Ridley Scott’s sword-and-sandal masterpiece Gladiator came out 20 years ago. It is a stone-cold classic that I loved as a kid, so I wanted to rewatch it now and see how it’s aged – here are my “watch-along” reactions:
1:50 – First shot of the film – a wandering hand touching the wheat fields. I feel like a ton of movies do the wheat-stalk-touching but Gladiator has to be the best known for it. Just seeing that gives me blisters.
4:45 – General Maximus is leading the Roman troops to conquer the last of Germania. The Germans cut off the Roman messenger’s head and wave it around. Brutal. I thought I’d seen this movie a lot but I have no memory of this. Wonder if they ever got any Germans in on the gladiator matches? They’d fit right in.
5:36 – General Maximus, to his army: “At my signal, unleash hell.” I would follow General Maximus to the ends of the earth. Gladiator is basically a slave rebellion/sports (old school MMA?) movie, but how great would a prequel be? It could be a pure war movie with General Maximus. I just want to see Maximus with more wolf pelts draped over his shoulders. The battle-dog body count would not be pretty though.
7:12 – General Maximus, continuing his epic pre-battle speech: “What we do in life echoes in eternity!” Can we get a book of life sayings from Maximus? Marcus Aurelius got his Meditations. Just saying.
9:27 – The main Roman army attacks, while Maximus leads his troops to cut them off from behind. Wait why are they playing the Pirates of the Caribbean score? Does Hans Zimmer do this with other films too? Not that I’m complaining really, it is pretty epic.
10:05 – The Roman soldiers yell out “Roma Victor!” as they charge. The Latin student in me would like to point out that this is grammatically incorrect. Maybe they meant roma invicta? I appreciate the effort at the scattered Latin phrases, though. Even the name Maximus (a real name/title back then) is amazing. You thought the names Rocky or Snake Plissken were masculine? How about an action hero named “The Greatest”. Maybe I’ll name my son Maximus.
21:17 – The old and wise emperor Marcus Aurelius has a heart to heart with Maximus, who he treats like his son, and then with his daughter Lucilla. The legendary Richard Harris is SO good as Marcus Aurelius. He’s barely in this film but every line he delivers has such import, and he knocks it out of the park with every scene. How did he not get a Best Supporting nod?
33:33 – Then, Aurelius breaks the news to his son Commodus that he won’t succeed him as emperor. “I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel.” Oh right, Joaquin Phoenix was nominated as Best Supporting Actor, and definitely deserved to win the Oscar – this was before most of us knew what a gift actor he is. Commodus seethes and whimpers to his father with tears in his eyes. Oh man, what a performance by Phoenix. You can feel desperation, his lust for power.
34:59 – “Your faults as a son are my failures as a father” Marcus Aurelius opens his arms for an embrace from Commodus as he gets on his knees. Don’t do it, we all know what’s coming next!!! The climax of a lifetime of daddy issues in the form of patricide. This is such a pivotal scene, not just for the story but for Commodus’ character. It doesn’t justify his actions, but Commodus becomes a fully realized character, with such depth to his ambitions and actions.
40:32 – Commodus, now emperor, sends Maximus to be executed, but Maximus escapes in a sick action scene: “The frost – sometimes it makes the blade stick”. Best action one-liner of the film? This is the Greco-Roman version of a gun getting jammed as the villain is trying to shoot. I need to keep a running tally of famous quotes here. Also, we need more movies with swordfights in the snow. Crowe does such a great job here (and in the later gladiator fights) for a guy who is essentially a dramatic actor and not an action guy.
43:27 – A series of great, classical-western shots of Maximus riding home in the great expanse with mountains in the horizon. Does he actually ride a horse all the way from Germany to Spain???
44:56 – Maximus arrives home to his farm to see his crops burned and his family executed and crucified. All the man wanted to do was go back to his farm! “I live only to hold my wife and child again.” Now Commodus has given Maximus something else to live for.
48:36 – After Maximus gets captured as a slave, he and the other slaves arrive at an outpost of the Roman empire to be sold. Oliver Reed’s character Proximo gets the best introduction of the movie, grabbing the slave trader’s balls in a vice grip while demanding a refund for his purchase of queer giraffes. Such a shame that he passed away before he got to finish filming.
55:12 – The gladiators get ready for their first battle. Definitely one of the top three coolest things about this movie is how Maximus grabs the sand and rubs it on his hands before each battle. I guess it’s supposed to hark back to his farmer roots but in my opinion it’s the best pregame ritual since Lebron James’s chalk toss.
59:44 – Commodus rides through Rome in a triumph as the new emperor. Ugh, even the people and senators of Rome hate Commodus. Those deep, sunken eyes, and that pale face. Is Commodus the best movie villain of the 21st century? Hans Landa is unique, and Anton Chigurh and the Joker (Heath Ledger) are mysterious and captivating, but I can’t think of anyone as hateable as Commodus. He’s so slimy, so neurotic, so sniveling, such an asshole. Even his armor is laughably decorative, his perm so preening and ridiculous.
1:06:35 – Second gladiator battle: Maximus “the Spaniard” single handedly obliterates six other gladiators. Mel Gibson turned the role of Maximus down, but Russell Crowe is an inspired piece of casting. He’s not the biggest or most muscular guy – he’s even dwarfed in size by his own fellow gladiators – but he brings a certain gravitas and everyman sensitivity to the role. He’s not a chiseled Adonis like Brad Pitt in Troy, but his virtues are intelligence, charisma, and leadership. You might find someone with more physicality, but I’m not sure who else could also bring such emotion, soulfulness, and genteel grace.
1:07:47 – “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!!??” After the slaughter, Maximus taunts the crowd. Fight the system Maximus! Maybe the most quoted and longest lasting line from the movie? I know I’ve lost track of the times I’ve heard it after someone catches fire in beer pong.
1:14:34 – The gladiators arrive in Rome for the big tournament. Going back to my previous point, that’s not to say that Crowe was slight – he was beefy enough for a convincing Maximus, especially considering he had to lose 40 lbs from playing Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider right beforehand. Apparently, in order to get in shape, he went back to Australia and worked on his farm. Didn’t know Crowe was so method #farmbod.
1:27:44 – The first gladiator fight in Rome is the re-creation of the battle of Carthage. Holy shit what an epic fight – the best of the movie. Maximus displays his leadership, his skills, his intelligence, everything that he needs to win the fight and to win the crowd. Like, is this an all time great movie fight scene?? Am I getting carried away??
1:30:27 – The fight ends and Commodus wants to meet ” the Spaniard.” Maximus grabs the arrowhead but then the emperor’s nephew skips to the front so he decides not to kill him. Maximus is the hero we need and deserve. Also, I usually hate helmets because you can’t see anyone’s faces, but Maximus is looking badass in his Spanish barbarian helmet.
1:31:13 – HE REMOVES THE HELMET! Then the best line of the movie (I know, I keep saying that) “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, 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.” I think this is actually the most quoted line from the film. The line is great but the delivery is *chef’s kiss*.
1:32:50 – Commodus gets peer pressured by the crowd into letting Maximus live! Hoisted by his own petard. And by now we all know that yes, in real life, a thumbs up actually meant death, not life, blah blah. All I know is this movie gets two thumbs up from me.
1:34:34 – “I’m terribly vexed,” Commodus broods after the gladiator fight. This is both an awesome reaction by Commodus to discovering that Maximus is still alive and one of the underrated line readings of this movie.
1:37:37 – “AS YOU WEPT FOR YOUR FATHER?” – the first face to face scene between Maximus and Lucilla when she visits him in prison. I’m convinced Russell Crowe is the difference between this being a kind of cheesy movie and a really good one. Also, the sexual tension between Lucilla and Maximus is raging hot here. I’m glad they didn’t end up acting on it – it would have undercut his feelings for his wife who had recently been burned and crucified and everything.
1:41:00 – Maximus is chilling with Dijmon Hounsou and the other gladiators in sleeveless shirts eating gruel. This is basically an ancient Roman locker room scene. I’m so glad they didn’t do a cheesy training montage scene but also I kind of wish we had a spinoff series on the gladiators bro-ing it up.
1:46:33 – The one-on-one fight between Maximus and the undefeated gladiator. The duel is pretty cool but then they bust out the tigers and Maximus kills one of them! They used real tigers for this scene – that is Tom Cruise level dedication.
1:52:30 – Commodus is whining that he can’t kill Maximus now because of the crowd is so pathetic. You love to see it. Apparently Jack Gleeson, who played King Joffrey in Game of Thrones, modeled his performance after Commodus, this sniveling mess of a slimeball. You can see why.
2:02:15 – Commodus semi-assaults his sister Lucilla on the bed before passing out. Speaking of GOT, Commodus was trying to make royal incest a thing long before Jamie and Cersei Lannister made it popular.
2:05:05 – Lucilla visits Maximus again to plan his escape . Just kidding, Maximus and Lucilla do kiss. Not sure what their widows are thinking looking down on them from Elysium.
2:08:00 – Lucilla returns to the palace to find Commodus draping his arm around her son Lucius. Commodus has clearly discovered what she’s been up to. As a kid I remember feeling like the political machinations with the Senator Gracchus, Lucilla, Cicero, etc. felt like filler in between the fight scenes, but the cat-and-mouse nature of these events really work, especially as they come to a head with Commodus discovering Lucilla’s betrayal. I never thought that someone saying “busy little bee” could inspire such terror. It also helps to seal the ending – Maximus now really has no hope for escape. The showdown will, inevitably, be in the arena. On the flip side, someone should tell Lucilla to never play poker.
2:12:48 – Commodus foils the escape plan and brings an army to the gladiator camp the night before the tournament Bloodshed ensues as the gladiators try to buy Maximus time for his escape, which ends in failure. Proximo dies a good man! RIP Oliver Reed. Also, the huge gladiator dies, Cicero (Tommy Flanagan!) dies. It is a bloodbath. Just crushing.
2:15:40 – “AM I NOT MERCIFUL!?” bellows Commodus at Lucilla. I remembered Commodus’s famous line, but totally forgot that it came at the end of a lunatic’s monologue about using Lucius as a hostage and wanting a “pureblood heir” with her. G-R-O-S-S. Also this screamed line was ad-libbed by Phoenix, so Connie Nielson’s reaction of fear is completely genuine.
2:16:20 – In anticipation of the final fight, the crowd chants of “Maximus!” grow steadier with each scene. I may or may not have been chanting along. I think what really makes it work is that Maximus is the guy that the crowds will root for over their emperor, a general that armies follow eagerly into battle, and a leader and friend that fellow gladiators would sacrifice themselves for. Crowe is just the perfect actor for this, especially at this point in his career (in the middle of a legendary run of movies that includes LA Confidential, The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, and Master and Commander). You need a traditional movie star but with Oscar worthy acting chops.
2:20:27 – The climactic one-on-one duel with the emperor. This is usually a final boss fight scene, but even though Commodus is a capable fighter (as we saw early in the film), he’s all training and technique, and no experience. More importantly, he’s the type of guy that needs to cheat to win, so he stabs Maximus with a poisoned knife before the fight. Interestingly, in real life, Commodus was the only Roman emperor in history to participate in gladiator fights, and he did it multiple times.
2:23:42 – Maximus uses the same knife to kill Commodus in the end, then staggers to his death. Go run around and touch the wheat stalks to your heart’s content with your wife and kid in Elysium, Maximus. You deserve it.
2:27:48 – Juba buries the little relics where Maximus died: “Now we are free…. and I will see you again. But not yet. Not yet.” Wow, was this really a 2 hr 34m movie? It did not feel like it at all. Maybe I should watch it again??
Gladiator isn’t the best movie of all time but it holds up as a bona fide great – inspiring, entertaining, memorable, and supremely quotable. A perfect Hollywood flick – it is SO satisfying and rewatchable. Interestingly, Gladiator reignited interest in historical epics (they called it “The Gladiator Effect”), including Troy, Rome, Kingdom of Heaven, 300, King Arthur, Noah, and Robin Hood – some directed by Scott himself. None would reach the same heights.
