Great film. Certainly, a bit of manipulation of historical fact was involved. But this is not a history film, this is a gladiator film. The opening battle sequence was excellent...although I did wonder why the chanting German warriors sounded exactly like the Zulu's from the 1960s film of the same name. Russel Crow was good as the war weary Roman hero, but I think Joaquin Phoenix did better as Commodus. It was gratifying to see that mighty Sven Thorssen got a bit part! Derek Jacobi's cameo role was also very good. The costumes, armour, fight choreography were all brilliant 