Gladiator

long overdue a return to the kind of film which engages the senses and the mind and lingers in the memory.

"A sprawling epic set ablaze by massive sets, genuine authenticity and awesome battle sequences

SADLY MOVIES OF THIS CALIBRE COME BUT A FEW TIMES A DECADE.


2000
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Gladiator

"Spellbinding historical drama

The awe-inspiring trailers for 'Gladiator' have you dreaming of 'Spartacus' and 'Ben-Hur,'

Flick Filosopher
"Is 'Gladiator' an action movie? Is it an historical drama? Is it a sweeping epic? Yes." more...
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Harvey's Movie Reviews
"Spellbinding historical drama from director Ridley Scott, " more...

JoBlo's Movie Emporium
"A sprawling epic set ablaze by massive sets, genuine authenticity, awesome battle sequences and yes, even a good ol' fashioned story dipped in love, power and revenge." more...
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Movie Bodega
"Skewering history for the good parts and throwing out the facts, 'Gladiator' is the thinking man's summer movie -- a bubbly tale of heroism and virtue, with enough violence to shame the most ardent Mel Gibson fan." more...

Nitrate Online Review
"'Gladiator' puts its audience through a digitized, derivative DeMille, but compensates with remarkable performances (including, sadly, the last one by Oliver Reed)." more...

Orlando Weekly Movies
"Special effects in movies have become increasingly wedded to science fiction, but in the glorious spectacle 'Gladiator,' director Ridley Scott uses this technology to re-create -- with a startling physicality and immediacy -- the Roman Empire that once blanketed most of Europe." more...
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Radio Free Entertainment
(7 out of 10) "An ambitiously large story is kept focused thanks to a strong performance from Russell Crowe." more...
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
"This is filmmaking on a grand scale." more...


2000 - USA - Costume Adventure/Historical Epic/Sword - and - Sandal
Reviewed by Elvis Mitchell

'Gladiator,' director Ridley Scott uses digital technology to re-create -- with a startling physicality and immediacy -- the Roman Empire that once blanketed most of Europe." more... Starring as the heroic general Maximus,

Crowe firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen presence and
acting chops, carrying the film on his decidedly non-computer-generated
shoulders as he goes from brave general to wounded fugitive to stoic slave to gladiator hero.

Gladiator's plot is a whirlwind of Shakespearean machinations of
death, betrayal, power plays, and secret identities all briskly shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary sensibility.


Even the action scenes, somewhat muted but graphic in terms of implied violence
and liberal bloodletting, are shot with a veracity that brings to mind Saving Private Ryan .

As Crowe's nemesis, the evil emperor Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix chews
scenery with authority, whether he's damning Maximus's popularity with the
Roman mobs or lusting after his sister Lucilla (beautiful but distant Connie
Nielsen); Oliver Reed, in his last role, hits the perfect notes as the slave
owner who rescues Maximus from death and turns him into a coliseum star.

Director Scott's visual flair is abundantly in evidence, with breathtaking
shots and beautiful landscapes, but it's Crowe's star power
that will keep you in thrall--he's a true gladiator, worthy of his legendary status. Hail the conquering hero!



Commodus was the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. A prolific writer, his Meditations are still studied - and quoted - today:
By the time Marcus Aurelius became Emperor in 161, trade routes between Rome and her provinces had been established. But when Marcus Aurelius assumed sole power, the Empire's northern and eastern borders were not secure.

One of his final acts dramatically harmed the Empire he had worked so hard to protect. Instead of adopting a capable man to succeed him - as the previous four Emperors had done - Marcus Aurelius appointed his son, Commodus. It was a terrible mistake.

Commodus was 18 years old. Although intelligent and capable, the new Emperor squandered his talents.



Near the end of his disastrous rule, the Emperor Commodus was in the arena, a "gladiator," dressed as Hercules Venator (Hercules, the Hunter).

Pertinax

Rome's city prefect (and a former slave), succeeded Commodus as Emperor. He had the body of Commodus exhumed and buried in Hadrian's Mausoleum. Eighty-seven days into his reign, Pertinax was assassinated.


The next Caesar, Julianus, won the position of Emperor when he was the highest bidder in an auction for the throne of Rome. Julianus lasted 66 days before he, too, was killed.


Order, in Rome and in the empire, was finally restored when Septimius Severus took over. But, the damage Commodus had caused was incalculable.



"Skewering history for the good parts and throwing out the facts, 'Gladiator' is the thinking man's summer movie



"Spellbinding historical drama from director Ridley Scott, long overdue a return to the kind of film which
engages the senses and the mind and lingers in the memory


- After co-star Oliver Reed died tragically of a heart attack late in shooting, more than $3 million was spent on computer effects to digitally create a death scene for him. This involved scanning a three-dimension image of Reed into computers, manipulating it so that his face could smile and talk, and then digitally pasting Reed's head onto a body double.-

In a forest near Farnham, England, the battle between the Roman Legions and the Germanic army was staged, which involved the shooting of 16,000 flaming arrow.




"A sprawling epic set ablaze by massive sets, genuine authenticity and awesome battle sequences




Type:
Features
Distributor:
Universal (Foreign)
Starring Russell Crowe, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Joaquin Phoenix, Spencer Treat Clark. Directed by Ridley Scott. (R, 154 minutes). This movie is the answer to a question no one bothered to ask: What would happen if someone decided to film the imminent extreme football league as if it were a Chanel commercial? Ridley Scott subjects action-packed bouts of mayhem and decapitation in the Roman Colosseum to his glossy, inhuman directing style; it's admirable but repellent. It's like a handsomely designed weapon: you can't take your eyes off it even though you may be repelled by its purpose.


The first battle, when the hero, Maximus, leads his troops against Germania, is full of Bruegelesque imagery. Flaming arrows fly through the sky, resembling tracer shells from a World War II movie. After the battle, ashes drift from the sky like snowflakes.

What more could you ask for? Gladiator is a a tough, gorgeous, vastly entertaining throwback to the Hollywood that did things right.


One of the distinctions of what I do with Upcomingmovies.com comes in the text of the "preview thoughts" that I write, usually several months before-hand (in this case, it was 16 months). Back then, I described this film as one that I anticipated greatly, both as an avid fan of Roman history and of the cinema. Imagine the glee in my step then, as I made my way to an advance screening, sat down, and waited in rapt attention for the entertainment to begin. Gladiator is of a rather old-fashioned school of Hollywood epic, ditching such modern relishes as ironic winks, cultural post-modern references, and jokey bits for what this story demands: a distinct blending of tense drama and action scenes that are bloody, numerous, and fast. Director Ridley Scott's eye for detail is evident in every scene, as is his love for grand epic visions, which in this case include the Afterworld, a German battlefield, the Roman Colliseum, a Morrocan slavepit, and the Emperor's estate. We may have to go all the way back to Blade Runner and Alien to find the last times that Scott's ambition to create new images was so finely presented, as though this is ancient Rome, it's also Ridley Scott's Rome, something we have never seen before, and probably won't.

Though it clocks in at over 150 minutes, Gladiator never lags or seems over-long, as Scott carefully separates his fast, engaging action scenes with the dialogue scenes that are required to move the film along. The teaser trailer for this film was actually the trailer that most people probably saw, and surprisingly, the text of it comes from something Commodus (Phoenix) says in the film ("The General who became a Slave...", etc). The evolution of general/slave/gladiator/hero provides the film with one of the clearest 3-act-structures that I've seen this year; and like most traditional models, it works again in this film (with the slave/gladiator part being the second act). As to the dialogue, I was happy to see that, like a Shakespearean adaptation, no attempts were made to "dumb down" the historical and political facts of the story... concepts like the fraction between Senate and the Emperor, the Praetorian Guard, etc. are presented in their context, and the audience is presumed to be able to have some understanding of what's going on; and I think that in most people, we do. Audiences aren't as stupid as Hollywood seems to sometimes imply. I'd argue that the reverse is true, that people learn about the things that intrigue them, and that though it's certainly true that many Americans are not familiar with Roman history, that if this film captures their imagination, they may become more interested in the subject (such as what happened with the success of Titanic; libraries have a tough time keeping books on the subject in stock).

The performances in Gladiator are across-the-board perfect. Some are relatively small (Hounsou, Jacobi, Harris, etc.), but most get at least one or two good bits of dialogue. I'd say there are really four roles that make up the story's core: Proximo (Reed), Lucilla (Nielsen), Commodus (Phoenix), and Maximus (Crowe). Oliver Reed died during the filming, but luckily, enough of his performance was shot so that we didn't lose what is easily the defining role of his late career. In Proximo, the slave-trainer, we are given a veteran of the fights whose personality reflects his times and position. Lucilla and Commodus are like twins who fell as far apart from each other as possible, one close to the tree, and one way out in the field. Richard Harris has a line where he tells Lucilla that he wishes she'd been a son and we know what he means, because the son he did have made one mess of an emperor. As Commodus, Phoenix is exactly the sort of smoldering spoiled-brat that serves as an emotional foil to Maximus, a neo-Caligula, one might say. Mordred in Excalibur also came to mind, especially in the end. Finally, there is Russell Crowe as Maximus, whose relentless passion and quiet fury drives the film from beginning to end. There's never a point we don't believe... Crowe is credible as each of those four stations I mentioned above. He's the general any soldier would follow, the comrade any gladiator would want at his side, and the hero any nation would want to save them. Crowe's portrayal here is given special significance when you consider that he filmed it after having bulked up for The Insider, which was about as far from Gladiator as a movie can get.

Gladiator is a violent, stirring movie of historical drama and pulse-pounding action. As a rule, most guys will love it, but their girlfriends will too, because this is not "stupid action", but very smart, logical gore that seems to be the boundary between what women and men agree upon in action movies. You will cheer, you will root, and you be dazzled by the imagery and stunts played forth before you in ways that we haven't seen historical epics do since, well, Ben-Hur and Spartacus. There were 15 years or so in the 1950's and early 1960's when historical epics were Hollywood's bread and butter, supplying audiences with spectacle, romance, and historical intrigue. Gladiator brings us back to that time in more ways than one.

Greg's Preview Thoughts:
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12/17/98 - I probably couldn't be much more psyched about this one. I know I give a lot of wholeheartedly enthusiastic previews here, but this one really has several properties that make it especially interesting for me. In college, I got my B.A. in philosophy, studied Marcus Aurelius, who is a central character in this movie, and studied Latin for 2 semesters. All that, and I like gladiator movies, and anything set in Rome, with I Claudius being one of my favorite shows/movies of all time. (rent it from your library and see what I mean, it's great!)

With Anthony Hopkins currently filming a version of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, and a few other Roman projects in the works, Hollywood is rediscovering Rome. It's not surprising, as ancient Rome is a setting full of action, intrigue and beautiful settings. It's true that many of the emperors were sick, cruel people, and the Roman culture as a whole can be seen as being immoral in some ways by modern standards, but it's also a fascinating time. I think ancient Rome is probably the best historical model for today's own society. Of course, they had slaves, and their sense of "democracy" was not quite what ours is, but the principles are similar. Anyway, ancient Rome is a really fascinating setting for movies.

And so, renowned director Ridley Scott is the one will give us our first modern big-scale look at Rome in quite a while! I should mention that Scott's track record in the 90's has been a bit spotty, with his three movies since Thelma and Louise (G.I. Jane, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, and White Squall) not scaling the heights of brilliance that I think Blade Runner and Alien once did. In Gladiator, however, there is the spark of the kind of bigger-than-life super-epic that we know Ridley Scott is best at delivering.

That he's assembling a brilliant cast is of course, consistently good news. Russell Crowe is probably best known to most people for his role as Bud White in L.A. Confidential (a role so memorable that my Mom was able to remember the character's name months after seeing it... that's pretty amazing), and I'd also recommend you look in your local video store for his role as a skinhead in Romper Stomper. Russell Crowe has the steely eyes and fierce energy needed to portray both a Roman general and a furious gladiator to the maximum, and his casting here is brilliant.

Joaquin Phoenix and Djimon Hounsou are also both very well-cast. Joaquin has played several recent characters that seem to run in the same young-modern-lowlife vein, but as the corrupt young Emperor Commodus, he gets to play a completely different type of sleazy guy. It's very easy to imagine him slithering around in Roman gear issuing cruel orders and being overall very unpleasant. Djimon Hounsou (best known for his role in Amistad) , who I believe is playing an African gladiator, should look great in gladiator gear, facing off against Crowe, and looking fierce and ominous.

Yep, folks, this one looks to be a really huge surprise, and is one of the movies I most anticipate. The trailers for this one should be really neat.

Hollywood, bring on the Romans!

More Cast Thoughts (2/25/99)

With more actors cast, let me take a chance to chime in with a few thoughts. First off, the news came in today that Derek Jacobi has been cast, though I don't know what his role is at this time. (of course, maybe his role is the sort that we don't want to know... at this early stage, some things can simply be too spoilerish...). Anyway, Derek Jacobi is one of my favorite actors, who seems to make just about everything he does seem a little classier. He has a very careful and nearly graceful manner, and has proven himself extremely capable of taking on a Roman character.

Teaser Trailer Thoughts

Well, the teaser was attached to many movies this week (12/23/99) including Man on the Moon, and you can also see it at the newly opened official site (see link to left). Anyway, it's a dazzling teaser that gives away nothing but does indeed tease us with images of the gladiator fights and a sweeping, grand vision of the colloseum. At other sites, there's been some debate about whether the tiger seen in the teaser is CGI; and I can say, from seeing it on a big screen, that it does not look fake, as reports that real tigers were used supports. Anyway, it's a great teaser, I heartily suggest you either download it or seek it out on a big screen. It looks like summer 2000 is going to get started with a bang with the movie. Wow.



GLADIATOR 2 Reports are currently conflicting about whether this will be a sequel or a prequel to the 2000 film about a Roman general who becomes a gladiator, as a means to exact vengeance for the misdeeds committed by the Emperor Commodus. Based upon the wording of some quotes from screenwriter John Logan or the various producers, it appears this film could actually be both a prequel and a sequel, similar to the plot structure of The Godfather Part II. If there are prequel elements, that story would be likely to follow the experiences of the older characters from the first movie, when they were young men. Those characters would most likely be Proximo, played by the late Oliver Reed, who in the first movie was a slave trainer who advised Maximus (Russell Crowe) and Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was also played by an actor who has since died (Richard Harris). A sequel story would likely take place 10-15 years after the end of the first movie, at the time at which young Lucius had grown to be an adult, and the (potential) emperor of Rome, as the last heir to Marcus Aurelius. In addition to those two possible storylines, there is also a strong chance that Maximus (R