Gladiator

My all-time favorite movie was BEN-HUR (1959), until GLADIATOR (2000)came along. Both have heroic figures (Judah Ben Hur, Charlton Heston and Maximus, Russell Crowe).

Maximus is a brave general who has won many campaigns for Rome and wants to go home to his family. The opening of the movie shows Maximus "unleashing hell" against the Germans- whom he says "don't know when they are defeated." Commodus is the weak son of emperor Marcus Aurelius, who is dying and wants Maximus to rule Rome. Commodus kills his father to prevent this transition from happening; he also orders Maximus and his family killed. Maximus survives, while his family is burned to death.

Both Judah and Maximus suffer many years due to an injustice, then have their revenge and redemption. Ben-Hur was a slave on a galley ship, who became a charioteer in the Circus Maximus and raced against his boyhood friend and enslaver Messala. Ben-Hur's team of four white Arabian horses versus Messalas' team of four black horses provides some of the most electrifying footage ever filmed. Maximus became a gladiator who distinguished himself in battle in the coliseum against other gladiators (whether in chariotts, or on foot), and tigers; finally, he sends his enemy, the emperor Commodus, to Hades.

Ben-Hur's life is intertwined with Jesus's. On his way to the galleys, Christ gives Judah water and hope. Years later, Judah witnesses the crucifixion. His mother and sister are cured of leprosy by Christ's blood. Ben-Hur's hatred is also cured by Christ.

The Elysian Fields were the final resting place for souls of the heroic and the virtuous. After Maximus dies from a knife wound inflicted by Commodus, he is transported through a gate, into flowing wheat fields where he is reunited with his family.

Both are great movies with compelling stories. I prefer Gladiator.

Three websites where you may buy this movie:

www.hotmoviesale.com

$17.08

www.cduniverse.com

$19.99

Dvd-dvix.com

$4.99