Gladiator

Gladiator (Gladiator in Latin America and Gladiator in Spain) is a 2000 epic action peplum film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen. Crowe plays Maximus Decimus Meridius, a loyal Spanish general in the army of the Roman Empire who is betrayed by Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who has murdered his father and seized the throne. Forced to become a slave, Maximus succeeds as a gladiator as he yearns to avenge the death of his family and the emperor's.

Inspired by a book about gladiators by the American writer Daniel P. Mannix, the first script for Gladiator was written by David Franzoni and bought by the film studio DreamWorks, which hired Ridley Scott to direct the movie. Filming began in January 1999, before the script was complete, and lasted until May of that year. Scenes from ancient Rome were filmed at Fort Ricasoli in Malta; the computer-generated images were created by British visual effects company The Mill, who were also given the unexpected task of creating a digital double for scenes Oliver Reed was unable to film before his death from a heart attack.

Released on May 5, 2000, Gladiator was a hit with critics and audiences alike, contributing to a brief revival of epic cinema set in classical antiquity. The film received numerous awards and nominations, including five Oscars at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.

Plot

Maximum is the commander of the Felix Legion, which serves in the framework wars.

Maximum the Commander

In the year 180 AD. C. Hispano-Roman general Máximo Décimo Meridio (Russell Crowe) leads the Roman army to a major victory over the Germanic tribes near Vindobona, ending a long war in the limes of the roman empire.

Maximus is the man most esteemed by the ailing Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The emperor wishes to restore power to the Roman Senate and, therefore, decides that Maximus should assume command upon his death, not wanting his son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) to succeed him, as he considers it a man without morals Máximo is a career soldier, far from political positions and whose only ambition is to return to his lands in Hispania with his wife and his son; It is for these reasons that Marcus Aurelius wants to name her his successor, understanding that he is someone far from the political toxicities of Rome and without ambition for power.

Commodo arrives with his sister Lucila (Connie Nielsen) at the military camp, where his father informs him of his decision to appoint Máximo as his successor upon his death. When his father informs him of his decision, Commodus breaks down in tears and lists the virtues that he considers he possesses and that are suitable for governing, lamenting that he had not been able to earn the emperor's esteem. Pityed, Marcus Aurelius embraces him, a moment that Cómodo takes advantage of in a fit of rage, suffocating him. His first act is to try to win the loyalty of Máximo, announcing that the emperor has died while he slept. Máximo does not confirm anything, but it is too late, since Comodo has already named Quinto (Tomas Arana), the new head of the Praetorian Guard and orders Máximo's arrest and execution. The latter begs Quinto to take care of his family, but Quinto tells him that his family "will meet you in eternity."

Máximo is taken to the woods to be executed by the Praetorians. At first, Máximo seems to assume his imminent death, but at the last minute he gets rid of the Praetorians in charge of killing him, being wounded in the shoulder after the confrontation. Loading two horses, Máximo rushes back to his home, sensing that Commodus's men will already be on their way. However, when he finally returns he finds the land devastated and his wife and son murdered. After burying their bodies, Máximo falls exhausted to the ground.

Maximus the gladiator

The interior of the Coliseum becomes the great stage of the battles of Maximus and its dispute against the emperor.

Máximo wakes up being dragged by some unknown men. On the way, his wound is cleaned and sutured. Eventually, the caravan's destination is revealed to be Zucchabar, in North Africa. Máximo is sold as a slave in the city market, acquired by a lanista named Próximo (Oliver Reed ), who incorporates him into his gladiator school, sensing that he is a deserter from the army. At first, Máximo refuses to fight against the others, befriending Juba ( Djimon Hounsou ), whom he met on the march to Zucchabar and who was also sold as a gladiator to Próximo. He also meets Hagen ( Ralf Möller ), a German gladiator in charge of training the recruits. Máximo acquires a crestfallen and withdrawn personality, stating that his only wish is to reunite with his family in the afterlife.

Meanwhile, in Rome, Commodus is crowned emperor after a triumphant parade through the streets of the city. Unlike his father, Commodus has no respect for the Senate, which he considers an out-of-date institution and senators as rich old men far removed from the reality of the common people. His intention is to overthrow the Senate and assume power alone, however, as Lucila warns him, the people will not tolerate such action. For this reason, trying to win the affection of the Roman citizens, he proclaims more than 100 days of games to honor the memory of his father.

In Africa, Máximo proves to be a fierce gladiator, skilled in combat and a born leader, becoming the favorite of the spectators and of Próximo himself. He announces that they will go to Rome to participate in the games announced by the new emperor, where he will have the opportunity to fight in the imposing Colosseum. Back in Rome, Próximo's gladiators are hired to fight in a recreation of the Battle of Zama, where the Carthaginian Hannibal was defeated by the legions of Scipio the African. Máximo and his comrades play the role of the Carthaginians, so everyone believes that their chances of victory are almost nil. Hiding his face with a helmet, Máximo leads his fellow combatants and achieves an unexpected victory with which they win over a public that begs for their lives. Impressed, Commodus descends into the arena to meet the fighters and orders the leader—Máximo—to reveal his identity. He turns, uncovering his face, stating: "My name is Maximus Tenth Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant of the true emperor Marcus Aurelius, father of a murdered son, husband of a murdered woman, and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next.”

Disturbed by the presence of Máximo, Commodus understands that he must finish him off as soon as possible, since he cannot allow anyone to question his authority. He organizes a match between Maximus and Tigris from Gaul, an undefeated gladiator. Máximo and Tigris fight, observing that everything has been calculated against the ex-general. However, Máximo manages to defeat him, but decides to spare his life against the wishes of the populace and Commodus himself. For this reason, he receives the nickname "Maximus the Compassionate", further increasing his popularity and becoming the symbol of those who oppose the government of Commodus. He knows that he cannot simply order his death, as this would make him lose favor with the people.

Maximum the rebel

The Emperor Comfort arises as antagonist of Maximum.

After the battle, Maximus's former slave Cicero (Tommy Flanagan) contacts him to tell him that his army is still loyal to him and that he is encamped not far from Rome.. Lucila, who has always been in love with Máximo, visits him in prison. She hints that several notable men in Rome would be willing to end Commodus's rule; Senator Graco (Derek Jacobi) accompanies her and confirms that he answers for the Senate. Maximus proposes that they buy his freedom and, in exchange, he will assemble his army, enter Rome and depose Commodus, then the Senate will seize power, as was the wish of the late Marcus Aurelius. However, the young emperor is not blind to the plot being hatched against him. With the support of Senator Falco (David Schofield) he discovers the conspiracy through Lucila, who confesses the truth after the emperor threatens her with punishing her son, Lucio Vero (Spencer Treat Clark).

Máximo talks to Próximo so that he agrees to let him go free; Reluctantly, Proximus agrees and frees Maximus from his cell, escaping in the middle of the night to meet with Cicero, however, Commodus has already been informed and sends the Praetorian Guard to assault the gladiatorial school. They manage to penetrate, facing the gladiators who come out to support Máximo and give him time to flee. During the fight, Próximo and Hagen fall at the hands of the Praetorians, while the rest of the gladiators are reduced and taken captive. Maximus continues to flee and meets with Cicero, discovering that everything is a trap: Cicero is eliminated and Maximus is captured by the Praetorians.

Commodo has triumphed and confronts a broken Lucilla; he affirms that they will both stay together and she will provide him with an heir, and if she refuses, her son will die. In turn, he organizes the big moment for him to finish off Máximo. He prepares a hand-to-hand combat with in the Colosseum; Aware of the great advantage that his adversary possesses, Commodus meets with Maximus and stabs him in the back, hiding his wound with a breastplate. Emperor and gladiator face off surrounded by the Praetorians before an exultant Roman people and with Lucilla and her son in the box. Comfortable manages to take the initiative thanks to the wound that weakens Máximo, but he manages to snatch his weapon from him. In a gesture of honour, he too throws away his weapon, which Commodus seizes to pull a stiletto from his sleeve after Quintus orders the Praetorians not to give him their swords. In a last effort, Máximo manages to hold Commodus's arm and stab him with his own weapon, ending his life.

Lying dying on the sands of the Colosseum, Máximo has a vision of walking across a field of wheat as he is reunited with his family in the afterlife. As his last wish, he asks Quintus to free his comrades in arms and for Senator Gracchus to be restored, remembering Marcus Aurelius' words about the greatness of Rome. Lucila runs to her side while Máximo finally dies in the sand and she dedicates a few last words to him: "You're already home." Lucila asks the attendees to honor the body of Máximo, who is carried on the shoulders of Gracchus, Quintus and his fellow gladiators and even by Lucio Vero while Commodus' corpse is abandoned in the arena.

At nightfall, Juba buries in the sand of the Colosseum some figures that represent the wife and son of Maximus and to whom he prayed to them, while he whispers: «Now we are free. We will see each other again. But not yet... not yet."

Main cast

Russell Crowe is Maximum.

Joaquin Phoenix is Comfortable.

Connie Nielsen is Lucila.

• Russell Crowe as Maximum Meridio, a Spanish-Roman legacy that enjoys Marco Aurelio's total confidence and Lucila's love and admiration. He refuses to swear obedience to the new Emperor Comfort and this commands the murder of his family. After escaping his executioners, he is forced to become a gladiator while planning his revenge. It comes from near Trujillo, in the current Spanish province of Cáceres (in the Spanish fold mentions Emerita Augusta). Maximum is a fictitious character partially inspired by Marco Nonio Macrino, Narcissus and Cincinato. Mel Gibson was the first choice for paper, but he rejected him saying he felt too old to play a character like that. Other actors that were also considered were Antonio Banderas and Hugh Jackman.
• Joaquin Phoenix as Comfort, the corrupted, wicked and immoral son of Marco Aurelio. He murders his father when he finds out that Maximus will have powers of emperor in office until a new republic was formed.
• Connie Nielsen as Galeria Lucila, Máximo's first lover and older daughter of Marco Aurelio, who had recently become widowed. She resists the incestuous advances of her brother, whom she hates, while she must protect her son, Lucio, from his anger and corruption.
• Oliver Reed as Antonio Next, an elder and rough gladiator trainer who buys Maximus in North Africa. It's an old gladiator who was released by Marco Aurelio. He gives Maximus his armor and a chance to free himself.
• Derek Jacobi as Senator Graco, a member of the Roman Senate who opposes the government of Comfort. He's an ally of Maximus and Lucila.
• Djimon Hounsou like Juba, a member of a numidian tribe who is trapped in his house, along with his family, by slave traders. He becomes the best ally and friend of Maximus.

• Ralf Möller as Hagen. Germanic gladiator, the best fighter in Next. He will become a friend of Maximus and die defending him.

• Spencer Treat Clark as Lucio Vero, son of co-emperador Lucio Vero and Lucila, and therefore grandson of Marco Aurelio.

• Richard Harris as Marco Aurelio. The old Roman emperor wants Maximus as a son and asks him to turn Rome back into a republic. He's murdered by his son Comfort.

• Tommy Flanagan like Cicero. Faithful servant of Maximus, who tries to help in his escape.

• You take Arana like Quinto. Roman general subordinated to Maximus who, at the death of Emperor Marco Aurelio, is forced to go against Maximus. He becomes chief of the pretorian guard of Comfort, but does not help the emperor in his final battle against Maximus.

• John Shrapnel like Gaio. Another senator, close to Graco.

• David Schofield as Senator Falco. Enemy of Graco, helps Comfort consolidate its power.

• Sven-Ole Thorsen as Tigris of Galia. Undefeated Gladiator who fights against Maximum.

• David Hemmings like Casio. Organizer of gladiator fights at the Colosseum.

• Giannina Facio as wife of Maximus.
• Giorgio Cantarini as the son of Maximus.

Production

Script

Gladiator was based on an original story by David Franzoni, author of the first draft. Franzoni reached a deal with DreamWorks to write and co-produce three films building on the strength of his previous work, the screenplay for the film Friendship by Steven Spielberg, a film that gave DreamWorks great reputation. Franzoni was not a scholar in the world of classical antiquity, so he was inspired by Daniel P. Mannix's 1958 essay, Those About to Die, and decided to base his story on Commodus after reading the Historia Augusta, which compiles biographies of Roman emperors. In Franzoni's first draft, dated 4 April 1998, the protagonist was named Narcissus, an ancient Roman gladiator who, according to Herodian and Cassius Dio sources, strangled Commodus to death.

Pollice Verso (1872), painting by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, which inspired the visual design of the film.

Producers Walter F. Parkes and Douglas Wick contacted Ridley Scott. They showed him the painting Pollice Verso, painted by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1872. The British director began to be seduced by the idea of recreating the world of Ancient Rome on the big screen, but he thought that the dialogues in Franzoni's script needed tweaking and commissioned John Logan to tweak it until it was more to his liking. Logan rewrote much of the first act and made the decision to kill Máximo's family to increase the protagonist's motivation.

Two weeks before shooting began, the actors complained about the script. For this reason, William Nicholson was called to the Shepperton studios to give the protagonist a more sensitive character by modifying the relationship with his friend Juba and developed the protagonist's emotional connection with the afterlife, as he said that "he did not want to see just one movie about a man who wanted to kill someone." David Franzoni was asked to review input from Logan and Nicholson, and in the process imposed his role as producer: Nicholson began going back to Franzoni's original script and reading certain scenes. Franzoni helped creatively rework the script and in his role as producer defended his first draft and the accuracy of his original vision.Franzoni would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture along with Douglas Wick and Branko Lustig.

The script was further rewritten at the suggestions and requests of Russell Crowe, who questioned every aspect of the script and walked off the set with no responses. According to a DreamWorks executive, "[Crowe] tried to rewrite the entire script on the spot. You know the line from the trailer, 'I'll get my revenge in this life or the next'? Well, at first he flatly refused to say it." Nicholson, the third and final writer, claimed that Crowe told him, "Your lines are rubbish, but I'm the best actor in the world and I can make even rubbish sound good."

Shooting

Ridley Scott, director of Gladiator.

During the preparation of the film, Scott spent several months developing storyboards for the plot. Team members spent six weeks scouting locations within what were former Roman Empire territories, including Italy, France, northern from Africa and England. All of the props, sets and costumes in the film were made by the film crew because they would have been too expensive to buy and were in short supply. Rod Vass' company Armordillo Ltd. created 100 suits of armor and 550 polyurethane suits, for the construction of which this company developed the exclusive sprayed polyurethane system that was used for the first time in this production and that allowed the creation of 27,500 pieces of armor in just three months.

The film was shot on three main locations between January and May 1999. The initial battle in Germania Forest was filmed over three weeks in Bourne Forest, near Farnham, in the English county of Surrey. When Ridley Scott learned that the Forestry Commission, the body in charge of managing British forests, had plans to cut down the forest, he convinced them to allow the scene to be filmed there, burning the forest in the process. Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson used multiple cameras shooting at different frame rates, similar to the technique used in the battle sequences in the film Saving Private Ryan (1998). The team then relocated to Ouarzazate, Morocco, where for three weeks they filmed the scenes of the slaves, the journey through the desert and the Próximo gladiator school at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. The amphitheater in which Máximo fights his first combat ates was built with local materials and techniques that served to create 30,000 adobe bricks.

Finally, the ancient Roman scenes were shot over 19 weeks at Malta's Fort Ricasoli, where a one-third replica of Rome's Colosseum was built, nearly 16 meters tall and made mostly of plaster and plywood. This replica took several months to erect and cost around a million dollars. The other two-thirds of the height of the massive amphitheater were added digitally with the help of blue screens. A rich variety of artifacts were stored at the other end of the complex. street props, colonnades, doors, statues and squares to complete the rest of the sets needed for filming. The needs of this complex were covered by a tent camp where the dressing rooms, storage rooms, gunsmiths and other services were located.

Soundtrack

The celebrated Oscar-nominated score for Gladiator was composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard and directed by Gavin Greenaway. Zimmer originally intended to turn to Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza, with whom he had worked on The Prince of Egypt , but the singer died in February 2000 before she could start recording. Instead he chose Australian Lisa Gerrard. The music for many of the battle scenes has been compared for its similarity to Gustav Holst's Mars: The Bringer of War, and in 2006 the Holst Foundation sued Zimmer for alleged plagiarism. Another clear musical evocation can be heard in the scene of Commodus's triumphant entry into Rome, enhanced by a musical composition clearly reminiscent of two sections from The Ring of the Nibelung i> by Richard Wagner, the Rhinegold and The Twilight of the Gods.

On February 27, 2001, almost a year after the film's soundtrack was released, Decca Records produced Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture, and in 2005 the The same record company released Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition, with two CDs that compiled the two previous editions. In 2003, Luciano Pavarotti released a recording of himself performing a song from the film and said he regretted turning down an offer to sing it for the film. all times with a succession of 17 songs, listed below:

Effects

British post-production company The Mill was responsible for much of the CGI special effects added to the film. His creations included tricks such as integrating real tigers that had been filmed separately in front of blue chromas into the fighting in the Colosseum, adding trails of smoke, and extending the flight of the incendiary arrows that the Romans fired in the opening battle of the film so that they fell as far as they should. Likewise, this company digitally multiplied the number of soldiers in the battle of Germany, transforming the 2,000 extras that took part in the filming into 35,000 combatants, who also had to look believable and fight during the fight. To achieve this, The Mill filmed various actors from different angles and performing different actions and digitally recorded their movements with motion capture tools to end up creating three-dimensional compositions. The war cry of the fighting Germans at the beginning of the film was taken from the film Zulu (1964), one of Ridley Scott's favorite films. In addition, the company produced around 90 special effects shots that totaled approximately nine minutes of the Gladiator footage.

The sudden death in Malta of actor Oliver Reed before the end of filming due to a heart attack forced unexpected post-production work. The Mill created a digital body to voice the late Reed in the remaining scenes of Próximo. To do this, other actors were filmed in a shadowed set and a computer-generated Oliver Reed mask was placed on their faces, something which cost $3.2 million for two minutes of film. John Nelson, visual effects supervisor, said of the decision to include this additional footage: "What we did was little compared to some of our other work on the movie. It was much bigger what Oliver did, because he played an inspiring and emotional role. All we did was help him finish it." The film is dedicated to Reed's memory.

Technical characteristics

For its recording, up to four types of cameras were used, all of them created by Panavision and with Primo lenses. The Panaflex Gold II model has the capacity for captured images to have a very low noise level, while the Panaflex Platinum has a color correction viewfinder. For its part, the Aaton 35-III is characteristic for its synchronization low profile sound and the Arriflex 35-III is notorious for having a cam to allow sufficient headroom to stabilize recording without the need for a registration pin.

With an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the tape is in 35mm negative format. For its part, the audio mixes are from DTS, Dolby Digital and SDDS systems. This entire process of construction of the film took place in the Technicolor laboratories, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. The duration is one hour and 35 minutes, but it varies depending on the extras that some versions include, such as director's comments.

Spanish dubbing

For the Spanish version of the film, two dubbings were made: one for Spain and another for Latin America. In the first case, the process was carried out in the Barcelona studio Sonoblock, under the direction of Gonzalo Abril, who also gave the voice to General Quinto. The script was translated by Josep Llurba. The other characters were commissioned by Jordi Boixaderas (for Máximo), Sergio Zamora (Cómodo), Mercedes Montalá (Lucila), Miguel Ángel Jenner (Próximo), Jordi Dauder (Marco Aurelio), Pep Antón Muñoz (Graco), Alfonso Vallés (Juba), Ian Lleonart (Lucio Vero), Juan Fernández (Casio), Claudi García (Falco), Josep María Ullod (Gallo), José Posada (Cicero), Carles Canut (the slave trader), Adriá Frías (Valerio), Juan Carlos Gustems (Hagen), Rafael Parra and Carlos Vicente (the Praetorian officers), and Alberto Mieza (as the storyteller).

As for its version for Latin America, the task was carried out at the Auditel studio in Mexico, D. F., under the direction of Salvador Delgado who also dubbed Máximo. The cast concluded with the participation of José Gilberto Vilchis (Cómodo), Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Próximo), Pilar Escandón (Lucila), César Arias (Marco Aurelio), Carlos Díaz (Lucio Vero), Paco Mauri (Graco), Bardo Miranda (Falco), Maynardo Zavala (in the role of guard) and Jorge Lapuente (as the narrator).

Historical accuracy

Development

The Colosseum, the Roman amphitheater where the gladiator fights of the film take place.

The film is very loosely based on historical events. Ridley Scott wanted to portray Ancient Rome more accurately than in any previous film, hiring various historians and consultants to do so. Despite this, the film deliberately left out some historical events in favor of its plot, some to maintain continuity, others for practical or security reasons. Because earlier Hollywood movies about Rome had influenced people's perception of this ancient culture, some true historical facts were, in Scott's opinion, "too unbelievable" to include. For example, in one of the first drafts of the script, the gladiators advertised various products in the arena, something that is historically true but was never shot because viewers of the film would think it was an anachronism.

At least one of the film's historical advisers resigned in view of the changes that were to be made, and another asked not to be named in the credits (Ridley Scott says in the film's DVD commentary that the expert He constantly asked: "Where is the proof that certain things were exactly as they say?"). Historian Allen Ward of the University of Connecticut believes that historical accuracy would not have detracted from Gladiator's interest or excitement, saying: "The creators need to take some poetic licence, but it shouldn't be a buffet." free to so clearly disregard historical fact in cinematic fiction".

Fictionalization

Seek of the Comfortable Emperor (161-192 d.C.) as Hercules. Capitoline Museums, Rome.

The real Emperor Marcus Aurelius died of plague in Vindobona (present-day Vienna) and not killed by his son Commodus. The character of Maximus is fictitious, although some of his characters and facts resemble those of real characters such as Narcissus (the real murderer of Commodus), Spartacus (who led a famous slave revolt), Cincinnatus (a farmer who ended up being dictator, saved Rome from invasion and then resigned from a post that lasted six months when he had only been in it for a fortnight) and Marcus Nonius Macrinus (a loyal general, consul in AD 154 and friend of Marcus Aurelio). Commodus came to fight as a gladiator in the Colosseum, a spectacle that he loved, but he ended his days strangled in the bathtub by the wrestler Narciso, not in the combat arena. In addition, he reigned for three years with Marco Aurelio and twelve alone, longer than the short period that the film seems to narrate.

Lucilla (daughter of Marcus Aurelius) died on the island of Capri in 182. In the film, she survives Commodus, who died in 192. The reality is that she died 10 years before her brother.

The name Maximo Decimos Meridius is not correct according to Roman naming conventions. The correct thing would be to use Decimo Meridio Maximo, since Maximum is the cognomen and Décimo the praenomen.

Maximus's personality has traits taken from the writings of the historian Herodian and his actions bear great similarities with those of Claudius Pompeianus, a Roman of Syrian origin who married Lucilla, daughter of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, after she was widowed by Lucio Vero. It is believed that Marcus Aurelius could claim that Pompeianus succeeded him as emperor of Rome instead of his son, his son Commodus, but this was not the case. Pompeian was not involved in any of the plots to overthrow Commodus and is a historical figure who does not appear in Gladiator.

In the film the character of Antonio Próximo, the lanista, affirms that Marcus Aurelius prohibited gladiator fights in Rome and this forced all those who dedicated themselves to these games to move to the provinces Roman North Africa. The real Emperor Marcus Aurelius only forbade gladiator combat in Antioch as punishment for the city's support of the rebel Avidius Cassius. Games were never prohibited in ancient Rome. However, it is true that when the emperor began forcing gladiators to enlist in the Roman legions, the lack of fighters allowed lanistas like Proximus to enrich themselves by increasing the price of their services.

Anachronisms

Gladiator incurs numerous anachronisms in its historical setting, as evidenced by the clothing of many characters. Some soldiers wear fancy helmets, the leather straps wrapped around their arms were also not used in Ancient Rome, and their inclusion stems from a film tradition that likes to attach these adornments to people from ancient historical periods. Although the film is set at the end of the II century d. C., the Gallic imperial armor (lorica segmentata) and the helmets of the soldiers are typical of a century before and around the year 100 they were replaced by new models. Likewise, the standard bearers (aquilifer ), centurions, cavalry and Roman auxiliary troops would be protected at that time with scale armor, the lorica squamata . For their part, the Germanic tribes appear dressed in clothes more typical of the Stone Age than of the 2nd century AD. C.

Roman cavalry are shown wearing stirrups, but that is an anachronism because the mounted forces of the Roman Army never used them, instead using two-pommel saddles. The stirrups were only used for safety reasons during the training period to ride the Roman double-pommel saddle. Catapults and ballistae, which also appear in the opening battle of the film, were war machines that the Romans did not they would be used in combat in the middle of a forest, as they were reserved for sieges and would rarely be used in pitched battles. The members of the Praetorian Guard in the film all wear black uniforms, although there is no historical evidence to prove this. On a military campaign they normally wore the standard equipment of a legionnaire although with some distinctive decorative details.

The first panoramic image of the ancient city of Rome featured in Gladiator shows several buildings that did not exist at the time. This is the case of the well-visible Basilica of Maxentius, which was actually built much later, between 306 and 312 AD. C.

Inspiration

The plot of Gladiator was influenced by two Hollywood films from the 1960s in the peplum genre: The Fall of the Roman Empire and Spartacus. Some points from the first take key to its plot, such as the story of Livio, who, like Maximus in Gladiator, is intended to be the successor of Marcus Aurelius. Livio is in love with Lucila and wants to marry her, while in Gladiator Máximo is already happily married although long ago he was in love with the emperor's daughter. In both films Marcus Aurelius is assassinated: in The Fall of the Roman Empire it is a group of conspirators unrelated to Commodus who poisons him, in Gladiator it is Commodus himself who suffocates him. In the 1960s film Commodus tries to lure Livio towards his vision of the empire in contrast to his father's, in the Ridley Scott film, when Commodus fails to win over Maximus, he orders the execution of his family and fails to assassinate the general. In both films the respective protagonists, Livio and Máximo, kill Commodus in individual combat, the first to save Lucilla and the second to avenge the death of his family, but the two also do it thinking of the good and greatness of Rome..

Scott acknowledged that Spartacus and Ben-Hur influenced his film: “These films were part of my youth. But at the dawn of the new millennium I thought it was the ideal moment to revisit what could have been the most important moment of the last two millennia (if not of all history), the peak and the beginning of the end of the greatest military and political power. that the world had ever known."

The famous film Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1960, had already dealt with the subject of gladiators, and also in it already appeared a certain senator Graco (name of a couple of revolutionary tribunes of the 2nd century BC), who in both films looks like a veteran statesman trying to safeguard ancient rights of the Roman senate against an ambitious autocrat —Marcus Licinius Crassus in Spartacus and Commodus in Gladiator—. In both films there is an identical sequence in which a gladiator (Maximum here, the Draba played by Woody Strode in Spartacus) throws his weapon into the cavea after a fight and before a line of dialogue: "Rome is the mob," said in Scott's film by Gracchus and by Julius Caesar in Spartacus.

The recreation of Commodus' entry into Rome recalls the imagery of Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda documentary, The Triumph of the Will (1934), although Scott pointed out that the iconography of Nazi congresses was of course inspired by the Roman Empire. Gladiator reflects much of Adolf Hitler's procession. The Nazi film opens with an aerial view of Hitler arriving by plane, while Scott also shows an aerial shot of ancient Rome, quickly followed by a shot of the crowds watching Commodus drive past them. the German documentary is the Nazi eagle, in Gladiator there is also a statue of an eagle on top of a triumphal arch. At one point in the German propaganda film, a girl hands Hitler flowers, while Commodus is also greeted by several girls who throw flowers at him.

Reception

Commercial

Gladiator opened in 2,938 theaters in the United States and grossed $34.83 million in its opening weekend. Within two weeks its North American box office grosses exceeded $103 million of dollars. It was one of the highest grossing films of the year 2000 and grossed more than $457 million worldwide.

Criticism

Gladiator received mostly positive reviews from critics, with a 77% rating based on 201 critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes, which scored an average score of 7.3 out of 10. On the page Metacritic garnered the film a favorable rating of 67/100 based on 46 reviews from prestigious critics. CNN stated that the Battle of Germania was one of "their favorite movie battles", while magazine Entertainment Weekly placed Máximo sixth on their list of favorite action heroes for Crowe's "powerful and moving performance". which placed Gladiator in the sixth place of the best films in the history of cinema. Paul Ashbourne, famous film critic, gave the film "three thumbs up" and said that it was his favorite film of all history because it had a solid plot that transports us to the times of ancient Rome. Entertainment Weekly named Scott's film among the best of the decade.

The film also had its detractors. The prestigious critic Roger Ebert in particular harshly criticized the look of the film as being "muddy, confusing and indistinct". He also derided the script because in his opinion it "uses depression as a surrogate for personality, as well as believing that if the characters are bitter and moody enough, we won't realize how boring they are."

Awards

Gladiator was nominated for awards at 36 different ceremonies, including the 73rd Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards and the Golden Globes. Out of a total of 119 nominations, the film won 48. awards. The film won five Academy Awards and was nominated in seven other categories, including Best Supporting Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Director (Ridley Scott). He received six nominations for the Golden Globes. There was some controversy in his nomination for Best Original Score, as the award was only proposed for Hans Zimmer and not for Lisa Gerrard due to the rules of the North American Academy. Ultimately though, the two won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score as co-composers.

Legacy

The enormous success of the film led to a revival of interest in ancient Rome, which The New York Times dubbed the "Gladiator effect."

The writers and editors called it " Gladiator effect". The snob that we carry inside likes to think that it's always books that then generate movies, but in this case, it's movies (case of Gladiator) those that have created interest in antiquity.

Sales of the books Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician and Gregory Hays's translation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius increased greatly after the film's release. Scott's film also recovered the peplum genre, historical epic cinema, in which later films such as Troy, King Arthur, Alexander the Great, 300, Kingdom of Heaven or Robin Hood (the latter two directed by Ridley Scott himself). The character Máximo was placed twelfth in the list of the 50 best heroes and villains prepared by the British magazine Total Film and in 35th place among the 100 best movie characters chosen by Empire magazine. The character of Máximo also appears on an Australian stamp issue called "Australian Legends", which immortalizes various Oscar-winning actors.

In 2022, during the Ukrainian war, the Ukrainian military used the music of Gladiator in their social media propaganda as an effective way to excite American males of the rising generation. held power at the time.

Sequel

In June 2001 producer Douglas Wick said a prequel to Gladiator was in development. The following year Wick, Walter Parkes, David Franzoni and John Logan changed their minds and said it would be shot. a sequel set fifteen years later, with the Praetorian Guard ruling Rome and a grown Lucius trying to find out who his real father was. However, Russell Crowe was interested in resurrecting Maximus and therefore investigated Roman beliefs about the afterlife. Ridley Scott expressed interest in this idea, although he conceded that the project should be given a new title because it had very little to do with Gladiators. In 2006 Scott said that he and Crowe had approached Nick Cave about rewriting the film, but the idea fell through.

In early November 2018, the online magazine Deadline Hollywood confirmed that Ridley Scott had begun work on the script for the sequel to Gladiator. Scott had been proposing the continuation of the Oscar-winning film for years and thus confirmed his creation together with screenwriter Peter Craig. The story of this continuation will focus on the adult life of Lucio, whose life was saved by Máximo (Russell Crowe) in his childhood in front of Cómodo (Joaquin Phoenix) while avenging his family.

Home Format

The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 20, 2000. It has since been released in numerous extended and special versions. The extended edition DVD was released in August 2005 and features about fifteen minutes of footage that was not shown in theaters. The original cut, which Scott still calls his "director's cut," is also included. Also that edition presented new comments from the director himself and his protagonist Russell Crowe.

Gladiator appeared on Blu-Ray in September 2009 as part of Paramount's "Sapphire Series" in a two-disc edition that came with extras similar to those seen on the DVDs: comments, trailers, deleted scenes, documentaries, storyboards, image galleries, and cast auditions. It also brought, like the extended edition on DVD, the original film cut and the extended one. This first Blu-Ray of the film received negative reviews due to the poor image quality, far from what this format can offer for a modern film, so in 2010 a new version appeared with the remastered image.