Great Special Effects = Not-So-Great Script

Rating: 6/10 (1 February 2001)

The opening sequence is worth the price of admission alone. As a student of Latin History, the CGI quality beats any drawn representation of Ancient Rome, and the Coliseum never looked better. (But why does every CGI landscape artist opt to include a flock of airborne birds? They never look right and almost always distract from the focus of the shot.) Visually, the production team earned their credits and I give them kudos for their costumes, props, and above all, the true-to-life gladiator battles.
But all that doesn't make up for the cheese-eater of an ending. Director Ridley Scott has created a legacy of amazing films, most of which are science fiction-based, and maybe that's where Gladiator should be categorized. The script is fairly solid except for one MASSIVE flaw.
* SPOILER ALERT *
For wanting to create a visually stunning, seat-gripping historical action film, why absolutely discredit the validity of the entire piece by having the most important person in Rome (at any given time) killed in the way chosen. NEVER in the history of Ancient Rome could such a plot occur. To have us believe an emperor of Rome would enter the arena, under any circumstance other than to award the victor, boggles the mind. The film which was great-up-to-now totally unravels at this moment.
Post-viewing, three simple alternatives came to mind. One, keep the scope from being so grandiose. Rather, use another general or a politician as the antagonist. At least blur the historical lines by using a lesser-known Emperor, not Marcus Aurelius. Hey, it worked for Caligula. Two, design the story more akin to David Lynch's Dune. The similarities are abundantly present, but maybe that's what opted Scott's direction. Three, and this is my favorite idea, let the hero die WITHOUT "saving the day". After all, the most popular form of theater in Ancient Rome was tragedy.
I rated Gladiator at 6. It deserves watching, but has problems too severe to ignore. It begins with heart-pounding action and political intrigue, but ends as heroic-tripe. I'd rather watch The Fall of the Roman Empire.