Gladiator

Director Ridley Scott triumphantly transports us back to the Roman Empire circa 180 A.D. with a painter’s eye for detail, a proven talent for manufacturing exotic realities (such as the future shock of Blade Runner) and a sweet tooth for utter spectacle. Fictional Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe) is the heart and soul of this bloody revenge epic about blood sport, jealousy, patriotism, ambition, betrayal, the hereafter and political corruption. As a sword-and-sandals Mad Max, he is named successor to the Roman throne, is marked for death along with his loved ones and becomes a gladiatorial favorite of the coliseum mob.