Ridley Scott uses wide shots of the battlefield to display the large scale of events in the film in which Maximus is of great magnitude. This is another classic feature of the epic showing Maximus is in a hugely important situation. Ridley Scott blends these wide shots in with close ups of peoples faces, that shows that Maximus is at a personal level with the ‘mob’ and that these are people that are more than willing to die for their country and General. There are also some very good point of view shots, this is how Scott shows how much Maximus’ men respect him, as they move out of his way and stand to attention.
Another leader makes an order for troops to move forward into a new position, but Maximus simply says they are fine where they are; this is simply accepted with no dispute or questioning. This again shows the respect of the people towards Maximus and shows he is above most people but on their side. These are major epic traits.
The music Ridley Scott uses throughout the film is excellent but especially in this first scene. He blends and glides the action together with a superb mixture of the tense heat of battle, the cool, calm mind of Maximus and the dramatic sudden cruelness of the battle. By doing this the film flows, keeping you on your toes and adding lots of atmosphere.
Again there is a muse to the humble earth and his farming backgrounds. Then there is also a supernatural yet humble element when he makes eye contact and calms a dog that looks wolf like, this links him to something outside the battle, to a bigger more important place or thing.
The coming through the fire gives a dramatic effect that he is mighty and powerful again riding with the wolf. After this it goes into a long slow-motion of the fight, following Maximus, creating tension and dramatic effect. This helps to make the film evolve to greater stature in the watcher’s mind and Maximus to be shown in full fighting glory.
My next feature scene is the scene where Maximus fights alone and becomes a well known gladiator, then at the end throws a sword into the crowd and asks ‘are you entertained?’ again showing that he is above the mob, but still wants to help them. Ridley Scott does this in such a way to make it dramatic and tense while making him seem courageous not stupid.
After this Maximus goes to the Coliseum in Rome and fights there. He is in a battle where he, and other slaves, are told they will die and should die with honour. But in the battle Maximus takes control of the slaves and gets them to stick together. In this way they manage against the odds to be victorious. This shows him to do something almost super human that should really be impossible, another classic characteristic of an epic.
Straight after the battle Commodus comes to speak to Maximus, who plans to kill the Emperor, but then when Lucius runs out Maximus will not kill Commodus, showing that he has pride beyond just killing him and will wait until Lucius is not around so as to not disgrace Commodus. Then Maximus turns his back on the emperor which is an unworthy thing, and conceals his name so as not to disgrace Commodus publicly. When Maximus does say his name he also tells Commodus that he will ‘avenge the deaths of his wife and child’ which is against the epic structure that the hero should be selfless. But I think this is countered by the selfless way that he is willing to give up everything., including his life, for the well being of Rome, his wife and child and for the wish of Marcus Orillious the former emperor.
My final scene is the fight against the victorious gladiator that wears that tiger mask. Maximus fights against him and is losing but he comes back to win and Commodus tells him to kill the other Gladiator, but he does not needlessly abuse his power and is merciful by not killing him. Again this puts him above others.
I will now continue to compare Maximus to Commodus. The two men are very different, Maximus is a very moral and humble person that links himself to the mob but is also above them. He does this by counting himself as one of them. Commodus, however, will do anything for power and even murdered his own father. He looks for praise and pleasantries but gives none.
In the final battle they are against each other and Commodus has cheated by severely injuring Maximus in the back. But Maximus is above it and fights on to get to a winning position. When Commodious asks one of the men for a sword, they refuse. This is compared to the respect they gave Maximus at the start, showing they do not respect Commodus.
Commodus then draws a dagger against the unarmed Maximus, but still can’t kill him. Maximus shows almost impossible strength, fighting through injury, again showing characteristics of an epic hero.
When Commodus is dead, Maximus only asks for the slaves to be released, the senator to be reinstated and a democracy formed, saying that there was a dream called ‘Rome’ and that ‘these were the last wishes of Marcus Orilious’. This shows he is selfless and is not doing it for himself. He is doing it for the nation which is a classic epic structure.
There are a few characteristics of epic structure that are not shown in the film, for example, he is not (as far as we know) descended from, or looked after by the gods. He is trying to get revenge and there is little listing of former heroes as he is descended from farmers.
In conclusion, I think that Ridley Scott has successfully brought the structure of an epic into the twenty first century with a superb film that has an excellent blend of technology and history, but it is not a film that in one hundred years time will be deemed a classic.