Is Gladiator a good movie

[Sheilbh]

Much Ado About Nothing is great but very much carried by the chemistry between Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.

I need to rewatch his Hamlet, I remember thinking it was excellent, and it had an amazing cast all around. And there'sof course Henry IV

Much Ado About Nothing was a standard in English class - a film high school kids could enjoy but educational enough to justify the teacher just putting it on and doing nothing for a couple of lessons.

Semi-relatedly but I recommend the Hollow Crown series the BBC did recently - it's basically all of the big history plays (my favourites ) with a great cast. Ben Whishaw as Richard II and Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt, then Jeremy Irons as Henry IV with Tom Hiddleston as Hal/Henry V and Simon Russell Beale doing Falstaff and Julie Walters as Mistress Quickly plus John Hurt. Then into Henry VI with Michael Gambon, Hugh Bonneville, Anton Lesser with Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard for Richard III as the final in the serious.

It's very good - a period rather than a modern adaptation but a very good cast all the way through.

Edit: Plus it's great to kind of see them put together as a sequence with a pretty coherent approach. I've only ever seen that before with Henry IV Part 1 through to Henry V.

[The Larch]

Going back to Gladiator, I wonder how much can the relative revival of historical epics of the early 00s is due to it. Right after Gladiator came Troy, 300, the Alexander the Great biopic, the Clash of the Titans remakes, two Hercules movies...

[grumbler]

Gladiator was fun for a first viewing, but I had no interest in seeing it again.  The plot was painfully dumb and the actors seemed to have some difficulty taking the dialogue seriously.  Some nice bits of acting and scenery, though.  Everyone should see it once and no one should see it twice.

[Maladict]

*edit: there was that weird Titus Andronicus movie with Hopkins, I should watch that again.

I loved it, but it's not really set in ancient Rome. It's a super-stilyzed early 20th century setting.

Yes, new Rome superimposed on ancient Rome, and very cleverly done. IIrc they used both ancient monuments and the Fascist reimagining of them, like the EUR 'square colosseum'.
And I remember they used the colours of AS Roma and Lazio for the opposing political parties. I'm going to watch it again now.

[Sheilbh]

Going back to Gladiator, I wonder how much can the relative revival of historical epics of the early 00s is due to it. Right after Gladiator came Troy, 300, the Alexander the Great biopic, the Clash of the Titans remakes, two Hercules movies...

It's huge - I think it kickstarted that whole move.

More generally I feel like the 80s and 90s had loads of contemporary action/thrillers, then Gladiator ushered in a decade of historical/period action films before we reached today's all comic book universes all the time.

And, despite some of the comments here, I think Gladiator in comparison with what followed shows how difficult it is to get a big popcorn blockbuster right. It may not be a great film in its own right - but it is a lot better than any of the other films you mentioned.

[The Brain]

300 is a lot better than Gladiator.

[The Larch]

Going back to Gladiator, I wonder how much can the relative revival of historical epics of the early 00s is due to it. Right after Gladiator came Troy, 300, the Alexander the Great biopic, the Clash of the Titans remakes, two Hercules movies...

It's huge - I think it kickstarted that whole move.

More generally I feel like the 80s and 90s had loads of contemporary action/thrillers, then Gladiator ushered in a decade of historical/period action films before we reached today's all comic book universes all the time.

And, despite some of the comments here, I think Gladiator in comparison with what followed shows how difficult it is to get a big popcorn blockbuster right. It may not be a great film in its own right - but it is a lot better than any of the other films you mentioned.

I wonder what influence the success of Gladiator might have had in LOTR getting done, in case it can be considered that it paved the way for it or not. From LOTR you can trace a perfect line to GoT and the mega cinematic universes that are everywhere nowadays.

[Sheilbh]

I wonder what influence the success of Gladiator might have had in LOTR getting done, in case it can be considered that it paved the way for it or not. From LOTR you can trace a perfect line to GoT and the mega cinematic universes that are everywhere nowadays.

Interesting - it might well be. I suppose the other big historical film at that time was Braveheart - but it and Gladiator seemed to be more tapping into the 50s/60s style historical action epic style whereas I feel like the other big historical films at that time were far more in the Gone with the Wind/historical epic romantic drama style (Titanic, Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans etc).

I realise there are love stories in Braveheart and Gladiator but no-one is watching them for that. Same with Aragorn and Arwen

Edit: And as you say from 50s/60s style historical epic is a hop skip and a jump to Jason and the Argonauts style fantasy world.

[Syt]

300 is a lot better than Gladiator.

Eh.

[celedhring]

Going back to Gladiator, I wonder how much can the relative revival of historical epics of the early 00s is due to it. Right after Gladiator came Troy, 300, the Alexander the Great biopic, the Clash of the Titans remakes, two Hercules movies...

It's huge - I think it kickstarted that whole move.

More generally I feel like the 80s and 90s had loads of contemporary action/thrillers, then Gladiator ushered in a decade of historical/period action films before we reached today's all comic book universes all the time.

And, despite some of the comments here, I think Gladiator in comparison with what followed shows how difficult it is to get a big popcorn blockbuster right. It may not be a great film in its own right - but it is a lot better than any of the other films you mentioned.

I wonder what influence the success of Gladiator might have had in LOTR getting done, in case it can be considered that it paved the way for it or not. From LOTR you can trace a perfect line to GoT and the mega cinematic universes that are everywhere nowadays.

LOTR was already in production when Gladiator came out.

[Sheilbh]

300 is a lot better than Gladiator.

Eh.

Yeah I don't agree - but I don't think I've liked any Zack Snyder film so that might just be me.

[The Larch]

Edit: And as you say from 50s/60s style historical epic is a hop skip and a jump to Jason and the Argonauts style fantasy world.

Yup, it doesn't take much to go from classic sword and sandals fare to mythological adventures. Yet we still don't have a proper film about the Trojan War with gods and fantastic elements. The fact that Troy removed all that to remain somehow grounded in the real world was a bold choice.

[Sheilbh]

Edit: And as you say from 50s/60s style historical epic is a hop skip and a jump to Jason and the Argonauts style fantasy world.

Yup, it doesn't take much to go from classic sword and sandals fare to mythological adventures. Yet we still don't have a proper film about the Trojan War with gods and fantastic elements. The fact that Troy removed all that to remain somehow grounded in the real world was a bold choice.

YES! God I hate Troy and want a proper Greek version.

It's only redeeming moment is when Orlando Bloom gives his sword to Aeneas at the end

And thinking about it could probably look at a big chunk of this type of film just through Bloom's back catalogue - LOTR, Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Kingdom of Heaven etc.

[Josquius]

Cinema went over the top into CGI with the gods angle. Clash of the titans still sends a shudder up my spine.
Whats wrong with seemingly down to earth adventures with supernatural elements.

[celedhring]

There was this pub in NYC when I lived there, that used to show Troy (among other movies) on their flat screens. It makes for an hilarious drunk-watch.