Gladiator is one of the greatest films of all time when it is at its best. Every moment is thrilling, every war is exciting, and every moral and declaration is so well-thought-out and classic of nature that they can be enjoyed and pondered at the same time. When it's at its worst, Gladiator's two-and-a-half-hour runtime detracts from the film's many strengths. Fortunately, the positive outweighs the bad by such a large margin that you can have no doubts about this film.
The movie's star, Maximus (Russell Crowe), is the first person onscreen. He is a general leading thousands of soldiers in the name of pre-Nero Rome when we visit him. Maximus, like most great war heroes in film, is modest and intelligent. In war, he is more concerned with returning to his family than with defending Rome. Considering the empire's new Caesar's sympathetic character, he has no qualms battling for the great capital.
When Maximus discovers that he, not Caesar's son, will inherit Rome's throne, his abilities, courage, and humane virtues are rewarded. However, one of the unwritten laws of almost all of Hollywood's great epics is that the kinder the king is, the crueler and less obedient his son becomes. Gladiator is no different. Maximus is soon no longer a General but a slave, fighting not for his family but for the legacy of the great Caesar who once wanted to name him his heir, only to be assassinated by his blood son the same evening.
Above everything, give thanks to the film's producer, Ridley Scott. Then grant John Mathieson, the accomplished cinematographer, his due. Few would find it challenging to recognize the two genius behind-the-scenes men's ancient Rome development as fact. Thousands of extras are meticulously coordinated and to say the landscapes and backgrounds are beautiful is an understatement.
On the other hand, Scott and Mathieson would almost certainly not have been able to pull off this extraordinary accomplishment without a $100 million budget. What does this say about today's Hollywood? Perhaps those nine figures prove that enough money mixed with the right people will produce a film as magnificent and exciting as Gladiator.
The good guys in Gladiator share a democratic agenda that favors the Senate over a dictatorial tyrant. Many of the most sympathetic characters believe in an afterlife as a means of surviving their less-than-ideal present lives. These topics generate enough controversy that Gladiator, like Ben-Hur and Braveheart, manages to cross the line from being yet another noble epic to being a modern-day masterpiece, even though the film could use some trimming around the edges.