was melodic and if they had just had just continued the fight as was there definitely would be even more braveheart comparisons. now, just to be objective, a few problems: 1. the ending. the whole thing with people crowding around him and someone saying "who will help me carry him?" was cheesy and out of place. 2. that part at the beginning where he's riding home threw me for a loop. i don't mind time elapsing quickly but it seemed disjointed. i mean, he rode really far, like across the whole freaking roman empire!! anyways, overall it was awesome. i genuinely think that if both braveheart and gladiator came out at the same time more people would like this, but it's hard to say a new movie is better than one you already love.