2003-2004 will prove better, I hope

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2002)

A host of Roman related films such as Quo Vadis, Ben Hur, The Robe, Fall of the Roman Empire, etc. preceeded Gladiator. I enjoy Russell Crowe but felt his Oscar award should have waited for A Beautiful Mind...not Gladiator. Juaquin Phoenix was very nearly as good as Christopher Plummer's Commodus in Fall of the Roman Empire. I enjoyed watching the film for it's special effects and opening battle scene to see how closely Scott came to recreating a real battle. I looked at the costuming, weaponry, etc. and in all respects I think Ridley Scott did an outstanding job...I was convinced I was seeing Rome, Romans, and Roman battle.
But, the story itself paled in comparison to the wonderful effects! I felt in my heart the animosity, the loathing that came between Ben Hur and Messala. I did not get that kind of feeling with Maximus and Commodus. You cannot help but feel the agony of Ben Hur who, having defeated his mortal enemy, finds out from Messala's last words that the "race is not over". At the end of Gladiator, it's "who will help me carry a great Roman" and off we go.
I never quite understood why the other gladiators were so quick to die for Maximus. After all, he was there to kill them. (the charioteers from the Battle of Zama scene were gladiators also..at least that's how it would have historically been). I could not buy into Commodus's thinking on letting Maximus live. The real Commodus would not have hesitated, Maximus would have been executed on the spot when he revealed his face. I'm hoping that more classically developed stories of "real" characters will be well filmed when they show up in 2003-2004 ("Alexander the Great", "Troy" and "Hannibal"). I'd love to see Ridley Scott-style special effects in all these but...with story lines that I can really feel in my gut.