directed by ridley scott . screenplay by david h franzoni , john logan and william nicholson . starring russell crowe , joaquin phoenix , connie nielsen . running time : 153 minutes . rated aa for blood letting and violent scenes by the mfcb . reviewed on may 8th , 2000 . the reign of caesar marcus aurelius in the mid-second century a . d . is often considered a golden age of the roman empire . marcus was instrumental in securing peace in the nether regions of the empire , but was also a philosopher of great renown . he died in 180 and rule passed to his son commodus . the transition was an orderly one ; commodus was recommended to the senate by marcus , and indeed had been sharing power with his father since 177 . commodus' rule , however , would go down in the history books as disastrous , with the caesar's demeanour descending into brutality and ultimately madness . in 182 his sister lucilla and a group of senators tried unsuccessfully to have him assassinated . commodus became obsessed with the gladiatorial games , and in 192 his own advisers had him strangled by a popular wrestler . " gladiator " is a condensed and largely fictionalised version of the true events . the most notable addition to the story is maximus ( russell crowe ) , a general who leads the romans to victory against the german tribes to the north . contradicting real life , marcus aurelius ( richard harris ) wants maximus -- not commodus -- to be rome's new ruler after his death , with the aim of eventually turning the empire back into a republic . before he can proclaim his decision , however , the deceitful commodus ( joaquin phoenix ) murders his father and orders maximus' execution . maximus escapes and tries to return home to spain , only to discover that commodus has had his wife and son killed as well . gravely wounded in his flight , maximus is captured and bought by proximo ( the late oliver reed ) to fight as a gladiator . initially reluctant , maximus soon embraces his new role when it gives him a chance to travel to rome , where the new caesar has declared 150 days of gladiatorial games to celebrate his ascension to the throne . there , maximus' efforts to take revenge on commodus involve him in the machinations of commodus' sister lucilla ( connie nielsen ) . the first blockbuster movie of the 2000 summer season , " gladiator " is a visual feast . expert set design and computer effects have been exploited in their fullest by director ridley scott to bring ancient rome to life . shots which pan overhead across the city to the coliseum , teeming with spectators , are fabulous to behold . it is difficult not to feel transported eighteen hundred years back in time . in some respects , however , scott overdoes it with his cinematic trickery . specifically , he portrays many fight scenes -- both with the gladiators and the legions -- using a choppy , strobe-like technique . scott is clearly trying to achieve the sense of disorientation in battle that was so successfully conveyed in films like " braveheart " and " saving private ryan " . instead , he merely makes these sequences disjointed and hard to watch . it is virtually impossible to follow the actions of even the principal characters , and so the viewer is left to try to piece together what is actually happening . it has been more than thirty years since the last great roman epic was made . in reviving the genre , the scriptwriters have elected to hew closely to tried-and-true storylines rather than break new ground . " gladiator " does not deviate much from other examples of the genre , echoing everything from " spartacus " to " doctor who " . the mad emperor , the resurgent war hero , and the gladiatorial games as a conduit for revenge are all familiar plot elements . nonetheless , the story is entertainingly told , and while considerable attention is paid to the gladiator combat which is the movie's main attraction , this is not overaccentuated . " gladiator " is no " mortal kombat " , moving from meaningless battle to meaningless battle without pause . the film is very well paced , and the quieter aspects of the plot are not trivialised . perhaps as a result of this , " gladiator " boasts some unusually fine acting for a big-budget action picture . crowe , although by no means achieving the complexity of his oscar-nominated performance in " the insider " , brings a pleasant depth to maximus . the general is a man first and a hero second ; he is driven to confront commodus not by a love of rome , but rather of a man who was as a father to him , and of a murdered wife and child whose deaths he must avenge . crowe brings an evenness to the role which makes maximus seem more real than similar characters in other movies . likewise , phoenix does well not to overplay commodus . the role of the insane tyrant has often been an invitation to hammy overacting in the past , but phoenix's portrayal is more subtle . commodus' burgeoning madness is manifested largely through his body language , rather than any particular statement or deed . also very good are reed and harris in supporting roles . despite their comparatively short screen time ( indeed , reed actually died before filming was complete , forcing scott to compensate using clever editing and digital effects ) , both grant their characters a sense of history and profundity . perhaps least successful is nielsen as lucilla , despite having what may be " gladiator " 's most involved role . lucilla is commodus' sister , and he obviously harbors inappropriate feelings for her . it is also strongly implied that she is maximus' former lover . and she is a dispassionate and intelligent schemer , whose allegiances may be pivotal in determining rome's future . but nielsen comes across as detached throughout the proceedings , more so than is called for by her character . even in scenes where lucilla's reserve breaks , nielsen feels removed from the action . given her importance in how the events of the movie play out , this is an unfortunate central weakness . but all in all , " gladiator " is entrancing to watch , beautifully acted , and really just a lot of good old-fashioned fun . although far removed from the greatness of classics like " ben-hur " , it marks an entertaining and satisfying return of what was once one of hollywood's favourite genres . indeed , given the possibilities offered by this age of increasingly sophisticated special effects , " gladiator " is hopefully just the first of many forays back to the time of the great roman empire . copyright © 2000 shannon patrick sullivan . archived at the popcorn gallery , <a href= " http : //www . physics . mun . ca/~sps/movies/gladiator . html " >http : //www . physics . mun . ca/~sps/movies/gladiator . html</a> -- _______________________________________________________________________ / shannon patrick sullivan | " we are all in the gutter , but some of us \ | <a href= " mailto : shannon@mun . ca " >shannon@mun . ca</a> | are looking at the stars . 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