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Acid Rain

Gladiator (2000)-Directed by Ridley Scott.
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed. 154 minutes

Crowe stars as a soldier in ancient Rome, devoted to the current ruler and in line for the position when the ruler dies. Of course, the ruler's spoiled son (Phoenix) has other plans and promptly whacks daddy to scoop up the position himself. From there, the poor soldier is sent to a life of slavery where he must claw bludgeon, stab and beat his way out so he can exact revenge on "sonny boy".

Basically, it's a story we've all seen before: man gets done wrong, and man seeks revenge, killing as many people as possible along the way.

Crowe is okay as the pissed off ancient Roman, but no way did he deserve that Best Actor Oscar. And while Phoenix looks enough like a nasty little Roman, his performance ultimately comes off as stiff and a bit unconvincing. The one to watch here is Oliver Reed in his final film role. It's not the best of his career, but he clearly outshines his co-stars.

The real star here, of course, is the production itself. In widescreen splendor and with modern special effects technology well in hand, director Scott manages to transport us quite convincingly back to ancient Rome in all its brutal glory. The excellent special effects move the simple story along, but are never intrusive, which is as it should be.

Gladiator is full of endless cliches, stock characters and brutal violence. But, for a rousing good romp that you don't have to use too many brain cells to follow, Gladiator is worth a rental.

-End-

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