Rotten
Gladiator is filled with brilliant filmmaking and features outstanding performances, but it's neither profound enough nor pop enough to be great -- it's mournful, serious, beautiful and, finally, pointless.
Manohla Dargis, L.A. Weekly
Gladiator
What we do in life echoes in eternity.
2000 · 2h 35m · R
Action, Adventure, Drama
Directed by
Ridley Scott
Overview
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
80%
Tomatometer
Rotten
Ridley Scott thrusts us so close to the combat that all we see is a lot of whirling and thrashing, a sword thrust here and there, a spurt of blood, a limb severed. There's hardly a scene that is cleanly and coherently staged in open space.
David Denby, New Yorker
Fresh
If there's a soft spot in your heart for the sword-&-sandal epic, then you'll swoon with giddy delight over Gladiator.
Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
Fresh
Crowe doesn't use tricks in this role to court our approval. He earns it the old-fashioned way, by daring to be quiet, if not silent, and intensely, implacably strong.
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
Fresh
The fusion of the ancient and the modern -- even to the point of some sly echoes of our own sports-mad society -- is seamless. Gladiator does indeed deliver the glory that was Rome, but it also clinically dissects the assumptions on which it was built.
Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer
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