Viewer Comments:

Great Story! Great Writing! Great Acting! Great Directing! Great Score! This movie has it all. I especially enjoyed the mood of the film. Even though it has a lot of action, there is a subtle elegance throughout the picture that gives it great style. The movie flows effortlessly from scene to scene while at the same time creating wonderful intensity and nail-biting excitement.

The acting in the movie more than lives up to expectations. Russell Crowe is brilliant in his role as Maximus. Crowe's intense style is perfect for the relentless determination and confidence of Maximus. Joaquin Phoenix is equally wonderful in his role as Commodus, the corrupt emperor. He plays a great villain because he is able to give Commodus depth by showing certain vulnerable or fragile sides, while at the same time instantly transforming to let the ruthless nature of his volatile character shine. It also helps that Joaquin has the classic Caesar looks that work perfectly with his role.

Gladiator is filled with many memorable moments that one would need to see more than once to fully appreciate. The excitement felt for me when Rome is first shown in all its wonder and marvel is my favorite scene. Hans Zimmer provides the absolute perfect score to capture the different moods in the movie. I would recommend it to anyone who can stomach intensity and enjoy an epic story for the ages. Next to Braveheart, this movie is the greatest of all-time!

Completely untrue as far as history is concerned: Marcus Aurelius died from the plague, and he did give his power to his son Commodeus (who did not strangle him, why would he?). The plot is linear and predictable. We have a similar pattern in a number of films. Of course, the battle scenes are impressive, thanks to technology, but it does not make up for the paucity of the dialogue and the simplism of the screenplay. The "poetic" slow motion ending has been filmed so many times that one wonders why Scott could bother with such a rehash.

I thought they were making a movie about Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, two of the best emperors the Roman Empire ever had. But they made a movie about a non-existent General Maximus who is a mixture of Superman and Goofy. Most characters are flat including Maximus. The only redeeming qualities are a great Commodus by Joaquin Phoenix and the battle with the Germans. Commodus was called "the first among the Gladiators" and his twelve years of relatively peaceful reign helped the empire recover from his father's wars. Why does Hollywood have to ridicule history? This movie is a disgrace considering its plot and its message.

… Is it violent? Definitely. Is there decent drama to go along with the action? Most assuredly. Everyone in this movie gave a wonderful performance. I don't know if Russell Crowe should have won Best Actor, but he definitely should have been nominated. Joaquin Phoenix deserved the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a usurper of the throne of Rome who only becomes more evil as the film progresses, performing the most atrocious acts of tyranny.

… Scott was almost forgotten by the cinephiles...

While Gladiator has a brilliant photography, the poor psychology, the mediocre scenery and the bad editing turns the whole thing into an average flick with lots of visual effects to compensate the lack of substance. Sure, some scenes are very good. Ridley has a lot of savoir-faire then and is able to make some very good shots just because he's fundamentally talented.

Sure, Russell Crowe was very good, the casting and costumes were great. The music was out of the world but the rest just fade in oblivion. The biggest disappointment for me was the poor character sketching. Where are the complex characters? Throughout the movie every character is just a good guy or a bad guy. Black or white. Where are the shades of grey, those mysterious characters that elevate drama to the next stage? The film scores mostly for the music and technical wizardry. Instead of Russell Crowe, watch his fellow Mel Gibson in the classic "Braveheart" for a truly complex and heart-rending epic.

Regarding to the movie's evident quality it does not need anymore words, as this year's Oscar nominations speak for themselves. Running to the Oscar ceremony as the clear favourite, Gladiator's final number of Oscars ended up being somewhat like a big disappointment (there were only five).

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