Gladiator
Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Harris, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
I don't really like Ancient Roman movies. I hated Caeser, Mark Antony, and all of the other numberous movies about this topic. So when my wonderful husband said "Lets Get this one I heard it was good." I was thinking oh great another one of those stupid macho Roman films blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. Although, I found the first ten minutes or so a little confusing, I slowly started to understand it and then I really got into it. This movie rocked. It was awesome. Russell Crowe absolutely stole the show.
The movie takes place in Ancient Rome, at the time of Marcus Aurelius (Harris). Maximus(Crowe) is a general for Roman forces. He is a wonderful general who wants to get it over with so he can return home. The already ill emperor gets worse and tells Maximus that he would like Maximus to take the throne instead of Commodus (Phoenix). The Emperor tells Commodus of his decision and the enraged Commodus takes his fathers life. Commodus then takes the throne. Due to the fact that the emporer's wishes were only known by Maximus and Commodus. He then orders Maximus to be killed. Maximus escapes, and becomes a slave. He is then sold to Proximo(Reed) who turns him into a gladiator. He returns to Rome to seek revenge with the other gladiators. He confronts Commodus who is amazed that he is alive. Lucilla sums this situation up in one sentence "Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome."
This movie was great. It was a bit gory but the language was mild. All in all it was excellent. I highly recommend this movie. It will be a classic. Even if you don't like macho movies you need to see this one.
My Rating=
Violence, Language, Nudity=(really violent, not a lot of lanuage, no nudity)
Blood and guts=
Check out the Gladiator Website:Gladiator
Review Written By:Nici It may not be reproduced or published elsewhere with out my written consent.