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The General story:
On the fringes of the Roman Empire, in Germania, the armies of Marcus Aurelius head
into battle, under the leadership of his greatest general; Maximus Decimus
Meridius. As the great emperor of Rome nears death, he appoints Maximus to replaced him. But the jealous, spiteful son of Marcus, Commodus, doesn’t
approve, and steals the throne from his father, and Maximus, who is banished to
death. Becoming a slave and winding up in tournaments where he must fight to
the death, Maximus becomes a Gladiator, but not willingly. Determined to seek
revenge against the man who took everything from him, Maximus arrives in Rome,
walks into the Coliseum, and does battle with one warrior after another, until
only he and Commodus are left standing.
What influenced the
movie? Gladiator obviously draws strong comparison from “Ben-Hur”. That Sword
& Sandal epic starred Charlton Heston and was released in 1959. Films of
this type were not in huge demand in the year 2000, or even the nineties for
that matter. But with the talent of Russel Crowe in the lead, and the vision of
master filmmaker Ridley Scott, the trailers looked impressive enough to seal its
fate as a film to be contended with in 2000. And it didn’t disappoint.
How the movie
influenced the 00's: Gladiator worked on so many levels; epic action film,
accurate depiction of a historical period, driven by thrilling action scenes,
carried by the virtuoso performance of Russell Crowe, and taking viewers back
to Ancient Rome in incredible detail and scope. Gladiator slayed the box office
in May of 2000 and went on to win Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe,
catapulting his career into movie super-stardom. In the years that followed, we
got an onslaught of Sword & Sandal epics, including “King Arthur”, ‘Troy”
and “Kingdom of Heaven”.
What makes it stand
out as a film of the 00's? Gladiator kicked off the 2000 summer blockbusters
in fine fashion, raking in bundles of money, earning high critical praise and
wowing audiences all over the world. It was a giant movie overshadowing many
other wannabe blockbusters that year, because it was so big, impacting and
visceral on every level, you had to relive it again and again. That’s the
reason it was one of the first DVD’s I bought, and I still own that original
copy today.
Impact of the movie
still felt today: Gladiator’s reign still continues today, as it is one of
the few, true epic movies to win Best Picture that won over critics,
cinemagoers and the whole world in one mighty swoop. It’s imitators just danced
in it’s shadow, and didn’t really break any new ground, although “Troy” could
be the exception. And in 2010, a decade after their first partnership, Russell
Crowe and Ridley Scott reteamed for “Robin Hood”, which hinted at a visual
style similar to Gladiator. Unfortunately, the film was slow paced, and a bit
lost, and signified the end of the Sword & Sandal epics, as the Superheroes
started to take their stand.
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