Gladiator

Rating:
Summary: great ACTION!!! film
Review: This is an action file. Russell Crowe is excellent as Maximus, but the film has an overly weedy villain who lets the film down. I have no doubt that most people will enjoy this and for good reason: Fantastic battle set-pieces, Exciting, it doesn't really seem three hours long, stunning backdrops and realistic locations, Great performance by Crowe, probably deserving the Best Actor he received, So enjoy but don't expect much more than a fantastic three hours fun with little to think about.

Rating:
Summary: Not Best Picture...........But an AWESOME FILM NO LESS!!!!!!
Review: I agree that Gladiator should not have won best picture which should have gone to crouching tiger, however I COMPLETELY DISAGREE with these recent criticisms here that this movie was a waste of time. Gladiator is easily one of the top films to come out in the last five years. And although i also dont think Russell Crowe should have gotten best actor because Javier Bardem was amazing, Crowe's intensity still jumped off the screen. His performance was great. How can some people say the one liners were corny?! One liners are a necessity in these films and these were some of the best ive heard my favorite being "WHAT WE DO IN LIFE......ECHOES AN ETERNITY". However I must admit that "On my command...unleash hell" was pretty corny. All in all this is a film that like so many others, no one should pass up. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars was that i thought some of the fight scenes could have been filmed better and in some scenes the editing seemed laughable (DID ANYONE CATCH THE SCENE WHERE IT LOOKED LIKE THE BARBARIANS LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE SHAKING HANDS WITH THE ROMANS IN THE FIRST BATTLE?) It was just a split second but i rewound it and paused it. It was hilarous!

Stilll.....WATCH THIS MOVIE OR BE QUARTERED PATRES!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Simultaneously subtle and stupendous
Review: It's not surprising that some hate this movie, there's a complexity in the stories and subtletly in the acting, which, when occuring alongside the bombastic action sequences, will disconcert people who want every film to fit neatly into a specific genre box. This is an action/adventure, this is an historical fiction epic, this is an emotional drama, this is a muscular story told by by muscular actors who can project simultaneous subltety of emotion and terrifying actions, while hinting at sub-plots. Not all these hinted at sub-plots are neatly wrapped up, but their presence provides a third dimension to the characters, making you realize that you don't know everything about them and that there's more to them.

This picture screams big budget and it's all on the screen or coming through the speakers. I first saw this in a THX theatre and was blown away. I've since watched the DVD countless times and continue to be enthralled. The opening sequence in particular is a stunning action piece that still manages to have depth in the characters, not just opposing fighters having at each other.

Bottom line, this is more complex and subtle than an action/adventure, and too violent for a drama. It's freely admitted historical fiction (i.e. a fictitious story set amongst real events and characters) that will tell you a lot of historical truths about Imperial Rome at the height of it's power. All the leads impress, especially Crowe who is such a natural actor, that he becomes the role and doesn't seem to be acting. All in all a 3-dimensional story, with strong actors, great directing, and breathtaking cinematography and VFX.

Rating:
Summary: Incredulous
Review: Many people have had very negative reviews towards this movie. Claiming it was a rip off from Braveheart, the acting was horrible, and the visual effects were worse. From reading these reviews I've come to realize that these people wouldn't know what taste was if it slapped them on the face with a brandishing iron.

While many epic stories share the same qualities, love, war, hero or anti-hero pursuing a quest...Gladiator was unique that it portrayed the soul of an epic hero with greater clarity and vision than any other movie I have ever seen.

Russel Crowe was brilliant as Maximus, a once-great general turned Gladiator. While some say that Crowe was emotionless, they obviously didn't see the scene where he mourns for the slaughter of his wife and child, the very thing that kept him going for 10 years of battle. I was greatly moved by that scene and felt the anger, despair, and shock that the Gladiator also felt. And the ability to make the audience feel moved is, by my definition, the mark of a truly great actor.

I could go on for pages about this movie, but suffice it to say that it was one of the best movies of the past year and well-deserving of the Acadamy Awards it received. It's nice to see that in an industry based on avarice can still produce a truly remarkable movie.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but nowhere near AA caliber!
Review: Gladiator was good in its acting, but short in too many areas. Historically this film was maybe 2 Stars at best. As far as the special effects, this film was again 2 Stars. You could see how poorly the appearance of the Coliseum looked. "Fake" hits it on the head. The story was totally predictable, especially the ending...All in all, its worth viewing once....

Rating:
Summary: Undeserving of Best Picture
Review: Why this film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actor, I will never know. I suppose the Academy was simply trying to flow with the general public's (shallow) opinion by rewarding both this overhyped film and its actor Russell Crowe the 2 major awards. Of course it is Hollywood's tradition to honor films that are big-budget, big-epic productions. Most people who rooted for this film to win Best Picture probablly only saw this film out of the 5 nominees. Personally, to me, a good film is not about whether a film is "spectacular" visually, but about the deeper internal meaning behind it. Men clad with masks fighting and beheading each other...and you call that Best Picture? To be totally honest, it only deserved one Academy Award: Best Costume Design. That was the only impressive part about this film. Janty Yates did an AMAZING job designing those spectacular costumes, but other than that, the plot is thin and weary. To be totally honest, Best Picture should have gone to Traffic or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Best Actor should have gone to Ed Harris or Javier Bardem; while (although this has nothing to do with anything) Best Actress should have gone to Ellen Burstyn. However, the Academy proved it is no respectable organization by stripping the deserving nominees of the awards that it so rightfully deserves and rewarding only the most overhyped rubbish.

Rating:
Summary: Review of Gladiator
Review: Gladiator completely absorbed me with not a moment's lack of interest. The beginning that starts in battle is the way human life starts - not born free but struggling and requiring courage and dedication and hard work to master and learn. The film is in the tradition of the Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables with its human suffering, and Audie Murphy's story with its incredible courage in the face of the seemingly unconquerable odds. It also gives a side of the Ancient Roman army that provides food for thought - it may well be that the army was more courageous than the politicians and their followers (does this seem to parallel modern times?) who misused it and sent it to fight their battles. I also like the idea that you need to live in other people's shoes so to speak in order to understand them - the slavery of Rome looked very different when seen from the inside than from the outside. The inconsistencies that some reviewers have noticed in the story seem to me less important than the consistencies and the similarities with our times. I would have given this film the Academy Award, although I think that it would be better to give several awards for best motion picture.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies I've ever seen
Review: This is one of the best movies out there. It has awesome effects and the gladiator fight scenes are sweet. I know the movie wasn't true and most of it didn't happen in ancient history but that makes it even more exciting. I know that nobody expected the ending but in a few ways it makes the movie better. I think this is one of the coolest movies there is. If you haven't seen it you should rent it. If you like it as much as I do then buy it, you'll want to see it again.

Rating:
Summary: Simply GREAT!
Review: I bought this video sight unseen. No, never saw it on the big screen but I got such a great deal and I do like Roman Gadiator type movies so I thought "what the heck" and bought it.

I am SO glad I did -- and so sorry I didn't see it on the big screen!

It doesn't matter what this film did to history. What's written in history is mostly made up anyway. This movie probably came closer than we think. Who cares? Russell Crowe is spectacular in his understated performance as Maximus (he deserved the Oscar he got) and Mr. Phoenix was also superb. As a matter of fact, the entire cast was well suited, including Derek Jacoby, Richard Harris and the always wonderful and (much missed) Oliver Reed.

And the end - well - it was moving and so well done. A very happy unhappy ending if you ask me.

GLADIATOR is a movie for people who like heroes.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not the best film of the year
Review: I was pleasantly surprised when watching this movie. I never really wanted to see the film but when it won best picture (over Crouching Tiger!) I became curious. I'm sure it was visually better in the theater than on my TV but I still didn't think it was the best. I did enjoy watching the movie.