Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 4.0
Hollywood Gets It Right (and History Wrong)
Gladiator seems to be Hollywood's revenge of the small, more literary and intellectual movies which have garnered praise over the years (Miramax, anyone). It's a big-budget, no-holds-barred action thriller which delivers the action and the quality that makes it a much better production that alot of what has come out of the mill over the years. This is a well-made and well-acted movie- history is turned upside down (the emperor does survive his sister's palace coup in reality) but then again what's new in these kinds of movies. As far as the genre goes, Gladiator is a cut above the rest- and the cinematography is spectacular. The feel and the plot are vintage Roman epic but the visual production is unmistakeably modern-day. Gladiator is alot of fun and is great entertainment, however, i'm still baffled as to why this got the Best Picture Oscar and Quills wasn't even among the nominees. Also, Joaquin Phoenix did a much better job than Russell Crowe- who himself didn't act shabbily.