It is the 2nd Century. The Roman Empire is strong and expanding. In Germany, the early morning mist is lifting to reveal a hillside lined with Roman Legionaires ready for battle. General Maximus chats with his lieutenants and reviews the troops as he waits from word from the envoy sent to talk with the German chieftains.

Out of the misty forest comes a horse. The rider on top of the horse is strapped to it so that he is sitting up -- headless, the German reply to the Romans. Ululations resound from the forest as the German warriors appear, thousands of them forming a solid wall. One of the big ones, perhaps a Chieftain, strides forward with his arm up, holding the head of the envoy by his hair. With a cry he hurls the head at the Roman lines.

General Maximus gives a few last instructions to Quintus, then he gets on his horse to join the cavalry. The Germans put up a shrieking mass of epitaphs and obscenities, as they work themselves into a battle frenzy. Quintus signals the archers and catapultists, who start shooting flaming arrows and flaming balls at the German horde. The Roman infantry moves forward.

Incensed, the Germans attack the Roman infantry. As the battle is engaged, General Maximus leads a cavalry charge, which crashes into the Germans from behind. The fighting quickly devolves into a swirling melee of hacked limbs and dying men, resulting in victory for the Romans.

And so starts the movie Gladiator, the latest movie from DreamWorks Pictures. Russell Crowe stars as General Maximus, hero of the Roman Empire, who has been tasked by Emperor Marcus Aurelius to be the Protector of the Empire and restore power to the Roman Senate, and through them the people of Rome. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Commodus, Emperor Marcus Aurelius' slightly deranged son, who murders the Emperor so that he will be the next Emperor of Rome. Connie Nielsen is Lucilla, Commodus' sister, who has a son to protect as she tries to balance familial duty with the good of the Roman people.

This is a grand movie, of an epic scale. Lots of special effects, but not the explosion/light show variety. Locations include the wilds of Germany at the beginning, the deserts of Africa or the Middle-East (and probably not that far from Germany), and the Roman Coliseum. There is a people-sized replica of the Coliseum which, judging form the curvature of the walls, was a bit too small. Most of the big shots are CGI.

Gladiator is about General Maximus, who Commodus has killed in Germany, with his family also executed at home. Maximus escapes, is captured and becomes a slave, becomes a gladiator, and eventually travels to Rome for the grand celebrations, there to finish his destiny. There is the touch of romance between Lucilla and Maximus, as they hint to an earlier relationship (before he was married) that ended badly.

Commodus starts out as an almost sympathetic character. The son who tried too hard to please his father and yet was rejected in favor of another. But as the movie progresses he becomes more and more unstable, and really not the kind of person who'd make a good Emperor. In the end he fully deserves what he gets, so that thread is finished nicely.

I'm less happy about the way the whole movie ended, but that's more of a preference of mine. The movie does end logically, consistently, and probably quite satisfying for most people. It's pretty much an action movie, first and foremost so don't expect social commentary on the Roman Republic versus the Roman Empire or on the Gladiatorial combats as base spectacle. Watch it, it's a good movie.