Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...

Roman Empire (Germania, Africa, Rome)Gladiator takes you on an all-expenses paid tour of the best sights of the Roman Empire.Okay, that's a complete lie. No package vacation would show you glorious...

LinearGladiator doesn't play around when it comes to its narrative. (It's too busy playing around with swords, axes, and flails.)It traces Maximus' fall from his prestigious career as a Roman...

ActionThere are a lot of fast-paced action sequences in this film. There's the opening battle scene in Germania, there's Maximus small battle with his would-be executioners, two big gladiator fight...

The film is called, simply, Gladiator. Not The Gladiator, or A Gladiator, or Gladiators.And this is totally apt, because it draws attention to Maximus's story. This is his movie, after all, and all...

Shortly before the film's final sequence—a battle to the death between Commodus and Maximus in the arena—Commodus visits Maximus beneath the Colosseum. He stabs him in the back (yes, literally)...

RGladiator is rated R, and with good reason. While there's no sex or foul language, the film is a virtual bloodbath. Sure, there are only a handful of fight scenes, but they're insanely brutal. The...