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This is another review from the Norwegian newspaper "Dagbladet". Gladiator got four out of six possible.

Colossal in the Colosseum

Bigger doesn't necessarily spell better - unless the topic is "sword-and-sandal" movies. Then size becomes very important. Gladiator isn't just big, it's colossal!

by EIRIK W. ALVER
Friday May 19, 2000 6:58
translated by Kim E.

Big movie, but not necessarily big art. Still, Ridley Scott's movie has enough apparent qualities to make a lot of people go to the movies.

The idea must have seemed totally crazy. A movie about gladiators in the old Rome? Guaranteed fiasco. The "sword-and-sandal" genre was huge half a decade ago, with Ben Hur, Spartacus and Quo Vadis as the most popular films. The popularity was mostly caused by the size. In an attempt to fight the TV media, Hollywood spat out movies that were bigger, longer and broader than before. Today, size isn't a guarantee for success, but surprisingly many people have been tempted by a trip to the old Rome. In two weeks, Gladiator has by far covered the production costs in its home country. Now, the rest of the world awaits.

Drama

In the year of 180 A.D. general Maximus suceeds in bringing the last piece of Germania into the Roman empire. The ageing empire then assigns him to reinstate the republic in Rome. Of course, the natural heir Commodus disapproves of this, he kills his father and orders Maximus killed at the spot. The general survives, escapes, but gets picked up by slave traders and ends up as a superstar gladiator in the Colosseum. Performing in front of the bad guy, and now the emperor, Commodus.

The question is if this century's first gladiator movie is better than the ones we saw in the middle of the last. Today's digital technique is superb, the old Rome has become a living, crowded city. Ridley Scott is one of today's very best stilistics, his use of pictures borderts towards poetry - grotesque poetry at times, because heads roll and blood is pouring.

No fantasy

The man behind Alien and Blade Runner also knows how to work with actors, which he proved in Thelma & Louise. And he has teamed up with some extremely talented ones. Apart from the veterans Derek Jacobi, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed (who died during the shooting), you can't dispute the talent of Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe (last seen in The Insider). That's why it is sad to see that the manuscript is without fantasy. There isn't one single unexpected turn, not a inventive twist, the giant machine just goes on - straight forward - through well-known and unexciting landscape. The answer to the initial question has to be both yes and no: Gladiator is clearly superior to its predecessors, but disappointingly little has happened content-wise. Neither is there a deeper meening behind it. This is not a comment to today's "real TV", no critizism of of the audience's increasing demands for "real" time-killing, real deaths and circus. Gladiator is first and foremost entertainment. Great entertainment.

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