amberbaer Reviews

The Perfect Family (2011)

Kathleen Turner, a real actress in a sea of bland

[8/10 · 16 July 2012]

Despite the reviews that say it's an anti-Catholic movie, it's not. It's a movie about a family, and the mother happens to be Catholic and struggling between her reality and the reality of the church to which she belongs....which happens to be Catholic.

Just sit back and watch the movie - it's got some nice, thought-provoking dialog and if you have to tear a movie down because it makes you ask questions....then maybe you should focus on your own life and stop watching movies!

Mister Ritter is also a treat to watch, so much like his father, who would be proud to see what a nice actor his son has become.

Terra Nova (I) (2011)

Terra Not

[1/10 · 26 September 2011]

Boring family drama, dad's been in jail. The future is bleak and the military runs the prehistoric site. The teenagers are all pretty and horny, and the mother/father are bickering.....very little sci-fi to this show, and it's not going to last since they're centering on one family instead of the colony.....

Don't waste your time on the reruns....it's going to be pulled off the air fast....

It's on Monday nights....when such better things are on, like 2 1/2 men, Castle, silence.....don't let Fox continue the trend of bad TV.

There has to be someone at Fox that is laughing hysterically at all the people watching this piece of mini cinematic crap

X: First Class (2011)

Can I get my money back....(Spoilers)

[3/10 · 5 June 2011]

It just wasn't that interesting. We've seen snippets of origin stories in the other movies and this was a desperate attempt to make up for Wolverine.

Beast and Mystique are the best part of the movie and Beast doesn't show up for 2/3rds the movie anyway - he does....just in his mutant to be form! Hugh Jackman makes a cameo that could have used a little CGI around the wrinkles on his face....because he looks older in this movie than he does in what was to come after (oopps)! Rebecca Romaine also does a 5 second cameo that you better not blink or miss.

James does his best with the part - but he is no younger version of Patrick Stewart - and therein lies part of the films problem.

You cannot go backwards after casting iconic actors with great voices to replace them in the past with actors that, while they can act, don't seem to be a younger version of what has already been established.

Great use of CGI - not worth seeing in 3D - and the archive footage surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis was a nice touch.

And for real fans of guest-shots....Michael Ironside does his usual shtick as a military man.

It was overall, just OK, here's hoping that a second movie makes better use of dialog and action, not just action for actions sake.

Breaking In (2011–2012)

B.O.R.I.N.G. - better done in a Tex Avery cartoon

[1/10 · 6 April 2011]

It's got a full cast of characters that you wish would die off in the first episode so they can re-cast the whole show.....Slater is horrible. Always with the Jack Nicholson face.

The rest of the cast is filled with the pretty but brainy woman, the sci-fi geek, the perpetually horny man-whore, and the new geek on the block.

end the show now and cut your losses...

the pilot tried to be clever with each line, the plot, if you want to call it that, was silly at best. And no matter how you package is...filler is the only word that can accurately describe this show.

Is LEVERAGE back on yet....at least in that ensemble cast there is 1 or 2 actors/characters that you can like.....there is none here to be found.

The Eagle (2011)

Not a bad Sword & Sandal flick

[8/10 · 11 February 2011]

I'll spoil it now....they get the Eagle back....but it's the journey of master and slave, friends and enemies that makes this movie worth watching from start to finish.

It is not filled with cheesy dialog - nothing Shakespearean about it. Just a good flick for 2 hours. Jamie is a delight as always, his face is his tool and he works it well. His body is W O W, from all the training, and he does a nice job of sword fighting and hand to hand combat.

Channing - with his good looks, plays an arrogant but humiliated Roman Captain - whose father is responsible for the lost Eagle that they go in search of.

Donald Sutherland was a nice touch as the uncle - if not a little out of place - they don't use him much in the movie.

The rest of the cast did a good job, the costumes were almost on point. But my only real gripe about the movie is that they portrayed the people of Northern England as total savages - of which they were not! The set designers also went a little too modern for the homes south of Hadrian's wall - which itself never looked as portrayed here.

Nonetheless - worth the price of admission and a good action/friendship flick to kill (pardon the pun) a lazy afternoon.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011 TV Movie)

O M G it's such a cinematic turd~!

[1/10 · 29 January 2011]

It's so awful that you have to see it....two washed up and out 80's has beens trying to act.....

A Martinez is horrible as always - you looking old dude!

Tiffany....hope the check cleared for the soundtrack - don't act anymore

Debbie - totally bad....even for your inability to act your way out of a wet paper bag

****SPOILER*** Mickey Dolenz - best death scene in a bad movie in a long time

the acting is bad, the script is horrible....and you have to watch it to see just how bad a bad movie can be.....

Shut Up & Kiss Me (2010)

Direct to DVD trash....

[1/10 · 6 December 2010]

Thank God I got to watch this for free as part of my online Netflix account, because if I had paid money for this, I would have been asking for it all back.

Knowing that it was going to be bad, I didn't know just how bad, and within the first 30 minutes of this thankfully short movie, I wanted to turn away.

The acting is beyond wooden, no emotional range outside of sad puppy dog face is seen on the lead actor. The secondary actor gets the chance to repeat the same tired old lines from every "you can't love me I'm H.I.V" story that's been done in the last 20 years. I'm a man whore looking for love with the one that will love me and let me play around because that's who I am, like it, love it, love me or leave.....Oh God, I just gave away the plot.

There are 2 good points to this whole movie: Dylan Vox is hysterical as a trick gone wrong....funny stuff, but then he's always funny in these roles. And the other part, sudden nudity....we cut from fighting in the kitchen to "sword" fighting in the bedroom with barely any transition, at least the actors are decent size, otherwise I would had to laugh at that part of the movie too....and the "shut up and kiss me" line was over-used....just like the tired and trite dialog throughout the whole movie...writers should not be permitted to act out the lines that they're written...and this movie drives that point home like putting a steak in the heart of a vampire....kill it now before it makes more! Now that was funny....this movie is just a**

Megamind (2010)

More needless 3d crap

[2/10 · 7 November 2010]

Barely enjoyable for Brad Pitt's voice alone. The movie is mindless entertainment to teach the kids that being bad is taught and that good lies in the even the most evil of people. OMG, I just gave away the movie...good....no go see something that doesn't have Will Ferrell's annoying voice in it. Jonah Hill is tolerable, Tina Fey is Tina Fey (funny cause they wrote her that way), and the rest of the cast is forgettable.

If you want to dump the kids off at a movie...choose one better than this. It's sad that it will make money, but that's because 3D is the it thing this year...too bad 3D doesn't always mean that you have a story worthy of the extra expense....this one is not worth 3Dollars....get it at the red box in a few weeks. Then it will be worth watching in the privacy of your own home, when you can forward too the good parts, which are about 30 minutes before the final credits role!

Star Runners (2009 TV Movie)

Typical sci-fi Saturday Crap

[1/10 · 14 June 2009]

It's Saturday night in the USA and the Sci-Fi channel pumps out another turd of a movie - but at least there is only one writer to blame for this piece of crap.

Trip from Enterprise and Ando from Heroes are a couple of thieves on the run when given the assignment to take the last survivor of a dead planet to safety before everyone finds out that the government/United Plantes force was behind the destruction of an entire race of peace loving hippies.

Beyond bad....beyond entertainment....she is the key to everything....but don't waste your time watching...the ending is horrible and the acting is so bad you have to watch it to see just how bad it can be...

Trip lives, Ando dies...and the dialogue is some of the worst and cheesiest crap to be pumped out since Mansquito! Part Starship Toopers (the bugs are the best part), part The Fifth Element, and part "so you think you can act" this movie is one to be missed since I've just told you the whole thing...

Shame on the sci-fi channel....there are so many good stories out there to be told...stop making them into 2 hour movies...make them 1/5 hours and the movie will be better because there is less of it to watch.

On the Other Hand, Death (2008)

Gay Detective as it should be played - spoiler alert~!

[9/10 · 27 July 2008]

while watching this movie on the HERE! network, I came to realize that no one else could play the lead role except Chad Allen. While the movie pace is relatively slow in nature - it must after all build to the ending - it does so in just slow enough pace to make you want to pull your hair out.

Casting is decent all around - his up-tight husband is borderline annoying, and the gay secretary is becoming more annoying than in the last movie. The hot ex of the husband plays into the gay fear of the hot ex putting the make on the current husband...but it rather backfires on him as he becomes a target himself.

The last 40 minutes of the movie are the best part of the movie - you can almost skip through the first part as the pacing is too slow. But once the shooting starts and the music quickens - the pace of the movie goes into a much needed overdrive! They are currently filming another movie in the series - let's hope that they can pace the next one better - but this one is not too shabby all around - just needs a slightly higher quality of scripts!

Lost: Tricia Tanaka Is Dead (2007) Season 3, Episode 10

2 minutes of interesting

[1/10 · 1 March 2007]

Hurley has daddy issues - his "lost" father is shown in flashback to be Cheech! Who abandoned him when he was skinny and showed back up when he was fat and wealthy - with his hand out of course.

Kate and Sawyer come "home" to the other lost people and Kate feels she has to go back - boring! Hurley finds a tipped over van in the woods and think that making it work will bring a sense of hope to the people around him - breaking his curse.....yawn...

Sawyer and Jin bond over beer, the van, and the English language. Another boring facet of the show.

We learn nothing new in this episode and i for one am tired of the flashbacks with 2 minutes of high holy drama at the end - Kate sets out to find the crazy french woman in the woods and have her help go get Jack back from the "others" while saving the person who could be the french woman's "lost" daughter.

This has to be the last season - after 2.5 years of flashbacks and unanswered questions - the writers have written themselves into their own Twilight Zone from which there can be no end.

Wire in the Blood: Hole in the Heart (2006) Season 4, Episode 3

Excellent Episode

[10/10 · 21 October 2006]

Tony Hill is the best non-American character created since Hellen Mirren's turn on her own long-running BBC series - the two can't compare, but the acting is both superb.

In this episode - the series of murders are tied to the FREEMASONS of the UK - cleverly executed are a series of murders that only connection is the Freemasons...and it's up to Tony's quick witted mind to put it all into perspective as only he can.

Mister Green is so perfect as Tony - you would want to work with him on an actual murder case

The use of rent-boys, murder, greed, lust, high ranking officials being corrupt to the core of their soul is brilliantly done - look for it on BBC America on Demand as the commercial version runs to 2 hours - it's much better paced without commercials...the natural flow of it all keeps your attention.

Slayer (2006 TV Movie)

DayWalkers and Wonder Woman

[5/10 · 9 July 2006]

While waiting for the show to begin - I decided to DVD it and watch it without the annoying commericals from the SCI FI channel - sad part is...the commercials tend to have better dialog, better casting, and better acting at times - and that's even fast-forwarding through them! While Lynda Carter looks fantastic as always - I just could not stop laughing at the dialog she was given to read. "I've been her godmother longer than she's been your ex-wife." While I adore Lynda, she must have been paid quite well for the few minutes of screen time she was given.

Casper - relegated to TV movies, and does them as serious work! You gotta love him for that alone (case in point - CURSE OF KING TUTS TOMB)! The plot is basic - "creatures" aka vampires are running around South America, Casper's ex-wife is in the jungle doing a bad version of MEDICINE MAN with the locals, and Wonder God Mother sends Casper and his soldier friends down to help out an old buddy who encountered the Vampires with him at the beginning of the movie...

Thank heaven's the wires were not seen during the cheesy special effects shots of juggling vampires tossing a grandmother around and then eating her - it was just funny enough to keep me from peeing myself, but laughable enough to make me fall out of my chair.

The writer, director, editor, producer is all one person with a bad case of multiple personality disorder when it comes to each of the jobs needed to make this piece of refried pseudo-scifi garbage.

It's so bad that I have to recommend that you see it - just so you can warn others about it.

p.s. If you speak Spanish - you will be highly offended at the weak attempts to use it as a 2nd dialog....es muy mal~!

The Singing Forest (2003)

Not as bad as they make it seem

[5/10 · 1 June 2006]

This is the middle of road movie that should have been made - the director/editor has cut shots in such a way that the mood of the scene fits with the cuts that are made.

The story does need tweaking abit - the reality of Christopher's immediately knowing his daughter's fiancé as his ex-lover from a former life is not built up in anyway....a scene with the "psychic" made reference to is the only lead in to the whole background story - that was lacking.

mentioning PARAGRAPH 175 of the German penal code was more of a text book reading than an explanation of what really took place during the Holocaust - not just to the Jewish Generation - but to the Gay (Jew and non-Jew) men and woman that lived during the Nazi regime.

While the acting is raw - it has a tinge of honesty behind it - when "Christopher" is talking about his current life - he stares blindly ahead as if to really recall the life he has been through, this time around.

While not the most perfect movie on the block, it is worth seeing just to say that you have seen it on DVD. I do recommend that you watch all of the short films that are included on the DVD - they give you some more insight into the mind of the writer/producer/director - what an interesting world he lives in.

Edgy and Raw is the talent he exposes and uses to his own means - which is a mediocre film that makes you think that love could span the ages and cross time to let you be with the once true love of your life.

Denied (2004)

Top 10 - of the worst ever gay-roommate films

[2/10 · 26 April 2006]

Let me just say that they acting is so sub par that it doesn't even register on the gay-dar scale! There is little back story shown to show how these two young men have been friends and are still close - that might have helped.

The notion that the Jock is gay and the off-beat roommate is just sexually curious when the girlfriend/wife isn't around doesn't take flight.

The actors look at each other too longingly to keep their lust for each other a secret from the rest of the world.

While the Jock is HOT - the scenes of him just standing in his underwear could have been improved if he did more than just stare - and what sex scenes that were filmed were so spliced together that they made you cringe and look away.

It's difficult material to put into a movie - but lighting the film could have helped - the grainy shot with a single camera doesn't give the edge it should have.

Jock man - hot in his undies, Scruffy boy - kinda hot when he finally kisses the jock for the first time.

The women in the movie only served to annoy the viewer and distract from the overall production - as a stage play with just the two guys - this could be something better.

At least know the jock is hot and the scruffy boy has a furry butt and doesn't kiss after gay sex, but that's normal for someone who won't admit they are gay! I can't rate it completely awful - but at least I can send it back to Netflix and never speak of it again!

Basements (1987 TV Movie)

Annie Lennox can act

[10/10 · 11 January 2006]

Okay - the other review of this show is for the birds - the person hasn't even seen it - so why comment on it - to this day I remember the segment called THE ROOM - Annie Lennox and Linda Hunt are brilliant together, dark and moody, I wish I could see this show again to bring out all the details that I remember from it.

Given that it was made for TV - it will probably never surface again - but someone, somewhere has to have this on tape or DVD by now - and when/if they release it - I will be one of the ones in line to add it to my collection to watch again and again.

John Travolta was in a career slump - but that was of his own doing - he should have read the scripts and not cashed the check during this point in his life, but he's since recovered from this point and done well indeed.

But it's always going to be the segment with Annie that strikes my memory - she's not just a truly gifted signer/songwriter/performer - she can act. Given that each of her videos from the Eurythmics is a bit of acting - it's nice to see her spread her wings and soar!

Play Dead (2001)

Not everyone's cup of tea - needed a gay editor on the script

[5/10 · 1 January 2006]

Coming-out themed movies have always been difficult to write and this one doesn't even come close to that! This quickly turned into a screaming match between the "in the closet" gay and lesbian characters of the movie - which sadly takes you on a journey to dulls-ville USA! The child in this movie has some funny background action when it comes to having a "dead" corpse in the house - even while her drunk step mother is making a frail attempt at caring for the child.

the step mother - should have been a male role - that would have made "his" drunken come-on to the lead gay boy awkward and hysterical.

Necrophelia alert as well - we know the boy is obsessed with the town jock - but did he have to have anal sex with him when he knew the guy was dead? Didn't need that scene! And at the end - when the little girl raises the dead make jock - no explanation is given as to his resurrection and what he meant by the line "welcome to the party - about time!" As usual - the writer of this show didn't ask a gay audience first about where to end the movie - so naked into the street the jock goes - into the arms of the drunk mother who almost runs him down...they make out, and then over breakfast the next morning he asks "what happened to my truck?" Again - the little girl takes center stage - a sequel is needed just to tie up the very loose ends of this so-so coming out movie! The lead is cute, but the jock has the nice butt - even after he gets it in the end (bad pun laughter inserted here please)

Unspeakable (2002)

This movie B L O W S

[1/10 · 23 July 2005]

After searching the video store for 10 minutes - I settled onto this little gem of Hollywood barf.

There is no redeeming value to this movie at all - the scenes with the worm coming out of his ear and the one found in dead Dennis Hopper's brain are not even worth the paper that they were written on.

As for using the electric chair in a room full of guards who blindly watch the "warden" go insane, rip his face off, and be autopsied in a matter of hours is so unrealistically stupid that I find myself wanting the actors in this movie to be lined up together and pimp smacked for agreeing to appear in such a piece of drivel~! Writer, Producer, and Star of the movie...what can I say...he has the bad boy looks that Hollywood likes, but he better keep his day job as a doctor in order to have something to fall back on....because there is no way he should ever be allowed to write anything again! And if he does want to write something...collaborate with me, I've had better nightmares after eating Mexican!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

10 chocolate bars out of 10 - a superb vision of Wonka World

[10/10 · 16 July 2005]

Just go see the movie - the visual presentation cannot be put into words here.

Johnny Depp is brilliant as Wonka Christopher Lee is Superb as his father Helena Bohnam Carter - delicious as Charlie's mother Liz Smith as Grandma is sheer laughter (I like grapes) Charlie - the boy, the actor - such a wonderful child - you can see it in his eyes when he opens the golden ticket and then shows it to his family - pure magic.

Charlie's decision in the movie to not accept Wonka's offer because he cant' take his family with him is gorgeous to watch. A child growing up in poverty would never leave a family like that behind, he knew that they were his world, and to leave them for a life of loneliness is a life that would be lost.

Overall - a perfect version of the classic book. Not to compete with the original, but to go to levels that the original movie would not have been able to do given the time it was made and the technology behind it back then.

The scene stealing squirrels are fantastic. The only part I missed was the "fuzzy lifting drink" from the first movie, but in the end, it wasn't needed here, it would not have made sense with the purity of a child's love of family that is Charlie Bucket!

Fantastic Four (I) (2005)

fantastic four - just that!

[10/10 · 9 July 2005]

A a fan of pure action movies - this one rates right at the top of the list - this is far better than War of the Worlds, by leaps and bounds! While this is not quite a children's movie - due to some bad language - you can still take anyone over 14 to this movie and they will be entertained for the length of the film - and that is the main objective.

As with all movies that will have a sequel (or two or three) the plot line does not have to be absolutely tight! The villains must be setup well, transitions from human to superhuman must be a choice of life style change that helps set character plot for the next movies...and this movie does not fall short.

The dialog can be a bit cheesy, but I can forgive that and say that this movie is the best comic-adaptation this year, and it could easily rival the X-men series in the depth that they can go with the characters! Overall - watch the movie for the pure enjoyment of it - don't rip it apart, just sit back and know that you have spent good money on a good movie for once this summer.

War of the Worlds (2005)

Even with the mistakes - it's just okay - spoiler alert too!

[6/10 · 2 July 2005]

Tom Cruise - totally unrealistic as a father trying to bond with his children, any father would have tried harder to get his kids attention.

The son of Cruise - I'd want to run away from Cruise as well if he was such a horrible dad, he was of the age when he could have said to the mom and step-dad, I don't want to go.

Dakota Fanning - how wonderful is she - that face, eyes, and scream. She's just so amazing for such a little lady. And it's too obvious that Spielberg wants to have her as the next Drew Barrymore, she can easily do it...she's just that much of a talented actress to go places that Drew could never have gone at such a young age.

The Plot - interesting concept, carried off rather well, but the movie needed more explanation as to the action.

Morgan Freeman as the narrator should have played a bigger part, his voice could have carried along some of the "dramatic scenes" to a more logical conclusion.

Tim Robbins - hysterical as the mad man in the farm house basement. Though the death scene was played nicely.

Now for the big F'd up ending: don't read anymore this is a spoiler! How the heck did the son live through the inferno that came over the hill? The father and daughter leave him behind, two seconds later, where he just was is a blazing inferno and he's not seen until the end of the movie...what a rip! I know it's just a movie, but the dramatic impact could have been done to bring the mother and father closer together with the loss of a child...but Spielberg just had to have the happy ending...how sad is that? Let a lead character died for once...he could have even gotten away with killing off Cruise at the end of the movie, the last alien strikes him down as his daughter is reunited with her mother in Boston.

Overall, special effects were nice, but the general consensus as everyone left the theater - what a stupid ending to a good movie.

No Ordinary Love (1994)

overall - not bad for an indie amateur film

[5/10 · 1 July 2005]

The cast needed to be more polished in their craft The sets were so bland for a house full of gay and bi people - too suburbia looking to be believed The wig that the mother wore - too fake, and if that was her real hair, she should go bald! The gay part of the movie, not explored enough, just in snippets The young lovers, not believable at all - you could tell they had no chemistry between them off-screen to make the on screen at least interesting. The stereotypical fat gay man - horrible - he looked like Divine out of drag and his lisping was too offensive, even to gay old me!

The plot needed so work done to it - it could have been more interesting had the bi man's female lover not known about his gay life, but to think that they were all living together just doesn't work.

By the end of the movie - you're seeing where it's all going to lead to, and it does, but it just doesn't seem "real" in parts, almost too staged and too acted out.

A good rewrite and recast should have been done, but at least the one gay roommate was hot - and the poster of himself on the wall is smoking! Pure eye candy for any gay man who likes his A&F boys!

The Sisterhood (2004 Video)

Lesbian vampire sorority meets psychic pledge

[1/10 · 1 July 2005]

I don't honestly know what legal or illegal substance they - the writers - were on when the wrote this horrid piece of tripe!

The cast - sucks The plot - sucks The editing - sucks The whole premise of the movie is that a girl with psychic/telekinetic powers comes across a lesbian vampire sorority, you just have to be totally out of your head to watch even 1 minute of this.

The only reason I had to watch it - it was on the here! network as part of a two-picture purchase and the movie that came on after it was the real one that I wanted to see. I fast forwarded through the whole thing and was just amazed how stupid this movie was in double speed!

Do not rent, buy, or watch this movie....the vampires in the movie don't suck as much as the overall movie and production does!

If you want a good lesbian vampire movie - The Hunger with David Bowie, Susan Sarandon & Katharine Deneuve - excellent movie to watch/own/rent in place of this piece of pure sh*t

Callas Forever (2002)

Superb Film - Maria would have loved this

[10/10 · 1 July 2005]

Franco - pure genius to bring this film to the world - his vision of her life, or at least, the latter part of it, is nothing short of brilliant. Fanny - Superb as Maria! The emulation, and respect she shows to Maira in her portrayal of her is spot on! From the hair, the makeup, the way she moves her body to sing like Maira (or at least pretend to sing like) is quite perfect. Opera is a hard thing to do to one's body, you not just project the voice, you use your body to project the voice and the emotion behind it...and when they show Fanny (as Maria) in the studio, you get this eerie sense that she is a woman possessed with the spirit of Maria! Bravo to you Fanny! Jeremy Irons - ever the consummate actor - the perfect gentleman and a joy to see as the fiery friend and confidant of Maria. The relationship on screen between Jeremy and Fanny is well-done. They make beautiful friends on screen and must have been a riot off-screen.

Joan Plowright - Franco continues to use her in his films, and with little wonder - she's one of the best of the best mature women working in film today. She was the logical choice to play Aaunt Clara in the Bewitched movie, but no one saw the beauty of that role for her. But Franco gives us another view of this wonderful actress. She is a breath of fresh air each time she speaks. She is the grandmother that we all wish we had in our lives. Even her voice-over work makes you smile when you think of her name. Not many actresses today can say that about their work.

Overall - a perfect movie that gives you a glimpse of what could have been had Maria agreed to it. The music, simply stunning.

The soundtrack to the movie barely touches on the voice of an angel come down from heaven. The movie is passed well, directed with such love for the characters, and a pure joy from start to finish. It's a shame that American directors can't do this quality of a film in the states. One of the reasons why I love "foreign cinema" - I'm never disappointed when it comes to Franco's works....such a Maestro to his craft - Bravo

Empire (2005)

What a load of TV BS

[5/10 · 29 June 2005]

I was not impressed with the first two hours of the new drama EMPIRE Here are a few things that I think missed the mark or made it:

1. Sets and costumes were GORGEOUS to the eye. 2. Caesar, how British must you be to always play Caesar? While I like Colm as an actor, too bad that he was a total waste of talent in the short lived role. 3. Cleopatra - totally absent from the first two hours - according to history, she was in Rome at the time of the assassination, Caesar left her bed that morning to go to the Senate. 4. The addition of people who were not really there is so LAME on the part of the writers. History shows us that these people were ruthless, back-stabbing, murdering clan of leaders and would-be leaders! 5. The lack of CGI - really well done. I prefer to see the real city and not some CGI interactive work of art. Realism should never be forsaken for cheapness! 6. Wives, Lovers, and Enemies abounded in Caesar's world, and in the world of Marc Antony, a little more backdrop story of who was really betraying who in the senate would have been better to see than the freeing of a gladiator slave. 7. Gladiator is the prime example of how to make a fight scene really draw you into a movie. The fight scenes here are so well choreographed that they appear to be dancing instead of fighting. A knock-down, drag out fight to the death is what the Arena was, not a night at the Gladiator's ball. 8. Aggripa - I'm lost on this character - damn cute actor - but not what the man truly was in history. The reviews are right about this one. 9. Historically, it's a worthless piece of TV BS that must be taken with a WHOLE SHAKER OF SALT, not just the grain! 10. Now that I have said that about the first two hours, I need to see the rest of it, hopefully with less commercials than this.

Television needs to get wise - when shopping this movie around - pick a sponsor, show it in 30 minute increments with a 5 minute commercial break. Commericalism will kill any tension, excitement and anticipation of the next scene. While it was filmed to be shown on TV - the DVD version will be far more superior to this highly cropped piece of historical BS.