Customer Reviews

Gladiator, The (1986) [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, I received my copy. And - while I recognize the title is hard to find - I was a little disappointed with the quality. The recording looks like a VCR tape of a TV broadcast that has been transferred to DVD.

Again, I recognize that the title is hard to find or impossible to find. So I accept that this was the best they could do. I just want other buyers to know that this isn't going to look great on your TV.

A homicidal maniac is on the loose, killing motorists at random in his "death car" - after losing his brother to the twisted assassin "Skull", Rick Benten becomes a vigilante, and takes it upon himself to hunt down the reckless drivers that fill the streets at night. Being a master mechanic, Rick spends his time converting his pickup truck into an armed and dangerous vehicle - with speed to take on the fastest car, and strength to make sure in a one-on-one situation, he will be the only survivor. The cops soon find out about the vigilante known only as the "Gladiator" and do all they can to catch him before his citizen's arrests go one step too far - but will they find the Gladiator before the Gladiator finds Skull? When the two finally meet, it's a duel to the death and maybe an end to Rick's career as the vigilante.

I saw this movie many years ago and as I find is often the case when watching movies years later, they don't quite measure up to what I remembered. Still a good movie though, however the quality was horrible as one other person said. The picture is grainy like the product of several generations of analog copies. The sound is slightly out of sync with the video and the volume is a little low but when you turn it up you hear a loud hum.
I'm sure it doesn't pay to go back and professionally remake every "B" movie made over the last 50 years because there isn't enough market demand to justify the cost involved. However if you're just wanting to fill in the blanks to see how much you remember and clear up the fuzzy spots then this is adequate. There are a lot of movies I saw back in the day that I'd like to see again on DVD if the quality was at least equal to this (preferably better) and the price was reasonable.

The Gladiator is not a great movie but is very good and worth watching. Parts of
it are really exciting. I have always enjoyed vilglante movies where a good guy
goes after the bad boys. Give it a shot if you can get a good deal on the DVD>