Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
great historical film!
when i first saw this movie in theaters, i was dazzled. i knew it would capture the Best Picture award in the Oscars, and i was right! a winner of 5 Academy Awards in cluding Best Picture for 2000, Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" is truly a masterpiece.set in about 300 A.D., "Gladiator" tells the tale of Maximus (Russel Crowe), a victorious Roman geneneral returning from the battlefield to his peaceful, loving home. he is obviously very special and loved, because the sickly Emperor Marcus wants Maximus to be the next ruler of Rome.but trouble arises when Commodus, Marcus's evil son, murders his father, then blames Maximus. he sends soldiers to execute Maximus and orders his family killed. Maximus, being a skilled fighter, escapes his killers and flees to warn his young wife and son, but he is too late - Commodus' troops have horribly slayed them. Maximus weeps and blacks out.when he awakens he is a common slave. his master forces him to become a gladiator, but then we find out that his masters may not be the cruel man we take him to be. Maximus makes friends with the other gladiators and sets out on a personal quest to avange his murdered family. he doesn't mind if he dies, because he will be with them.with beautiful directing, acting, cinematography, special effects, and costume design, "Gladiator" is truly a winner in all respects - forever destined to become a classic.