Ladies first...
This movie is very special to me, for a very lame reason. I believe it's one of the first movies I cried to, consistently, as an "adult". Sure, I cried in Dumbo when he was taken from his mother, or in Pinocchio when it gets all drunk and scary... But Gladiator was my first when it came to being moved by the emotional anguish and epic story of a single character. Plus Russell Crowe showed what it meant to be superhero sexy male to my teenage girl mind. Maximus: The epitome of what a girl wants. He is strong, he is handsome, and he will not have sex with other women even after you are dead... Oh, the loyalty! Another bonus about the character? Maximus is a great name to chant no matter where you are - the arena or the bedroom, your pick.
In all seriousness, however, this movie has the perfect combo of cinematic elements. Ridley Scott, once again, amazes the masses with his movement of story, character and action in one flowing, epic mass of blood, sweat and romance.
Girl's Rating: Worth the money, over and over again.
The Guy...
I remember sitting down to watch this in the theatre with two of my friends. I had no idea what I was about to watch and had no preconceived thoughts about it what so ever. I knew that I loved "Braveheart" and wanted something similar to that. Well, I got it and then some. Opening scene when they take on the brutes in Germania, how cool was that? Fucking arrows flying all over the place... That huge guy with the club that was on that little hill, like he was the king of the hill...
Then the movie just kicked in (not that it wasn't entertaining all ready). I mean the story: Betrayal, death of family and a failed execution of our hero. You know you are hooked in and you know it's gonna end at some point, in this case you don't want it to.
For the actors (Crowe, Phoenix, Harris and Nielsen), they all did an amazing job here and deserved everything that came their way. So did the great Ridley Scott who made a moviebond with Russel Crowe, who's appeared in several of his movies after this adventure.
Remember the scene where Maximus drags his hand through the wheat? Like that scene hasn't been reused after this movie, where it is actually good... I almost got angry when I saw look-a-like Gerard Butler do this in "300". It doesn't matter, for "300" will soon be forgotten when "Gladiator" will live on in movie history for a long, long time.
Guy's Rating: Worth the money and the fact that your girlfriend will think that you're a pussy compared to Maximus.
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