I have now seen most of his big roles, and I am sticking with
LA Confidential...
Originally Posted by Twain
Well obviously, I did like Gladiator. And get this, I liked Titanic too. Just because a movie is a mega million dollar blockbuster is no reason not to like it.
I know there are MoFos here who are true connoisseurs of film. Who understand the intricacies of movie making far better than me. They may see things in a movie that I don't see.
But I know what I like, dag gummit!
I'll comment here..
I am not sure people were coming down on gladiator purely for it's blockbuster status. I, for one, dislike the sporadic changes in style in gladiator. The opening sequence is shot and edited like a Tony Scott film, and I still think Ridley let him work on this section... The film then settles down and becomes at least watchable. Still, Crowe in uneven in this film, and I think it's just that the role needed a tad more range than Mr. Crowe posseses, and I do think he gave it his best shot, but just didn't have the skills needed to pull off Maximusin a way that he was riveting.
Another thing that bothers me is way they use the cgi in this film. As with Titanic, CGI was just a bit to mediocre to be convincing during this period of time, and I am pulled out of the experience by the shoddy compositing. It was apparent in the theater when I saw it, and now it's tenfold, having been introduced to much tighter effects these days. I can't totally knock it for that though, and subsequent viewings have raised my opinion of the film somewhat as a fun popcorn flick. It just falls short of "epic" for me. Phoenix IS great in it, and some of the other supporting characters (Proximo) turn in some good stuff, but it has a few warts too many to attain "Great" status...
ObiWan - You are damn right I compliment Ridley. The man made what I consider to be the greatest Science-Fiction film ever, and he also made one of the best thrillers of all time in Alien. His production design skills are unmatched, and the guy is a director. An accomplished, talented artist. I also understand he has made some ****, but few directors haven't....
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