A gladiator is a person forced to fight for the entertainment of others, usually to the death. This was very popular in the times of
ancient Rome.
(thought I'd throw in a definition for all those who are confused by all the movie references)
I may be
simple, and I may be
violent, but I thoroughly enjoyed this
movie. It made me question the things we find entertaining, even in our "
civilized" society. At it's time,
Rome was the height of civilzation, and yet they found these
barbaric gladatorial combats to be highly entertaining. Traces of these
competitions can be found in professional
sports today.
I think the movie did a fantastic job of forcing to ask this
question, even asking the question, "Is the reason I came to see this movie because I enjoy the violence?"
And on the
technical side, the acting was quite good, the visual
effects were fantastic, and even if you don't see the movie, check out the
soundtrack with music by
Hans Zimmer and
Lisa Gerrard. It's one of the most exciting and moving scores I've heard in a while.