Rainbow Gladiator - Billy Bang

Advantages: Great film, extras
Disadvantages: none

...The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. Yes, I am sure everyone out there knows the story, has seen the film, has seen the DVD and has read the reviews, still I thought I would share my pennies worth with you all! Directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner), Gladiator is the story of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) who is the general of the Roman Empire, one who controls the respect of the entire army and the people. After a huge battle in Germania, which starts this epic, Maximus is met by Emperor Marcus Aurelious who comes to congratulate Maximus and asks him to become Caesar when the time comes. All well and good, but the Emperor's son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) is obviously upset he has not been chosen to be and when he learns he will not be Caesar, he murders his own father and takes... Read review

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Advantages: Neat Effects, Costumes, Director, Acting
Disadvantages: Not Original, No Twists, Fight Scenes

...It seems as if the folks at DreamWorks could not decide whether they wanted to remake "Ben Hur," "Spartacus," or "The Fall of the Roman Empire," so they decided to remake all three. They took two awesome scripts and one mediocre screen play, stuck them in a blender, and the resulting concoction has become the better-than-average "Gladiator." It borrows most heavily from the mediocre "Fall of the Roman Empire" in terms of characters and basic plot, but quite a bit of influence from "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus" can easily be noted. This is the story of Mad Maximus (Russell Crowe), an Australian who moves to Spain, looks good in a toga and so becomes general of the Roman army. Unfortunately, he refuses to kiss the behind of Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), because he's a bit upset that Commodus killed his own father and Max's best... Read review

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Advantages: Action, Adventure and Special Effects
Disadvantages: Not much - Little bit gory

...I do not know if I am obsessesed in writing about periodic movies, but one thing is for sure, I love History and I love the film ?Gladiator?. This movie is so close to my heart that I tend to forget as to how many times I have watched this movie. It may be close to 20 times, but every time I watch this movie, it does not bore me, which is the actual hallmark of this film! Gladiator is the story of General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) and his legend. The film starts off with the historic Germanic War with General Maximus leading the army. If you have a liking for the war scenes, you will certainly cherish this one. The Romans win the war, under the astute leadership of Maximus, who is very close to the ailing King Aurelius (Richard Harris). Aurelius is not happy with his son Commodus (Joaquin Pheonix) and decides to hand... Read review

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