DVD Movie Rating for: Gladiator

5 out of 5

Movie Plot of: Gladiator

In Gladiator, victorious general Maximus Decimus Meridias has been named keeper of Rome and its empire by dying emperor Marcus Aurelius, so that rule might pass from the Caesars back to the people and Senate. Marcus' neglected and power-hungry son, Commodus, has other ideas, however. Escaping an ordered execution, Maximus hurries back to his home in Spain, too late to save his wife and son from the same order. Taken into slavery and trained as a gladiator by Proximo, Maximus lives only that he might someday take his revenge and fulfill the dying wish of his emperor. The time soon comes when Proximo's troupe is called to Rome to participate in a marathon of gladiator games held at the behest of the new emperor, Commodus. Once in Rome, Maximus wastes no time in making his presence known, and is soon involved in a plot to overthrow the emperor with his former-love Lucilla, Commodus' sister, after whom he lusts, and also the widowed mother of Lucius, heir to the empire after his uncle, and democratic-minded senator, Gracchus.

DVD Production Details of: Gladiator

DVD Easter Eggs

Hidden Chicken Run Trailer


Access The Egg

Highlight eagle on Richard Harris' breastplate and you get the trailer to chicken run.
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Go to the storyboard for the Rhino scene that never made it into the film and when on the actual storyboards press up to highlight the Rhino on the first screen, this will take you to a computer generated Rhino which gives you a glimpse of what might have been.
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Go to the storybords menu on the extras disk select the Rhino story board. Once selected (storyboard shown) click up with your controler and hilight the rhino on the second board select it and voila a hidden menu with footage and other bits.
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On the second disc go into the "Cast & Crew Bios" section. Enter Ridley Scott's biography and on the last page when you run out of 'next' buttons hit 'right' on your contoller pad anyway and you will unlock a secret credits page for the DVD creators.

Cast of the movie: Gladiator

• Russell Crowe .... Maximus
• Joaquin Phoenix .... Commodus
• Connie Nielsen .... Lucilla
• Oliver Reed .... Proximo
• Richard Harris .... Emperor Marcus Aurelius
• Derek Jacobi .... Senator Gracchus
• Djimon Hounsou .... Juba
• David Schofield .... Falco
• John Shrapnel .... Gaius
• Tomas Arana .... Quintus
• David Hemmings .... Cassius
• Ralf Moeller .... Hagen
• Spencer Treat Clark .... Lucius
• Tommy Flanagan .... Cicero
• Sven-Ole Thorsen .... Tigris

Photo Gallery of the movie: Gladiator

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Gladiator

Reviews of the movie: Gladiator

A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. While not as fluid as the computer work done for, say, Titanic, it's an impressive achievement that will leave you marveling at the glory that was Rome, when you're not marveling at the glory that is Russell Crowe. Starring as the heroic general Maximus, Crowe firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen presence and acting chops, carrying the film on his decidedly non-computer-generated shoulders as he goes from brave general to wounded fugitive to stoic slave to gladiator hero. Gladiator's plot is a whirlwind of faux-Shakespearean machinations of death, betrayal, power plays, and secret identities (with lots of faux-Shakespearean dialogue ladled on to keep the proceedings appropriately "classical"), but it's all briskly shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary sensibility. Even the action scenes, somewhat muted but graphic in terms of implied violence and liberal bloodletting, are shot with a veracity that brings to mind--believe it or not--Saving Private Ryan, even if everyone is wearing a toga. As Crowe's nemesis, the evil emperor Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix chews scenery with authority, whether he's damning Maximus's popularity with the Roman mobs or lusting after his sister Lucilla (beautiful but distant Connie Nielsen); Oliver Reed, in his last role, hits the perfect notes of camp and gravitas as the slave owner who rescues Maximus from death and turns him into a coliseum star. Director Scott's visual flair is abundantly in evidence, with breathtaking shots and beautiful (albeit digital) landscapes, but it's Crowe's star power that will keep you in thrall--he's a true gladiator, worthy of his legendary status. Hail the conquering hero!

OLD HOLLYWOOD MEETS NEW HOLLYWOOD
The great thing about GLADIATOR is the way in which the film combines elements of the classic Hollywood epic with a modern style. It is both respectful of the tradition to which it belongs, and bold enough to step in a new direction. It is not simply a remake of FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (though outwardly the story is virtually the same), but a combination of all the great Roman epics that graced the screen during the fifties and sixties. You have the gladiator school from SPARTACUS, the horrors of the Colosseum from QUO VADIS, the burning conflict between two former allies from BEN HUR, and countless other references to what we have seen before. But, as well as being an example of solid golden Hollywood storytelling the film is stylistically very much of the age. The epic as a genre invariably stretched the scope of film-making, being at the forefront of the latest technical innovations -be they in colour development, sound, format (eg. CinemaScope) or, as with GLADIATOR, computer-generated imagery. But at the heart of any epic is the conflict between (usually) two opposing forces, represented by two characters. And no matter how fine the effects, the art direction and the staging, it is this conflict that must grab our attention. In GLADIATOR, the characters of Commodus and Maximus represent the two opposing forces of insecurity and stability. The dynamics of this conflict, so wonderfully presented by Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe, are classical in form, though with many ambiguities and cadences that make their conflict far more than a simple battle between good and bad. It is in this aspect that GLADIATOR takes a bold step in using classic Hollywood tradition (goodie versus baddie) to unravel and show the complexities of its characters and their dilemmas. This is a successful strategy because the film holds our interest throughout because of the psychology of the protagonists as much as the grandeur of the staging. Simply big is never enough -there has to be a very identifiable human conflict for the film to be personal too. GLADIATOR is both epic and personal.

The film boasts a number of fine performances. Carrying on the Hollywood convention of having English actors play Romans is an echo of past epics -a reverent ploy. Joaquin Phoenix, though American, speaks with a British accent too ..Roman emporers in Hollywood films invariably did so! Such details give a sense of nostalgia, or at least recognition -always a key factor in genre films. Another example of genre convention is the "bad but loveable" supporting character, in this case played by Oliver Reed. He is an instant reminder of the sheikh in BEN HUR or Peter Ustinov's character in SPARTACUS, and serves the same purpose.

The effects are fortunately never allowed to get before the conflict of the story, but one cannot write about GLADIATOR without mentioning them. I have always been sceptical of computer generated imagery, and I think there is still some way to go before I believe "totally" what I see on screen, but GLADIATOR shows a historical accuracy both in the battle scenes and in those in the Colosseum, which can only be commended. I only wish the film had been made and presented in 70mm, for if ever a picture in recent years demanded it, then it was this.