Rating: 
Summary: Great film
Review: Astounding camera work, but the film is a hair too long for characters and story development that doesn't go further than time warrants.However, Russel Crowe is superb and Phoenix is just plain evil. It's easy to love and hate the right people here and the action sequences are pure eye candy. The opening battle sequence--especially the Romans' interlocking of shields--is a fairly accurate depiction of Roman battle strategy. It's not an ornate film, but it delves quite nicely into one man's love for home and family rising above else that he believes in.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a keeper!
Review: There are many movies out there that are action packed with a stiry line set in past times. But none with such a gripping plot as Gladiator. This is a great film, you will noit be dissapointed if you buy this for your DVD collection.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing movie, great DVD.
Review: Acting and fighting is really great. And on the DVD, the documentary about Gladiator's is great. Great movie, great DVD.
Rating:
Summary: WHat can I say? Breathtaking
Review: I loved this film and am so glad it got the Oscar, it was a triumph of cinema, drama and music. I love Ancient Greek and Roman history and this film depicted Rome SOOOO well. What a great piece for Oliver Reed to end his career with. This along with Braveheart will always be a film I can watch unitl I am old and gray.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavens Save Us
Review: What an abominable movie! I will start with the oversight that it is 2 hours too long... In the tradition of "Titanic", it is an overblown, over-acted, cavity inducing saccharine/gore-fest/pat on the back for ego-inflated hollywood set. You can practically imagine them in their glittering LA boardroom saying, "Make it, and they will come." The formula is as old as Schwarzhnegger, Willis and Stallone combined, you take some beefcake, parade him in the movie with his muscles bulging, throw in a despicable, unexplainably evil arch-villain (preferably with a British accent, and androgynous/effeminate and or incestuous behaviour), take one beautiful damsel in distress (add a irrepressibly "cute", innocent tyke for effect), lots of gratuitous violence to gloss over a thin plot and even sketchier dialogue. The movie does not even bother to further stultify itself by claming to be historically informative in any way. Who says that money can't buy an Oscar, or convince an audience they are watching an epic? Russell Crowe fans should stick to "The Insider", or "LA Confidential". Both are much better movies and suprisingly (or not suprisingly) their combined box office gross is 1/12th of Gladiator. Even if you want to watch mindless violence and bad dialogue, there are better (campier) choices, i.e. "Conan the Barbarian", "Supergirl", the TV series "A-Team". "I pity da fool, I pity da fool".
Rating:
Summary: Best Picture???
Review: After this movie won best picture, I can no longer give any respect to the academy awards. The story line is completely predictable, the character development is nonexistent, and the movie is filled with gratuitous gore to make up the difference. Some of the acting is humorously terrible (like the scene where Commodus kills his father, oh dear...) Crowe's performance is decent but certanly not an Oscar winning one. The film probably deserves two stars on account of visuals, soundtrack and passable acting by Crowe but I'm giving it one star because it has been so ridiculously overrated.
Rating:
Summary: Truly an Oscar Winner
Review: As I've watched and rewatched this movie, I find myself more convinced that this movie was chosen correctly. The acting was superb, by the leading actor and actress and also the supporting actors. This type of movie has not been done in a great while, so it was great to see it's kind, once again, brought to life on the movie screen. "A general who became a slave; a slave who became a gladiator; a gladiator who defied an emperor" As the plot can be summed up into a simple phrase such as that, the story told at hand was far from simple. This was a movie which I consider epic. The battle scenes were gruesome, yet not just thrown in there for the sheer meaning of violence. The conversing between characters truly draws you into the movie's tale. And the ending, while it was not extravagant, was well done and complimented this movie perfectly. To reitterate, Truly an Oscar winner. As for this DVD itself- well done. The video transfer was beautiful as I saw no types of transfer flaws, specs, or grains. The musical score along with the rest of the audio department of this dvd was very, very satisfying. DTS ES track really added to this DVD. While hearing both of the tracks (DD and DTS), they were both stunning to say the least. The DTS, however, had more of a spatial sound to it, more crisp, and more well-defined and deeper low frequencies. The Supplemental DVD is wonderful. A lot of deleted scenes and a compilation of other deleted scenes compiled into a short music video. Buy this DVD, or even just rent it. Eitherway you can't go wrong and will NOT be disappointed when you do.
Rating:
Summary: The Close Look At Crowe
Review: Movies are like a treasure. We see them for entertaimnent, to think, and to praise or criticize. "Gladiator" is something we've been waiting for a long time. Not only is it full of great fight scenes, it has twists and surprises no one wants to reveal, I don't want to spoil your fun! The acting by Crowe is simply fantastic, and the portrayal of Joaquin Pheonix as Commodus is profoundly realistic. I never want to stop listening to the soundtrack, it really rocks. The picture on DVD is just as good as on tape. This may be the best movie ever released from the DreamWorks' studios. I think overall that this movie is great, much better than Spartacus. I'd watch it any day, no matter what.
Rating: 
Summary: This won Best Picture?
Review: This has to be the worst Best Picture winner of all time. What's next? The Mummy Returns? (At least the mummy was more entertaining!)
Rating:
Summary: This movie is at best OK if you have a brain that works....
Review: I must admit that I really liked this movie the first time I saw it on the big screen. I liked it so much that I saw it again. I bought the DVD when it was released way back when. I popped the DVD in the other day to watch it again and I could not watch more than 20 minutes of it. The opening battle scene is impressive and exciting along with the excellent score. But the dialogue was too much (or too little) -- corny, pretentious, SHALLOW, and outright ridiculous. Every word that Maximus says is sooo politically correct and he's so gooder than good. Every line that Commodus utters is so nefarious (in the shallowest of ways) and he's presented as the epitome of evil. But the character development doesn't cut it -- like the 95% of all movies made today. Watch the movie. These guys sit around and try to say the most meaningful and insightful things in as few lines as possible. But it doesn't mean anything. The scenes involving the two senators talking about the games and any conversation between Commodus and Lucilla are perfect examples. They try to pass these conversations off as deep and revealing, but they make me gag over how stupid they are. I noticed these things when I watched it the first time, but I overlooked them because I wanted to enjoy the movie and not critique it too much. I can't do that anymore. It's not in my nature. The special effects are so overdone. They're impressive in the fakest sense. I watched Spartacus again before I watched Gladiator again, and there is no comparison. Gladiator ripped off so much from Spartacus, but the result is so cheesey. Spartacus took its time to develop the characters while Gladiator just introduced some traits and assumed that the audience would just accept the rest--I don't think so. Spartacus is complex and straightforward at the same time. Lawrence Olivier, Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, and the rest of the cast were excellent. There were good good guys, mean good guys, so-so guys that were both good and bad (Peter Ustinov's Batiatus), and bad guys that were still somewhat good if you understood them (Lawrence Olivier's Crassus). I could go on and on. Watch the movie. The end scene between Olivier and Simmons is worth the price alone -- beatiful acting and moving drama. Then watch Gladiator -- MERCY!
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