Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
A good solid story, not just flash and dash
Not being a fan of overly violent movies I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this film. There is an excellent story line here.However, I will caution you, I left prior to some of the easily anticipated violent scenes. I just can't take the gore. I really can't say how bad some scenes were.The movie is about Russell Crowe's main character Maximus who gets majorly shafted after many years of good service to the Roman empire. He resurfaces after being thought dead to right some wrongs. I'd rather not say why or how as this may ruin the story for you, however, Russell Crowe was a perfect pick for this role. He does a wonderful job. Having first seen him in "The Insider" I did not know he was an actor who had many action films under his belt. His range is amazing.The rest of the cast is equally impressiveJoaquin Pheonix oozes psychotic behavior in his role as Commodus son of Caesar Marcus Aurelius, another perfect pick.Richard Harris was an excellent pick to play the role of Marcus Aurelius and plays the wise leader with great finesse.Connie Nielsen plays Lucilla sister to the evil Commodus and displays the careful demeanor of one who is under the power of a maniac.Oliver Reed is Proximo the "owner" of the Gladiators and brings his exuberance last seen in the Three Musketeers to his final role. He is a former Gladiator and longs for the "old" days when that meant something.The set design and special effects were wonderfully done. You can see the horror of war and the spectacle of the arena.I can see why this film was so well applauded when it first came out.