Strongly recommended (What else would you expect from a Roman, huh? :P)
Very entertaining and well made. Beautiful setting and engaging story. Good performances as well. If you are not a cinema person then don’t wait till it comes out on video/DVD; go see it on the big screen.
Rom, guess where my wife and I are going to for Mother’s day? Did you see Jason and the Argonauts on TV? I liked it except I had a hard time seeing this teenie heart throb play Jason. Other than that it was good. In fact, I have visited Volos the place where Jason had supposed to have started his adventures. I know most of it is mythological, but I have read in some books that there in fact was a Man named Jason who ventured from Peloponnese to what is now Syria.
So Gladiators this weekend for us. I love this stuff man! Did you watch the 8 part BBC series on Roman Empire? Starting with Julius and ending with Caligula. It was marvelous, and I want to buy it.
Darn it! We both wanna see it and can't till it gets released here in UK! Ugh! I hate this.
NY,
I say that series by the BBC. It was excellent! I've seen it in parts about three times around and it's captivating every time.
I wanna see it. Think will go one of these days
That's right, this one is by no means a video/dvd movie. It has to be watched on the big one.
But even though it's an enjoyable film I think it's more entertainment-oriented, and not some Ben Hur classic. Personally, I think Russell Crowe was much better in the nominated Outsider.
Overall though, top entertainment!
NYA,
I did not watch Jason and... The minute I saw that college boy type hero, and couple of other common characters looking fake Greeks, I lost interest.
I did not watch BBC's series... which channel did it come on? Was that PBS? When was it? I checked out the BBC site but they don't have any listing of sellable videos on that.
Muzna,
I'm a bit surprised. I thought that anticipated movies like this one would be released around the same time both in US and UK.
Elmo,
Yes, it's more on the entertainment side than being more realistic. But I kinda liked the fact as well mainly because the movie was well-paced and engaging.
I think the movie sets and costume crew did an excellent job. Riddley Scott is not one of my favorite directors, but he still got few good movies like Alien, Thelma & Lious (I haven't see that one though), and White Squall (Another recommendable movie) under his belt.
yeah! I liked it...but I couldn't help comparing it with Brave heart (which still remains my fav)
Its a big screen movie for sure!
ciao,
BoSS
Roman, it was on PBS a couple of years ago. I believe it was a BBC production as most of the actors were Shakespearean with English accents. Let me see if I could get you the right title. I believe it was “Rise and Fall of Roman Empire” or something to that effect. It showed how Rome grew into a Republic and became an Empire. It was brilliantly done.
Roman,
Nah...it just doesn't happen at the same time. I know there was one movie recently that was released at the same time but I can't remember which one it was.
I've seen the ads for Gladiator on tv but I can't remember the date for it's release...I think it's at the end of the month.
Roman Yar, the serial I talked about is “I Claudius” is a BBC Production. It is a 13 part series, mainly about events through the eyes of Claudius, but is a good insight to the Roman Empire. You will enjoy it.
We watched Gladiator over the weekend. I enjoyed it except there were a couple of inconsistencies. First, Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus ruled together for the last 3 years of Aurelius’s reign, which included conquest of Germany. This fact was somewhat downplayed. Secondly, Maximus is too strong a name for a General (stronger yet for a Gladiator). The term Maximus was usually reserved for the Emperors who would appoint themselves as “Pontifex Maximus” of the Chief Priest. But this is Hollywood. Overall it was entertaining.
I read “Meditation” by Marcus Aurelius in my college days. I am sure I have a copy of it somewhere buried in my books, if you like, I can look for it and give you a reference. It is an excellent read.
Good to know that there are others who enjoy ancient history as much as I do.
Really nice movie....I had seen a little bit of Russel Crowe in "The Insider" so I was wondering whether he would carry off the role. I think he did pretty well though. Those visual effects were amazing weren't they ??!!
Ahmadi yar thanks for the info, yes, I did see 'I Cladius' listed on BBC site as available in video series. Gotta get it now.
Like I put it somewhere else for the same movie that just because my nick is 'Roman' does not mean I would know any bit of Roman history as well :P However, Roman and Greek history does fascinate me more that anyother type of history. I did read some stuff on Commodus on Encyclopedia after watching the movie.
I found out that they even omitted his mistress, Marcia's character altogether who conspired to have him killed by an athlete named Narcissus. I think it goes back to my comment that the movie was more on the fiction and entertainment side than a presentation of historic facts.
And I do agree, Maximus was used more as an emperor title than as a General name.
BombayKid,
I have yet to watch Insider, but I'm sure it would be a good movie. Performance wise, yes, Russel Crow did a good job but I think the best performance in the movie was Joaquin Phoenix's, playing as Commodus. I think he did a great job.
On the visual effect note, I found the sets and costumes to be very well done. I was a little disappointed to notice that some of the battle scenes were done as close-ups to give it an effect of fast paced bloody struggle/fight among soldiers. I personally think that less closure on those scenes could have been a lot better.
[This message has been edited by Roman (edited May 15, 2000).]
"I personally think that less closure on those scenes could have been a lot better."
Yeah..you're probably right. In that respect I thought Steven Spielberg did a good job with the battle scenes in "Saving Private Ryan"
[quote]
Originally posted by Roman:
(What else would you expect from a Roman, huh? :P)
[/quote]
after caligula, there is nothing I wont expect from a Roman :)
[quote]
Originally posted by NYAhmadi:
** Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus ruled together for the last 3 years of Aurelius’s reign, **
[/quote]
heh did he hate his son to name him commodus?
what a name :)
heh did he hate his son to name him commodus?
what a name <<<<<
Fraudia Yara, You are a comedian of historic proportions.
Or as they would say in Ancient Rome:
Il sig. Fraudia, siete un comedian storica d'unaproporzione
Yar, you make me laugh so hard that I forget my past (i.e., History).
Yar Lovey, the thing we did last week, I enjoyed it very much! Let’s do it again.
Last night there was a spot on Dateline NBC about Gladiator regarding the making of the movie. And despite my limited interest in Roman history, I now believe that I have to see it. The old Roman coliseum held in excess of 140,000 people.....and of course they couldnt get that many extras. So they simply duplicated, triplicated, quadrupled the images of about 5,000 extras, in different dresses, and imposed them on the set, making it look like a full house of 140,000+. Very impressive among other things. Gotta watch it this weekend.
How about Mission impossible??
Thanks Roman....
Saw the movie last weekend.....was an absolute pleasure!!!!
I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a film THAT much. Definitely a big screen feature.
Okay...so I did some reading and like NYAhmadi....found some incongruencies:
1) The "thumbs up" signal from spectators and emperor did NOT denote "let the gladiator live". It actually meant "cut his throat" while the "thumbs down" signal meant to stick the sword in the dirt and let the guy live.
2) The garbage about meeting one's loved ones in Elysium, a lovely, peaceful place in the afterlife didn't make sense. Mainly because Elysium was hell.
3) Marcus Aurelius never dreamt of restoring power to the people...in fact, Commodus was his best shot at maintaining stability.
4) Gladiators never were so well-equipped...they had much less to protect themselves.
5) Commodus did not die in the ring...he was strangled in the night by Laetus, a prefect of his guard.
Hehehe.....so anyone wanting to learn history from this film should just forget it. Pick up a book instead. However, if you're keen on watching some gore, blood and guts being spewed about.....it's still a good flick.