Gladiator

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Epic Event
Review: This is not just a movie, it's an event! Russell Crowe shines as the tough, yet tender title character. The cinematography is gorgeous and the music is fitting and regal. The story is full of action and thoroughly entertaining. I hardly noticed that I had spent over two and a half hours in the theatre.

Joaquin Phoenix gives a fine performance as well, as the evil, cowardly, whining Emperor who literally steals his seat on the throne. You can not help but have distaste for the character.

This is sure to become a major blockbuster and might just put Russell Crowe way up on the A list of actors where he belongs.

Rating:
Summary: Really good, but...
Review: The movie is clearly a 3 act play.

First, it starts with an amazing battle scene, supposedly in Germania. Ridley Scott seems to have studied at length "Saving Private Ryan". The battle is confused, the screen is blurred, you're not too sure whether that guy in the background is a barbarian or a Roman, and so on... Overall, a nice scene. The preparation for the battle and the scenes following the battle are also great contrasts...

The second part of the movie is when Russel Crowe has been sold as a slave and is a gladiator. Those were the most interesting scenes to me. The gladiator's psychology (has lost everything, lives for the glory of the circus, etc) is rather fascinating. It's also interesting to see the diversity of the Roman empire.

The third part is when things start disintegrating. R. Scott did an amazing job of re-creating Rome & the circus - and doesn't leverage it at all. There's nearly nothing to show what was really the life of the average Roman, etc. In addition, the story looses a lot of credibility there. And cliches are numerous (we don't need to see the bread distribution - we got the Bread & Games idea, thanks.)

Overall, 2 great parts in a 3 parts story; Russel Crowe is perfectly at ease in his role but lacks depth because he's so taciturn; GREAT combat scenes, esp. in the circus. The third part is not what it could have been: the story is really weak there and the images lack grandeur... Note that the movie is violent (with such a subject...) but not gratuitously so.

Rating:
Summary: The best combats scenes for today...
Review: If you are patient enough to survive many long and bad dialogs you can really enjoy beautiful battle scenes and some of a landscape... The story as a drama is very poor as well as a parallel to the real historic names and events. The performance is mediocre.

Rating:
Summary: An Epic
Review: True, this is your traditional good vs. evil movie were the hero and the villian fight at the end. And now that I think about it, there wasn't any surprise twists, nothing ground breaking story-wise, so why did I give it five stars then? Well, a story doesn't have to drive a movie, look at "Titanic", you can't tell me you didn't know how that was gonna end. The story itself, whether it's in the future or during Roman times, has always been a classic, effectively redundant, and gets the job done. This time it centers around our hero Maximus (played brilliantly by Russell Crowe), halfway through the film he goes from a knight that's respected and loved by his soldiers to a slave and tries to gain his freedom. It's, as I've said before, effectively redundant. So why the five stars? The acting! Russell Crowe has always put other actors to shame with his talent, here it's no different. He's one of the best actors ever, one day he'll be mentioned with Al Pacino, he needs more respect, there's a reason why he's my favorite actor. Joaquin Phoenix is also breathtaking, he always get's the supporting roles and outshines the lead actor, this time he's just as good as Russell Crowe. Joaquin plays the villian Commodus, a real sick puppy who looks deranged, he's obsessed with his 'people' loving him, he wants everyone to love him, and does whatever it takes to get the 'people' to love him. Just about everything he does is weird, the character is definitely not all their, Joaquin couldn't have done this role any better. Visually, this film has to be seen, kinda like "Titanic" during the Renaissance era. Beautiful doesn't even cover it, the huge arena they fight during the end is enough to make you cry. Computer generated it is, but still, breathtaking. The action in the film is really good, every move holds your breath until the next one comes, the seen with the tigers is insane. The action is graphic, but not as graphic as "Saving Private Ryan", close though. The parts during the huge arena are amazing, especially the crowd. They chant all sorts of stuff, live, kill, Maximus. It feels like the WWF. I was waiting for them to start chanting "Rocky!, Rocky!", at one point during the film, they bring out a very huge man to do battle with Maximus, the story goes that comes out of retirement, after the crowd though I thought Stone Cold was coming out or something. That battle was the best one of the film. Then the final scene takes place between Maximus and Commodus, I won't spoil it, but it was great as well. In the end, this was an epic film, one that has to be scene by all, the directing is mesmerizing, the action is too, the story is very solid. Simply put, do not miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: A True Masterpiece!
Review: This is a great action adventure with a good plot. I will be sure to buy this when it comes out on video.

Rating:
Summary: Senatus populusque Romanus
Review: "SPQR", as chiselled into marble in one of "Gladiator"'s lavish scenes, reminds us of the role of the common man in the Roman Empire, and it's a common man, Maximus, who takes center stage in Ridley Scott's latest epic. Russell Crowe plays Maximus, a general of Roman legions under the aging emperor Marcus Aurelius. Having just defeated the Teutonic hordes of Germania, Maximus is chosen by the emperor to succeed him, in order to restore the power of Rome to the Senate and the people. But Aurelius' scheming and jealous son, Commodus, strangles his father and then turns his anger upon Maximus. Refusing to pledge loyalty to the young usurper, Maximus is sentenced to death. He escapes, but is sent off as a slave to a dusty Roman province in North Africa to become fodder for the local gladitorial games. His wife and young son back in Spain are brutally killed by soldiers.

Maximus knows his swordplay, and he handily dispatches all comers in the ring, earning him admirers and fame. Yet he knows that the only way out for him is to keep killing and to one day be brought to the big league spectacles at the Roman Coliseum. Only this way can he come face to face with Commodus and gain revenge.

Hollywood used to make Roman epics with casts of thousands, saturated technicolor, and pompous dialogue. Director Scott brings his eye for detail to "Gladiator": many scenes are candlelit, or afternoon sun, or gritty, brooding winter. The scenes of Rome itself are a little contrived and obviously computer aided, but it somehow gives you an appropriate feeling of vertigo: temples, columns and arches, all the centuries of Rome piled up to disorient the viewer, as it must have felt to the gladiators who were marched into the Coliseum to die. The intimate look at the crowds in the stands, the senators watching from their shaded boxes, and the Las Vegas-style impresario whipping up the excitement, eerily brings to mind our own spectacles (can you say WWF or the NFL?).

Russell Crowe's understated acting gives Maximus an important human element amid all the gore and thrillseeking. He is a man of principles, who loves the soil of his native Spain but fights for Roman ideals. He plays a dangerous game in a world ruled by conniving politicians and ambitious men. Watching the film, you want to see the general raised up again to respect and glory, and it's worth the movie's long running time to see what happens in the end. No one should give away an ending, but I'll say that, for the record, the real, debauched Commodus was killed by his own inner circle in typical Roman fashion: he was strangled by his own wrestling partner.

"Gladiator" suffers in part because its characters are sometimes flat. Joaquin Phoenix is suitably childish and evil as Commodus. Connie Nielsen plays his sister Lucilla, who secretly loves Maximus and tries to help him gain his freedom. She's a bit cold for the part. Oliver Reed, who never did anything cold, shines as Proximo, the gladiatorial promoter who gets rich off of the slave fighters. The soundtrack, while veering occasionally into Cecil B. DeMille bravura, is touching and imaginative. Ridley Scott's other films have been punctured as overly stylized and emotionally cool, but with Crowe as the truly human hero Maximus, "Gladiator" is not just another grand production.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, recommended.
Review: Excellent "revolting Roman Gladitors" movie. In my opinion, much better than "Spartacus" - which was ruined by mawkish sentimentality. Roundly disagree with Englehart about faux-Shakepearianism (a word he seems to be in love with) of plot and dialogue. The plot is complex and filled with a volatile mix of love, honour, war, incest and betrayal - almost Kurosawaesque in it's intensity. As for the dialog, it's just that it's not been larded down with Americanisms (e.g. DiCaprio's famous: "Once a mus-kay-teer, always a mus-kay-teer, HUNRH?") but could hardly be termed "Shakespearean", faux or not.

The outstanding CGI effects were excellent and created atmosphere without completely dominating the movie. I did notice some arifacting in a few background CGI overlays but, all in all, excellent work. The tiger fight sequence was a bit of a joke - an juvenile trained tiger playing with his trainer while the CGI guys worked overtime. Not as bad as some of the 60's movies, but a low point in this generally high-caliber movie.

Took away one star because of the tiger-fight and becuase it was a TEENSY bit slow-moving in parts (sometimes, one felt like yelling, "C'mon, c'mon get a MOVE on"). But so was "Ran" and I liked that -- so who knows why the pacing in this movie palled so.

Excellent movie, though. Recommended heartily. Might even see it again.

Rating:
Summary: SHORT OF MASTERPIECE STATUS
Review: GLADIATOR is a welcome throwback to the days of BEN-HUR and SPARTACUS, but it is not quite in their league. It is not as great as BRAVEHEART or ROB ROY, but it is worth seeing. The computerized Rome is convincing (thank goodness) and the acting is top-notch (especially Oliver Reed and the always getting better Phoenix). Crowe is admirable in his role but doesn't show very much emotional range. that's NOt a putdown-he plays the part verywell. Something just seemed to be missing from the film as a whole and I can't quite put my sword on it. For good old-fashioned entertainment it's a fine film. How it will hold up in the long road though, I don't know.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificient film making, Russell Crowe is wonderful!!
Review: From the mind of director Ridley Scott, who brought us Blade Runner, Legend, and the upcoming Hannibal, comes a remarkable film about love, sacrifice, and betrayl. Gladiator has all the punches to be an epic blockbuster, and a great way to start off the summer of 2000, one word to describe this movie, WOW.

Basically the story revolves around the great Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe,) his downfall and subsequent rise to glory as a gladiator. Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) is at the end of his life, with the Roman empire's world domination nearing completion, he decides that after his death the control of the empire should return to its people, with the senate overseeing the republic. The person he chose to carry out this wish is no other than Maximus, whom the emperor trusted and treated like his son (even better than his own children at times.) This decision became the breaking point for Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix,) heir to the throne, and resulted in the Maximus' exile, sort of like sibling rivalry. Ok, so the plot might not be original, but under the direction of Scott, everything pulled together almost seamlessly. Unfortunately, the movie isn't without faults, the writers' attempt at including the political elements felt trite and carelessly thrown in, other than Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) the rest of the senate seemed useless and had little influence, riddled with corruption and hypocrisy. The ability of a slave being able to move thousands of citizens is somewhat unbelievable and ridiculous, the Roman citizens were portrayed as ignorant fools that follow anyone that will make them feel excited.

Crowe gave a wonderful performance, I thought his character was rather personal, his portrayl gave the audiences a better insight into Maximus, his longing for home, his loss of family, and later his reason for living. With several cut scenes showing Maximus walking through meadow to finally meet his wife and son, and him keeping wood carvings of his family, all of these things display a human side to this character. On the other hand, the villan Commodus played by Phoenix was rather unconvicing, although hard to tell if its intentional or not. This so called Caesar is nothing but a cry baby, sure he is ambitious, but he had very little qualities of a great leader, probably why his reign was only a short period of time. Commodus is actually a pretty sad and lonely guy, he felt his father and sister loved Maximus more than him and hated Maximus for that. Along with solid performances by Connie Nielsen (Lucilla) and other support casts, the character development is definitely a big plus for the movie.

Another huge thumbs up for Gladiator is the backdrop and the stunning graphics, from the barren canyons to the coliseum and Rome itself, real landscapes and computer generated environments were equally visually pleasing. There were plenty of actions, with somewhat realistic movements, fake blood sure weren't used sparingly, and with the decapitations and mutilations of body parts, this is definitely not for the weak stomaches. Starting with the beginning war sequence to the gladiator arenas, the action never stops, many may find these sequences repetitive or formulaic, but you'll get no objections from me. In addition the sound effects were pretty good, combined with a fitting soundtrack and an excellent score, you can't possibly go wrong with Gladiator.

Clocking at around 2 hours and 30 minutes, the movie sure doesn't slow down, it'll pretty much keep you on the edge of your seat. If you're a fan of action, sword fightings with a bit of romance, then run to watch this movie, but be warned that this is one bloody film. Overall Gladiator was a very satisfying movie experience, although I did found the ending somewhat rushed, the confrontation between Maximus and Commodus came a little sooner than expected (SPOILER WARNING: Maximus' death might be predictable for some people since if you think about it, its the only way for the movie to end,) also the relationship between Maximus and Lucilla was never explained fully, but these concerns will definitely not ruin the movie for you. I do hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did, now I only hope MI:2 wouldn't fall short of my expectation. :P

Rating:
Summary: Good but could've been better!
Review: The visuals are stunning in Gladiator and this had all the earmarks of a new "Braveheart." Unfortunately, it falls a little flat with some underdeveloped characters and subplots. The battle scenes are very powerful and I wanted to see more of them.