Gladiator is an impressive production but lacks relatable and interesting characters to invest you in the story. Largely left me cold.

One of the best big budget films ever made. Crowe and Phoenix are perfect.

The runner ups for both roles were Mel Gibson and Jude Law. Both would have been perfection.

I don't think Mel would have worked for Crowe's role. There was something about an unknown (Crowe) which played well as the underdog story to face the ruler of the Roman Empire. Crowe as an actor catapulted into super stardom from this role as his defining career achievement so it mirrored his rise in the film so well.

Would have been harder to get that underdog feel with Gibson in the role as good as an actor as he might be. He was just too well known at that time.

Gibson would have been superb IMO and remember Crowe was not an unknown here at all. He was the star in LA Confidential and The Insider. A-List mainstream, he wasn't, but he was not san unknown at all.

I was entertained.

Should probably give this a watch sometime this week before seeing G2 on Thursday. Its been awhile. I think I own it on digital though so at least there will be a new 4K upgrade waiting for me.

This is one of those weird film that gets a lot of hate from my friends from film school and I don’t really know why. It is probably y favorite Ridley Scott film