Gladiator

What’s the Story?

In 180 AD Rome, the aging Caesar (Richard Harris) watches as Maximus (Russell Crowe), his most trusted general, fights the barbarians in Germania in a terrible, bloody battle. Caesar's son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) wants to succeed his father, but Caesar doesn't think he has what it takes. When Caesar chooses Maximus to lead the people back to democracy, Commodus kills his father before the senate hears about Maximus, then orders the execution of Maximus and his family. Maximus escapes, is captured, sold into slavery, and becomes a gladiator. To confront Commodus, he must win enough fights to be called to Rome. Meanwhile, Commodus finds ways to distract the populace while he disables the Senate. The only one he trusts is his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who pretends to support him to protect her young son.

Is It Any Good?

GLADIATOR is a movie of such astounding scope and sweep and such masterful story-telling that it makes its storyline seem classic rather than clichéd. Breathtakingly sumptuous visuals credibly re-create the world of Rome in 180 AD, a world of unimaginable reach and power. Director Ridley Scott stages the fight scenes brilliantly, each more inventive and gripping than the last. The results are something like a deranged computer game, with new peril coming literally from all sides.

Fellow gladiator Juba (Djimon Hounsou) explains the appeal of the fights when he says that fear and wonder are a powerful combination. Two thousand years later, little has changed. We may not pay to see people kill each other any more, but we pay to see them pretend to do so, and we pay to see them come pretty close in sports like boxing, hockey, wrestling, and football.