6. Gladiator (2000)
If Gladiator isn’t Ridley Scott’s greatest movie, it certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as whatever is. A massive hit upon its release in summer 2000, the film resurrected the sword-and-sandals epic with a gripping revenge tale about Maximus (Russell Crowe), a decorated Roman general betrayed by the scheming new emperor (Joaquin Phoenix) and forced to survive as an enslaved gladiator. Brimming with raw machismo and solidifying Crowe’s star power in cinematic bronze, Gladiator was one of the last films to both dominate the box office and claim the Oscar for Best Picture. “Are you not entertained?” We definitely were.
