A solid and epic blockbuster that still impresses us today.

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2019)

This film is set in the golden age of the Roman Empire, at the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the early years of Emperor Commodus. Maximus is a brilliant Roman general, the favorite of the old emperor, who wishes to restore the Roman Republic and sees in his successor a project of bloodthirsty tyrant. However, Commodus manages to kill his father and succeed him before he carries out his plans, becoming absolute lord of Rome and orders to kill Maximus and all his family. Trapped and sold into slavery, he becomes a gladiator and, thanks to his training and military experience, quickly becomes one of the best. Finally, he returns to Rome, eager to avenge the tyrannical emperor who stole his life and family.
Ok, this movie reminds me a lot of Ben Hur with all this story of revenge and injustice set in the Roman world, but let's talk first of what's good ... directed by Ridley Scott, has a good rhythm, no dead moments, and The director did a pretty good job. The script has an emotive story, with a coherent development that gives us strong and well developed characters. Russell Crowe did a good job and shines in the lead role in one of the films that shaped his career. Joaquin Phoenix also had one of the most remarkable films of his career here, giving his villain a "rich narcissistic spoiled rich boy" touch. Richard Harris made a good appearance in what would become one of his last film works. But the real good-bye to seventh art is Oliver Reed, giving life to Proximo, the head of the gladiator school. The prestigious actor passed away during the filming period. In the supporting cast, Djimon Hounsou and Connie Nielsen do a good job.
However, the movie is not flawless. The film takes advantage of the names of two Roman emperors who actually existed and succeeded one after another. This turned out to be a problem ... in fact the lives of these two emperors have nothing to do with what this movie shows, and the use of names and contexts raises serious questions about likelihood and historical rigor. There are also some problems of lack of logic and credibility. Regarding the work of the actors, I negatively highlight the bad dialogues of this film, with absolutely clichÃ© passages and excessive theatricality.
At the technical level, the film uses and abuses CGI, the state of the art at the time, to provide us with breathtaking scenarios that bring to our time the exaggerated glory and monumentality of Ancient Rome. It would be hard to do better than this. The deeply epic soundtrack accentuates this monumentality and has become one of the best-selling and most famous soundtracks in contemporary cinema, in all fairness. The special and sound effects highlighted the brutality of the fighting quite well, while the sets and costumes correspond well to what we might expect in an epic movie this season.
Unsurprisingly, and despite all the flaws, the film garnered five Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Costume, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects) at the 2001 ceremony.