What film making is all about! Let the summer sweeps begin!

Rating: 10/10 (10 May 2000)

I love the summer season for movies. Some of the best films have been released in the summer. Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Rambo, Jaws, films that pack a punch. Films that are high on octane and short on melodramatic self importance like the Virgin Suicides. Chalk Gladiator up as one of the great summer films that has been thrust upon us. This film has it all, action, gore, bravado, amazing battle sequences, wonderful choreography and a rising star.
Russell Crowe has played his share of different roles but it is this one that is probably going to make him a household name. Here he is buffed and muscular and visibly toned down from Oscar nominated role in The Insider.
To review this film is really pointless. To criticize it is even more useless. If you go into this film the way many sometimes over rated-self important critics do and expect another Spartacus, is just plain stupid. Spartacus is a movie unto itself. I don't think Gladiator wants to be Spartacus, I think it just wants to entertain. And guess what? It does that with flare. There is enough action in here to please those of us that are from the Raiders of the Lost Ark school. And dare I say it, but this film is better than Braveheart. I can honestly say that my heart was pounding the entire time I was sitting in the theater. Some of the battle scenes were what I would consider some of the best ever filmed. I have to say that the opening battle was not my favourite as Scott opted for way too many close ups where he should have let the action speak for itself. But that is the only complaint. Every battle was epic, every attempted mutiny was thrilling and every sneering, wining, sniveling sound that Joaquin Phoenix uttered made me want to get in the ring with him. I can't believe this is the same guy that was masturbating a lot in Parenthood. What a resume he has for himself.
Gladiator is the first real summer blockbuster in this young season. And judging by the audience reaction to it and judging by how good it is, it should go on to be one of the big guns from this summer. I think at this point we are all tired of all the utter excretement that has been forced down our throats so far in this year, we are ready for a film like Gladiator. This is a film that is worth seeing two or three times. It is that good and that much fun.
Again, it is useless to tell you what is good or bad about the film. If you like action and violence and men beating each other until death, and ancient battles and names like Caesar and Rome and shades of Hamlet and such, and if you like to watch men get attacked by tigers and slice other people's bellies open and chop off heads and other parts of the body, then this is the film for you. If that sounds rather barbaric and disgusting, well, there is always copies of Remains of the Day and Endless Love at the video store.
9.5 out of 10