Is Gladiator a good movie

[grumbler]

300 is a lot better more funny than Gladiator.

FTFY.  300 was a brilliant spoof of itself.

[Sheilbh]

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.

Yes. I think films are a little better now at mixing effects and CGI but in the 2000s especially went a little too big on the CGI - surprisingly I think LOTR has actually aged quite well on this.

Never saw Clash of the Titans but I managed about ten minutes of Gods of Egypt when it was on TV recently before turning it off because it was clearly going to be shit

[Syt]

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.

It's a fairly faithful rendition of the comic with little original thought brought to it. It's a bit of a visual spectacle but mostly a meme in movie format. 300 Spartans from the 60s in is a better movie.

[Syt]

For weird, trippy ancients watch Immortals with Henry Cavill as Theseus, directed by Tarsem Singh.

[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.

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.

Despite all its shortcomings (and there are many!), I have a soft spot for Troy. Visually it's excellent, Eric Bana's Hector is almost flawless, and most of the key beats of the story play out as they should.

[Berkut]

300 is a lot better more funny than Gladiator.

FTFY.  300 was a brilliant spoof of itself.

I remember being really suprised when I realized that we were supposed to be taking this shit seriously, and actually be rooting for a bunch of homicidal maniacs.

It is kind of like when my wife made me watch the first Twilight movie, and it was terrible, but the male lead actually did a pretty damn good job. Later on I read an interview where the actor said something like "I just assumed everyone was supposed to think my character was a whiny little bitch and played him like that...." (I am summarizing). I laughed at that, and thought "Yep, he gets it!" but of course all the actual fans were *supposed* to find him so endearingly moody and lovable...

[Razgovory]

Saw it in the theater with friends.  I got bored halfway through.

[Grey Fox]

Before I answer I need to know. What do you all think of Traffic?

[Razgovory]

Before I answer I need to know. What do you all think of Traffic?

Saw that one at the theater as well.  Unfortunately the sound went out part way through.  So I have no idea if it is good or not.

[FunkMonk]

Gladiator is a great popcorn flick and worth a watch if you're bored and flipping through channels looking for something decent. Crowe and Phoenix make it work.

Crowe's best performance will always be Master and Commander though.

[Maladict]

Crowe's best performance will always be Master and Commander though.

Now there's a great period piece. I wish they had made the planned sequels.

[celedhring]

Yeah, Master & Commander tops my "the world is a worse place without sequels to this movie" list.

[Berkut]

Yeah, Master & Commander tops my "the world is a worse place without sequels to this movie" list.

It's right up there with seeing 70 million people vote for Trump as evidence that maybe the Chinese have the right idea on how to run the world.

[Barrister]

Crowe's best performance will always be Master and Commander though.

Now there's a great period piece. I wish they had made the planned sequels.

Let me say up front I adore Master and Commander, both the movie and the Patrick O'Brian novels.

But a sequel would have been tough I think.  It's a 20 book series, but they mostly took the plot from book #10, but then also stole lines and plot points from a half dozen other movies.  Where exactly would they go for a second movie?

There is still talk about making a prequel, or rebooting it, or whatever.  Supposedly such a prequel is in active development, whatever that means.

[Savonarola]

I was once listening to the "Emperors of Rome" podcast; where one of the speakers, a lecturer of classical studies at La Trobe University, mentioned that she watched Gladiator with her students.  The interviewer asked if her students could connect to it, as it was released when they would have been very young.  She replied, "Yes, but most students of classical studies are usually interested in old things."



Gladiator is a fun big popcorn movie.  I don't think it's a Hollywood Classic the way that, say, Spartacus is (and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Watcha!) obviously deserved the Oscar that year), but it's still a good movie.