Gladiator by Ridley Scott

Category: English

Here's a rather fascinating film that at some point has been watched by most of humanity that has access to any form of cinema halls, TV, internet.

The premise is simple, Russell Crowe starts off a top General in the Roman armies to the point where he's almost set to take on the title of Caesar but plotting from Joaquin Phoenix ends up in him being branded a traitor and family executed. Crowe barely survives and ends up taken in and sold as a slave to compete as a Gladiator. He eventually finds himself in Rome to face the Emperor face to face.

Ridley Scott excels as a director in this movie to get such powerful performances from his lead and support cast. The actors to watch out for in this film are of course the leads - Connie Nielsen, Joaquin Phoenix, Russel Crowe but also Oliver Reed Djimon Hounsou take this film to a completely different level.

There's a lot of CGI used in the movie, but a lot of people are drawn to the movie by the rather strong characterizations and emphasis on finishing moves in the Coliseum. Do watch it though, it's one of the modern films one must see.

Recommendation level: 3.5/5 - Sadly no Hollywood movie can go beyond a 3/5 here, or maybe a 3.5! Got it from a friend, so props to him.