Gladiator

The realistic opening scene really places the audience in the time period of the movie, 180 AD. From the costuming to the barbaric weapons and battle scenes it gives the viewer a good sense of how basic the amenities were at that time. The Director did a good job of placing the viewer on the enormous battlefield and then later in the gigantic coliseum helping viewers feel as if they are right there in the action. If you get a queasy stomach at the sight of blood, it might not be the movie for you.

The opening battle scene helps us identify with Maximus, the proud warrior whom the army and Caesar respect. Crowe plays the character well and viewers like him because he’s a leader and hero. He proves himself by going into battle at the front of the line showing his soldiers he is not above them and they fully support him because of this. His statement while he is with the king reinforces that he identifies with his troops as he replies to Caesar’s question of how are you doing “I’m sitting in here while all my men are out in the cold and mud.” He supports the Roman Empire and is a true patriot but still, his family comes first, as he indicates when he is faced with the dilemma of leading Rome or going home to be with his wife and son.

You know that he places his family on a pedestal and loves and misses them by the fact that he worships the two little statues, symbols of his wife and son, throughout the whole movie and is happy beyond words when his friend sneaks them to him as he’s being paraded through the streets of Rome as a Gladiator. He’s also a man of faith as proven by the fact that he indicates to the black slave that he will see them in the hereafter and he prays several times during the film.

Caesar’s comment to Commodus when he comes upon the battlefield “now you show up when the fighting is done” reaffirms his view that Commodus can’t be counted on to lead and reinforce that his son is not fit to lead in battle nor defend the Roman Empire and that he can’t be trusted.

Commodus knows he will not succeed his father unless he kills him soon before an announcement is made, especially after being told he will not take his place once he dies. By the look on Commodus’ face when he’s rejected by Maximus afterward, the audience is aware that Maximus will be killed. He overcomes the soldiers carrying out the order because of his desire to be with and protect his family.

Commodus is easy to dislike in this movie, therefore the Director has also accomplished the task of making him the ‘bad guy’ that everyone despises and hates. A sniveling weasel he is. His main objective once he comes back to reality after the king has been killed, his wife and son are killed, and he’s been sold into the slave trade, is to get revenge for all three of them.

I believe the theme of this movie is good vs. evil or right vs. wrong with emphasis on doing what’s right for everyone instead of for personal well-being.

The dishonesty the king talks about within the senate and in Rome reminded me that behaviors such as that are timeless as we have the same corruption and dishonesty in our Congress of today, almost 2000 years later, so we can all relate to the behavior.

I don’t usually find satisfaction when someone is killed in a movie, but I actually have to say I took pleasure in watching Commodus be killed; his behavior truly was disgusting. Phoenix did a good job portraying the character. And to reinforce the feeling, which I’m sure many viewers had at the end, they carry Maximus out as the true statesman while leaving Commodus lay in the dirt of the coliseum. In one last act of respect the black man who befriended Maximus gave the statues of the woman and child a proper burial in the coliseum and confirmed that he would see Maximus again but “not just yet”.