Rating: 
Summary: Gripping from beginning to end.
Review: Russell Crowe definately deserved the Oscar for this wonderful film. He was certainly convincing as a gladiator on the warpath after his wife and son are killed on orders from the ruthless Commodus. This movie has you on edge from beginning to end especially during the many fight scenes. For me, the most emotional scene was at the end when Maximus dies. A tear-jerker!
Rating:
Summary: powerfully moving
Review: one of the greatest summer blockbusters of all time Gladiator is action packed and kinetic. the opening scene is one of the best openings of a war movie ever. choreography is stellar. the fights in the colloseum are splendidly made. Russell Crowe excelently plays the general maximus a simple minded yet important man to the emperor of Rome.Forced to fight in the arena after the emperors son commodus kills maximus' wife and kid Gladiator doesn't run out of action. Joaquin Phoenix superbly plays his role. An evil self mannered man who just wants power in Rome. action packed with some of the best fight scenes around Gladiator packs a huge punch.
Rating:
Summary: an epic!!!!
Review: Gladiator is the sory of a general named Maximus. (...)Russel Crowe was great with his ability to be calm one minute and be enraged the next. Joaquin Phoenix plays emporor Commidus and does and great job counter-acting maximus. (...) I liked the gladiator named Juba his frendship with maxiumus really helps move the movie along. The Coliseum looks great amd up to scale. Walking through the "streets of Rome" was great because it really did show the spectacle of gladiator game back then.(...)Oliver Reed who sadly died during the making gave a nice preformance has the sort of ringleader of the gladiators. I thought Joaquin Phoenix was a little anonying at times. and Connie Neilsien looks beautiful as Commidus's sister Lucilla. People blast this movie because it is historically inaccurate. thats nonsense if you want to learn about true history watch the history channel! Yuo go to the movie snd by dvds to be entertained and gladiator gives you that and more.
Rating:
Summary: Gladiator-the best movie of all time
Review: Every now and then there comes a movie that truly hits you on an emotional level this is one of them. The action scenes are magnificant and Rome is beautifully remastered. Great acting, great fight scenes, great director what more could you ask for?
Rating: 
Summary: bad history. bad costumes. just plain bad.
Review: This is one of the worst movies to come out in years. The history is appallingly bad. It's down right offensive to anyone who knows anything at all about the Roman Empire. The costumes (which won an Oscar!) are even worse (note that the emperor's sister is wearing a Victorian corset, complete with busk, over a sari in one scene!). It's criminal that Hollywood gets away with such travesties, and is rewarded with praise and adulation for them, especially when these so called "historical" movies end up in our children's classrooms as study aids. Why can't the entertainment industry spend the extra five minutes to check their history, or hire a consultant? The ONLY reason to see this film is if you're a die-hard Russell Crowe fan (and even then in falls into the same group as the quick and the dead: Watch the Russell scenes, and fast forward through the rest).
Rating: 
Summary: Somber, Regal, Action-Packed
Review: At this point, I haven't even begun to pick out the innaccuracies of this film. But, of course, there are, inevitably, the justfiyable comparisons to "Braveheart". A blue-eyed Australian-raised actor playing a warrior avenging the death of his family, a tall, willowy noblewoman (and probable victim of incest at the hands of a power-mad ruler)supporting the wronged warrior and visting him in prison, a profiteer helping to bring about the lead character's downfall,the foriegn-born friend who acts as an encourager to the hero, the wise old ruler who dies leaving unresolved issues...Yes, indeed, folks, the Best Picture winners are starting to look too much alike, especially since both " Braveheart" and "Gladiator" feature scar-faced Tommy Flannagan as an ill-fated supporter of the hero.
As Maximus, Russell Crowe, is staid, stoic, and stocky looking. He has a beautifully thick neck and fine muscular build like the expatriated American Aussie who paved the way for other actors from Down Under. But,while he evokes sympathy when mourning the murders of his wife and son, he lacks Gibson's passion and expressiveness.
Whoever cast Joaquin Phoenix as the evil Emperor Commodus must have seen the large sculpted head of Constantine the Great that is in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, for with his large, deep-set, but rather sickly-looking eyes, Phoenix certainly resembles it.
Frail-looking Richard Harris is the ever-wise Marcus Aurelius. Despite his fragility, he is still elegant of voice, and clear of mind as he wisely chooses Maximus to succeed him. Harris is still impressive to watch onscreen because in the body of this frail-looking old man is a lot of charisma.
In his final role, we have the sullen Oliver Reed as a profiteer who enslaves the grieving Maximus and places him in a life-threatening situation. Anyone who saw him in "Oliver", "Tommy", "Condorman", etc., knew he was good in such roles.
Danish-born Connie Nielsen, who bears enough resemblance to the Danish Queen, Margarethe in real life, plays the Emperor's sister, Lucilla in this movie. Her "Braveheart", counterpart, of course, is Sophie Marceau. -A statuesque natural beauty, who can play very strong-willed characters with aplomb, and comfort the hero during his final hours. The way Ancient Roman jewelry hangs on Ms. Nielsen is very graceful.
Djimon Honsou's Juba is the foreign-born supporter who comforts Maximus after the loss of his family and is still standing at the end of the story.
I didn't see as much of David Hemmings as I would have liked in this movie. But considering his relationship with Richard Harris in "Camelot", it's interesting to see the two work together again.
The arena scenes are fast-paced and graphic. But Maximus' warrior skills are extremely helpful in keeping the number of casualties of his men to a minimum, whether on a battle field or in the arena. The scene where a female charioteer is cut down at her midsection is particularly startling.
The camera visuals are exhorbitant, as Maximus the Spaniard feels his time on Earth ebbing and his reunion with his wife and son imminent. We can feel his pull towards the afterlife slowly gaining momentum, until he finally wanders through golden fields of wheat towards his loved ones on his way to eternal happiness.
Whether or not the costumes were accurate, the colors were regal, rich, and splendid, and the overall statliness and grandeur that was Rome was magnificently recaptured. Humming through it all is an exotic score with a certain mysticism about it.
Ridley Scott directed this with as much intensity as was seen in "1492", and it is an intensity that has paid off for him.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Roman Movie
Review: I loved Roman movies since I was a kid. If you are like me, this movie is a 10. Really well done. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Say Jimmy, do you like movies about gladiators?
Review: Hmm, pretty easy review. Obviously a great movie on several accounts- one of Ridley Scott's best; very good perf.
by Russell Crowe;excellent digital rendering of Rome & coliseum; well staged action sequences.
I have found that the DVD package definitely lives up to the scope of the film. I just wish I had the full 6.1 DTS system to match it.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie (but not historically) in a technically good DVD
Review: The DVD version of "Gladiator" is very good, especially the director's commentary on the deleted scenes (some of which would have made the movie better, and in my opinon should have been left in the final version). "Gladiator" is overall a fine film, with good actors, good dialogue, and a nice screenplay. The visual recreation of the Roman world of the 2nd century is thoroughly convincing and sometimes breathtaking, especially the opening battle sequence, which alone is worth buying the DVD for. Hans Zimmer's soundtrack, as always, is excellent. Seen as the struggle of one man, Maximus (Russell Crowe), who falls from Roman general to gladiator and slave, the plot is quite strong and moving, apart from the many excellent action scenes. From the historical point of view, the movie is very flawed. Its starting point is a momentous event - the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the accession of his unworthy son Commodus, which was seen by ancient and modern historians as the beginning of the empire's long decline. This same starting point had already been used in "Fall of the Roman Empire" in 1963, hence the similaraties between both movies, already noted elsewhere. But, while "Fall" did its best to remain at least partially faithful to historical events (getting ever less so towards the end), "Gladiator" uses the historical background but messes it up considerably. The main problems I have with "Gladiator", historically, are: - the characterization of Commodus. The historical Commodus was a sports fanatic and a superb athlete, who wasn't too bad a gladiator himself. He was an eccentric tyrant, possibly even mad, and devoted himself to pleasure while his minions governed the empire - but he was a very different person from that portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, who's more of a "problem kid". The real Commodus is not known to have incestuous designs on his sister Lucilla - he banished her to Capri and had her killed there afterwards, fairly early in this reign. - the idea that Marcus Aurelius might have thoughts about removing Commodus from the succession is probably wrong, but not too implausible. The idea that he might have planned to restore the Republic is preposterous. Any such attempt would almost certainly have plunged the empire into civil war, which is also why the historical Marcus actually did what he could to ensure that Commodus's position would be unassailable (since a rumor that Marcus had died 5 years earlier did indeed start a short-lived civil war), even though he was only 19 when Marcus died. - On this subject, someone says "Rome was founded as a republic". No, it was founded as a monarchy ruled by kings; only some 250 years later did it become a republic - and some 480 years later an "empire". - Maximus is portrayed as a "general" of the whole army in Germania, but who had never been in Rome. In Marcus's reign that would have been impossible - anyone in such a position would also have to belong to the senatorial class, and therefore have spent at least part of his career in Rome. "Generals" in the sense that Maximus was did not exist. However, people like Maximus did appears a few decades after Marcus's death. - Finally, the real Commodus was murdered in a palace conspiracy, strangled in his bath by his sparring partner, after 12 years as emperor. After 2 short-lived successors, the empire plunged into civil war, after which the victor, Septimius Severus, emerged as sole emperor. What I mean is that "Gladiator" is a very good film, but bad history. Which is fine - if one is aware of that.
Rating:
Summary: Are you not entertained?
Review: Gladiator would have to be one of the best movies ever made. The storyline and battle scenes are wonderful and the acting is stunning. Russell Crowe delivers an amazing performance as well as the handsome Joaquin Phoenix. A really good hero/villain duo. If you're ever looking for a good war/drama movie, this would have to be it. Buy it. YOU WILL BE ENTERTAINED.
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