SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

GLADIATOR (2000)

A general who became a slave.
A slave who became a gladiator.
A gladiator who defied an emperor.

Russell Crowe (b. 1964, "Master and Commander", "L.A. Confidential", "The Quick and the Dead") is Emperor Marcus Aurelius's (Richard Harris) General Maximus Decimus Meridius. Betrayed by the emperor's ambitious son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix, b. 1974, "Quills", "The Village"), captured and enslaved, Maximus fights through the ranks of gladiators to avenge the murder of his family and his Emperor. But Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Commodus's sister and Maximus's old flame, has one more task for Maximus before he regains his freedom.

Lucilla: "My brother hates all the world and you most of all."

Maximus: "Because your father chose me."

Lucilla: "No. Because my father loved you. And because I loved you."

Maximus, kissing her hand: "A long time ago."

Lucilla: "Was I very different then?"

Maximus, touching her face: "You laughed more."

Ladies, hold your breaths for FOUR STARS:

* General Maximus Crowe, with strength and honor - How could we not be entertained?

* The cruel yet soul-wounded Commodus

* The faithful Juba and Hagen (Djimon Hounsou, b. 1964, "Amistad", and Ralf Moeller, b. 1959, "Conan"), standing by their "general"

* Maximus and Lucilla and the bittersweetness of a love lost

MOVIE MOMENTS, memorable and moving:

GERMANIA

* The opening moments: Maximus the Farmer, lingering through a golden field of wheat, with Lisa Gerrard's score: snap to a frozen blue-hued shot of the stern, comtemplative face of Maximus the General, facing the final crushing battle in Germania, lightening up momentarily, no more than a fleeting moment in time, when spotting a sparrow taking wings.

* Maximus the General, checking his troops even as the bombastic score rises to mythical proportions; by now we know this is no mere hero but a Hero of epic proportions, a throwback to the good golden olden days when men were of steel and ships were of wood.

* Maximus and Lucilla, the first meeting of two people who used to be in love. "Maximus. Maximus, stop," begs Lucilla, with a little, brittle laugh.

* The execution scene: the drifting snow; the blue hues and slices of sunlight; the steely clang-bang of the score; the slo-mo; Maximus's sarcastic hiss, "It's the frost. Sometimes it makes the blade stick."; the echo of Maximus's sharp command, "Praetorian!" in our ears.

ZUCCHABAR

* Maximus the Slave scraping off the Roman legion "I.D." number on his raw shoulder.

* Maximus the Spaniard spreading his powerful arms and asking - no, demanding, "Are you not entertained?"

Oh yes, that we are, even though we probably shouldn't be; this, after all, is a man who kills for entertainment, a man whose heroic worthiness is measured in the lives taken. And kill Maximus does. It is to the great earnestness of Crowe's performance that Maximus as a character manages to retain his integrity despite all the spectacle bloodshed on screen.

* Maximus the Spaniard giving Proximo (the late Oliver Reed) the raised eyebrow signature Crowe-look when discussing how to win the crowd and win the freedom.

IMPERIAL ROME

* Maximus, removing his helmet and turning to face Commodus:

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."

* Lucilla, a woman who would and has sacrificed every inch of herself to her son's safety, pays a visit to shackled Maximus in his cell, and later again.

* Maximus the Merciful, bowing to Commodus when the weak emperor tries to provoke Maximus by telling him how his son "squealed like a girl" and his wife "moaned like a whore" when they killed Maximus's family. "The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end...Highness," replies Maximus with great restraint.

* Maximus, giving Commodus the Crowe-look just before Commodus stabs him ahead of the final climactic battle.

Maximus: "I knew a man once who said, 'Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.'"
Commodus: "I wonder, did your friend smile at his own death?"
Maximus: "You must know. He was your father."

* Maximus giving Commodus the final stab. And the crowd cheers. Well done Maximus. You are home at last.