Good start, but then it gets ruined

A lot of fun.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Contestants from all over the nation are put through various challenges most of which include them facing the gigantic and fierce gladiators.The thing about this show is that you feel for and sympathize with the contestants, and you will unknowingly find yourself hating the gladiators and picturing them as villains. The hosts of the show themselves are huge, Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, one a legendary wrestler and the other a female boxer. Let's hope NBC doesn't cancel American Gladiators after a couple of seasons.Overall, this is a fun and clean show to watch for the whole family, and is definitely worth a look.

I've watched a few, can't say yet whether it's better than the original or not, although America was due for a new version of this and it came at just the right time. There's one BIG black mark against the current version - the way they tease you with the next event and then cut to five minutes of commercials. Hey, this ain't Deal or No Deal (a big problem with that show also). That technique grows old real fast and is a tacky piece of trash the original didn't stoop to. It means we never watch this live, we watch on DVR so we can fast forward through the annoyance. Announcers - I give a slight nod to the new show. The biggest pitfall here is to go too over the top too often, Hulk does that more than Adamle but the Hulker is also such a great screen presence. Ali does a nice and controlled job. Contestants - I think I like it better when they didn't focus on the contestants so much (the original). While these competitors look good, there's too many interviews with contestants and family. What are they going to say, I think I'm going to lose?Gladiators - Certainly looking fit, although I have a soft spot for Siren, Ice, Gold, Zap et al from the old crew. They were very tough but fair, this group is a tad too macho/nasty for me. So I prefer the original, although Crush and Phoenix are great lookers as well as battlers and Helga is a cute twist. I thought Wolf was a little much at the beginning but he's grown on me.Referee - I don't think anyone can replace Larry Thompson, he was The Man. The new guy (who you'll recognize as the ref in Dodge Ball!!) is okay but no Larry Thompson.Events - There's something hokey about the Gauntlet, they need to work on the rules or something. In the old one pinning contestants down was illegal, now everyone seems to do it. The Pyramid seems too stacked for the gladiators. The end of the Eliminator (the steep treadmill) is just too damn tough, I want to at least see these folks get to finish the event. I'm also not sure about Snapback, something looks hokey about that event, it looks like the gladiator can pull the contestant back whenever they want. Otherwise the new events are marginally better and presented much better, particularly Assault where the gladiator goes flying, that was a great idea. With all due respect to the contestant-lawyer who claimed she got sick from going into the water so many times, I'm sure the studio's lawyers (and doctors) are happier about these folks falling 15 feet into water than onto a wrestling mat. Conclusion - A close call but for the commercial tease, where they can hopefully grow up and clean up.

The new American Gladiators kicked off to a successful start on NBC. There was a lot I liked about it, and some stuff that I would change. The female Gladiators seem to need a lot more practice on the events than the men do. The men for the most part did well, but the females lost just about every time.Hulk Hogan has never met a camera he didn't like, and I thought he did well. I don't know where some of this talk of him looking bored is coming from. I thought he did well interviewing the contestants. Laila doesn't have as much experience in front of the camera as Hulk, but I thought she held her own.As for the Gladiators, Wolf is my early favorite, because he has shown the most personality. It helps that he wrestled professionally, and has prior experience in that department. Hopefully in time, the rest of the crew will come around. During the first season of the original version, that Gladiator crew didn't show much charisma, but in the later years they developed some.I liked that they are varying up the events for the men and the women. Some of the episodes of the original would get boring, when you'd see the same thing four times. By seeing some events only twice, it to me, makes the show seem fresher.As far as changes, there are two main ones that I would make. I don't like the nameless, faceless play-by-play announcer. I think the guy calling the action needs a more visible presence on the show. By doing the play-by-play in post production, whoever he is, does not seem to give it that personal touch like Mike Adamle did on the original. The guy I always pictured in the role if they ever did a Gladiators remake, was Joey Styles from ECW. I'd love to hear an "Oh My God!" after someone took a big hit, or had a big fall.The other change is that the new Eliminator is way too long, and difficult. They are asking for trouble by requiring the contestants to swim underneath that wall of fire. I have a fear that one of these days someone is going to lose their breath and either drown or get barbecued. There is too much going up and down. I think they need to take a lesson from the original and make the transitions between the legs of the Eliminator smoother. This would hopefully lead to less contestants being completely out of gas before they are even half done.