A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
- Won 5 Oscars
- 60 wins & 104 nominations total
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJoaquin Phoenix ad-libbed his scream of "Am I not merciful?" Connie Nielsen wasn't expecting it, and her frightened reaction was genuine.
- GoofsIn the film, the streets of Rome are very sandy. In reality, they were paved with stones.
- Quotes
Commodus: Rise. Rise.
[Maximus stands up, clenching an arrow head in his right hand]
Commodus: Your fame is well deserved, Spaniard. I don't think there's ever been a gladiator to match you. As for this young man, he insists you are Hector reborn. Or was it Hercules? Why doesn't the hero reveal himself and tell us all your real name? You do have a name.
Maximus: My name is Gladiator.
[turns away from Commodus]
Commodus: How dare you show your back to me! Slave, you will remove your helmet and tell me your name.
Maximus: [removes helmet and turns around to face Commodus] 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.
[Commodus trembles in disbelief]
Quintus: Arms!
[Praetorians point their spears at the gladiators while the Colosseum crowd chants for them to live. Commodus shakes his head and motions the crowd for silence. He then raises his fist and reluctantly gives the thumbs-up signal]
- Crazy creditsBoth the Dreamworks & Universal logos are altered to appear gold in color so they match the opening theme of Maximus walking through a wheatfield.
- Alternate versionsThe 3 disc Special Edition VCD (Video CD) is edited:
- Excessive sexual and violent scenes, including profanities are censored.
- ConnectionsEdited into Gladiator: Deleted Scenes (2007)
- SoundtracksPavor
Written by Walter Maioli and Nathalie Van Ravenstein (as Natalia Van Ravenstein)
Performed by Synaulia
Courtesy of Amiata Media, S.R.L.
Once a great roman General, and as good as adopted son of Marcus Aurelius Caesar (Harris), Maximus (Crowe) is forced into exile by Commodus (Phoenix), heir to the throne, after the death of Marcus. Saved from death by slavers, he is purchased for use as a gladiator by Proximo (Reed) and ends up in the arena of all arena's, the Colloseum, where he proves unbeatable under his guise as "The Spaniard".
And with a budget of over $100m, Scott certainly delivers the goods. GLADIATOR transcends the notion of 'blockbuster' that we have become accustomed to in the age of electronic and special effects wizardry and instead offers a good old fashioned action film along the lines of Spartacus and and Ben Hur. Not only are we drawn into an archetypal story that contains all the classic elements a filmgoer could dream of (love, loss, courage, despair, good triumphing over evil etc etc) - also on offer is a visual feast of cinematic painting after painting - a rich tapestry of images that are breathtaking and ultimately visually satisfying. From the plains of Germania, to the desert stronghold of Zuchobar, and finally to great Rome herself, John Mathiesion, the cinematographer is to be commended highly for his general inventiveness and ability to capture so much on film. The opening battle scene is superb as a cast of thousands erupt across the screen and provide an indication that we are about to see a film that pays incredible attention to detail throughout its entirety. In every way, Scott has created a world for us that scuttles films of similar epic undertakings (and budgets!) and sends them to their dooms at the bottom of the murky depths of film history where they belong.
The cast is generally very strong. Crowe proves himself very suitable to the task with a great emotional range and depth of character. His accent ocassionally bugged me (as did the mish mash of accents on offer - but that is I guess a legacy of 'internationally casted films'), but this aside, he was well and truly up to the task. Phoenix is also excellent as the disturbed Commodus, as is Nielson as Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus who "should have been a son" and finds herself torn between loyalty to her brother and doing what is 'right'. The old guard thesps of Harris, Reed and Jacobi (Grachus) are uniformly strong as supporting characters, and Spencer Treat Clark (Lucius) does a fine job as the young heir to the throne.
Add to this great cast excellent editing and post production work, and an intricate soundscape (including a magnificent Hans Zimmer score), and you have a film that, despite its length, was highly palatable and had me in there from beginning to end. A must see.
- paulyb
- May 2, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- The Gladiators
- Filming locations
- Ouarzazate, Morocco(on location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $103,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $187,705,427
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $34,819,017
- May 7, 2000
- Gross worldwide
- $465,387,186
- Runtime2 hours 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1