Amazons And Gladiators (Wide Screen)

Advantages: A decent story, brilliant drama, powerful action sequences, stunning performances and a great soundtrack
Disadvantages: At 2 hours 44 minutes it is a very long film

...Scotts "Gladiator" when it first hit the big screen. "That was absolutely brilliant" or words to that effect were the words I heard after I forced them to watch it and to be honest it is pretty much the way I have felt about the film ever since I first watched it. It has just about everything you could ask for from a modern film brilliant performances, stunning action, powerful soundtrack and most importantly a compelling storyline which drags you in to the thick of the action and takes you on a rollercoaster ride of blood, sweat and tears. Now I will be the first to admit that I am no history expert and so wouldn't have a clue whether "Gladiator" is in the slightest historically accurate and it doesn't matter as the film is not about the history but about one mans journey from being a Roman General, to slave and onto being a Gladiator... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Lavish sets and gorgeous costume, great cast, the lascivious undertones and the whole damn campy lot of the rest of it!
Disadvantages: Dated and cheesy, jumbled themes, muted action scenes, product constrained by its times

...'s exactly what you get. I have no complaints there and neither will you. As a spectacle it's faultless as most of the time were and indeed is a step up from its predecessor with much more in the way of real backdrops and far less calling in the painters...if you know what I mean. Demetrius and the Gladiators also presents an extremely fun cast including Victor Mature as Demetrius who I always find amusing on screen if only because his expression seems to change even less than Arnie's and because that one expression is more than a little reminiscent of a constipated camel. It would be easy to rip his performance apart as it erm, always is so I won't bother, seen him once, seen him a thousand times if you ask me. Jay Robinson, on the other hand, steals the show once more as a truly repugnant Caligula; complete with squealing, nasal whine he... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: Nothing

...the show as the eerie Commodus, and his evil streak sent a shiver of fear running down my spine. Connie Nielsen provides a little romance as well as drama onto the screen, and fine roles from Oliver Reed as the former gladiator turned slave trader and Djimon Hounsou as a fellow gladiator turn a great film into a magnificent one. My Opinion After 2 hours 29 minutes of watching this film, I was left hungry for more. Haunting memories of the fight sequences and dream sequences through the 'Fields of Elysium' as well as rousing speeches and quotable characters make this one of the greatest films of all time, let alone of recent years. It has made the historical epic more popular and is reminiscent in its timelessness as films such as 'Spartacus' and 'Ben Hur' in terms of its historical prowess. I don't really have a bad word to say about... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful