Gladiator | Film Friday

I will admit, it took me quite some time to get around to watching this arguably classic film from the turn of the century, but once I did, I could easily see why it became as popular as it did.

The story is a tragic one, but one which nonetheless holds a satisfying ending – helped by excellent performances from Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. It was very easy to side with and admire Crowe’s Maximus; and very easy to despise and revile Phoenix’s Commodus.

The story, while perhaps not wholly unique and original – or historically accurate for that matter – was nevertheless well written and full of many iconic quotes. It was well paced; details were well explained without overdoing the exposition and neatly wrapped up and concluded at the end – which is not necessarily and easy thing to do.

I did find that the cinematography, while very good at times, often felt a bit dated. And there was a bit of an overindulgence in slow-motion, which again is something I often notice in films from that era.

From what I was able to learn, a good amount of the special effects in this film were done practically – although several were computer generated. In particular, while filming the initial scenes of combat in Gladiator, Ridley Scott apparently obtained permission from the British Forestry Commission of Bourne Wood to burn down sections of the forest, because they were already planning to have it removed.

Watch my full review here: