Gladiator
"Are you entertained!?"
-Maximus Decimus Meridus
Movie Medal: Gold
Aprox. Time : 3 hours.
Cast: Russel Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix,
Director: Ridley Scott
Release Year: 2000
"300, I am your father." are the very words that I imagine that Ridley Scott's Gladiator would say to Zack Snyder's 300 if they were human beings; 300 inherited several elements of Gladiator and simply added impressive visuals to the mix, but failed to adopt a screenplay as captivating as Gladiator.
Okay, almost perfect. In particular, I felt the ending was too cliche. Nonetheless, when placed in context, this film is bursting forth with quotations that give one food for thought. Among these is the ever-so-famous quote (SPOILER ALERT):
"I am Maximus Decimus Meridas,commander of the armies of the north,general of the Felix Legions
loyal servant to the true empereor Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and I will have my vengence in this life or the next.
This film was responsible for typecasting Crowe as some medival-shakespearian-tounged actor in a contemporary film (Master & Commander, Noah, Man of Steel). But you cannot blame him nor the directors, his performance in this movie was just amazing. We had the benefit of experiencing the character of a very down to earth gladiator.
There's much more that can be said in this movie, especially the character development that many of the major characters undergo (and there is a lot) as well as several common elements that are common with life as we know today: entertainment, power and politics are just a few to mention.
As usual, I will let the movie speak for itself.
