Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 3.0
Gladitsover!
This movie was a surprising disappointment. The acting was superb. Russell Crowe did a fabulous job portraying the main character, Maximus, and all the supporting actors were absolutely fabulous. The plot was somewhat captivating and easy to follow. However, it seemed to be on the same gore level as Braveheart (but, then again, what can you expect? Ancient Romans had a pretty sick sense of entertainment. I mean, who likes to watch people die gruesome deaths?). Though the actors and writers did an above average job, the directing could have been done better by a junior-high student. The camera was constantly switching positions, and except for a few longer speeches, mostly made by Maximus, the camera never stayed in the same position for more than five seconds. Secondly, throughout the movie, the director always goes to this overly-symbolic, confusing, unmentioned, unimportant scene with Maximus running his hand through a field (what is that supposed to signify?). Though this movie was fairly entertaining (mostly because of Russell Crowe), this is not an Oscar-calibar film.