Gladiator

Ridley Scott decided to revive the tradition of epic “sword-and-sandal" movies and although the result was more of a classic fairytale, thanks to the flawless production design, gripping action scenes, wonderful visuals, booming music by Hans Zimmer, marvelous directing and charismatic actors, the end result is surprisingly good. All this, despite the rather sub-standard screenplay and almost zero historical faithfulness. ♫ OST score: 4/5 (01/29/2007)

Here we go again - the director's cut of the film has turned an already perfect film into an incredible, dimensional epic gem! To hell with all those who are picking at historical inaccuracies - it's not about them at all! Gladiator has a different message than a history book! This film is one of my greatest movie theater experiences ever (which the DVD version reminded me of), thanks to the almost holy trinity of Scott - Crowe - Zimmer. (05/22/2010)

Russell Crowe was most deserving of the role of Maximus. I was proud for him in every scene. You could feel the desire for revenge in his every move. A true historical epic with fantastic music! I have a fond appreciation for lines like... "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." (07/25/2011)

A narratively and emotionally artistic spectacle that cleverly adapts the classic needs of historical cinema to the insatiable Hollywood mainstream, whose greatest asset, the overblown and expensive audiovisuals, is so phenomenal that it almost overshadows its great weakness, namely the script. I don’t give a shit about historical accuracy, but with more viewings I'm mostly annoyed by the superficial, half-baked message, served on a disproportionately stretched plot. I love this film, and the coliseum scenes are iconic, but Scott was more of a craftsman over the details than a builder of riveting heroic destinies, which was sorely needed. (07/15/2011)

A clear disappointment after the first viewing. As a big Scott fan, I was expecting a big return of the Master. Actually, visually it was "Scott" and the music was monumental as well, but the shallowness of the script was unpleasantly surprising and the stupid dialogues made my toes curl. Also, as someone who is somewhat interested in history, it made me laugh a lot. But I’m used to it already. I've accepted the fact that it's an ordinary popcorn movie, visually it's awesome, Joaquin Phoenix is great and so I won't go below four stars. (05/23/2002)