Gladiator
After leaving the movie theater last Saturday night, I was plagued with a vague and slightly uncomfortable feeling. It took me a few minutes to identify it, but soon enough it dawned on me—guilt. A fitting emotion, as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator is nothing if not a classic case of the guilty pleasure action movie. The special effects were dismal, the plot rather predictable, and the acting was not stellar. All this I realized in retrospect. Yet, there was something immensely enjoyable about this film that prevented me from realizing its faults during the two and a half-hours I was in my seat. The movie opened up with a bloody battle. The Romans, led by their skilled and popular general Maximus, portrayed by Russell Crowe, attack Germania, one of the many tribes Rome conquered to create its legendary empire. “On my command, unleash hell,” declares Maximus, and this statement leads to the actual fighting. Immediately, the camera work of this opening scene rings familiar. It is shot in a style very similar to the war scenes of Saving Private Ryan. This is unfortunate, as Gladiator does not measure up to its predecessor. The camer
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Oliver Reed, Private Ryan, Scotts Gladiator, Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, , Germanians Marcus, North Africa, Harris Maximus, differences lighting, kills father,
Approximate Word count = 779
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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