Ridley Scott's Gladiator

Gladiators are seen as fighters or warriors of the colosseums in Rome; however not as slaves or prisoners. Most gladiators were captured and prisoners of war who were later sold to owners, but are referred to as managers. These managers would turn prisoners into gladiators who were hungry for wins to survive. Wins brought life, food, women, and amenities that the gladiator could dream for as a free person.

Mr. Scott's infatuation with European decadence, which led him to turn the Los Angeles of ''Blade Runner'' into a futuristic version of Weimar Republic Berlin, is in abundance here. Soldiers move in formations out of Leni Riefenstahl's ''Triumph of the Will.'' The movie wants to criticize the crowds thirsting for violence, yet it doesn't shy away from presenting gladiators wrestling with tigers. Commodus waxes dementedly that ''the power to amuse a mob is power.'' It's the only kind of power ''Gladiator'' desires. In the movie's first battle, Maximus strides off to ''unleash hell,'' and his loyal dog dives off after him. In the pitch of the fight, the doggie disappears. Perhaps in an earlier version, the pooch was killed and the filmmakers learned there are things movie audiences won't accept. It's the closest the film comes to

Gladiators were a huge part of the Roman society and a large part of Roman culture. The people of Rome loved gladiator battles. The Roman coliseum was built in order to fit the standards of a bloody, brutal battle while also being able to keep thousands of Roman citizens comfortable and entertained.

Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1960, is a magnificent Roman tale that represents the passionate and fanatical care that Spartacus, a Thracian slave, ensured for countless innocent slaves and citizens despite the detrimental disadvantage that this massive group of people endured for multiple years. It all began when Lentulus Batiatus, a Roman “lanista” businessman, ventured to North Africa in order to find healthy and vigorous slaves so they could be trained and eventually formed into combat gladiators. Spartacus is a muscular man, therefore he is chosen by Batiatus. Through a series of events, Marcus Licinius Crassus, who is the richest and most powerful man in Rome, enters the gladiator school and insists on seeing a “fight to the death.” Eventually, Spartacus is chosen to duel with Draba; and surprisingly, Draba quickly has Spartacus in a position where he could have easily slayed him, but instead Draba dropped his weapon and attempted to attack Crassus before rapidly being stabbed in the back by a Roman soldier. Shortly after this gladiatorial uprising, Crassus hears that slaves have ran free near Mount Vesuvius but does not seem to worry as he downplays them as “merely just a slave army.” (90, Big Screen Rome) This worries many Roman elites and citizens because “there are more slaves than Romans.” (90, Big Screen Rome) As Gracchus attempts to persuade Crassus to

The movie Gladiator is based on a fictional storyline that takes place during the time of Ancient Rome. After having learned about Ancient Rome and the fashions of that time, I can say that the film Gladiator had both accurate and inaccurate representations of Ancient Roman fashion throughout. Some of the costumes, hair and makeup shown in the movie were accurate, while others were not.

By utilising a variety of filmic techniques, both Scott Hicks and Anthony Fingleton created a key action scene to engage and connect the audience to their films. To convey the intensity of the scene, Hicks and Fingleton used a vast range of filmic techniques, however the two key features used, were sound

Scene 1: The tone of the overture for the film is very dark. This harsh music could foreshadow fights or arguments during the movie. However, the music also has parts where it speeds up and slows down. The slow parts could resemble the calm before the storm, which occurs when the music speeds up.

Since the days of the ancient Greeks, music has been an integral part of drama and theatre. Many composers wrote music to accompany plays, and sometimes the music became more well-known than the play it was written for … It

Who doesn’t love a movie where the protagonist is off on a quest for revenge in numerous action sequences for his taste of sweet, sweet revenge? When breaking films into this type of category, one film that stands out among the rest has to be Gladiator. Gladiator can be argued as one of the greatest action movies of all time, and for good reasons. The soundtrack, dialogue, and characters have no equal in the revenge action category of film, and can be considered tops of pure action films. Gladiator is a perfectly well rounded movie that adds the best of all worlds to create the masterpiece seen today.

Music plays a big part within this film. Amidst the sounds of beating, gunshots, and crying that emphasize a powerful and destructive feeling, the sound of the piano brings an unbridled feeling of hope to this film. At the beginning of the movie, Wladyslaw is seen playing Chopin's Nocturne “Lento con gran espressione,” this is than interrupted by the sound of bombings. Although Wladyslaw continues to play the piece it is a beautiful demonstration of how hope is portrayed in the movie. A beautiful piano piece disturbed by the sounds of bombs, gunshots, and broken glass. The film shows the audience that

This piece unfolds with the main theme dramatized at a very loud and boisterous fashion. However, the music quickly turns considerable quieter and continues

The movie Gladiator was mainly about a person named Maximus. Also in this movie some of the characters are real, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus are both real emperors and were father and son, but both are used in fictional ways. Marcus Aurelius did spend a lot of his reign fighting the Germans, but” he died of the plague in Vindobona rather than being murdered”. Commodus he did fight in arenas, but he did not meet his end there as it showed in the movie. He died because “he was strangled in his bath by an athlete called Narcissus”.

As the Nazi soldier’s vehicles come into view the slowly swelling melody of “The Verdict” composed by Ennio Morricone adds anxiety to the scene with its long drawn out notes and its high pitched trills as the audience awaits the verdict of Hans Landa. This is seen again only moments later after Hans has been given the location of the hiding Dreyfus family and invites his men in causally to open fire on them. Morricone’s song, “L'incontro Con La Figlia” begins low and quietly as background music that grows in volume along with the apprehension radiating from LaPadite. There is sudden and exaggerated climax as the gun shots initiate causing Shosanna to begin to flee which leads to the meeting of the daughter which is the English translation to Morricone’s composition.

The nation of Rome: The nation of Rome is very corrupt in so many senses ranging from slavery or their nearly powerless senate. In the beginning when the long shot camera angle shows the slaves on the mountain with the Romans commanding this shows the Roman power, if you look deeper though and see the Romans commanding these people against their will you see a lack of care for human rights and use people to expand their power. In the scene where the women watch the slaves fighting it speaks degrees to the Roman culture of that time, that two people fighting to the death is entertainment in Rome once again shows Rome had no regard for human rights. In one scene when you see the Roman legion in a long shot this is to speak to the Roman power and vast armies. Unfortunately throughout the move Rome’s government and culture never went through a big change like in the other themes.

In the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe plays a battle hardened Roman General who, through a series of unfortunate events, becomes a gladiator. He starts out on the front lines of a battle against barbarians. The war against them has been going on for some time however this is the final battle that will end the war. The battle rages and the Romans come out victorious. The Caesar then emerges and praises Maximus (Russell Crowe) for his leadership. The Caesar then asks him if he will become Caesar after his death because his son Commodus is not fit to rule. Commodus hates his father’s decision and kills him so his wish will die with him. Commodus then orders Maximus to be killed, he escapes and rides as fast as he can back home but is too late. He comes home to find his wife and son burned alive. He is then captured and sold into slavery where he becomes a gladiator and moves up in the ranks as a skilled fighter. He makes friends with a black slave and they both move together up to larger arenas. He makes it to the Coliseum where he reveals himself to Commodus declaring he will have his vengence. Commodus accepts Maximus’ challenge after delivering a fatal wound to his back. He fights Commodus despite the injury and kills him but then dies himself.