Ridley Scott is back...!!!

Rating: Null/10 (13 May 2000)

After a few sleeper hits and a few bombs (speaking from a box office point of view) Ridley Scott is well back on form with Gladiator. This is not, as some people might think, a no brain action flick. It actually has a story and the gladiator fights, which are superbly done by the way, don't play as big a part in the movie as you might think. All of Scotts visual flare is still very much apparant and adds some great atmosphere to the movie as do the CGI panoramas of the cities of Rome. The opening battle is breathtaking and actually shows what it's like in the roman trenches as it were, before a battle. Something you don't often see in a roman type movie. All the acting is brilliant especially Russel Crowe who deserves to go places and of course Oliver Reed and although he died during filming you really can't see the join were they filled in with computer graphics.
The musical score is also excellent and very emotive. Running a 150 minutes this movie asks a lot of your time but you wont be dissapointed.