Too Long And Not Very Good

Rating: 2/10 (3 March 2001)

In German there is a good expression for movies such as Gladiator (G): "Historienfilm" -- it means that it is a movie which has a historic backdrop, but is not a movie ABOUT history. What worries me is that many people will think that G is realistic, that the historic context of it or even the entire story are accurate, which is not the case.
I found the movie definitely too long -- it would be much better if it had been cut by 45 or 60 minutes. The story line was too pompous, without much suspense, and ordinary. The "look and feel" (camerawork, lighting, sound track, decoration, casting, etc.) is high quality, though too glossy and commercial - like for my taste. As for believability -- oh well. Maybe seen from America ancient Germany is just a quick horse ride away from Rome and right next to a gladiator training center in the middle of the desert, but trust me -- it is not. And I do understand that there has to be a bad guy, but did it have to be a hare - lipped, father - killing, sister - fancying, paedophile dictator? And did the good guy have to be such a sickly - sweet mixture of George Washington, Rambo and Walt Whitman? And -- on a slightly jingoistic note -- if the ancient Germans were such club - swinging barbarians ("hunh? cavalry attack from back, that no fair"), how come the Romans never did capture the territory?
Conclusion: if the movie had been shortened, I would have found it OK to watch on the small screen (rental or free TV). As it is, I did not like it. And I find it depressing that such a great director as Ridley Scott seems to have dedicated himself to producing glossy, mind numbing garbage.