Gladiator

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but tired
Review: The story, unfortunately, is a tired one. Revenge for the death of one's family. However, it is the telling that makes this story an entertaining one.

Crowe, sounding very much like Mel Gibson (close your eye and listen to his voice) puts in a fine performance as Maximus. Some of the battle scenes are excellent, while others are shot in a strange stop-go sequence that makes them difficult to watch.

Fans of the action genre will enjoy this film in spite of its historical inaccuracies and tired plot.

It's been a long time since we've seen a Roman epic. The costumes and the scenes of Rome and the Colosseum are quite good. You can imagine being there.

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood at its best, film making at its worst
Review: I cannot believe that some of you have compared this trashy, sp.effect filled action extravaganza to Ben Hur or to Shakespeare. At best, this movie deserves a pat on the back for its action sequences, sp effects, and Russell Crowe.

But the script- come on, I'd have to say Terminator 2 has better lines than this typically cliched Hollywood attempted ancient bantor.

The movie made no attempt to show Rome or the ancient civilization at all, besides a quick over head, totally computer generated run of the whole city, and ofcourse, the collesseum, vividly displayed with colors etc, does tend to get a bit boring after a while.

Epic movies like Ben Hur, 10 commandments, Spartacus, and even Brave Heart, are powerful and on a different league of its own. They will be remembered throughout as unforgettable classics.

Gladiator....well all I can say is , take a mordern day cop who's lost his wife and son and is out to get vengence, put him in a time machine and out comes Russell Crowe with gladiator.... come on folks , we've seen it all before........Trash.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie I've Ever Seen!
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The acting is the best and there is an awsome plot. The fight seens are really cool and It's number 1 in my book.

Rating:
Summary: General Crowe, A true Epic
Review: There need be no other word to descibe this film, but truly awesome! a true epic, by my opinion the best Ridley Scott has ever done. From the first fight scene in the film, the scene is set, with some of the most skin tingling, and dramatic music I have ever heard to the visual spectacles of thousands of burning arrows being launched at a barbarian horde, in this seen alone there is so much happenning, and for historians that specialise in Roman history, there is also a chance to see the far advanced techiques, of the Romans armies! Crowe I believe plays the part of a man who, many other men wouldnt go far wrong in following, his honour and devotion (to name but two) towards his family and the roman army! Phoenix plays Commodus a pathetic man who you don't know wether to feel sorry for or Hate! But none the less vital to the effectiveness of the story! Nielson a little known Danish actress can be proud of this, playing a woman who is torn between the safety of her son, false loyalty to her brother and her somewhat hidden love for Maximus. Have I given you enough words in this film to make you watch or buy this film, if not then I truly believe from my heart that you should watch this film anyway, it is truly an Epic above all other films! Hail General Maximus!

Rating:
Summary: One of mine favorites
Review: i think this is a very cool movie and even though it had a revenge plot they used it very well and the action parts were incredable and still was surprising and emotional. on my top 5

Rating:
Summary: Impressive - pure entertainment
Review: (warning:spoilers) OK, first things first. While "Gladiator" lacks the complexity and disturbing atmosphere of Ridley Scott's earlier "Alien", and "Blade Runner" (one of my all-time favourite films), it delivers on the level of pure entertainment. And that is no small achievement in a time when big-budget "blockbusters" are continually being outclassed by more enjoyable B-movies.

The plot is this: when loyal general Maximus is chosen by the ageing Emperor Marcus Aurelius to rule Rome after him, the Emperor's son Commodus understandably has a problem with this, and not so understandably decides the solution is to kill his father, Maximus and Maximus' family, and presumably anyone else who got on his nerves that day. The good news is that Maximus escapes; the (apparently) bad news is that he is captured as a slave. The powers that be determine he is then sold to be a gladiator, rather than, for example, some fat Roman bloke's chief cook. Maximus gets his Brownie points beating the hell out of all the gladiators he is set against, winning him the opportunity to get to Rome and achieve his vengeance on crazy Commodus.

And we all cheer him on. This film's defining aspect isn't the set design or the CGI, bold as they may be. Nor even the Ridley Scott-ishness that permeated his earlier masterpieces. What, or rather, who, carries this film is Russell Crowe.

In a movie so huge in hype, budget, action and epic aspirations, it is ironic yet strangely fitting that its star's strength be his understatement. I read somewhere that an early casting suggestion for Maximus was Mel Gibson, and all I can say is phew, lucky escape. One glare or stare from Crowe contains more power than any soulful looks or "freeaaaayyydom" speeches from Gibson - this understated power is what largely saves "Gladiator"'s hero-worship of Maximus from becoming too cloying. Only the very last moments are irritating (Lucilla, "This was a great man!" etc etc), and that from a structural point of view; I think the dream-scape scenes should have book-ended the film (which they very nearly did but for those last post-battle scenes).

The action scenes are frequent and no-holds-barred. Much has been made of the goriness of this movie, but it actually isn't that bad, due mainly to the style of directing and editng. You don't get a long, fixed-position, operating-room view of each gash; rather, the camera swerves, scenes move fast. The end result is that you see the blood splash and hear the swords clash, and occasionally you see something disturbing, but often the fights are too choreographed to make you really wince. Which is good.

The sets are indeed routinely grand, but nor particularly striking or original in the same way as the "Blade Runner" city was. Now and then, you get the uncomfortable feeling that what you are seeing is CGI as CGI, but mostly, the background pales in importance to the figure in the foreground.

I said already that Russell Crowe was great as Maximus, and it's still true. His portrayal of Maximus, while predictable in its conclusions (but then, what in this film isn't?), is still a tour-de-force of charisma and restrained force. Connie Nielsen as Lucilla is also good; her character is given more depth than the requisite love-interest and - this strengthens the story. If only filmmakers could remember that more often! Joaquin Phoenix hams it up nicely as the nutty emperor - the film calls for an OTT performance in this role and boy do they get it. It was quite amusing to see the modern references in his role, though - Commodus flips due to his "issues" with "love", the lack of which he got from his family. Sniff.

So why four stars, not five? Well, "Gladiator" is a blockbuster, no less and no more. It, er, "busts blocks" with all the energy and drama it can muster, following a fairly simple plot structure nicely, it has a strong hero and all the action you can take. But, at heart, it is essentially still a blockbuster - while loads better than other big-budget epic successes such as "Braveheart", ID4 and the bloody awful "Titanic" - it still does not have any resonating messages or original characterisation. The message about the glory of Rome is pretty enough and we can all understand that good old Maxi is better than the dastardly Commodus, but the interpretation ends there.

The only question is, how far are you prepared to accept this interpretation from a film? and the answer is up to you, your expectations, and simply enough what mood you are in when the lights go down.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this movie!
Review: When I went to see Gladiator here in Brazil, I didn't know anything about it. I hate violence in movies, so if I knew anything about it I wouldn't see it. I'm glad I saw it. I guess people who didn't like it had already heard so much about it and had great expectations, and somehow they were seaching the flaws. Ok, the plot is not plausible. But who cares? It's just entertainment. And the actors are all superb! Russell Crowe made such a deep impression on me. I had seen him in The Insider but couldn't believe it was the same actor. It's a pity that Maximus won't bring him an Oscar.

The cast is brilliant, the director's touch is magical, the soundtrack is just perfect (couldn't be better). The movie brings you to a different era, it has an atsmophere that it's hard to find on movies nowadays.

Go see it!

Rating:
Summary: Totally disappointing...
Review: What did I expect from this movie? Great sequence, an epic, a little bit of historical background and a good fun. But nothing. The historical concept is totally misleading, Crowe's acting is obtrusive and flat, Phoenix is stereotyphed as seldom a villain is ! THis is nothing more than the old plot: "you killed my wife and my son, so I will kill you" . This is old, very old ! Of course it's abig production, so we deserved more...

Rating:
Summary: A SHAKESPEARIAN GLADIATOR !
Review: Well, first I'm not 12 years old but 36. (field mistake and imposed !). A quite exciting entertainment movie, but certainly not a historical movie if referred to the story. This is a kind of remake of the Anglo-italian movie released in 1964 with great actors Stephen Boyd, Sophia Loren and Christopher Plummer titled 'The End of The Roman Empire' now already released in DVD zone 2. The fact is the Roman Emperor of that period was Emperor Commod, but the Roman General who won the German battle and became late a gladiator and killed the Emperor was named LIVIUS and not MAXIMUS. Moreover, I'm still frustrated to see that almost all the actors in this production movie are blue eyed like rather a Shakespearian and purely British history event (Macbeth, Hamlet etc...), even if it was released by an English Ridley Scott himself, althought this is an Italian Roman time related movie. I remember the short story about how 1960 big hit score blockbuster SPARTACUS was made, and how actors Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis were tangibles to take their part because they are blue eyed ! So that, Stanley Kubrick asked Kirk and Tony to wear browny contact lens as the only condition to take the part. This is just to demonstrate how professional were actors in the past compared to nowadays. Today, actors want to show themselves at their very best even to dump ridiculous the entire movie credibility. Except this scandalous mistake in that movie, Gladiator will still remain a movie to remember and to oscarised ! Also, the music soundtrack could be compared a bit with the air of James cameron's Titanic, thus please vote 16 Oscars for Gladiator.

Rating:
Summary: EPIC
Review: I'VE SEEN THIS MOVIE 5 TIMES, AND ANTICIPATE IT'S RELEASE ONTO DVD!

I THOUGHT THE STORY WAS GOOD, BUT IT WAS WHAT SURROUNDED AND SUPPORTED THE MOVIE THAT MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION. THE WAY IT WAS FILMED WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THE TYPICAL MOVIE. tHE ANGLES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS REALLY SEEMED TO BRING 'OLD ROME' TO LIFE. BUT I LOVED THE USE OF COLOR. THE DIMING AND SHADING AND OVERALL USE OF COLOR WAS A VERY POWERFUL ASPECT TO THIS MOVIE.

I COMPARED THIS MOVIE TO ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES, BRAVEHEART, AND IT CAME CLOSE.

IF YOU LOVED BRAVEHEART...THIS MOVIE IS FOR YOU!

CORIE =)