Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 3.0
Good looking film but not much else.
The premise for Galdiator was supposed to be based on the gladiator fights in the Coliseum. Having done a report on the Coliseum, I was very exited about this movie. But it is a major disappointment. The movie is 2 hours and 35 minutes long but there are 15 minutes of battles or less. Most of the movie is a bunch of dialogue and more than half of it has no significance to the story. The special effects are OK but not spectacular. Some of the more ambitious shots look about as realistic as a CG cinema from a video game. I don't see how a lot of citics think it's one of the best movies ever made. It's not a perfect film. I seem to be the only one who agrees with Ebert who gave this film 2 stars out of 4. The only Acadamy Awards I would give this film are Best Actor for Russel Crowe, Best Director(the screenplay is not Ridley Scott's fault), art direction, and costume design. Gladiator will definitely be nominated for Best Picture but I hope it doesn't win. If it does, you'll know why the Acadamy Awards building will be on fire the next day.