Swords and Sandals

10 years behind the times I have finally sat down and watched the epically long 'Gladiator.' 2 hours and 30 minutes later I am not in the least bit disappointed. This is the film praised for giving life to historical war dramas. It was directed by Ridley Scott in 2000 and stars Russell Crowe as Maximus. There are other strong actors in this film; Joaquain Phoneix and Richard Harris which sometimes I find that too many A-lists can spoil a film as there is not enough focus on the story. Scott managed this beautifully and what a classic the film ended up being.

A word of warning; this film is not for the faint hearted, the first battle scene is quite a gory mess as well as when Maximus fights the other gladiators (I was behind my pillow quite a few times!) Rather unusually there was a lot of focus on Commodus and the disturbing relationship he had with his sister, however historically this may have been very accurate, I find it very distressing to see it on screen. This film overall was nominated for an astonishing 119 awards and received 48 prizes; crazy to think that a historic war epic was nominated for so many. 'The New York Times' said that Scott created a 'gladiator effect' as many more sword and sandal films were made after this one was released; '300,' 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Troy' (one of my favourite films) to name a few. This was such a powerful film not only in the cinematography aspect but also emotionally, the heart-breaking death of two characters really puts in prospective how emotional even a war film can be. If you haven't already seen then do watch it, although long it is extremely worth your time.

Next on the list is 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'King Arthur' as well as the latest Ridley Scott; 'Robin Hood.' Stay tuned...