Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 4.0
Why it deserved Best Picture
Gladiator has been called unworthy of the best picture Oscar is got by many critics. At one time I thought it was great but not Best Picture worthy as well. However now that I think about it, it deserved it. Okay the WWE like announcing of the Gladiators is silly like critic Roger Ebert made referrence to. He had other problems with the movie none were solid reasons not to like it. Here's all the reasons to like it. The cast is strong especially Russel Crowe in the lead, the direction is excellent, the story is well told and the battle scenes are fantastic. Okay the movie uses a lot of Special Effects for Rome when old movies like Ben-Hur were made impressively without such technology being available at the time. So what though, whether you think the visuals look good or not they don't hold the movie down and they aren't what make the movie so strong anyway.The movie is still one of the most entertaining movies you'll see and it's a shame that Roger Ebert sat down and picked it apart because there's nothing that makes it bad...at all. Ok some things might be un-accurate to the time period. Still though if you ignore such things and let the story and Russel Crowe's performance take hold of you I don't see how it's possible not to like it then. The supporting work by Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, the late great Oliver Reed and late great Richard Harris are all fine as well. My point is that despite minor flaws Gladiator is still a very good movie and deserved that Best Picture award!