Sadly, judging by the 294 opinions, most of which sing its praises, this was probably not a good op to begin with. Oh well. First and foremost, I thought its main problem was its confused style; touted by all to be an epic feature by all, I was surprised to be confronted with an immediate flow of cheap action movie one-liners; ‘on my orders unleash hell’, and a unending collection of horribly over written conversation. It was merely another crass Hollywood picture, leading me to wonder whether any of the critics actually understood what is meant by epic; in most cases nowadays it is a film which lasts for 2 hours or more and/or wasted 100 million dollars (+/-) on its realisation. (see pearl harbour, black hawk down etc..)
Largely I found Ridley Scott’s direction far from his Blade Runner or Alien days standards- he always seems to slip up when confronted with battle scenes; they are not controlled and brutal like Braveheart, or shocking and erratic like Platoon, they are just basically traditional Hollywood fare of the not-too-much-blood-lads-we-want-that-Oscar school of thought, (though occasionally the Coliseum spectacles did win me over). Black Hawk Down is another
example of this; and only labelled as 90 or so minutes of war porn due to the lack of any characters that the audience could actually care about, and the fact that in the heat of battle they were all virtually indistinguishable.
Secondly (and perhaps its just me) but Russell Crowe seems to do little else when there is no one to twat about the head with a sword, than look mournfully about him, in a dull action hero kind of way- much in the same way that Bruce Willis cannot make a film without stopping and pursing his lips in an ‘intense’ way- or equally similar to John Woo who cannot direct an action sequence without the star diving sideways with two semi automatic handguns blazing away, a billowing trench coat, and a cloud of white doves flitting about. We are treated to little else in Gladiator, apart from Russells vengeful scenes; (he keeps the mournful look but is wearing a helmet so its ok), and there is honestly little else he does apart from turning down the sexual advances of Connie Nielsen leaving him both sexless and without depth. What you may find amusing however is his shaved head and stubble look, which I thought gave him a sort of unhappy-potato look, utilised by so many actors these days; for example if you were to stop reading and go to www.imdb.com and search out Quentin Tarantino who is sporting an interesting root-vegetable/Bert from sesame street look, I am sure you will agree. Anyway, enough of that;
Story Maximus Decimus Meridias (or Russell to you and me) is the major Roman General, leading the campaign to conquer Germania once and for all (their fighters are nicely depicted as mud covered, bone wielding cavemen types), after which he hopes to return to his family. His close friend and the Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius; realising his own son Commodus is unfit to rule, and attempts to pass the power back to the people of Rome and the Senate through his good friend Maximus. Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), quite understandably refuses to accept this, and at his father’s death, despatches Maximus to be killed, along with his family. Although escaping this, Maximus is wounded, and is powerless to stop his capture and sale as a slave to Proximo (the late great Oliver Reed), and his subsequent positioning as a Gladiator. He begins to realise the way to fulfil the dying wish of his mentor and hand the power to the people could possibly be achieved through his, and his multi cultural gladiator friends burgeoning talents at the Coliseum. Connie Nielsen is Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, torn between her lisping sibling, and her long idolisation of Maximus; treading the fine line of betrayal, with a number of Senators.
The acting apart from Russell Crowe, was reasonably good; Joaquin Phoenix excels as the villain despite a worrying sexual attraction to his sister Lucilla, who performs equally well. Oliver Reed is excellent as the Gladiator turned slave trader Proximo, but the main problem is Spencer Treat Clark; or Lucius the future heir to the throne. Now, ordinarily I have nothing against child actors unless they are either; any of the children in Harry Potter, any of the children in Hook (or anyone in Hook come to that) and finally those who go out of their way to be irritating and/or with names that sound like an expensive confectionery product.
I don’t wish to be entirely negative however, several aspects of the film are faultless; such as the beautiful scenery, filmed largely in Malta, the compelling soundtrack, several of the staged battles at the Coliseum, and the three to four seconds in which it seems Spencer Treat Clark is in mortal danger. But really I thought it was just too openly ‘Hollywood’, and sadly just the type of stuff they love at the Oscars; I thought it too unwilling to expand on the idea of Roman Bloodsports, or Roman Culture and too pretentious a film for me (especially the rose petal scattering) and ‘feeling’ the ears of corn in the opening scene, (and the clearly visible jet trails in the sky at several points of the film).
Please be nice to my first op!, and I would be glad to include any other child actors suitably irritating. Though of course Haley Joel Osmont is exempt from this.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood ... more
predecessors, Ridley Scott'sGladiatoris a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood ... more
predecessors, Ridley Scott'sGladiatoris a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The General who became a slave. The slave who became a Gladiator. The Gladiator who defied ... more
an Empire.Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, GLADIATOR is a dazzling combination of vivid action and extraordinary storytellin...
The great Roman General Maximus (Russell Crowe) has once again led the legions to victory ... more
on the battlefield. The war won Maximus dreams of home wanting only to return to his wife and son; however the dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) h...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Gladiator [DVD] [2000]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78493847.jpg "Gladiator [DVD] [2000]")
![Gladiator [Single Disc]-DVD](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/99150363.jpg "Gladiator [Single Disc]-DVD")
Apr 10th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
