Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 3.0
Overhyped, Overpraised & Over Nominated
Gladiator is a good movie. Got that? A good movie, not a great movie. Not even an excellent movie. Just a good movie. I saw it in the theatre and was disappointed because I was hoping for greatness and something special. Instead, I got an opening battle that was shot so murkily it was hard to follow the action (it IS much better & clearer on the DVD), and then a story that was by turns interesting (Crowe's journey) and boring (Phoenix's machinations and lust for his sister etc.). It shifted from good action sequences (although they were over edited to almost incomprehensibility on the big screen....again better on the DVD) to lifeless passages outside the arena. Russel Crowe, as usual, was very good. Joaquin Phoenix was a joke (and I don't give a damn if he was nominated for an Oscar). The story became more ridiculous as it went along...that an emperor of Rome would allow a man sworn to kill him to live for 10 minutes past discovering his identity was laughable. And wound up with this Hollywood clap-trap ending where all the Romans are going to join hands and march into the sunset and restore "The Republic". This is junk writing and popular hooey. So, I give it the good rating for action & production values and a good cast giving okay performances. But if this lightweight piece of nonsense wins a bunch of Academy Awards it will only be further proof that that august body of voters wouldn't know a real film with depth and integrity from a hole in the wall.