Gladiator

Ridley Scott's latest film Gladiator revisits a genre that has not been ventured into for four decades; an epic set at the height of the Roman Empire's cruel domination of the known world. It's 180AD and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, played by Richard Harris, is dying. Now, at the end of his life, he realises that much of it has been spent doing nothing more than prolonging war and suffering in the name of the Empire. His dying wish is to end the tyranny and make Rome a republic again. Although he has a son, Commodus, he knows that he can't be trusted. Commodus is weak and pathetic, and wants to be Emperor so that he can be loved by the people. He would never obey his father's wish. So instead, the Emperor turns to his trusted General, Maximus, who is brilliantly played by Russell Crowe. After his father's death, Commodus, of course, makes himself Emperor and has Maximus's family slain. Maximus himself is sold into slavery and becomes a gladiator. He has two reasons to stay alive: to carry out the old Emperor's dying wish, and to avenge his family's death by killing Commodus.

What I like most about Gladiator is the way it focuses on the relationships between the various characters. It's not just an excuse for bloodthirsty battle scenes, but it has a proper story and it really gave me an idea of what it must have been like to live in those times. The acting is top notch all round, with some fine performances from some of the greatest actors of our time, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, and Oliver Reed who, sadly, died just before filming was completed.

What I dislike most about Gladiator is the special effects. Unfortunately, some of them just don't work. In what is supposed to be a breathtaking view of ancient Rome, even the computer graphics look like grey cardboard, and during the battle scenes there is a distracting strobing effect like that which you often see in sporting events on television. If only they'd hired Industrial Light and Magic! Although the special effects let the film down badly, a film is not just about special effects, and if you disregard the technical problems you still have a brilliant film which is well worth seeing, especially if you are interested in the history of the Romans.