Rating: 
Summary: The DVD That Will Rock You
Review: When one hears the name Ridley Scott, movies such as Alien, Blade Runner, Legend, and even Thelma & Louise instantly come to mind. Time to add a new classic to that list, one of the biggest movies of the year 2000 - Gladiator. Gladiator is the story of one man, Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Maximus is a general of the Roman Empire, one who has never even been to Rome yet he controls the respect of the entire army and the people. The movie opens with a huge battle in Germania led by the great Maximus. You see the respect the troops give him, and you see him in midst of the battle. When the smoke clears, the Emperor Marcus Aurelious comes in to congratulate Maximus, which leads to him asking Maximus to take on the mantle of Caesar when the time comes. Of course, Marcus Aurelious has both a son (Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix) and daughter (Lucillia, played by Connie Nielson). When Commodus learns that he will not be Caesar, he murders his own father and takes on the job of Emperor. Naturally, Maximus knows that the Emperor was slain and did not die of natural causes, so he does to submit to the rule of Commodus. The new Emperor orders Maximus to be executed, but he didn't count on Maximus' ability to single handedly wipe out his executors and escape. Maximus rides through the desert as his family is executed by the Roman legion, and he eventually is taken into slavery and sold off as a gladiator. Maximus' owner is Proximo (Oliver Reed, in his final performance), who was also once a gladiator and won his freedom in the great coliseum of Rome. After Maximus proves himself in many battles, and becomes respected among the other gladiators (and something of a celebrity among the mob), Proximo packs him and the other top gladiators in a carriage and makes his way to Rome to find fortune and glory. All of this is going along exactly as Maximus wants. He wants only one thing - to face Commodus and get revenge. That single focus on revenge is really the core of the movie, as it centers mainly on Maximus. Gladiator is a huge story, and the description above only covers the first half of the movie. That is one of the problems with it, as it seems not trimmed enough. If they cut it down another fifteen minutes or so, it may have turned out a little better...but that is only a minor quibble with the film. Most of the performances are great, especially Richard Harris, who was nearly perfect as a Caesar in the twilight of his life. Russell Crowe simply rocks, Joaquin Phoenix pulled of the totally evil Caesar well, but the whiny little boy act gets kind of annoying (possibly some trimming in the movie would have solved this). Once Queen Amidala is gone...I will rule the Naboo. The CGI work that was done to recreate the Roman Empire toward the end of its life span is excellent. Streets teem with people, the coliseum roars, and everything looks amazing. The action scenes simply rock. These are gladiatorial battles as scene through the lens of no holds barred. They are intense, gory, and loud. The Battle of Carthage scene is awesome and worth the price of admission alone. In terms of action, this movie will rock you! Overall the movie has amazing action sequences, but a story that could have used a little trimming at the sides. Then again, most people don't go into a gladiator movie to critique it for a deep story - they want to see bones break and limbs fly. And then you look at Gladiator that way...it rocks.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's make it up as we go along
Review: In an interview prior to this film's release, Russell Crowe disclosed that when asked to read the script he found it to be only '70%' complete - a friend of his advised him to do the film anyway, on the strength of Ridley Scott's past record. Some 8 months later, with the shooting about to begin, Crowe looked at the script again, and much of it had been discarded, leaving only about 30% intact. Somewhat apprehensive, Crowe took his concerns to Scott, who consoled him with a confident, 'We'll make it up as we go along', or words to that effect. This attitude betrays the cynicism with which Hollywood treats its own products and, in particular, its screenwriters. If the budget allocated for, say, the rather fake looking CGI tigers had been allocated to script development, then (who knows) a good movie might have been created. Instead we have this. The deficiencies of story not withstanding, it was surpising to see the film fail on many technical levels. Firstly, the editing deserves to be singled out for special condemnation. Clumsy abrupt cuts, gratuitous effects, poorly compiled battle and fight sequences: the list could be extended. Secondly, the short cuts required to computer generate a colloseum (only some 30 degrees of the entire 360 were rendered, the illusion created by repeating this segment) see a distanced (and surprisingly small) crowd of Roman onlookers - the gladiatoral 'spectacle' seems less exciting than your typical weekend football game, the arena itself often appearing artificial and quite 'empty'. Thirdly,...well what is the point of going on... While George Lucas and Speilberg at least try to learn from masters such as Kurosawa, Scott appears happy draw upon his earlier experience in television advertising - and, hey, we all know advertising works, it's often clever and entertaining, it's lots of things, but it's just not great cinema.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of every Academy Award!
Review: GLADIATOR is the story of General Maximus (Russell Crowe), who is forced into slavery by the evil hearted Commadeus (Jauquin Phoenix). After escaping captivity, Maximus joins the Gladiators of Rome, and becomes an undefeated champion, awaiting his revenge upon the Emperor, for the murder of his family. MY REVIEW: "This movie is powerful and emotional, is action packed, and is a true epic with great story telling. Russell Crowe earned his BEST ACTOR oscar well. This is a real career turn-around for him. GLADIATOR won BEST PICTURE of 2000, and it deserves it! The movie has great special effects (which it won an Academy Award for)and marvelous battles! The music is the best part! Hans Zimmer is top notch at his music which really sets the tone for this film! This movie deserves far more than all five stars! See GLADIATOR, as being the BEST MOVIE of 2000! Films don't usually get this good! We finall have a BEST PICTURE that is worthy of the oscar! THE ENGLISH PATIENT, AMERICAN BEAUTY, and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE- they weren't BEST PICTURES in my book! GLADIATOR rules!"- MJV & the Movies
Rating:
Summary: "Are You Not Entertained?"
Review: Yes, I was! Many times! I love this film. Hans Zimmer's music is wonderful, Joaquin Phoenix is completely entertaining as are Crowe(as always)and Oliver Reed, all of the cast really. I think Zimmer, Phoenix, and Scott should have been included in the winners on Oscar night! I don't know exactly how the Academy votes go, but it seems that when you have a Best Picture, you would have Best Director. Unless I am naive about directing, the film didn't get there without huge input from the director. The sets in the movie are amazing, and computer enhancements are great. Be sure to view the specials on the DVD for history and commentaries from scholars regarding Rome, culture of the time and Gladiator's. From what they say, the film is not far-fetched. Fantastic job.
Rating: 
Summary: what was with the grain brushing?
Review: A great plot with somewhat of a sad ending this movie deserves 4 stars no more, no less. If your into adventure,gore,drama and history this is the perfect movie for you, but for others I recomend renting it.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie of the decade
Review: Terrific acting, awesome action, impressive cinematography, hauntingly beautiful music, and perfect casting. What more could you ask for in a movie? Nada. I rank this movie among the greatest epic movies ever made such as Ben-Hur, Papillon, and Braveheart.
Rating: 
Summary: Best picture? Not likely!
Review: This is my second review of Gladiator. Why? Because I am that disappointed that it got the award for best picture. This movie was typical summer fodder for American film-goers. A story that was akin to Braveheart with a predictable plot. Yawn. Oh, the action sequences were great - though they were too few. The subplots were under-developed. This movie was just okay. If you want to see the real best picture of 2000 look no further than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Also much better is Traffic. American movies are so self-absorbed with big budget over the top CGI than bombard you and leave any resemblence of story to waste. Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Gladiator....when will the litany of pomp and circumstance end?
Rating:
Summary: I'm not usually a fan of these movies but this wowed me!
Review: I do not typically what action flicks so it's been a long time I've seen something this good. And despite the overly familiar plot, I was roped in and found myself rooting like a little boy for General Maximus. I've also observed that people who've seen "Spartacus" are less enamoured by "Gladiator" than those who've yet to experience the Kubrick sword & sandal epic. Another quibble with "Gladiator" is that I wished the actual fighting sequences in the coliseum weren't so disjointed and muddled. I couldn't follow much of the fight sequences, and they made me really appreciate the talents of, say, Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, whose choreographed action sequences are always displayed fully on the screen, sans quick-cut editing and camera trickery. White folks still have a bunch to learn from us.
Rating:
Summary: Crowe is good,but too violent for me
Review: Way too gruesome for me. Other people might like it better,(guys probably) Crowe I felt sorry for after seeing to what happened to his wife and son. And I'm glad someone finally killed Commodious what a lech and general nasty slime
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Quality Transfer
Review: The movie on the DVD is sharp, clear, and looks perfect. The menus are laid out well and the supplementary materials are well done and interesting.
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