Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and nominated for an additional seven, Gladiator is one of the best produced and directed films of its time. Reminiscent of Mel Gibsons Braveheart, it creates a world so seemingly realistic, you find yourself drawn backward in time to the glory days of Rome. The musical score, colorful costumes, and intricate sets combine to create the illusion that one is actually witnessing the trials and travails of human existence in early millennial Rome.
The film opens with a sobering display of ancient warfares equivalent of shock and awe as the Roman legions advance on a band of rebels resisting the empire from the outskirts of Gaul. From the moment the legion commanders signal attack, the fury of hell is unleashed as flaming arrows and iron bars batter a unified front of rebel fighters. The scene is more comparable to Desert Storm than an ancient battlefield, and it visually illustrates the overwhelming power once embodied in the Roman legions.
The central figure of the film and leader of the opening battle is Maximus (Russell Crowe), a Roman general adored by his men and admired throughout the empire for his...