Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | AVE CAESAR MORITVRI TE SALVANT | Content
 | "Hail Caesar! Those who are about to die salute you!" And Ridley Scott's brilliant skills as a director certainly brought vivid imagery to the pageantries and spectacles of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, the historical context of the story is so thwarted that it was rather disappointing. Furthermore, although Scott's skills are particularly famous for setting a mood through surreal imagery and vivid colors(i.e. 1492, Blade Runner), it seemed really overly stylized and lifeless in many parts of the film.
The film's historical license is somewhat laughable. Although a general named Maximus did lead the German legions under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, he was executed by Commodus shortly after Marcus Aurelius' death. The most absurd part of the plot was the notion of Rome turning once again into a republic with overwhelming support: such sentiments were long dead at that point as the republic had ceased to exist for over 200 years; a well developed imperial bureaucracy provided many peoples with prominent positions and considerable influence to keep the imperial institution fixed as a permanent one. In turn, political struggles manifested themselves as palace intrigues or ambitious generals gaining the loyalties of devoted legions. Equally absurd is the scene with senators Gaius and Falco tempting Maximus with thoughts of a Republic within earshot of Commodus and Marcus Aurelius: that's a laugh since even the 'benevolent' Marcus Aurelius would probably have such individuals immediately executed for entertaining such dangerous ideas. Thus, the climactic ending where Rome is once again an ideal republic comes across as a cheap farce demonstrating either the historical ignorance of the script writer or, more likely, Hollywood's excessive indulgence in further perpetuating a propagandist pseudo-history.
The opening scene depicting the battle between the Rhine Legions and the Germanic tribes is truly brilliant in terms of cinematography; a feat unattempted since Kubrik's epic depiction of the Roman legions attacking the slave army in "Spartacus." Although much of the armor and weaponry seemed faithful to the imperial army of the day in terms of the regular legions and cavalry, I was disappointed in the costumes of the praetorian guards; the armor was so polished and the helmets so futuristic that they almost seemed to be extra props from a "Star Wars" movie conveniently shuffled on to the next film set. The same is true for some of the scenes in the gladiatorial shows such as the crossbows: weapons that didn't exist at the time. The unpaved dirt roads leading into Rome were also amusing. Finally, Commodus' triumphal procession through the Via Sacra with white statues and marble walls everywhere is not an accurate depiction of what a Roman triumph would have been like: marble statues and reliefs were painted which would have made Rome a more colorful place than depicted in the film. There was also an extreme overkill in black/royal purple that doesn't reflect the fashion of that period at all. The costumes and furnitures looked either Napoleanic or simply too futuristic.
The soundtrack was the biggest disappointment. Although the incidental music was authentic, the wailing new-aged Persian singing for the main title was completely out-of-tune with the context of the movie: is this a movie about Imperial Rome or the Middle East? A little more imperial fan-fare please (i.e. Miklos Rosza, Basil Poledouris.) This was as inappropriate as using Hawaiian music for a classic Western. The music for the Commodus' procession was also such a cheap steal of Richard Wagner's "The Ring" trilogy they might as well have stuck to the original: absolutely no creativity whatsoever in that musical score.
Despite these draw backs,the acting was decent: especially J. Phoenix as Commodus and Oliver Reed as Proximo. The combat scenes were a little too quick in sequence but certainly captured the mood of the fury and excitement of these spectacles. Oscar material? No. Worth owning? Most definitely.
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| Rating | | | Date | August 07, 2005 | | Summary | Wonderfully done | Content
| Short and simple: this movie is brilliant. Russell Crowe's flashbacks in the film are especially beautiful and touching. Overall, the entire movie is extremely well done. Definitely a must-have. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2005 | | Summary | Some Great Knife Fights! | Content
| An excellent solid addition to ones sand and sandals collection of films. I thought that while the premise was a little far fetched the writing, acting and photography over came this problem! I think Ben Hur would of liked this film. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2005 | | Summary | 'Gladiator' wins again | Content
| "Gladiator," conqueror of the Oscars, returns for another ovation Aug. 23 in an "extended edition" three-disc set.
Star Russell Crowe makes his debut as a DVD commentator, looking back at the globe-trotting production with his pal and director Ridley Scott. Their talk is spirited and informative, light on the Roman history and heavy on production anecdotes. The men seem to be having a great time, especially when busting on co-star "Joaq" Phoenix, a nervous Nellie during filming.
Crowe rides Scott about his late-in-the-game decision to have the hero killed off: "It's cost us hundreds of millions of dollars. Great idea, mate! We could have been on 'Gladiator 10' by now."
Scott points out some of the new scenes, which add 17 minutes to the film. "People who have enjoyed this movie in its short form, they're going to like the hell out of this."
The new-to-DVD extras sprawl across discs 2 and 3. Among the best is a new documentary that, unbelievably, rarely drags over its three-hour running time. A must-see chapter is "The Heat of the Battle," about staging the warfare. It captures director Scott making battlefield decisions: "I need something really brutal. Chop his f---ing head off."
A 25-minute segment covers the curious tale of Oliver Reed, who died three weeks before the end of production. The visual effects team shows how their digital resurrection of the actor averted $26 million in reshoots. Reed talks about the film on-set, looking hardy and engaged.
Widescreen visuals on a DreamWorks test disc were first-rate, as they were on the first DVD, released in 2000. The aspect ratio is 2.35:1. Alas, the generous audio options on the original disc, such as DTS ES, have been reduced to a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | Best movie ever | Content
| This has got to be one of the best movies ever, directing, acting, suspense, everything, just name it... No point in repeating every other review if you consider yourself a movie fan and don't have this, then you're lost. |
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