Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and nominated for an additional seven, Gladiator is one of the best produced and directed films of its time. Reminiscent of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, it creates a world so seemingly realistic, you find yourself drawn backward in time to the glory days of Rome. The musical score, colorful costumes, and intricate sets combine to create the illusion that one is actually witnessing the trials and travails of human existence in early millennial Rome.
The film opens with a sobering display of ancient warfare’s equivalent of “shock and awe” as the Roman legions advance on a band of rebels resisting the empire from the outskirts of Gaul. From the moment the legion commanders signal attack, the fury of hell is unleashed as flaming arrows and iron bars batter a unified front of rebel fighters. The scene is more comparable to Desert Storm than an ancient battlefield, and it visually illustrates the overwhelming power once embodied in the Roman legions.
The central figure of the film and leader of the opening battle is Maximus (Russell Crowe), a Roman general adored by his men and admired throughout the empire for his impeccable character. While visiting the battlefield, the aging Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) reveals to Maximus his secret plan to appoint the general caretaker of Rome upon his death, with the understanding he will restore the Senate and eliminate the dictatorial rule of the Caesars.
But unbeknownst to both men, the emperor’s overly ambitious son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) learns of the plan. He murders his father and demands the allegiance of Maximus. When the general refuses, the new emperor calls for his execution, seeking to eliminate all who stand in his way. But the plan goes awry when Maximus escapes, setting the stage for the central conflict of the film as Maximus the gladiator grows in legend and Maximus the slave challenges the authority of a Roman emperor.
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