Rating: 
Summary: Good film, best of the summer so far...
Review: I must say this film impressed me even though it reminded me of Spartacus on many levels. Ridley Scott returns to the level of filmmaking he was at when he made Alien and Bladerunner. Interestingly enough, this movie had something for everyone. Action for the men; romance for the women; and the "artsy" stuff that thrills the film buffs.Strengths: Ridley Scott does a fine job of directing in this film. The recreation of the city of Rome is BRILLIANT. The panning shots of the Roman city were just as if not more brilliant than the same type of shots we saw of the futuristic city in Bladerunner. I also liked the cinematography in this film (especially during afterlife scenes). Also, Phoenix does a great job with the villian's role in this movie. Weaknesses: Not much bothered me about this film, but one thing that did surface was this film's striking resemblance to Spartacus. It seemed that the storylines were almost identical... up until the last half hour or so. I also did not buy the feasibility of hand-to-hand combat of a gladiator and the emperor of Rome. (There's no way in hell any Roman emperor, even considering the injury the gladiator had sustained, would EVER have gotten in the ring with a gladiator.) Bottom Line: This movie is a must see. I wouldn't expect any major Academy Award nominations (maybe some for effects) unless there is a weak fall season, but it's a good film nonetheless.
Rating: 
Summary: History Stranger Than Fiction
Review: Being interested in Ancient Roman history, I took a look at the year 180 AD (the time period this film supposedly takes place) to see who, in fact, was Emperor at that time. It's interesting to note, that although this film is fictitious, the screenwriters did choose a real and notorious Emperor, named Marcus Aurelius Commodus, who did rule from 180-192 AD. His sister, as in the film, was named Annia Lucilla and whose second husband, Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus was a possible rival to the throne. Commodus became fearful that Lucilla was in involved in a conspiracy to remove him from the throne. To ensure his position as Emperor, he had both his sister and her husband executed. Commodus saw himself as a skillful & powerful athlete and to the dismay of the Senate, would participate in the arena where he would slaughter wild animals with his bare hands. Commmodus passionately identified himself with the Olympian god, Hercules, the Great Hunter, and had coins engraved depicting him wrestling with lions. The Emperor then changed his name to Hercules, the son of Jupiter. He began to discard the traditional imperial mode of dress and preferred to wear lion-skins and carry the club of Hercules. His rule was perilous, with his army seen throughout the Empire as a military secret police and as oppressors. Power began to shift away from the Senate. On the first day of January 193 AD, Commodus planned to celebrate his inauguration by dressing in a gladiatorial uniform and leading a procession of gladiators from the barracks. Ironically, this precipitated the coup that was being planned by the newly appointed praetorian prefect, Quintus Aemilius Laetus, who decided that the Emperor had become intolerable. With the support of Commodus' mistress and the court chamberlain, Eclectus, and several leading figures in the administration, Laetus carried out the assassination on New Year's Eve by having Commodus strangled at the hands of a wrestler named Narcissus, who was the Emperor's personal athletic trainer. The Senate and the people of Rome tried to remove the memory of Commodus by destroying his statues and erasing his name from all inscriptions, but Laetus, although his assassin, saved his body from the traitor's grave & secretly gave him a proper burial. History...stranger than fiction? As enjoyable as the film Gladiator is, my biggest complaint about historical films is that Hollywood uses their poetic license to write whatever they feel like. When I saw Braveheart, I cringed (the only thing they got right about William Wallace was the ending) and then recently there was U-571 (it was the British, not the Americans who boarded the Nazi sub and stole the Enigma). Why does Hollywood do this? If they really looked at the history books they might see a real plot ten times more romantic, more notorious, more exciting than anything Tinseltown could create.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular with a lot of true historical detail!
Review: This movie was spectacular, Russel Crowe delivered an unforgettable performance as a general who defied the emporer and then was forced into slavery. The movie began with Maximus (Russel Crowe) leading a Roman legion of 5,300 soldiers against the barbaric Goths. This battle was surprisingly, historically accurate, everything from the onager to the lorica segmentata, and even the testudo formation. When commodus (pronounced in my opinion just like komodo dragon) became the emporer, Maximus said he would never fight for him, thus he was ordered to be killed but he somehow escaped. He then became a gladiator because of his build and eventually made it to the colleseum. You will have to find out what happens next. This movie is enjoyable for everyone with all the action and drama, but is especially enjoyable to people who know a lot of Roman and Ancient history.
Rating:
Summary: Correction to Gladiator review.
Review: I was wrong in my earlier statement, going back to Gibbons decline and fall I find that Marcus Aurelius faught a gruelling 8 year campaign against the Marcomani, and that Vindebonum is modern Vienna. I had forgotten this completely. My memory served me better on Commodus.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful acting and plot for a GRIPPING story about HONOR
Review: Russel Crowe was a new name to me. I first saw him in "The Insider" and I thought, that is a "good" actor. He handled his part very well and succeeded in conveying "feeling" to his audience. When I saw "The Gladiator" I was AMAZED at how this SAME person could actually MASTER two totally DIFFERENT parts with the same degree of perfection. I mean the greatest actors of all time have one character that they mold to fit the role, you will find Mel Gibson still Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and Brave Heart; Robert De Nero the same guy in Taxi Driver and The Godfather but simply doing something different (maybe he will be different in his new Animated movie), Al Pacino, Michael Caine, Omar Sherief, Tom Hanks et cetera all have their character print. Russel Crowe succeeds in not just acting the PART but acting the HEART. The five stars go mainly to Mr. Crowe's acting. "A Hero Will Rise" yes, and that hero is Russel Crowe not General Maximus. People tell me that L.A. Confidential is a good movie too and that, again a totally differnt character is portrayed awesomely. The Plot of the Movie is basically about Honor and a Moral fight against corruption, a classical good against evil plot, in which the "good" guy wins after being put through betrayal, oppression and brutality. Wonderful effects to say the least. Some people say that the historical facts are a bit distorted, but that is irrelevant as this movie is not a Historic one, but rather a HUMAN one. Wonderful soundtrack, sublime. Enjoy it. Every one I know did so immensely.
Rating:
Summary: An irresistible plot that seizes viewer on the first scene
Review: I have seen this motion picture twice so far & each time I see it, The General Maximus captures my heart & incarnates in me for several days, so courageous, noble, faithful, loyal, heroic, fighting really hard for principals, values, ethics, believes and manners. So protective to what he belong. I think the General Maximus is meant to be the dream of Mankind. General Maximus is a perfect instructor to our World-leaders, managers. All movie long, he was giving them a workshop in how to lead, command, manage and, at the same time, being loved. The picture explained nicely some topics like; - How some rulers keep their people busy with minor issues (games in the case of The Gladiator & Soccer in our present days) to achieve some personal and dictatorial goals. - What the Roman Empire added to Humanity; Architecture (the only addition in my point of view.) - Reasons of the fall of the Roman Empire: aggression, Greed, violence, conspiracies and homosexuality...etc. Russell Crowe was really awesome. I think he deserves an Academy Award of best acting this year. His innocent, smiling, convincing, dreaming, expressive & touching face made me to wonder what will happen on planet Earth if two men like The General Maximuis exist. I don't think that any other film director was that successful in directing Battles & violence scenes like Ridely. I bet this movie will win the following Academy Awards: - Best actor - Best Music (Best scene-matching music I have heard for ages) - Best direction A great movie that I'll definitely buy when on video despite the usual accusation of Arabs being so bad and into evil stuff like slavery, cheating.....etc. The picture managed to make a lot of people change their motto to: Strength and honor
Rating:
Summary: A well-rounded, visually stunning epic
Review: I'm pleased to see that so many of you loved this movie. Ridley Scott has never really been given enough credit for his exceptional visual sense. The opening battle in the wilds of Germania is riveting. We are also treated to awesome shots of the Colosseum and the emperor Commodus' triumphal entry into Rome. The film also succeeds as a character-driven drama, with dialogue that approaches Shakespearean richness. Joaquin Phoenix is perfect as the Iago-like villain Commodus, and Connie Nielsen is quite good as Lucilla. I could honestly care less about Russell Crowe. Small weaknesses in the film: -a totally superfluous African character played by Djimon Hounsou (waste of a good actor) -fuzzy religious elements which are closer to New Age beliefs than ancient ones
Rating:
Summary: Hail creativity!
Review: I remember my father taking me to see Ben Hur when I was a young boy of ten. What a breathtaking experience that was. And a turning point in life that led to an eventual career in the film industry itself. I believe I repeated this personal history, last night, by taking my own son to see Gladiator. What spectacle! I say no more except a sincere thankyou to Mr Ridley Scott, the superb cast, and all those many professionals who worked on this film. A film that I will treasure for many years...and an experience that just might influence another small boy for a whole lifetime! Who knows...
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: This is by far the best movie of the year, and is with out a doubt one of the best films in the last 5 years. The whole film is incredable, and shouldnt be missed.
Rating:
Summary: But....
Review: Gladiator is a spectacular film, I was in two minds after I saw it first, but on a second and third viewing it shines out (for me) as a masterpiece of film making. But..., don't take it as history. Marcus Aurelius was not a Warrior emporor, Rome had been at peace for a whole century when he died. The Germans had learnt a thing or two about fighting the romans from Julius and Augustus Ceasars day, and would never have stood around chanting as the artillary got going. In reality Commodus regularly fought in the arena hundreds of times. As in the film, his victims were secretly wounded, but their weapons were made to be non lethal. He was far worse than the film character, and murded so many of the Imperial retainers that a group decided its him or us, and had him strangled in a drugged sleep. Still I agree with the positive reviews here, and Cinema is about story telling not history. Though Gladiator has a simple plot, its so well done, so beautifully shot, so well acted, and the score is stunning. It has some flaws, such as 'the soil is black, black as my wifes hair'. My dear Maximus, her hairs not black!
| 
