Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Simply amazing in scale and story telling!
Gladiator has to be the best sandal and sword epic ever made! To be serious it doesn't have a single drop of camp in it! Unlike Ben-Hur or Spartacus-even though Gladiator is a send up of those past Hollywood mega productions the main difference is Russell Crowe his raw energy and stocky apperance lend a natural flow to the believability of the film. The dialouge will soon go down in pop culture history Just listen to any ranting speech that Joaquin Phoneix's character gives in the film. The direction by Scott is breathtaking i have never been a fan of his due to the fact in almost all Scott's movies outside of Thelma and Louise all the characters seem under developed and the main attraction is the violence but here there is a brilliant balance! Scott still treats the fight scenes as cold and haarsh as ever giving them a rev of heart pulsing urgency! But thanks to great acting by the ENTIRE cast never once is the fighting or personal strife unnatural. The cinematography is also great. Alot of critics dismiss Gladiator as summer fluff but it's more than that for all of the above mentioned reason and one that every critic wants to forget- IT WON BEST PICTURE AT THIS YEARS ACADEMY AWARDS!! AND RIGHTFULLY SO!!