Gladiator

2000   Paramount Pictures

Rated:  R

Length:  2 hr  28min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ History

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, and Richard Harris.

“I will win the crowd, I will give them something they’ve never seen before.”

Russell Crowe stars as the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, leading his army to victory in Germania in 180AD. The dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) tells Maximus that his son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) is unfit to rule as his successor and wants Maximus to become the new Emperor. Commodus does not take that news well and strangles his Father claiming he simply died of natural causes, “He ran out of breath.” He then asks Maximus for his loyalty but Maximus refuses. This angers Commodus and he has Maximus taken prisoner back to the battlefield to be killed, and orders that Maximus’s family be slain.

Upon arriving at the battlefield and just about to be executed, Maximus is able to turn on his captors and kill them all. He rides horseback to his family home trying to stop the murder of his family, but arrives too late. The Commodus’s men had raped Maximus’s wife, and then crucified and burned both his son and his wife. Maximus buries them and then collapses at the foot of their graves. He is found by slave traders who sell him to a former Gladiator named Proximo (Richard Harris). Proximo keeps and train slaves worthy enough to fight in the Gladiator Games. Commodus organizes 150 days of Games in the Roman Coliseum to commemorate his father’s passing.

Proximo takes his Gladiator troupe to Rome to fight in the Coliseum games. Which is exactly where Maximus wants to be, he desires nothing more than to get close to Commodus and exact vengeance for his family. And to restore the balance of power to the senate like Emperor Marcus Aurelius desired before his death. “The General who became a slave, the slave who became a Gladiator, the Gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! Now the people want to know how the story ends.” It is the story of  Maximus’s journey to take down Commodus, exact revenge and set the Roman Empire right, while he battles in the coliseum, fighting for his life.

I have to mention Commodus’s sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and her son Lucius because they factor into Gladiator II. Lucilla and Maximus were lovers in the past before Maximus met his wife. Maximus’s son is eight years old, the same age as Lucilla’s son Lucius. Lucius and Lucilla both show a liking for Maximus in Gladiator, for reasons that become apparent in Gladiator II. Directed by Ridley Scott it is truly an epic film about the Roman times and The Gladiators who fought for their lives in the Coliseum. Fight or die, Kill to live. It was a highly successful film in 2000 winning multiple awards: Best Picture, Actor, Visual Effects, Sound, Costume Design, Director, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Original Score, Cinematography, Art Direction and Editing.

I remember watching it a long time ago but didn’t really remember the whole movie. With Gladiator II out, I had to go back and watch Gladiator first. Streaming Movie Night tonight is Gladiator II and I can’t wait to see Denzel Washington . He is one of my favorites and I am excited to see how he factors in to The Gladiator story,  and how the story plays out. Obviously I Highly Recommend Gladiator, especially before Gladiator II, as the story line continues where the first one ended fifteen years later

Two Thumbs Up!