Enter the coliseum ready for action-filled melodrama and a leading-man-is-born performance by Russell Crowe as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (B). This rousing historical epic traces the title character, a former general rising from slavery through the ranks of the arena, determined to avenge the murders of his family and the emperor. Crowe is born for the role, with commanding and believable swagger and swelling speeches and pecs, and he faces a fantastic foil in an outrageous, power-hungry villain played with juicy relish by Joaquin Phoenix. The story gets additional gravitas with the presence of a cadre of veteran actors Richard Harris, Oliver Reed and Derek Jacobi, and Dijmon Hounsou and Connie Nielsen give good performances as allies. While not all that original, the story is a welcome throwback to swords-and-sandals epics of bygone Hollywood. Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score adds to the power of the picture, but some of the special effects work appears too artificial in the ancient world.  All in all, it’s a winner.