Ridley Scott’s Gladiator may have won Best Picture, but it didn’t impress famous film critic Roger Ebert. Gladiator was a huge commercial success as well as a hit with most critics, taking in $465.5 million at the box office. It’s recognized as one of Ridley Scott’s best movies alongside the likes of Alien and Blade Runner, as well as one of the best historical epics ever made.

The release of Gladiator II in 2024 has brought renewed interest to the original movie. Russell Crowe’s Ancient Roman epic now has a whole new generation of admirers, ensuring that its legacy remains healthy. Ebert is not among these fans, as the critic famously spoke out against Gladiator when it was first released.

Roger Ebert Didn’t Think Gladiator Was A Good Movie

In his initial review of Gladiator, Ebert described it as “Spartacus Lite,” in reference to Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 epic starring Kirk Douglas. He awarded Gladiator a score of two out of four, although his review is mostly negative. He takes issue with the film’s muddy visuals, which he felt reflect the dreary story.

Ebert’s review of Gladiator is filled with cutting lines. He wrote, “It employs depression as a subsтιтute for personality“, accusing the script of a lack of depth. He also denigrates the movie’s action scenes, describing Scott’s “muddled closeups of fearsome but indistinct events.”

Ebert didn’t always align with the critical consensus. He wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions about popular movies, and he wrote negative reviews for classics like ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Poets Society, Raising Arizona and Fight Club. His distaste for Gladiator is a surprise, but Ebert’s intelligence and authenticity are what make him so popular.

Roger Ebert Had Much Kinder Words For Ridley Scott’s Other Historical Epic

Although Ebert didn’t care for Gladiator at the time, he wrote a glowing review of Scott’s 2005 epic Kingdom of Heaven, which stars Orlando Bloom as a warrior in the Crusades of the 12th century. Ebert praises the story and the dialogue, and he also seems much more impressed by the action in Kingdom of Heaven than he was by Gladiator‘s fight scenes.

Gladiator‘s success inspired a few other big-budget historical epics in Hollywood. In a miniature revival of the sword-and-sandals genre, movies like Troy and Alexander didn’t have the same impact. Ebert references his disappointment in these two movies in his review of Kingdom of Heaven, even suggesting that he may have been too harsh on Gladiator in retrospect.

It would have been interesting to see Ebert’s thoughts on Scott’s more recent historical epics, especially since Gladiator II echoes Gladiator in so many ways. Ebert was always direct and incisive with his reviews, so his thoughts on Gladiator are worth reading, even for the movie’s most ardent defenders.