Gladiator film review

Authors Avatar

Film Review: Gladiator

Tagline: “On my command - unleash hell”

Runtime: 155 mins

Ahmed Al-Rubie, 10s

Mind-blowing, action packed and awe-inspiring. What more could you possibly want from multi-award winning director, Ridley Scott? Already a legendary film, Gladiator produces some of the finest and scintillating contrasting scenes, leaving us, the audience, absolutely gob- smacked at the superb directing and acting on show.

Released in May 2000, Gladiator had audiences off the edge of their seats in the amazingly contrasting opening scenes, which depicted many themes and plot outlines such as love and war, which left the audience with a sensational feel-good factor and inevitably got them hooked on.

The many camera angles and sound effects contribute incredibly to the huge success of this film and I shall be looking to identify and define these in my review.

At the first gunshot, the first piece of real video we see is a track and close-up shot of the great warrior and commander Maximus (played by Russell Crowe) walking through what seems to be a heavenly plain of wheat, with the glazing rays of the sun glowing upon him. This immediately gives the impression that this is a moment he is savouring, a moment of joy, happiness and peace, as he is gently stroking and majestically gliding through the field.

Join now!

Also, Scott uses an extreme close-up of Maximus’ well built, sleeveless, but partly armour plated arm for a reason. It yields that he is a man of war and that he’s in danger as he’s wearing protective gear in what seems to be a harmless environment. What we also see in the same shot is a silver signet ring on the right hand of Maximus which reveals it has a sentimental value to him. Significantly, it implies that he is a man of love and marriage, a caring person, and maybe even a family man. Moreover, we can depict from ...

This is a preview of the whole essay