I just saw Spartacus for the 1st time, loved it and wanted more gladiator movies, but I was really let down from Gladiator, the characters were really forgettable, the acting really dry, and the battles were just there for blood and gore on the audience nothing more, I think Spartacus is more advanced in terms of it's emotion, we care about the characters more, the soundtrack brings us in, and the battles mean something.

Gladiator didn't have the right actors, soundtrack, or tangible emotion to captivate.

Ridley Scott is a good director, but he falls short here, I would compare this to modern comic movies of how forgettable it is.