Talk:Gladiator (2000 film)

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Are we sure that Gaius & Gracchus are based on the Gracchi? They don't really have anything in common, other than being reformers. The Gracchi didn't work together (their careers were 10 years apart), and they certainly weren't looking to increase the power of the Senate--quite the opposite. And of course, struggle against the autocracy of monarchy would be completely alien to the Brothers Gracchi. Watching the film, I rather more got the impression that Gaius was a pretty faceless minor character & Gracchus was lifted pretty directly from the character of the same name in Spartacus, like the gladiatorial motif itself.

In fact, I think the article should acknowledge these fairly major debts it owes to Spartacus, and the larger debt it owes to The Fall of the Roman Empire.

Minor trivia note: Gracchus in Spartacus was played by the actor who had previously played the title role in I, Claudius 25 years earlier. Gracchus in Gladiator, on the other hand, was played by the actor who had previously played the title role in I, Claudius 25 years earlier.

If no one has any objection, I'll incorporate my changes into the article in 72 hours. Binabik80 04:10, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Hearing no objection, I'm going to go ahead and change the article now. Binabik80 01:02, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Trivia 2 Criticized CGI background 3 Contradiction 4 Wilhelm Scream? 5 Quotes 6 I removed 6.1 Themes 7 Link change 8 Legionary / Legionnaire 9 Moved 10 Historical simalarity

[edit] Trivia

The entire trivia section is copied word for word from the IMDB site's trivia for Gladiator. Kaiser Matias 23:33 23 June 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Criticized CGI background

The article fails to discuss why the CGI backdrop shown in the article is often criticized. Is it because it is unrealistic in the sense that Rome didn't look like that; or that the CGI was just bad?

This brings up another point: there is no "critical response" section of the article. Highly influential film critic Roger Ebert was one of the only powerful people to dislike the film, and in his review he speaks of the murky look of the film. So it's that the CGI isn't good, in response to your question. I would agree; it's quite muddy. —qrc 01:06, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Contradiction

I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure how to rephrase it, but The quick death of Commodus and the supposed return of republicanism to Rome at the end of the film is entirely fictional, as is the character of the noble senator Gracchus (played by Derek Jacobi) who is apparently to lead the new regime. and David Franzoni chose not to note at the end of the film that Rome did not, in fact, become a republic again, because he thought most audiences would already know that. appear to conflict... according to the film, does Rome become a republic or not? The trivia entry suggests that in the film, it doesn't - it just isn't explicitly stated because the writer assumed people would "know" - but the earlier sections says that, in showing a return to republicanism, it is historically inaccurate. Tyrhinis 15:13, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't really get what you're saying. I think Franzoni meant that in history, Rome didn't become a republic again. What I see is that at the end of the movie, Rome becomes a republic once more, but this is entirely fictional; however, Franzoni neglected to say that this was entirely fictional at the end of the film. Right...--Codenamecuckoo 12:15, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Rome doesn't become a republic at the end of the film; it's open-ended. As fas as I can remember it even ends with a caption saying the republic was never restored. Berry2K 02:37, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wilhelm Scream?

In the opening battle, there are occasions where a Wilhelm scream may have been inserted, including a Roman sergeant (?) calling on archers to loose (timecode 9:09 from title, 1:56 from chapter 2 start). Could someone confirm this please, and then update or give notice to update the page 'List of films using the Wilhelm scream' please? Sentinel75 09:13, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Quotes

Just a note - I have removed the quotes section and added a link to the Wikiquotes page for this film. Makes more sense and reduces the length of this (already rather long) article... — QuantumEleven | (talk) 10:39, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] I removed

The following section because it was original research. If this can be sourced, the information should be included in the Influences section. The text is reproduced below for those interested. savidan^{(talk) (e@)} 20:39, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Themes

There are many important themes throughout the entire movie; however, the most significant theme is that heroic virtues end up winning in the end. Maximus loses everything sacred to him and falls into a low point of despair. Eventually, he must work his way up the ladder by fighting as a gladiator. This plays to the theme because through his strong virtues, he ends up gaining everything he once lost. By maintaining one's honor and using physical and mental skills, it is possible to conquer any task or problem in life.

[edit] Link change

I changed the link in the first plot paragraph that pointed to "Senate" so that it points to the page "Roman_Senate" instead. Aurelius wanted Maximus to give power back to the Roman senate specifically, not some conceptual senate in general. And since a page exists for the Roman senate, it made a lot more sense to have that specific link point to the Roman page. - Harperska 03:40, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Legionary / Legionnaire

Soldiers of the legions are referred to throughout as legionaires, whereas the correct English term is legionary. [emphasis added]

Is this true? After looking up "legionary" and "legionnaire" in both Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and The American Heritage Dictionary, I find they both claim that either word is acceptable in English for describing a soldier in an ancient Roman legion. —Gabbe 21:41, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

If that's true, then the usage in the movie is not wrong, since the movie is in English and not Latin. Thoughts? —TheMuuj ^Talk 21:54, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

From what I know, the correct word is "legionary." - JNighthawk 03:04, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

They were called Legionary. Legionaire is a modern French thing. Gelston 10:17, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moved

Did a copy-paste move to the previously redirect page Gladiator (200 film), in light of the recent creation of Gladiator (1992 film)--SweetNeo85 00:57, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Historical simalarity

I have noticed that the opening battle sequence in Germania is very similar to Julius Caesar's final attack in his great victory at Alesia in Gaul. He bombards the enemy with a shower of arrows, flaming projecticles and other nasties; mounts a classic frontal infantry assault; and at the same time, charges in with cavalry to scatter the enemy and send them into chaos. I saw a dramatization of it on the Discovery Channel and read about it in the Alessia article here and found this an uncanny coincidence. I just thought I'd mention it. -- §HurricaneERIC§ archive 06:37, 6 November 2006 (UTC)