Gladiator

The year 2000 saw the release of a real man's movie.
My Dad toke my brother and I to see it, and going in I had no real idea what to expect.
Afterwards, and still to this day, I know that this is a brilliant piece of cinema.

Here's the movie poster.



I'm not sure how well it did at the box office. I'm fairly confident it made it's money, and then some.
Really though, I'm not fussed. I enjoyed it.



Here we have Maximus (Russell Crowe). He's a native of Spain, but really he's a New Zealander posing as an Aussie. :)

Until Gladiator, the only other time I'd seen Russell Crowe in a film was Romper Stomper, which is a brutal film. If you're going to watch it, be prepared. And make sure you don't have any kids running around.
Whew.

Here's the Gladiator trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvXUv_iv7A

Here's the Romper Stomper trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXa-nAYdjrk




Taking it all so seriously is Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

Maybe he's just stressed with worry about his attraction to his sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen)?



Here she is now.
I suppose though, if Connie Nielsen was your sister......

But I digress.
The surprising love interest between Maximus and Lucilla is what sets this movie apart from all others.
I wrote above that this is a real man's movie, well with this subplot included it really ropes the ladies in too.

And kudos to Russell Crowe and Connie Nielsen on these powerful scenes too. Just brilliant.



So, that just goes to show you that you don't have to like gladiator movies.
But it helps.
Isn't that right Clarence?



Unfortunately this film was marred by untimely death.
I seem to recall that Proximo's death scene had to be done via computer animation, as during filming, Oliver Reed (above) passed on.

A similar fate occurred to Richard Harris (Marcus Aurelius).
2 years after filming Gladiator, Richard Harris passed away. He had completed the first Harry Potter movie, and was working on The Count Of Monte Cristo (starring Guy Pearce) at the time of his passing.

Both actors, fantastic actors at that, gave incredible performances' in Gladiator.

Another reason to watch Gladiator is for Juba's scenes.
Juba was played by Djimon Hounsou, who has since gone on to star in such films as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle Of Life, Constantine, The Island, and the very well done Blood Diamond.

To show that Juba just wasn't a cameo role, here he is......

And here he is again.

Maybe he's trying to tap Rusty on the shoulder, telling him there's blood on his brow?
Or a rather large sword swaying over his head?

Another point of conversation are the fight scenes of Maximus in the arena.
If you haven't seen this movie, and you want to see some incredibly shot, perfectly executed fight scenes, give this movie a go.

There's actually a tonne of reasons to watch this movie, and to give this movie another sit-through if it's been a while since you last saw it.

You can buy the DVD here
Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)

And the movie novel here

Gladiator

The book about the making of the movie, here

Gladiator: The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks)

As well as the soundtrack, on cd, here

Gladiator

So there you go. Despite the attempts at humour I made above, this movie gets my full endorsement. You should definitely check this movie out.

As for a star rating? Sure, why not. 10 out of 10!

What did you think of this review? Please comment, or email me directly at mgbouw@yahoo.com.au

Until next time...