Director: Ridley Scott
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Runtime: 155 Minutes
Main Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, David Schofield, John Shrapnel, Tomas Arana
Plot: Maximus was a strong and loved Roman general, so much so that the aging Emperor Marcus Aurelius chooses him to be his heir over his own son, Commodus. A power struggle breaks out and Maximus’ family are slaughtered, leaving Maximus himself captured and put into the Gladiator games. Now fuelled by vengeance, Maximus sets his sights on rising up the ranks and avenge his wife and son.
My Thoughts: My timing couldn’t be more perfect with my Blind Spot choices lately. I’d chosen The Matrix as my choice last month right when a Keanu Reeves obsession hit, and I was over the moon to realise my June pick was Gladiator when I’ve been spending as much time as possible playing Assassins Creed: Odyssey. One thing I hadn’t realised was how long the movie was, IMDB says it’s just over 2 and a half hours but I think I had some kind of special edition because my copy was just a few minutes shy of 3 hours! Why are all these famously amazing movies so darn long?!
Anyway, I’ll get straight to the point. I did enjoy Gladiator, in fact, I got really into it for the last hour or so, but it took me a long while to actually get invested. Call me uncultured (I wouldn’t argue with you) but Maximus’ story was just so similar to Spartacus’, and that’s a story I know in great detail thanks to the Starz! TV Show, which I know came later but cut me some slack.
Once I’d convinced myself to empty my thoughts and just enjoy the movie for what it was, I had a blast. I loved how Maximus managed to get the other gladiators to work together as one unit, and his rivalry with Commodus was intense. I also now know where the line “Are you not entertained?!”. I think where similar movies go all in for the action and choreographed fight scenes, Gladiator delivers some of the best dialogue I’ve heard in a movie. You can sense when someone’s about to dish out a killer speech, and those are the best moments.
Best Bit: The scene where Commodus is praising this ‘Gladiator’ and asks him his name will be the moment that I always remember the movie for. “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”
Worst Bit: I get that the focus of the movie is the hatred between Maximus and Commodus, but with such a long runtime I would have liked some of the side characters to have got a little more limelight.
Fun Trivia: The wounds on Russell Crowe’s face after the opening battle scene are real, caused when his horse startled and backed him into tree branches. The stitches in his cheek are clearly visible when he is telling Commodus he intends to return home.
My Rating: In true gladiator games style, I give it 4 thumbs up!
The Blind Spot Series was created a few years ago by Ryan at The Matinee, and is now hosted by Sofia at Returning Videotapes. As part of the Series, bloggers choose 1 movie to watch and review each month that is deemed a ‘classic’ or ‘must-watch’. To see the rest of my picks for the year, check out my announcement post here.
Oh that is a great movie, I miss it when Scott made good stuff. Connie Nielsen was best performance in that one for me
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You mean you didn’t think Alien: Covenant was a good movie? ;D
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Fantastic film. Most people don’t know that “Gladiator” is an uncredited remake of the 1964 film “The Fall of the Roman Empire” which starred Alec Guinness as Marcus Aurelius and Christopher Plummer as Commodus. How Scott’s team got away without having to give some sort of credit to the original, I’ll never know. The remake is significantly better than the original.
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Oh wow, I had no idea! Thank you 🙂
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Glad you liked it. I love Gladiator. I still remember the first time I saw it – blew me away. And you’re right on the best bit. That scene is epic. Such a good film.
OH! And I’m playing through AC: Odyssey as well. Soooo good.
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Ahhh yes Keith!! I’m only about 10 hours played at the moment but I’m loving it. I always try to be as stealthy as possible but it always ends in disaster once a guard gets that bell ringing!
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HA! I stealth the outposts to a point but if the bell rings I love going full combat. 😂
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Oh I loved Gladiator! I still watch it to destress. Commodus gives me older Joffrey vibes 🙂
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Omg you are so right!! I didn’t think it at the time but yes!!
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Wow, I’m definitely in the minority over this as I didn’t think it was that great. It had some nice visuals and some entertaining moments but there were parts of the film that bored me. It didn’t click with me at all.
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To be honest I couldn’t argue with you at all. I was pretty bored through the first half but watched it over 2 nights and enjoyed the second half better.
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Great review, Allie! What are your thoughts on the ending? I won’t spoil it, in case any of your followers or readers haven’t seen the film yet. But, at first, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. When I reflected on the film more and what the protagonist’s priorities were, it made me realize that the ending made more sense than I had originally believed. By the way, I nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award! Here’s the link to my post:
https://18cinemalane.wordpress.com/2019/06/21/my-third-sunshine-blogger-award-of-2019/
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Thank you! I really liked the ending, but I can imagine at the time many would have left the cinema debating it.
And thank you so much for nominating me! You’re too kind 🙂
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You’re welcome! I can’t wait to read your answers to my questions! If you’re interested, I’m hosting a blogathon in September called “Siskel and Ebert at the Blogathon”! Here’s the link to the original post if you want to check it out:
https://18cinemalane.wordpress.com/2019/05/30/announcing-my-new-blogathon-called-siskel-and-ebert-at-the-blogathon/
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Always loved this movie, although I haven’t seen it in a long time. Also, I am so behind on my Blind Spot, challenge, I hope to get back on track when I go on vacation in the following weeks. Great review!
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It’s so easy to fall behind, isn’t it?! This is the furthest I’ve got, to be honest. I’ve tried twice before and made it till around April or May until I’ve given up.
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I watched this for the first time in my high school English class so it took us forever to get through, but I really like this film. I haven’t watched it in so long, I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
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Oh that’s a really cool movie to study! I remember reading the book Of Mice & Men for school and it was only recently I realised that it’s actually really short!
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Still one of my favourite films from one of my favourite directors 😊
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I can definitely see why – it’s epic 😀
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I’d admit it, I didn’t like Gladiator the first time I saw it! I thought it was rather dull, and gave up an hour into the movie. It wasn’t until I saw it a second time (this time, in full) that I truly appreciated how well written it was. Like you said, the script delivered some of the best lines in cinema.
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Oh I’m so glad you had a similar experience! I didn’t enjoy the first hour at all either, but with it being one of my Blind Spot choices I tried to really pay attention for the rest and ended up having a great time with it 🙂
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