Rating: 
Summary: ***** Russell Crowe's Finest Hour
Review: "Gladiator" has and will change Crowe's status as an actor... FOREVER. "Gladiator" is an epic tale up there with Mel Gibson's "Braveheart", Al Pacino's "Godfather" or Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator". A wonderful tale (as the preview/trailer states) of a General who became a slave, a slave who became a gladiator, and a gladiator who defied an emperor. This is a big budget action/drama with a cast of thousands. Accompanying Crowe's wonderful acting was Joaquin Phoenix (he should have won the Oscar best supporting actor) as Commodus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Oliver Reed (RIP) as Proximo, and Richard Harris (RIP) as the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Big sets and lots of help from today's computer technology. Director Ridley Scott spared no expense in making this movie. Disc 2 features commentaries, an HBO making of, deleted scenes, photo galleries, behind the scenes featurettes, and more. Plenty of blood sport and coliseum battle scenes, sword wielding and perils of the Roman/Greek times. * Warning - may not be suitable for youngsters.
Rating:
Summary: best movie i've seen in a long time
Review: for anyone who wants to watch an action packed, dramatic, and informative movie, this is a good one for you. maybe the best movie i have ever seen! certainly worth buying!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Adventure!
Review: It amazes me that movies about Roman Gladiators are so few. All the attributes that movie-makers long for; adventure, romance, action, heroism - can be found in a good Gladiator story. This is why my surprise at the success of Gladiator is somewhat muted.If anyone could put together a modern day epic such as Gladiator it would be Ridley Scott. Through films such as Bladerunner, Thelma and Louise, and Alien, Mr. Scott has been revealed as one of our foremost storytellers. His ability to take a conceptually challenging story and make it almost universally accessible, must surely be enviable amongst his peers. Gladiator follows this tradition by taking what was once considered "old news" and pumping it full of modern day movie steriod. The war sequence well surpasses anything that Mel Gibson (Braveheart, The Patriot) has yet put together and the gladiator fights are brutal but not distasteful in their depiction. From the first frame to the last, I found myself enthralled at this story of a famous Roman general who, when unjustly disgraced, falls into a life of slavery. His rise through the ranks of the Roman gladiators to a point where he can finally face his nemesis, although bloody, is treated decently. Russell Crowe, who plays the part of General Maximus, is superb. Indeed, his performance is somewhat reminiscent of Kirk Douglas's Spartacus in that the personality of the character overshadows his physicality. Russell Crowe was a relative unknown when this movie was first filmed and if Mr. Scott ever considered this casting decision a risk then I believe he hit the jackpot. I believe we may be watching the creation of a new superstar. Other stellar performances are provided by Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Harris, and Oliver Reed (Who sadly died during the making of Gladiator). Mr. Scott did not skimp on his use of technology in this movie, although this is not entirely apparent until you review the bonus features on the DVD. In particular, the digital recreations of Rome and the Colussium are stunning. I would suggest at this point that you grab your credit card and order this movie right away. It will be one of the most welcome additions to your DVD collection this year.
Rating:
Summary: An Absolut Winner
Review: Rarely do you get a movie that has it all,story,acting (Russell Crowe & Joaquin Phoenix are fantastic!)picture, & sound all Top Class ! No doubt the best movie of 2000.
Rating: 
Summary: Widescreen-friendly?
Review: There is much to like about Ridley Scott's latest film, notably the splendid dialogue and acting. What's less wonderful is the too-simplistic story, and those digital tigers (!) that look completely fake. But what I wanted to comment on is the fact that Entertainment Weekly magazine made the observation that this film looks better in full-frame than in letterbox/widescreen when viewed on TV, and I think they may have been right! Normally I, too, hate to see films that aren't presented in the original aspect ratio, but with this film, Scott and his DP have photographed everything in such a cramped manner, that with bars on the top and bottom of the screen you actually feel like you're watching the action through a Roman soldier's helmet visor! It IS a little claustrophobic, to be honest!
Rating: 
Summary: Despite Spectacle, Gladiator is NOT for Everyone.
Review: I very much enjoyed the visual mastery of this film. Scott's direction, as always, is top-notch. Cinematography, art direction, costumes . . . everything visual about this film is dead-on. Unfortunately the movie too often slips into passages of such extremely grotesque violence that my enjoyment of the film was diminished. Also distracting is a storyline which lacks depth and originality. This is not a bad film by any means. It is certainly an accurate depiction of what life may have been like for a Roman Gladiator. I'm just not sure it's something I needed to see in such gory detail. The true gem in this film, along with superior visuals, is the amazing performance of Joaquin Phoenix.
Rating: 
Summary: Style Over SubStance
Review: visally spectacular, but little plot is the name of this big budget film about Ancient Rome and the games that were fought in the arena. Certainly better then Cameron's Titanic.
Rating:
Summary: Old fashioned blockbuster... you may gape at it!
Review: This film is probably the best blockbuster of the summer. It has grisly and rousing action, wonderful technical direction from Ridley Scott, and masterful performances from Crowe and Pheonix. Flaws always first. The opening battle sequence is confusing, and tries to be chaotic, when it is just incoherent. However, the rest of the film justifies Scott's technical brilliance (more on that later). The screenplay isn't as much a story told with action sequences but a string of action sequences with some connecting thread. However, it allows for some great acting. The script introduces a startling relationship between Commodus (Joaquin Pheonix) and his sister Lucilla (Connie Nelson), giving Pheonix and added dimension to chew through. And does he ever. One of his three films this year, Pheonix proves that he can act in several diverse roles. This will probably garner him on Oscar nomination. His snivelling, ambitious emperor provides a fine foil for Crowe's Maximus. Crowe finally cements his star status with this film, after amazing turns in The Insider and L.A. Confidential. His performance is brutal and intense. In fact, the screenplay spares nothing on his character, giving Crowe several powerful scenes (the climax, his prison conversation with Lucilla, and his earlier conversation with Marcus Aurelius). He'll probably get an oscar nod as well. Now, the direction of Ridley Scott. I am a huge fan of his, so I was pleased to see him handle both the technical and narrative direction with equal aptitude. His technical direction is superb, ranking with Blade Runner, Legend and Alien. For the balance, he has paid attention to the story (as in Thelma and Louise and Someone to Watch over Me). And it has paid off handsomely. Look for Gladiator to have the most nominations at the academy awards this year
Rating:
Summary: This was entertaining but no masterpiece
Review: This was a good movie to watch on DVD but some of these reviews are ridiculous. There is a reason why this movie didn't win any awards. It's just not that great. It was an interesting story with some good action scenes but overall it is just another action movie. Crowe did a great job in his part but this was certainly no Braveheart. If you havent seen it you should, but its not going to change your life or anything.
Rating:
Summary: Braveheart goes to Rome
Review: I received this movie as a present having never seen it in the theatre. I'm both disappointed and glad that I didn't spend the money. Essentially it's the same kind of plot as Braveheart, but set in the Roman Empire. While it is visually and musically stunning, the movie is extremely brutal. It's major flaw was the weakness of the plot and the lack of character development of some of the players, despite some great acting. It's worth renting, particularly if you have a really large screen tv, but I don't think that your collection will be lacking if you leave this off of your buy list. If it does well in the Oscar hunt, it will only serve to prove the weakness of this year's collection of movies.
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