Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Russell Crowe's Finest Hour
"Gladiator" has and will change Crowe's status as an actor... FOREVER. "Gladiator" is an epic tale up there with Mel Gibson's "Braveheart", Al Pacino's "Godfather" or Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator". A wonderful tale (as the preview/trailer states) of a General who became a slave, a slave who became a gladiator, and a gladiator who defied an emperor. This is a big budget action/drama with a cast of thousands. Accompanying Crowe's wonderful acting was Joaquin Phoenix (he should have won the Oscar best supporting actor) as Commodus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Oliver Reed (RIP) as Proximo, and Richard Harris (RIP) as the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Big sets and lots of help from today's computer technology. Director Ridley Scott spared no expense in making this movie. Disc 2 features commentaries, an HBO making of, deleted scenes, photo galleries, behind the scenes featurettes, and more. Plenty of blood sport and coliseum battle scenes, sword wielding and perils of the Roman/Greek times. * Warning - may not be suitable for youngsters.