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Gladiator is a boxing movie which does more than tell you about boxing. James Marshall (A Few Good Men, Twin Peaks) stars as a young man who is forced to move to a poor neighborhood and fend for himself while his dad travels to find work and pay off his gambling debts. In order to make some money, a talented boxer, Marshall joins a crooked boxing organization. He signs up with a former fighter, perfectly played by Brian Dennehey (Tommy Boy, F/X), soon he begins to form a friendship with the top boxer in the league, well-played by Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire, Outbreak). After a while, the crooked boxing and an upcoming fight against a possibly brain-damaged Gooding Jr. makes Marshall re-evaluate what he's doing. Robert Loggia (Independence Day, Lost Highway) beautifully plays another crooked person involved in the organization. Ossie Davis (Doctor Dolittle, I'm Not Rappaport) gives the film a heart as Marshall's manager. Finally, Marshall delivers a strong performance that will make you cheer for him. This film's entertaining boxing scenes and good moral make it a great film

After decades, I see it as a good film. For themes, sensitive ones, from the sacrifice for help the father to the illegal boxing circle, from acting ( after Twin Peaks , a real interesting work of James Marshall , impressive job of Brian Dennehy, a young Cuba Gooding jr. Proposing the fair portrait of Lincoln and, not the last, Robert Loggia ).

But the great virtue remains the 1990 atmosphere , fair defined scene by scene.

Indeed, a too used subject but , in this case, in touching manner, convincing in some measure. And, maybe, in strange way, for very subjective reasons, a memorable film for not so young public.

First of all, this rating is ridiculous. I remember watching Gladiator when it first came out on video and now a few times on television. No it won't win any Oscars and it's not a dramatic masterpiece but it's never boring and moves along nicely. The fight scenes are entertaining, the chemistry between Marshall and Cuba is there, and the majority of the characters are developed. The only thing that fails is the love story, but I guess every film with teens has to have one. As far as people complaining about Marshall's wooden performance, I personally liked it. Not everyone is a charismatic, everyone is drawn to me type of person. He played it low-key, brooding, quiet, somewhat anti-social and it worked. If a film like this was made today, it would be a dumbed-down PG-13 version critics would probably love because it tells the story of a kid overcoming the obstacles. Rent it if you're an action fan, you won't be disappointed.

I saw this film the other night on tv, and once I started watching it, it was just too hard to stop. I'm not one to really watch boxing, but this movie was very interesting. It was nice to see the relationships between all of the characters, especially between Cuba Gooding Jr. and his best friend, and their relationship with the boxing promoter. The whole film really got me going; and as I yelled at the tv, I realized that this is a really awesome film and more people should see it.

It might not be on the level of the first Rocky or of Cinderella Man and it gets largely forgotten due to sharing its name with a giant epic of a movie but this is an underappreciated gem form the early 90's which I used to watch repeatedly. It's a rousing and well choreographed fight movie with a likable protagonist. Many have criticized Marshall's performance as stiff but I think it works for the character and his stoic nature. Dennehy was great as the antagonist, one of his better roles honestly. There is some cheesiness and you do get one or two montages which feel like holdouts from the 80's but this is a really good movie with a lot of heart which films from this genre seriously lack these days. Within the category of boxing films it is in my top 5 for sheer enjoyment of it.