Film: Film: 6 Movies On A Grand Scale
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Set in the Roman Empire, Gladiator is in some ways a conventional revenge drama: the general Maximus (Russell Crowe) has been disgraced--and his family slaughtered--and he spends the next 2 1/2 hours savoring his just deserts. Into this familiar mold Scott and his screenwriters poured so much intelligence, such vigorous picturizing of military assaults and gladiatorial entertainments that this dormant genre was reborn. The fatal "games" Maximus fights in the Colosseum might be a modern extreme sport or a Vin Diesel melodrama reimagined as art. Superb acting certainly helps. Offscreen, Crowe may seem a lout; onscreen, he radiates the maturity of a strong, scarred man--a star suitable for epics past and epics to come. --By Richard Corliss
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