Hi, this is Steve. There was a time when Roman epics, what Hollywood used to call

sword and sandal pictures, were as common as Westerns, musicals, and gangster movies.

From Ben Hur, both silent and sound version, to Spartacus, there were few things the public loved

more than watching their favorite star, throw in a toga, and step out into the Coliseum.

But by the mid-60s, the sword and sandal picture had fallen on hard times.

The nail in the coffin was probably Elizabeth Taylor's disastrous Cleopatra, an epic so terrible

and so expensive that it almost put 20th century Fox out of business.

So when Ridley Scott decided to revive the genre in the year 2000, the industry thought

he was absolutely crazy. The result is a sweeping dramatic adventure with epic battles,

fantastic action sequences, incredible cinematography,

and great performances from Russell Crowe, Richard Harris,

Waukeen Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, and the wonderful Oliver Reed in his final

film. Now if you haven't seen this movie my advice to you is to go straight to our website cinefiles.

net where you can buy the Blu-ray or rent it from Amazon Prime trust me you will be

entertained. Now gladiator is another big one so we had to divide it into two parts to capture the whole thing.

Oh, and one more thing.

Believe it or not, our 100th episode is coming up, and John and I have decided to do something special.

Rather than review another classic film, we wanted to... and I have decided to do something special.

Rather than review another classic film,

we wanted to open up the discussion to you.

Is there a question you've been dying to ask

a professional cinephile?

...