RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Few movies of touching the topic has made me immerse myself in the reality and credible environment of the Roman Empire. Acting is superb and the story very convincing.

This is a first rate movie and in my opinion this is tied with "L.A. Confidential" and "Cinderella Man" as Russell Crowe's top movies, but he has been racking them up. He is more than believable as General Maximus, who, through treachery and betrayal, becomes a gladiator and slave. When his family is murdered he becomes hell bent on revenge. he gets it, but at a cost. Great, great fight scenes.

It held my interest, if only because it's the last film appearance of the great Oliver Reed before he died. Russell Crowe is always pretty good in whatever he's in (although he'd do well to get that immense ego of his under control; he's pretty good as an actor, but he's not as great as he seems to think he is), but I do think Joaquin Phoenix is shaping up to be one of America's better actors. Will be interesting to see how he develops in the years to come; I think there's great potential there. One thing I've wondered about this film; does anyone else besides me notice the similarity of endings between this film and "Braveheart"? I'm not sure which one came out first, and I'm not suggesting it was intentionally done, but the one ending recalled, to my mind at least, the ending of the other...

Crowe and Harris are good, the rest are at best mediocre, and the script is unhistorical mumbo-jumbo. Good arena sequences can't make up for the rest.

Tastes vary. Personally, I found this a good cure for ensomnia.

I was not interested in seeing this movie, at first, though I am very happy that I caved in to the wishes of my friends. It is now one of my favorite films: excellent characters and acting, great cinematography and realistic, true-to-history costumes and scenery. Truly one of the great films of its time.

The bad side of Rome? Rome only had one side....

Such a great plot and acting. Historaclly correct and percise. It demonstrates the "bad side" of Rome.

How he goes from being a Roman general to a slave is pretty strange. But other than this the movie is a great epic harkening back to movies from the 60s like Spartacus (released in 1960 I believe), a very inspiring ending. Think Braveheart in Rome.

russell did a fab job in this. it's very good.

Very overrated. An average to better-than-average movie but in no way comparable to, say, "Ben-Hur" (which I heard comparisons to).

Russell Crowes impressively powerful performance won him an Oscar -while Ridley Scott won one for best Director. A fine semi historical film, which is an update on the 1964 film (that was also very good, but less successful-'The Fall of the Roman Empire') Raw, bloody action here- that accurately tells of the Roman Empires beginning decline after the year 180.

Gladiatorial combat is immortalized in this film, the only way it can be: through stunning action sequences and beautiful imagery. It also immortalizes, above all, director Ridley Scott. Roger Ebert complains of people with short memory spans praising this film while forgetting that films like Spartacus have supposedly done this before. Well, I have a good memory, and I remember Spartacus. In fact, I kept on remembering that film while watching Gladiator, only in the context of, "This is so much better than Spartacus. It goes beyond." The action is better, the visuals are better, the story is better, and the acting is better. Sorry, Kirk. Since this is an action film, the story isn't the most important element, but for an action film it is actually quite good. For one thing, I liked the disturbing under-the-surface incest element going on between Commodus and Connie Nielson. Furthermore, it was interesting to see how Crowe gained support among the gladiators until it became as if he were a general leading his army again. The plot itself needed to be there in order to fully create a sense of grandeur. With its insurrection story, the rise of the hero and his trek to the capitol of Rome, and the look at the people in power, the plot creates a sense of time-and-place necessary for an epic that couldn't exist with the visuals and action alone. The acting is among the best one can ever seen for an action film, and there is plenty of fine dramatic work pulled off by the two main actors. Russell Crowe is now one of the best "new" (four or five films so far) actors in film. We believe, in his glances and the ways he delivers his many great lines, that he is Maximus. He is poignant, hate-filled, and sorrowful all at once. The praise he is getting is deserved. But why isn't Phoenix being lauded just as much? He carries the film in the second-largest role just as well as Crowe. His Emperor Commodus isn't a good villain and has no real character, but Phoenix adds so many layers to him and turns him into a great antagonist that that alone makes his performance excellent. He commands attention just as Crowe does. All by himself (no help from any great dialogue or development), he creates a villain that is prissy, whining, ambitious, pathetic, and malevolent, and worthy of our hate as well as our pity. It's a wonderful transformation. To sum it up, the characters themselves aren't really developed at all- but the acting is so good that it seems they are.

Historically inaccurate,but a great movie nonetheless.The battle scenes brought cold,hard realism to the savagery of war when it was fought face to face with swords and maces.The cinematography was excellent and the leading man (whose name escapes me just now) did a good job with his role.

Amazing movie.

Scott did a great job with this film, from the battles in Germania to the fights in Rome, the directing was great. The acting was also good, with Harris, Crowe and Pheonix giving great performances.

I thought that at one point, the movie was going to forge into another Sparticas, but it took a much different turn with a barrage of arrows, and ended effectively.

BEST MOVIE EVER

People still dig blood and guts, as did the ancient Romans. This provided enough of both, and had a decent storyline to boot. A wonderful take on the good old days. :)

No way should this have beaten Traffic for best movie.

Not historically accurate, not a lot of great acting (though you do hate Joaquin Phoenix), but some very well staged and ambitious action scenes.

Gladiator's one of those films that needs the big screen because the action + spectacular scenery are what keep it going. Once you see it on TV there's not enough plot to keep you interested and the impact of the action diminishes. 5 stars seeing it at the cinema first time around, dropping to 3 stars when seeing it on TV.

Gladiator is one of the best movies I've seen when it comes to the time when gladiators,and the romen empire was said to be. It moves pretty fast so you dont get bored like some of the other moves. The plot is neat to Crowe starts out as General becomes a slave then becomes a Gladiator and upsets the Empire. You have to love it.

Did you people watch the same movie as me? Bad acting. (AAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM I NOOOOOOOOT MERCIIIIIIIIFUL!?!?) Disjointed action scences. And that chick-who-gives-important-end-of-movie-speech (He was a soldier of Rome) was an absolute howler. It's wasn't a bad movie- but pure cheese.

Maximus is the man

Stupid inferior remake of Tony Mann's great film The Fall of the Roman Empire. Forget Gladiator, watch The Fall of the Roman Empire. Russell Crowe is idiotic in this film.

Amazing movie. Loved the fight scene where they wore the gold masks.

One of my favorite movies of all times. Russell Crowe did an amazing job and the whole movie was just shot beautifully. Malta is such a beautiful little island. I never cry in movies, but this one brought me to tears. He deserved to win that Oscar, that's for sure. Thank you for a great movie.

You wanna fight

I was tricked into seeing this movie. I had no plans to see it to begin with. Glad I did. Deserved ever Oscar it received. Almost as good as Silence of the Lambs.

This is an epic and at the end you definitly feel like you want more. The special effects were awsome and the cinematography was excellent. Russell Crowe did a great job. Another must see if you have not seen it yet.

My all time favorite.

Very realistic...similar on a par to the film Excalibur. Engrossed from beginning to end.

One of my all time favorite movies. The end was my favorite part. It was the most realistic scene of someone going to heaven I ever saw. Very emotional and very good.

Awesome movie!! One of the best I have seen.

what to say about it it's just excellent

Blech. Give me Spartacus over this computerized F/X junk any day.

Great film. Are you not entertained?

I absolutely loved this film when I saw it at the cinema - but its not a film that I can watch repeatedly. I do have it on DVD, but its something I only watch every now and again. I thought that the costumes and the photography of the film were absolutely fantastic. The recreation of the Colusseum was breathtaking. Russell Crowe gives a solid performance as per usual, but he consistantly lets himself down by having his distinctive New Zealand accent slipping through. Its a very moving film and always brings a lump to my throat at the end.

this movie is a great choice for someone who wants action. The hand to hand combat and other fighting scenes are fantastic,a nd the plot is great too. Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix give excellent performances. a must-see!

This one has been sitting on my DVD shelf for about two years, and I'm only now just getting to it. I have to really be in the mood to watch a so-called epic like this. The acting was very good for the most part, but Joaquin Phoenix (Commodus) really started getting on my nerves with all his crybaby whining. As a couple of other raters have mentioned, the historical facts were pretty much thrown out the window, and that can be pretty distracting when you know it really didn't happen that way.

This movie contains all the important elements that make an excellent action movie. While some reviewers are basing their ratings of this movie on historical fact, I am going to stick with the fictional side...as I didn't go see this movie for historical reasons. I went to see it cause I wanted to see some good fighting and some good action. And the movie followed thru all the way. Superb acting all around, and especially so by the great Joaquin Phoenix, a very underrated actor who did an Oscar worthy performance in this movie. Russell Crowe also did a great job as the Gladiator. The bloodbath scenes in this movie made it even better...a must see for hardcore action movie fans. An excellent movie that cannot be missed !

This movie pissed me off. Not only does it make a hash of history, but the score is stolen from composers who are not mentioned in the credits. While the action sequences are well done and exciting, Hans Zimmer deserves jail time for his plagiarism. Few people who see it have any clue. UPDATE: since I am getting tons of unhelpfuls I must be doing something right. I HATE STEALING. Just because something is in public domain doesn't mean it has a tag on it that says, feel free to TAKE this, put YOUR name on it and claim it as YOUR OWN!! Large stretches of Zimmer's score are lifted from Wagner's Das Rheingold--transposed from D-flat to A, and reorchestrated for simplicity--and stolen from Holst (specifically, Mars from The Planets), squared from the original 5/4 meter to 3/2, probably because the lazy overpaid Hollywood hack needed to make the selection a little bit longer. The closing credits read, and I QUOTE: ORIGINAL score composed by Hans Zimmer. He got away with it because ignorant audiences don't know any better. Plagiarism is disgusting and the proper punishment is public humiliation.

Oh my God! What a load of bullcrap! I could admit that it has a pretty good action sequence, but it is definitely absolutely the most historically incorrect movie I`ve ever seen! It is rated R, although in my opinion, it should be rated C, as in Cliche. It is so cliche, it`s not even funny. However, my brother and I had fun watching it simply because it was great to make fun of as it went. Some lines are so stereotypical, it`s impossible not to make fun of them. We also thought of numerous alternative endings to this movie. The action scenes were quite good, I could give it that, but the SFX could have been better... much better (esp. the tiger). And were they trying to compensate for poor plot by making each fighting scene a virtual bloodbath? And come on, what acting? How can you even take the characters seriously when the plot is so unrealistic? The script was incredibly flat and predictible, and honestly, so was the storyline. How oh how did I know that Maximus was going to die the first time I saw him? I think its because I have what they call the shine... Which is also the reason I knew that he and Lucilla were gonna fall in love. Braveheart, anyone? A dead wife, a dead son... need I say more? The point I`m making here is that there are already so many movies like that, why add to human suffering by making another one?

Awesome movie. Rarely does a holywood releases something noteworthy.

An AWSOME story along with AMAZING acting A must see.

Perhaps I could be called bias for saying I really enjoyed this movie. I take Classical studies at school and find the ancient Greeks and Romans incredible. Although there were considerable exaggerations of the size of some of the buildings and the actual attire worn by the Emperor's sister.....this was a good film and I 'm glad it won an oscar.....Russell Crowe really did an amazing job...I couldn't imagine anyone else playing that role. I agree with Wiggum.....this definately passes the bahtroom test!

Maximus and his Roman tattoo. Did you see that?

Wow this movie was absolutly phonominal. The cinimatography was absolutly great and it made me feel as if i was back in the time of the romans. This movie had a great plot that i could follow the whole way through. And the end was amazing. This is a fantastic movie that i have seen so many times.

Truly an enjoyable movie. I really thought that this was one of the better historical dramas that they have put out in the past few years. A great mixture of drama and action, and I thought that both Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix did wonderful jobs with their respective roles. If you're expecting all action and no drama and have a hard time focusing on longer films, then stay away from this one. But I found it to be very entertaining.

Slow-going, yes, but the visuals were exceptional! Beautifully done, I think Joaquin Phoenix did a wonderful job portraying the whiny, spoiled-brat Comedus. Very dramatic (if you don't like drama, this isn't for you), beautiful cinematography. Not meant to be historically accurate. Beautiful musical score, too.

One of the best movies that I've seen in a long time. To truly understand this movie you need to pay attention. In other words: If you have A.D.D. than don't bother with this one because you'll find yourself asking a lot of questions. But if you enjoy a good action/adventure epic with many scenes of graphic violence then this is the movie for you. But please do not confuse this movie with BraveHeart, only idiots that like to make generalizations would ever get the two confused.

I hated this movie! 15 minutes of action, 15 minutes of bordom, 15 minutes of action... Go for Braveheart.

Great film. Certainly, a bit of manipulation of historical fact was involved. But this is not a history film, this is a gladiator film. The opening battle sequence was excellent...although I did wonder why the chanting German warriors sounded exactly like the Zulu's from the 1960s film of the same name. Russel Crow was good as the war weary Roman hero, but I think Joaquin Phoenix did better as Commodus. It was gratifying to see that mighty Sven Thorssen got a bit part! Derek Jacobi's cameo role was also very good. The costumes, armour, fight choreography were all brilliant

Great acting by Russell Crowe! Great action scenes, battles, and fights! Great costumes and locations! This movie rocks!

very, very, rewatchable movie. lost track of how many times i've watched this film. although not my favorite of all time i still like this film alot. the opening of the film was very powerful(especially for military minded type people like myself) in about ten minutes the viewer gets a pretty good idea why the roman empire was the roman empire.(unleash hell luv that line and the straight forward way it was delivered as a matter of fact) the opening was so good that i expected more ,however ,as everyone knows the story arced in a different direction(for the better) but damn what an opening. in my opinion joaquin phoenix nailed the commodus character perfectly and really stole the show preformance wise. r.i.p richard harris. great film.

It's hard not to think of Russell Crowe's holier than thou attitude but he really shined in this movie. It almost rates up there with Ben Hur as a period flick but that chariot race can never be beat.

absolutely amazing...russell crowe acted magnificently.the dialogue was really good.the action scenes were out of this world. it deserved more than 5 oscars.phoenix acted really good too and it is easily one of the best movies of all time

Gladiator has some great fight sequences and a good piece of acting from Russel Crowe. 3 stars means OK, which is what I thought of Gladiator. I didn't thnk that it was a msterpiece, I didn't think it was great, I thought it was OK. In the end, it's a bit unrealistic to me, and I didn't like it that much. While great popcorn entertainment, it isn't much else, with not a brilliant script, or the greatest acting, and is NOTHING compared to Traffic and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which lost to it on Oscar night 2001. While I bought it on VHS (because it won Best Picture at the Oscars, which I like to buy those films), I think it is great as a period film, but in the end, not a masterpiece. Yes, great directing from Ridley Scott, yes, great action sequences, in the end, I didn't like it that much. Summary: A FILM WITH GREAT ACTION, BUT NOT THAT MUCH ELSE. NOTHING REALLY SPECIAL.

Outstanding performances from Crowe and Phoenix(who should have won best supporting actor) assist this already wonderful story and magnificiantly filmed masterpiece. A good old fashioned tale of justice being served, with a twist of course. If you somehow have managed to not see this movie, I strongly suggest that following this obvious repeated smacks to the forehead you deserve, you should purchase this movie.

Terrible acting; the director needs to be banned from the business; the plot...what plot?; special effects looked like they were from the 70's; production value is nill. Mr. Crowe is another overrated wanna-be. The token violence was a joke.

Gladiator deserves 5 stars. I love the fighting scenes, plot, and actors. Russell Crowe was great. But the actor that impress me was Joaquin Phoenix. He was an excellent villain. He killed his father, tried to sleep with his sister, and taunt Maximus. I am disappointed that Joaquin did not win a best supporting actor for this movie.

you have to watch this movie. some may say its historically incorrect or completely unrealistic but the truth is that unless you're a cynical professional critic you'll love it.

It's okey. I think it's overated though. It won a lot of awards, so many people may have been persuaded to enjoy even if they didn't by all the fuss about it. Sit down and pay close attention to it. It's really not THAT great, though it is good. In my view, if you are looking towards thrillers or action, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and Indiana Jones provide better entertainment. If you like drama, then.....well, this movie is for you.

Maybe it was the fact that I watched it at 2 am, after 2 other heavy films that I found it so tremendously, horrifyingly boring. Or maybe it was the fact that epic sagas have no place in my video collection. Or maybe it was the fact that it was truly bad. I love Joaquin Phoenix and I really tried to like this movie but it was impossible! The solid story about Russell's character was nowhere recognizable in the other plots being played out. That it got twelve Oscar nods I find unbelievable. Some scenes were good but not nearly enough. I don't think anything would make me want to see this movie again. I'd just fall asleep like last time.

BUENA PELICULA QUE NOS RETORNA A LAS ANTIGUAS PELICULAS LEGENDARIAS COMO BEN HUR, ESPARTACO, CLEOPATRA, CLARO CON EL TOQUE DE LA NUEVA TECNOLOGIA QUE RECREA AMBIENTES DE ESA EPOCA. LA EPOPEYA QUE DRAMATIZA RUSELL CROWE, ES UN REFLEJO DE QUE SE PUEDE HACER BUEN CINE CON ARGUMENTOS HISTORICOS.