Gladiator Reviews

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, the "general who became a slave, who became a gladiator, who defied an emperor." 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 look that works perfectly with his role.

Connie Nielsen is also very good as Lucilla. However, perhaps the two finest performances in the movie were given by a couple of acting veterans in supporting roles. Richard Harris and Oliver Reed were exceptional in what will be remembered as crowning achievements at the end of their careers. Harris was perfect as Marcus Aurelius, the aging Caesar who reflects upon his life and contemplates how the world will remember him. And Reed, especially, gave my personal favorite performance in the movie as Proximo, the trainer for the gladiators. The way he spoke about the life of a gladiator, the splendor of Rome, and the "thrill of the Coliseum" really added excitement and anticipation during the viewing of the movie.

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. But the whole movie is a rush! Hans Zimmer provides the absolute perfect score to capture the different moods in the movie. Ridley Scott sets the perfect tone with his artistic and creative directing. 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!

Gladiator is one of those films that is always held in high regard. I think when people look back on this film they just reflect on how badass Russell Crowe is in this. I think one thing people tend to overlook is that this movie kind of drags.

There are things to like about this film, but I found myself constantly checking how much longer the movie was going to run. There are some movies that are long and you don't really mind it, however this was not one of those movies. The characters are likable enough, the story is good, the acting is great, but there was just too much going on outside of the main protagonist and his story that was just kind of agonizing. The viewer is given a bloodlust, you want to see Crowe kick more butt and be awesome but the filmmakers want you to work for that, so you have to sit through some mediocre scenes. Those scenes however build up to some really exciting fight scenes. When Crowe goes into Gladiator mode IT...IS...ON!! When watching him you feel like you're right there in the arena cheering for him. The music, the cinematography, it was all well done to give the feel of the times and take you into the scene.

Joaquin Phoenix is a great actor, and he was great in his role. One thing that I'm really glad the filmmakers did was that they didn't make the character a wimp. While he was soft compared to Maximus, Phoenix's character had combat training as well. So when they go head to head, it's not just a one sided fight.

With great arena scenes, great acting from our two main stars. Gladiator was a good movie that had too much around it. I wouldn't watch the whole thing over again, however I will keep the awesome parts in my head and like I said at the start Crowe's badassness is this film's legacy.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

When Roman general Maximus is betrayed and his family murdered by the emperor's corrupt son Commodus, he gets his chance for revenge when he comes to Rome as a gladiator.
I don't like to use the word "overrated", but I certainly couldn't get into Gladiator as much as everyone else seems to. Why? Well, several reasons.
For one thing, I'm not a Russell Crowe fan. I've always found him soporifically bland, and this is no exception.
The movie does so little to effectively establish its many plot threads that the whole thing just seems unfocused. Even Maximus's central quest for revenge ends up getting lost in a sea of other wrestling plot points. Some of them did perk my interest, like the Senate's plan to get rid of Commodus, but nothing ever comes of that. The third act in particular devolves into a completely disjointed mess; I was just thinking, "What do any of these events have to do with each other?" And how does Commodus find out about the scheme against him?
The fight scenes are some of the worst ever! This is one of those movies that succumbs to the sad cliché of over-editing, so sometimes I couldn't even tell what was going on.
I really wanted to love this movie, but in the end it just came off to me as okay at best. I liked parts of it, but they were just a few bright spots in an otherwise confusing, pretentious mess.

My rating: 60%

gladiator is a modern day great,wonderfully directed by ridley scott,with a dream cast of actors,a simple storyline...but its the drive & passion of the actors that keep us engrossed in a film that takes us back to a time when swords & saddles were a matinee feature,this film is colourful well directed with a beautiful music score by hans zimmer..a must see film.

Marcus Aurelius believed that Rome should again become a republic, because in all the years that the emperor was despite having conquered many lands and met the people had failed in if anything important because although Rome had achieved great territorial expansion that does not had benefited the people because although this
support and celebrate the victories, most citizens (men), must leave their families to risk their lives in battle.
Comfortable, but knew that the people he liked the victory he had no courage to face a war and therefore preferred to distract the people with a plan of "bread and circuses", so that this will not notice the problems of empire and reveal not against it. Another thing that Commodus believed, was that the power of the empire was to be concentrated only in the emperor, or the failure of the Senate supported.
There was infighting in the Senate since some defended and supported the government led by Comodo and others were against and conspired against him, this caused many upheavals and conflicts.

Who among us has never criticized a governor or politician?
Probably many times we have been at odds with the people who run the country and how many times we will say "even I would rule better ..."
Are not always the best power. There are people with more ability to direct that we come to us, but, they, with all humility, prefer to pursue other things, like normal people. This is one of the themes of the movie 'Gladiator', where Maximus Roman army general, rejects the position of emperor, since, after the war Marcus Aurelius wants to be emperor, but he wants to return to his wife and son .
The film is at first sight of war and action, but, looking at it another way, one realizes that 'Gladiator' is also about the importance of the pursuit of good government.
These issues are also mixed wanting to be level with your family matter, as the case of Commodus, who can not get his father to love him as much as Max, who wants to give the power.
I think in this film disclosed multiple values ​​that make us think about what we have and learn to appreciate it, teaches us to be humble and to appreciate our family, and, at the same time shows us life in ancient Rome, both as noble as the gladiators, to commoners.

The performance by Joaquin Phoenix is something that can be given only by geniuses. Amazing work of art by Ridley Scott. Definitely one of the greatest movies of all times, a perfect mix of action, drama, and perfect performances by both Crowe and Phoenix, giving us a great pleasure to see such a big rivalry on screens.

Just as Johnny B. Goode, Walk & Money For Nothing are one of the greatest guitar-driven songs, Gladiator is one of the greatest music-and-acting driven film I've ever seen and is one of the few from the 21st Century that can be considered a masterpiece.

Well, Sir Ridley Scott, the mastermind behind Alien & Blade Runner and, to some extend, Matchstick Men, has convinced me that he can pull off an epic movie as brilliantly as his above two mentioned sci-fi movies. Now I'm gonna compare Gladiator with a few movies from the same genre.

It wasn't as beautiful as Titanic nor the romance was as romantic as in Braveheart. Unlike Pathfinder, this was unforgiving and more brutal and it was driven in the same cinematic manner as Ben-Hur and some of the scenes were almost like Spartacus. All the battle scenes in the Colosseum are nail-biting and I would rank this film somewhere along the lines of Apocalypto but a little better.

Another thing is his heroes & villains. They are always great, no matter how much pain they have gone through or how much pain they inflict upon others. Ellen Ripley, Rick Deckard and G.I. Jane being one of the best examples of heroes while Roy Batty and the relentless Aliens being the famous. In this one we have Russell Crowe in one of his few finest moments - apart from Cinderella Man & The Inside - playing the titular Gladiator, General Maximus Decimus Meridus with Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, the antagonist. I've been a fan of Joaquin Phoenix ever since I saw him in Walk The Line but after watching his performance in this film, It was like as if I had never seen him before onscreen. The single scene he dominated was the one explaining the virtues to his father before smothering him to death. Whereas in other scenes, Oliver Reed was simply the best.

A must watch and very enjoyable movie and 85% of the fun comes from your knowledge. If you know about the ancient history, the Gods, the Romans or atleast the names, then the fun doubles. I frankly think there's no fun in watching a history-based movie if you don't know what's what but... give Gladiator a try!

It's worthwhile to start saying that the movie is not. Ie: "Gladiator" is not merely a collection of fighting at the Coliseum in Rome, more or less of spectacular via special effects. And what is it? A real tragedy of inner power, underpinned by a subtle and intelligent argument that favors relations backstage and shades of political discourse. Gladiator is a true intimate epic, served by some remarkable compositions of his cast, especially almost inevitable for Joaquin Phoenix, impeccable characterization of a tissue power of ambition, blindness and fear. Ultimately, we are faced with a symphonic work whose themes and variations are wonderfully scored music by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Moreover, it is always interesting to watch the rising of a star - Russell Crowe.