Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 4.0
$10 says Jar Jar is in the missing scenes
Impressive movie with great acting by Russel Crowe and Joachim Phoenix as the tacit Roman General vs. the nutty emperor. There are plenty of fight scenes, some great mano a mano action and some beautiful shots of Rome that make you wonder if you are in the right movie as the grey scale hits big.The problem with this movie is that the greatly hyped special effects are used way too often. You almost expect Jar Jar to show up. And it seems particularly bloodless when a gladiator is cut in half, more than it would be if they used camera angles and visual trickery. Like other computer generated movies, this one leaves you with a headache at the end. So when Russell Crowe gasps "your son is safe", you don't have time to ponder exactly how safe is a kid whose a member of the Roman royal family where the average life span is 8.