As plotlines go, Gladiator is as easy to describe as it was to market when its various advertisements unleashed a modern myth. "The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an Emperor."

With three short sentence fragments Ridley Scott's masterstroke of screen direction is revealed as a Roman-era costume drama and gladiator epic on par with few other films, Spartacus included. Naturally there is a bit more to the plot but in the end, and what may very well have helped the movie outshine its competition on the awards circuit and at the box office, was the way the movie is about both Russell Crowe's General Maximus but also Ridley Scott's journey through Hollywood.

To the first point Gladiator begins simply enough with the siege of Germanic highlands to define the northernmost apex of the Roman Empire under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Striking upon the words of Maximus his legionnaires unleash hell and vanquish their Teutonic foe before settling into the maintenance of the post-War peace.

Quickly the Emperor's son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) expresses desire for the throne although Aurelius has already assigned it to Maximus. What ensues is patricide at its highest level when Commodus kills his father, assumes control of the empire, seeks incestuous union with his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), allows Rome to wallow in corruption and otherwise makes Maximus's lot in life that of a slave.

As the movie's tagline reminds us, however, "A Hero Will Rise" and so Maximus achieves success as a gladiator playing to the wild blood lust of Roman crowds along the fringes of the empire. He's finally brought to the Coliseum as lead actor in the fighting troupe of freed gladiator Proximo (Oliver Reed) and while there he strikes fear in the heart of Commodus who's forced, by mob rule, to fight his former general to the death.

Along the way a subplot is developed about wresting control of the empire from its autocracy into the hands of more civic-minded republican senators. So too is the struggle of Maximus to be reunited in the Elysian Fields with his murdered wife and son, both of whom are reflected in Lucilla's struggles against the ghastly plans of her brother.

Gladiator was produced for some $103 million and intended, it seems from the timing of its release, to capitalize on the Memorial Day weekend rush before Hollywood's main vehicles were released in the summer proper. Given its relatively early release it's hard to say whether or not the film's producers intended their work to be celebrated as the year's best film. What is clear is the way their efforts paid of in creating one of the most spectacular movie entertainments in recent years.

From the word go as the army of Maximus, itself a composite of filmed extras and digital components, is lined up to destroy Gothic hordes, the mastery of film technique and cutting edge production design are put on full display. Not only are the arrows flashed between the warring parties a herald of doom for the barbarians resisting Rome's soldiers but those arrows point out the distinction between this B-grade movie material and the kind of film that's normally the result.

This is not to say the script, cast, design elements and overall effect of the film is anything but one of abject professional success. Still, Gladiator is a special effects showcase produced within an easy-to-follow framework of moral imbalance put right through the struggle of a righteous and wholly sympathetic leading player.

That the special effects turn the movie into something momentous and that the central performance of Russell Crowe is so earnestly believable is a testament to accidents of timing. It is also not too much of a stretch to suppose this gladiator movie was the most resoundingly old-fashioned and impressive movie of 2000.

All the elements of classical Hollywood style are in effect from an easily recognizable score by Hans Zimmer to meticulously designed costumes and sets to the richness of bon mots as written by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson. No single element of the film shines above any other, if you take exception, that is, for the breathtaking set pieces that begin the movie and result in its Coliseum fights.

Certainly there are those among the movie-going public and more formal critical circles who believe Gladiator unfairly robbed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Traffic of Best Picture honors. Not one to disparage the former because it opened the American markets to Asian-styled fairy tales with extraordinary physical stunts and visual effects, although it was wasted on me, and not being interested in slamming Traffic which is a fine film, I can simply offer the following remarks regarding Gladiator's place among Oscar-winning movies.

Ridley Scott may very well be the leading presence of the film from both a creative and thematic point-of-view. His journeyman's career from a robust output of TV commercials in England through his debut movie, The Duelists, through his Hollywood flash in the pain with Alien allowed him to succeed on a fantastic scale, though not without his failures.

Blade Runner followed and while his critical reputation continued to build, the movie's box office results were dismal so it seemed Scott was merely part of a small group of British image producers groomed in marketing techniques and high glass style, Adrian Lyne and Tony Scott, his brother, among them. His focus on technique and film form seemed somehow to eclipse the content of his movies, although it should be noted he was typically a director for hire and not a writer. In short, it seemed Scott was simply a music video director occasionally given feature length-story ideas and a big budget.

Legend, Someone to Watch Over Me and Black Rain emphasized the point even as Scott's cache in Hollywood was slowly rebuilt and then made artistic through his contribution to 1991's Thelma and Louise. His 14-year long rise from his feature debut through his most successful film in both a commercial and critical sense gave him the insight to recognize Hollywood's simultaneous heights and depths.

Suckling at the breast of prosperity is but a short rise from drinking in puddles along curbside gutters. Though Scott's career has never been entirely on the brink of anonymity, his projects have invariably discouraged his presence among Hollywood's elite directors. So then the real surrogate point-of-view to look through in unpacking, and enjoying, Gladiator is the aging former gladiator, Proximo.

Oliver Reed's supporting role, and final screen performance since he died during production, is the lens through which Scott's experience can best be viewed if the Roman Empire is taken as the likeness of Hollywood. Thus there is political infighting among its elite class, incestuous relations between its rulers and an overall reliance on spectacle to please the masses even when those same masses seem to be starving for something more.

As Proximo himself explains to Maximus before their assault on the Coliseum's reigning champions, Rome is the oldest and most glorious whore in the empire. To scale her wall of achievement is to potentially lose oneself but also to succeed beyond one's most ambitious fantasies.

When Scott's efforts at delivering the most old-fashioned story and theme through the most state-of-the-art technology is made central to evaluating Gladiator, it seems possible this old cinematic gladiator found a way to scale Hollywood's wall of achievement and become recognized as a master of his craft. Even those among its detractors are forced to submit to the film's visceral joys while complaining of its graphic nature and simplistic characterizations.

Regardless, Gladiator is a great film precisely because it delivers unexpected wallop of high quality of entertainment from start to finish.