Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 4.0
One of the few good films of the summer!
The critics lovd it, and almost everyone who went to see it at the movie theater i worked at did as well: even I enjoyed it! Gladiator was a film that actually took the heroic plot and turned it into a grand epic, that I would have to compare to my movie going experience when I saw "Titanic" in December of 1997. Russell Crowe plays Maximus Decimus Meridius, a Roman General, who is at the command of Marcus Aurillius, an aging Emperor. While Marcus's son (Joaquin Phoenix) is supposed to be the next ruler, Marcus wants Maximus to lead Rome to a new future. But upon hearing this news, Marcus's son Commodus destroys him, and proceeds to have Maximus killed as well as his wife and son. Maximus survives, but soon finds that he has been enslaved. Wanting revenge for this deed, he uses his skills as a general to make it all the way to the great Colliseum, where he befriend several other gladiators, and with their skills, they triumph in the face of the evil Commodus; but that's not the end of the story;) Mill films does a grand job for a European FX company in relaizing the Colliseum and shots of a city that no longer can be constructed in our world. The shots at times cut short and seem to be filmed on separate kinds of filmstock, but the cinematography is much better than what John Woo did on MI2. On a final note, there isn't as much blood and gore as most would think, but still, if you have children, I caution you to not let them watch this. Even though Maximus is a heroic general and all, be responsible with what your children view.