Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 2.0
Tiresome; It's a long way from Blade Runner
The movie formula is well known: hero taken from his place, his family mutilated, his land destroyed, he is flung into misery, he vows revenge, he endures several trials, he is the best warrior with incredible constitution, he fights back to the top, he wins the crowd, he is betrayed in his chance for an easy victory, he, nonetheless, overcomes the setback and kills the evil nemesis and saves the dignity of his people. Most obviously, this is Braveheart, but it is as well numorous other recent films, including borrowing the bizarre spirituality of Messanger. Did I mention that the movie was set in a dark, miserable time?Besides the tiring plot, the pretentious, silly, third person dialogue and myriad accents nearly draw laughter. Third person works for Shakespeare, particularly when the production doesn't try to produce accents. In this film, we have New York, Australian, California, English and Nordic accents. It is painful -- particularly in light of the fact that most of these areas were not known to the Roman empire.Still, the visuals are Scottian. And, that we expect from his great films and commercials. Still, it is not enough to remove this movie from its misery.Perhaps most troubling is the disclaimer at the end of the film stating to the effect that great care was taken to protect animals from harm. It does not, however, say that no animals were in fact harmed. That is truly sad considering that this film is no leap forward in art and that Tigers and Giraffes have their own problems in the wild. The horse scenes were brutal and, I suspect, it would be difficult to train any of these animals without some degree of abuse.Come to think of it, this movie is shameful and reprehensible.