The Reel Rejects - GLADIATOR (2000) MOVIE REVIEW! FIRST TIME WATCHING!

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?? Visit https://huel.com/rejects to get 15% off your order! https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/thereelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ With Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, & Paul Mescal set to Premiere in Gladiator 2 on November 22nd, Aaron Alexander & John Humphrey go back for Aaron's FIRST TIME watch & John's FIRST REWATCH, giving their REACTION, Commentary, Analysis, Breakdown, & Full Movie Spoiler Review for the swords & sandals Epic directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, The Martian) and starring Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind, LA Confidential, Les Miserables) as Maximus Decimus Meridius, a former Roman General who sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor Commodus (Joker, Signs, Her, & Walk the Line's Joaquin Phoenix) who murdered his family and sent him into slavery... The film also features performances from Richard Harris (Camelot, Unforgiven, The Count of Monte Cristo, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) as Marcus Aurelius, Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Amistad, Guardians of the Galaxy), Connie Nielsen (One Hour Photo, Wonder Woman), Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park), Oliver Reed (The Three Musketeers), Spencer Treat Clark (Mystic River), Tommy Flanagan (Braveheart), & MORE! John & Aaron REACT to all the Best Scenes & Most Harrowing Moments including Are You Not Entertained?, the My Name Is Maximus scene, Maximus Leads His Troops to Victory, Maximus Escapes Execution, Maximus the Merciful, Maximus Kills Commodus, & Beyond! NOTE FOR YOUTUBE: All Footage Featured From "Gladiator" Is From A FICTIONALIZED Historical Epic Drama Movie. Any & All References To "Mature Content" Are NOT Real Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Music Used In Manscaped Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hell yes, all right we're gonna get started with the we're going to get started with the we're going to get started with the oh no I feel like I just watched a classic guys feel like you might have just watched an Oscar award winning classic I feel like if you're listening to this on Apple or Spotify You should go give us five stars. That's always a good idea. No! Friggin' machines.

That was great. I don't know what we missed that would have been in the extended edition, but that was great. I don't know what they would have added. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm sure that this is the kind of movie that is probably like five hours long or six hours long in a rough cut or something. And, yeah, I could totally imagine them having plenty left over. but at the same time, like, it is a substantial movie and I didn't feel like, yeah, at least this

part of the experience was lacking in any way. No, not at all. Or this, yeah, cut to this theatrical version of the experience. Right. So I said, go listen to Apple, go to Spotify. Go to rejignation shop.com to go buy some shirts, some teas like these. Oh, we're in the same.

We're in the same shirt today. We're both ready for Gladiator 2 today. But also, you should go over to Rejectnationshop.com to go buy a chesty shirt, me and my friend Joanne designed a shirt called Chesties. It's based on the alien franchise. As you guys know, me and Tara watch all of the alien movies. And I was inspired to design a shirt with my friend.

And it's a cereal box. And it's fun. It's colorful. And you should go check it out because we worked really hard on it. And I want to make more shirts for you guys. So you guys need to buy shirts so we can make shirts. So, yeah. Support Aaron's dreams.

What are my dream? Please. I need to be in the fashion world. show Gucci who's boss You need to be the new Kanye I will be the new Kanye I don't want to be Kanye I don't know about that

But um You multi hyphen it you know Multi hyphen it Um But yeah With that being said Donald Oh

What did you think of Gladiator Gladiator Oh Connie Nielsen Of course Of course Okay My goodness

This was yeah This was quite Derek Jacoby That was he was Guyus I think He was the senator guy uh this was yeah quite gripping and striking i mean like i said i feel like i i would have

i remembered nothing from this pretty much because yeah it was like i know way way back at some point i was in the room for gladiator but but this yeah was like a whole fresh experience and it really lived up to you know i mean you know it's an academy award winning movie and you know that it's a historical epic of sorts but um Oh, this won the Oscar? I believe it did. Yeah, I think so. I think this one best picture and a number of other things.

I remember at least somebody on stage saying, gladiator. So I remember this. Yeah, okay, music by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerard. It's an interesting combo. Yeah, so it's like, you know, it has all the pomp and circumstance, certainly of an Oscar-winning movie. But it was, it's a fascinating blend of you have this macro picture of Rome, which is such a story.

just part of history in general and you see, you know, so much of the, I don't know, you have like a cultural struggle that's all encompassing represented in, you know, this sort of intermingling of the people, the royalty and the people at the very bottom, like the people in the middle who are all just kind of taking this in, people at the top who are orchestrating this and running these games to placate the population. And then you have these folks who are, you know, sold into slavery and then forced to fight and uh and it's a very personal story it's revenge story in a lot of ways and i thought it managed nicely without i'm not like a major history expert by any stretch movies like these always make me want to go back and like you know revisit

the historical context of stuff like this but i thought they made a really nice and conscientious balance between yeah this personal story of this you know incredibly gifted general this this very morally kind of upstanding guy who yeah through this reminded me of like a brave heart or various kinds of things where yeah it's like we're we're fighting for this liberation and there's the question of politics versus direct military action and what the right way to rule is and then there's all the personal shit that's underneath all that that you know intermingles with the statecraft side that you know kind of seeps in from the shadow side the subconscious of everybody and so yeah having those dual layers i thought was quite gripping

because you know you get yeah this portrait of rome this portrait of the world at the time and all you have is this very relatable scenario where this guy just wants to go home be with his family and yet you know then he goes on this sort of ben-hur style adventure from you know like status and and good standing you know like a good lofty position within the state of things to like the bottomest bottom rung you could have and then, you know, rising to become sort of a figure, a leader of sorts for the people, a prophet even in a sense, not so much here in a religious context, but, you know, he is arising as this, you know, people's champion of sorts. And yeah, all he wants to do is kind of fulfill Marcus Aurelius' wish, you know, to kind of reset

the Roman way of doing things give the power back to the people instead of some kind of de facto dictator and yeah just like watching all the machinations and you know interplay throughout all this was really gripping and fascinating

and the attention to detail and it's like the costumes the sets the locations the CG embellishments you know well chosen where necessary just all these different things you know combining you like this is a true epic and yeah like a piece of classic filmmaking, you know, the likes of which you don't see to the same degree

anymore. You know, it's like you have your CG shots of the Coliseum and certain things, but those are like, yeah, we need, we have to do that because we're not in the age of Hollywood anymore where you can like literally build yourself a whole friggin' Roman city. But like that aside, and even having seen some of Ridley's recent historical epics like a Napoleon, and Napoleon certainly has big production values too. and some of this tradition of filmmaking on display. But yeah, something like this that is from like a crucial moment in film history where you're approaching, you know, the mass prevalence of, of CGI

and being able to do anything pretty much with CGI. But you're not quite there yet. And so you're still reliant on for a film like this, like, yeah, the true epic scale of movie magic that it takes to assemble all of these people, all of these props, costumes, you know, And I mean, if you look at trivia for any old biblical epic and stuff, you can always see, you know, facts about like, oh, if you look in this scene, you can see people soldiers wearing sneakers and watches. Like, you know, it's so much undertaking and so much detail for so many tiny little things. And yeah, like this is quite a striking and incredibly made piece.

Yeah, I agree with everything you just said. Yeah, dude, I love this movie. This movie was incredible. from the acting to the scope of the visuals on this yeah it's one of those stories that's like classic like

the stands the test of time you know a guy who's really honorable who is well respected and then has great tragedy bestowed upon him and it's like a revenge story but it's also a story about like honor and valor and I really really loved it this movie was extremely well-paced

like two hours and 30 minutes like that like didn't even feel it and has no fat on it plus the music was incredible and yeah i want to say that russell crow i understand why this is like his big famous role because he was such a a likable character and such a respectable guy you know and he was just really good at what he did and he just was a simple it's weird because it's a simple movie that you know what i didn't expect that's probably the thing i was the most surprised about the fact that the plot was extremely simple and accessible but yet the dialogue was so

rich and memorable yeah and just has so many bars just so many great lines sprinkled throughout it I'm like yeah I get why this is such a quotable movie because they really cooked on this the script man and yeah

Joaquin Phoenix is so hateable he's so despicable I was so mad through most of this movie because it's such a whiny like conniving insecure little fuck.

He's just the worst guy. He's just the worst. He's just a little Joffrey's a little a bunch of other characters that are just like operating from a deep place of insecurity

and wanting to be loved you know and that that insecurity rather than you know addressing it or acknowledging it comes out in very like harmful

insidious ways and it's it's It sucks because you understand why he is the way he is, but the way he goes about dealing with those things, or maybe his lack of awareness of what it is that he's experiencing or what caused him to do such heinous things.

Yeah. And that's just, that's really unfortunate. Yeah, I think all the people supporting characters also did a great job. I was so surprised that Jamun Hansu made it through the end of this movie. I was like, oh, the best friend who's with him in the pits? I know. Brother is gone. I was so waiting for some kind of tear jerking, like, oh, he makes a sacrifice or like,

oh, you know, he's fighting its heart out and the nods. He gets, you know, someone gets one over on him. And that was like a nice surprise. And it's one of those things where, yeah, like, you think stuff will happen. And it doesn't necessarily. Like, I thought the senator guy was going to die, too, you know. And it's stuff that, I don't know, yeah, there are moments that you think might come to pass. And then the way that they switch them on you isn't trying to be like too clever or be like, but it's like I wasn't even thinking about it.

And then I'm like, oh, shit, yeah, he does get to live. Like, that's so cool. And, and yeah, like, it gives you, it's so funny because it gives you this very tragic ending, but that also it's credit to the filmmaking that you really do feel the kind of, it has a happy ending without having a happy ending. It's like it ends in tragedy, but you still feel the release and the catharsis and the, the, the, the. of relief as he is leaving as he has claimed his victory and i i really like the showdown between him and commodist at the end like commodist was a character that of of everything um i i liked wakene phoenix like i the character i i think i locked more into his time went on because comidus is the one part of this movie and i'm not going to lean on this too hard because also

history will surprise you and sometimes at least from what we know you know you know you know people especially in ancient Rome or whatever you have some colorful characters and some truly despicable folks as well as you know your Marcus Aurelius sees who people these days even still you know take that stoicism philosophy from and so yeah like I don't know what the history is of all this uh and if I mean I remember we were watching Braveheart and it was like oh wow this is fascinating it's based on a real guy and then you come to realize like oh this is mostly fabricated and like that's fine in a sense i mean movies posture as depictions of fact a lot but like you know for the type of story that this is it does feel like

a tale of gladi like that's the thing about 300 and 300 is way over the top compared to this and way more pulpy and popcorn compared to this but they both have that quality of like this is kind of like a soldier's poem this is kind of like a legend you might tell around the campfire to you know, enliven your men or something like that. And so like even if Maximus Decimus Meridius isn't a real guy or if he wasn't quite the, he's

such a great character here and an easy character to want to aspire to be like, you know, and William Wallace and Braveheart is similarly, but you know, from what we learned reading trivia and stuff, you know, wasn't just a squeaky clean like great, upstanding

guy through and through 100%. There were blemishes and there were nuances there so i don't know any of that stuff but like uh as it pertains to this but um yeah it seemed like i like that point you made about how it gives you this kind of simple plot in a way and then it manages i think the quality in in therein lies with the fact that i think they probably did at least a good amount of their sort of historical research around the peripheral so that you do get you know the themes for the greater society for the greater world beyond the personal as well but they're not yeah like beating you over the head with that stuff or going out of their way to like soapbox that stuff about like ooh here's how this is relevant today but you can sort of look at it and the themes are there and I think that's a nice blend because there's you know there are certain movies that are Oscar winners and it's kind of like eating your vegetables whereas like this movie has both qualities where it's like yeah this is a capital F film it's you know very uh cinematic

and it's, you know, very artistically done. And obviously, it's the period piece. It's history. It's all that stuff. It's, there's lofty aspiration here. But it's also, yeah, such that I get why people love this movie and want to rewatch this movie. Because some, yeah, some beloved stuff you watch and you're like, great. And now I don't need to go through that again for a while.

Like, predatory. Yeah, it's like the movie. And I haven't seen Requiem for a dream, but that's what people say is like, one and done is good. I'd be down to watch rec room for it. Even, really? You're a big fan? No, I mean, I had a similar experience with you and this movie. I think I maybe saw it once in high school, but remember nothing about it.

God. Not even a little bit. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah, I mean, I've heard that's quite a piece. But most people are like, yeah, I don't care to rewatch that ever again. But this, yeah, has a good blend of both. Because also, too, like Maximus isn't, you know, he's a character who is certainly, not stoic but he is burdened by his trauma he's burdened by his purpose but it's not like he

never cracks a smile ever it's not like he never laughs ever like they give you moments of humanity even when things are bleak and i think they did a really nice job with the curvature of his arc coming out of despondency when he just doesn't care to finding that new purpose and realizing that he can sway you know the the course of rome through the crowd through this you He makes an opportunity out of, you know, a prison sentence, out of a death sentence, essentially. And, uh, and yeah, it's just like such nicely handled stuff because I could totally imagine a version of this movie that takes itself too seriously, you know, or is too rot? Uh, and so, yeah, it's like, you know, you never lose sight of the tragedy and, and the pain and the, you know, corruption at hand. But yeah, it's, it's alive while still, you know, carrying the pall of all that stuff.

yeah yeah and like it has an interesting thing to say about like people in their relationship to entertainment you know and how entertainment has a lot of power especially with like who like a like popularity contest you know and I feel like because he was so popular I feel like the people would have wanted him to rule and like that's not too different from things today but I think just yeah the rock band we got to get him in the office Wayne Johnson 2028 Johnston, 2028, Maximus Decimus, X, X, X, no, M, M, X, I, no, X, I don't know, X, V, I don't know, get there. MMX, X, V, I, I, I, I, I, sure, we'll go with that. I think this movie was interesting watching this, especially with you, after watching Braveheart,

because I do see similarities between Maximus and William Wallace. and they both had that guy they both had that guy as their buddy Tommy Finnegan or whatever his name is yeah they're both guys who like who lost something like want to revenge and want to like overthrow essentially the current leadership and then

and who just want to live a normal life with their bay right for real and then you know it's becoming a martyr and like a legend and whatnot so you know both of those both of those movies have that similar quality I think I liked both of them but I think I enjoyed this little more um yeah just like that there was that that quality of the fact that he was constantly

he only wanted two things man he just wanted his family and he wanted to free roam and that was it and i think william wallace one had to like similar ambitions but i think just the implications of all the things he was going to do or doing um i think william wallace was more like we there's more of a sense of like we need our direct freedom and liberty for for like this this tribe we belong to i feel like the again my history is fuzzy but yeah it's like the the scots are being encroached upon by you know um the english monarchy and stuff like that whereas this is more like rome is the empire but we we acknowledge that like it's sick and needs reformed because our systems of government and the interplay between yeah emperor uh senate

and the people is kind of all out of whack. So, yeah, they're similarly leading strides against oppression. But, yeah, it's like Braveheart is looking from, this is like trying to reform things from, like, the top or close to the top. You know? For someone who's been at the top through the bottom, like making it, not making their way through the top, but accessing the top through the bottom. Yeah, exactly.

Whereas William Wallace was already at the bottom. He's trying to, like, climb and fight his way. yeah for freedom um having never been at the top um but yeah i think we've i've said a lot and i i love it i love it very much um yeah how you feeling you want to i'm feeling we can do some facts i do a few facts and yeah i mean just also i don't know where the hell a gladiator two goes like the man is gone brother like where do you where does the second don't even go from here i totally i expect yeah i expect the sequel to be more of like uh is it about the sun is that pedro pascal a little bit what i don't want to know who's in this don't even look bro i don't want to know who's in

this don't even look i thought you wore that shirt for that specific reason like yeah uh i don't know pedro's in the sequel i think who else is in the sequel who you want me to tell you oh no i want to be a surprise from when we watch it all right all right is there is a returning character from this not who i'm thinking of oh no denza washington's of okay yeah yeah he's going to take pedro pascal on a training day but gladiator style yeah so i saw the denzel's and people are like he does like some weird accent or something like that that's from it's going to be good it's going to be interesting to see i mean i am curious yeah i expect gladiator two to be more of like a spiritual sequel or a thematic sequel rather than and and i know i think in the trailer there's

at least an acknowledgement of the existence of maximus um but i don't i don't really expect it to continue directly anything from this other than the state of Rome and wherever we're going to join it in the next phase of the story or whatever and Ridley's out here being like I got Gladiator three ideas now too. Really?

Yeah. So I'm really fascinated because again Ridley Scott is one of those filmmakers who is quite prolific even still and I feel like one thing we're seeing one thing we see frequently is the you know our masters get older

and the big question is do they maintain, you know, do you have a more Spielberg Scorsese thing where even despite debate, mostly people seem to at least agree that, like, yeah, they're still kind of on their game versus other director like a Coppola, I would say is certainly in that more teetering point between like, I don't know, like certainly he's got all the skills and all the experience, but it seems like his most recent works have not carried the, mantle, you know, in a way that suggests that he still, like, quote, got it in the way that you would hope from your masters or whatever. So, like, Ridley Scott, I feel like occupies an interesting place because he is an older guy. He's like 80 or something or getting close to that. He's in the 70s, I think. And he makes so much even still. And, like, he's made classics throughout time. And still, even to this day, occasionally a Ridley Scott joint will come out and he'll be like, that's pretty, pretty great. But there's other stuff that he'll do that's a little bit like,

okay, this isn't one of the great ones necessarily. This is one of the more broad ones or whatever. But, you know, he's on this interesting yo-yo where I feel like he could strike gold at any moment or he could give you something that's at least interesting, but maybe is, you know, over one thing or too much of another thing or whatever. So, like, I don't know what to expect from Gladiator 2

because watching this, I'm like, this is one of the great films, obviously. It's been lauded, and it seems like one of the, those films that has won awards, but also has stuck around in the public, you know, the public subconscious, you know, people love this movie and critics love this movie and the Academy love this movie. So like, The Gladiator, too, has so much to live up to. And I'm like, Ridley Scott seems perfectly capable of like delivering something that lives up to this. But it's also like a crapshoot kind of because it's, you know, modern day Ridley could go either way,

but he still has essences of that. He still has potential for greatness. Yeah. So it's like really fascinating to kind of see, and I think that's also probably two products of the fact that he doesn't ever seem to stop, and he's got like a movie a year it feels like. Yeah, for real. I did teeter. It's interesting. Like, I thought everything was really nicely handled.

Joaquin Phoenix was the one thing that took me a little time to get on board with. Really? In a little bit, because I think he is the one character. And again, I'm curious about the history and what we know about a potential comidus Caesar. Because he is the one character who is,

like so specifically his note is just like... Bucking's note? Yeah. Oh, for sure. He plays a lot of insecure, kind of like... Yeah. Not whiny characters, but like, yeah, I see... I see correlations between comidus, Joker, Bo, and, like, other...

Even though they're all different notes of Walking Phoenix, I definitely see, like, the through line between all of them. Yeah, and it's a character who feels the most like it's a note rather than... a full spectrum of experience. And that's partly due to the fact that he is the antagonist, the villain ostensibly, all that stuff. But, you know, it's, we get the least, I think, amount of like actual nuance with him.

And not that that's even like a big deal for me because obviously, like, the more it went on, you know, I started to enjoy the flavors he was bringing to, again, it's a thankless role. And you hate him and you want to see him go down. and that's good work and it's often easy to overlook the fact that that is good work being done. But it did teeter for me a little bit earlier on and his time was going. Because he is such like a sniveling, petulant, like he feels like a tween.

I think I have to disagree with you on that one. I think there was a lot of notes in subtext to his character. I think that seeing him from the beginning, all he really wanted was that power and love. and you see that insecurity kind of breed through all aspects of his life from his sister which is like obviously something that's like sick and wrong but because obviously because she's a sister you're you're kind of playing into a cycle of of desiring something they'll never be fulfilled because you know by society standards and by your own sister's standards that's fucking gross but then your father never loving you and then your father's inability or

knowledge of how to properly attend to your emotional needs only stems as the nucleus point for all of your life being like that and then that that hatred and that desired for love kind of permeates through through all aspects from and the only person he seemingly gets love from is his nephew which is why he's so close to him which is a child who doesn't know how sick and wrong he is until he sees him like slightly threaten his mom you know well and that was a scene where and no and I agree with everything you said it's it's not that I don't think there are layers it's more like oh I can tell exactly what's going on with this character and yeah it's not it's not on the surface but it's all like pretty pretty I mean it I would argue that at times

it is on the service because he flat out set he frequently this is my motivation I guess that is that is the thing is he's the one character who in the writing in the dialogue multiple times is like this is my motivation I need love no one loves me I need love which were again it could have been more subtextual but it's like some people are like that in real life I'm picking a knit I like I am picking in it and it's just because like it was on my mind it's it's like I liked his performance and I and I remember growing up and hearing some people debate the

performance as well really so yeah and and I liked his performance here but I just I don't know I felt the need to at least acknowledge that of like it's the one element of the movie that everything else from the very second it started was kind of coalescent and Joaquin Phoenix took a bit to coalescent to the rest of the movie like I was always interested in what he was doing

I was always enjoying watching him and I like you know he's clearly capable of playing this kind of character and it is interesting to see him play the type of character or a guy struggling with similar things to roles we'd see him embody down the line that are based on these emotions

I think maybe what could have helped with that is one diversity in the type of lines that he was having but two, maybe if we saw more scenes with him but just by himself. I could imagine that or like you brought up the scene with him reading to the kid and while you know throughout that scene that this is a power play

and that he's not actually being tender with the boy there's at least like a nuance of the moment that I was like, oh cool, like this feels like it's in line with the rest of the movie. Like if anything, everybody feels like like a character and he does feel like the villain which is a character but

but yeah it's like there's I don't even know how to quantify what I'm trying to say because it's like it's it's almost on the level of everything else there are moments where I was just like oh yeah okay so you just because there's so many great he might have done and uh we can

you know let's see what we won let's see what we won um but yeah and I mean you know he's such a good counter you know to Maximus in terms of just his demeanor and everything he's about is completely the opposite

you know yeah nothing you feel for him antithesis to his character yeah and I do grant like yeah you feel for the fact that like well you know through various circumstances and it's sort of tragic because like I'm sure dad didn't love you that much

because he was busy being emperor and probably learned too late that he should have been there for you but then that already had the effect that it probably had on you which affects your relationship to your sister and everybody else and you know you see the mess of who this guy is thank you to huell for sponsoring today's video now guys i'm going to give you all the god's honest

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Fuel your best performance with Huel today. They are great, and I am already almost out of the many bottles they sent me. If you guys do go check them out at Huel.com slash Rejects. You'll see they've got a whole bunch more items available as well. And if they taste anything as good as this, I'm going to be a very happy customer for a very, very long time. So join me on this health journey. I think for me, the character that was kind of one note was probably the sister.

Because I feel like she... I feel like her dialogue was less one-no. She doesn't want to fuck her brother. And she loves Marcus... No, she loves Maximus. And she wants good things for Rome. And I felt like... I think it was...

more so the first. But her position is interesting. Her position in the story is interesting. Yeah, I agree with that. Like, I guess there's like, Cometus has the most simplistic thing for you to wrap your head around in this. And you are kind of like, there's just no good in this guy at any point in time.

And it's like, you see Maximus and he's so, again, burdened by everything. But you see him around the campfire with buds at one point in time. Like, I don't know. I feel like there's a comment you could have made on the banality of like, oh, this guy who is so terrible and so many ways like oh maybe here's another little facet of just who he might be yeah

we could have had some more dynamics but you know it's not an actual big deal like I still thought he was I still enjoyed him as part of the ensemble and I still thought he brought quality work to the screen and all that and damn this movie swept yeah man oh at least with the no at least with the best picture best picture best actor best actor in a leading role for russell crow nominee Joaquin Phoenix did not win best director or nominee for Ridley Scott, nominee for the screenplay, cinematography, one for costumes, which I bet period pieces, Oscars love a period piece, film editing, music, sound. They won for sound and visual effects. And I can imagine, too, like, these are visual effects that certainly by 20, you know, 20 odd years or more removed, you can spot them, but even still, they match the rest of the movie in a way that I'm sure at the time was probably quite staggering and breathtaking. Yeah.

And our direction, set direction. Like, they got nominated for all the stuff. They absolutely deserved to be nominated for. And again, like, I, I, because we were talking about Waukeen Phoenix, like, I don't think he doesn't deserve the supporting nom. You know, like, certainly, you know, it's a thankless role. And to get that, you know, like, catharsis by the end when he finally takes him down, you need that actor to be delivering.

So, you know, big respect. Let's do some trivia. Yes. Joaquin Phoenix ad-libbed his scream of, Am I not merciful? Connie Nielsen wasn't expecting it, and her frightened reaction was genuine killing the game. Russell Crow later admitted that he initially felt

unworthy of all the praise in the Oscar for Best Actor that he got for this movie. After seeing the completed movie, he felt it was a director's film, and the Oscar should have gone to director, Sir Ridley Scott. I think he's right. I think he was good.

I don't think he was Oscar good. I thought he was good. I agree. Yeah. Like I'm happy that he won and certainly I think it's a great performance. I can see what he's saying 100% though. It's like this is the undertaking and the vision of a director. And the fact that really Scott didn't win, you know, but was nominated. I'd be curious to go back and look and see what else was nominated in the category for that.

We got, uh, no. I've never heard of any of these other movies. I would argue... What are we got? From what I... The little world that I have seen, I would say the castle should have... Pollock.

Oh, yeah. Pollock about Jackson Pollock. Quills castaway and before night falls. I've always wanted to see castaway, but from the... Stills, I think you should have. Oh, goodness. Then again, I can't judge it off.

Those were the... Okay, okay. This is your traffic came out, which I have not seen also. But traffic, I remember being a big deal at the time, Steven Soderberg. Russian Tiger. Steven Soderberg was nominated.

it twice that year for Eric Brockovich and traffic that's just crazy and he's still one for for one of them which usually if you got two people from the same thing or to the same person in the same category for two different things like you you split your votes and you kind of cut your chances but like damn and crouching tiger was up against this billy elliot was up against this i didn't know they can do that so this is a thick year for for best director certainly but uh but yeah i can absolutely agree that that Ridley Scott in a lot of ways is sort of the star of the

whole thing because yeah it all comes together underneath his vision the wounds on a Russell crow's face after the opening battle scene are real caused when his horse startled and backed him into

tree branches the stitches in his cheek are clearly visible when he's telling comedies he intends to return home as wild Oliver Reed died three weeks before principal photography ended wowie because proximo

was considered a key character a clause in the movie's insurance contract would have allowed filmmakers to reshoot all of Reed's scenes with another actor at the insurer's expense about $25 million. However most of the actress and crew were exhausted from the punishing schedule and Sir Ridley Scott

did not want to cut Reed from the movie the script was rewritten and a body double and CGI were used to give Reed's character a plausible resolution. That is wild. I wouldn't have guessed. Holy crowd. So well done with the effects there too. Maximus's description

of his home, specifically how the kitchen is arranged and smells in the morning and at night was ad-libbed. It's a description of Russell Crow's own home in Australia. You know, it's funny. We were... During that scene in particular, I was sitting there going man, I can really

I can see everything he's describing. I really believe that he's just imagining back to home. Yeah, he was. Hans Zimmer's score is one of the best-selling movies soundtracks of all time. So, so well-selling that they put it in pirates. I wonder if there's a fact about that, actually. Connie Mielsen found the 2,000-year-old signet ring she wears in the movie

in an antique store. That's fun. Is it really 2,000 years old? Originally Maximus was supposed to fight Proximo in the call of a CM after being captured, probably as a penultimate blow from Cometus. Oliver Reed's death force to rewrite. Woof. Although Cometus,

here's some maybe historical fact. Although Cometus was initially favored by the Roman people, he lost that status through dramatic acts of megalomania. And then again, you read stuff like that, and then you're like,

well, maybe that is just who this guy was. He is often considered the initiator of the fall of Rome. During his reign, he incorporated his name into many common terms, such as terms for money and the people.

eventually the citizens and the Senate had enough of his rule and he was poisoned and when he vomiting yeah see oh my god that's crazy he was poisoned and when he vomited out the poison he was strangled afterwards the Senate returned the language to what it had been before commonus and the many statues of himself he put up were taken down so I guess this is at least a work of fiction in that you know Maximus didn't shank him so he sucks Oh, my God, yeah. I mean, and from, again, my foggy historical acumen,

like ancient Rome and, and the history of, like, that region in general is quite sorted and quite like, you know, I'm sure every history buff says this, but, you know, history buffs I know are like, you just read that, you like some of this pulpy shit you see on TV,

you should read about the ancient Romans or, you know, whoever else. Like, stuff like I Claudius or like Caligula, I think was just recut. like those those are full of just like such debauchery and bacchanalia and you just oh my goodness roams this time in history seems fascinating um russell crow became good friends with richard harris during filming a friendship that unfortunately lasted only a few years until harris death in 2002 oliver reed on the other hand took an instant dislike to crow despite being

reeds good friends despite reeds being good friends with harris at one point reed even challenge crow to a fight let's go oh damn five tigers were used in the scene where maximus fights tigris the gall in the arena a veteran armed with tranquilizer darts was present the entire time of the scene's shooting for safety's sake russell crog was kept at least 15 feet away from the tigers absolute vodka the opening battle scene was filmed in born woods surrey england the royal forestry commission had originally slated the area for deforestation so Ridley Scott eagerly offered them his facilities to burn the woods to the ground. The commission happily accepted.

Oh, my God, that's awesome. From the outset, Sir Ridley Scott made it quite clear that this, quote, Sword and Sandals movie would not feature any of the genre's cliches of people lounging around eating grapes and drinking from goblets. He intended to create a more realistic vision of ancient Roman. That's quite strikingly done because I'm sure a lot of that older stuff that is, pretty pulpy. Probably still features a lot of grapes and lounging. This is Russell Crowe's favorite of any American movie

that he has done, at least until he made The Nice Guys, which I'm sure is now his favorite. He also cites Maxima. I've just speculated because it's great. I love that movie. It's highly underrated. He cites Maximus as his favorite

role. It's a common misconception that the Roman Ember put his thumb upwards to signify that a gladiator was to be spared. Whereas the thumb down meant there would be no mercy for a downed gladiator. In reality, this gesturing was the other way around. Thumb-up symbolized, symbolized

a sword action, and thus death, and thumbed down, a sheathed sword, mercy. The crew was aware of this while making the movie, but since Thuns Up is considered to be a good sign nowadays, they decided not to unnecessarily confuse the audience.

That makes sense. That's a solid call. Hey, you asked, Mel Gibson was offered to the lead role and turned it down, at 43. He felt he was too old to play Maximus. Russell Crow was 35 at the time of filming. So that's a pretty fun one. Joaquin Phoenix was incredibly nervous on set and he asked Russell Crow to rough him

up before their big scene together to psych Phoenix up. Crow was at a loss. He went to Richard Harris for advice. Mike, what are we going to do with... Hold on, let me, let me Australian up. Mike, what are we going to do with this kid? He's asking me to abuse him before Tykes.

He said, Harris replied, let's get him pissed over the course of several hours and several pines of Guinness, Crow and Harris relaxed their co-star. That is fun. So they just went drinking instead. Oh, let's see. The Germania battle sequence

took 20 days to complete. I believe that. Let's see. William Nicholson had thought that his time on the movie was over when he returned home to England only to receive a phone call almost immediately telling him that Oliver Reed

had just died. And he needed to read. return to Malta to rework the script. Nicholson jumped on the first plane. Well done, Nicholson. Let's do some of the spoilers. Oh, apparently Connie Nielsen is also a historical expert now due to fascination, just spurned on by the role.

All right. Sir Ridley Scott, spoilers, resisted any suggestion that Maximus and Lucilla should have had a sexual relationship because it would decrease his need to be with his murdered wife and son. Russell Crow was also against. it, feeling that it wasn't in character. I agree. Good call on both of you. The real-life commonist was the only Roman emperor in history to fight as a gladiator in the arena.

However, he did it several times, not just once. Also, he was not killed in the arena, but was strangled in the bath by an athlete named Narcissus. Excellent. That's awesome. Excellent poetic history. Among the changes necessitated by the death of Oliver Reed were the final scene as Proximo was to bury the figures in the sand of the Coliseum. So Ridley Scott had the scene rewritten to have Juba bury them,

Jaimon Honsu, and reference his earlier line about how Maximus would meet his family again. I think that's, I mean, sad circumstance certainly surrounding Oliver Reed, but I think that's one of those happy accidents where, like, that made for a really nice tie around to have Juba do that. The real Comedist fought in the arena, unbeknownst to him, the soldiers preparing the gladiator fight would stab the opponent in the back to weaken him in the same way Comediz does to Maximum. is in the movie. Okay, so

that makes a lot of sense. I wonder if he ever found out. The scene where Maximus finds his family's corpse is originally called for him to do a normal, discreet, few tears down each cheek dignified cry, but Russell Crow and Sir Relius got agreed that Maximus was seeing

that what Maximus was seeing demanded Crow to put in a quote, full-blown snot fest. And he did because he was getting, yeah, that gooey, that gooey going on. Bubblies, yeah. Let's see. Surly Scott initially thought

David Frenzoni's dialogue was too quote on the nose, so he hired John Logan to rewrite the script. Logan rewrote much of the first act and made the decision to kill off Maximus family as a motivation for the lead character. Damn, I can't imagine that without it. In real life, Marcus Aurelius died from the plague. In this movie, Cometus strangles him during an embrace.

Later in the movie, Grakis asks Comedus if he'd ever embraced someone dying of plague. That's a fun little Easter egg for you. history nerds. Joaquin Phoenix got so involved in the scene in which comment is murdered his father that he actually fated afterwards. Oh, wow.

Joaquin sounds like a cat, man. He sounds like an interesting, interesting, odd guy. He's a very passionate. He's a complex feller. Except for when he's making movies with Todd Haynes and then we're not doing that. In reality, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, we just got that. Yeah, people loved, people still love Marcus Aurelius. I'll move one more

One more What looks good I don't know You don't know Pick the one that has the most likes Oh there you go 94 137 Let's go with 137

Although most of the movie is fictitious It's interesting to note That the Emperor Comedus Historically It's interesting to note That Emperor Comedus Historically accurate killer narcissus was born in the same Roman African province

as the one in the movie where Maximus becomes a gladiator That's a neat little factie. Wow. It was a neat little fact. Three hours of movie, three hours of review, three hours of facts.

I think we got it all in there. That's right. Enjoy this six hour video. We've had a great time. What a film. What a film. What a flick, man. John, do you have any final thoughts for the people?

No, this is my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean movie yet. I can agree This is also my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean movie So until next time We'll rewatch the actual pirate movie That's the last fact we need to understand here That's is there any

Okay A central part of this movie's main battle theme Was reused nearly identically In the famous score of Pirates of the Caribbean Wow Why is the glad Cheater pumpkin eater Why is the Pirates of the Caribbean

Ride Clothes? No They're refurbishing again i'm sure uh the same as gladiator let's see if there's any google info on that before we before we before we anybody known as why pirates the caribbean hans zimmer explains when the music is so big and epic oh come on gladiator the music is really big there's no specific info if anybody has any specific info when you're here at the end of the video just I don't know if there's been any commentary on the fact that they are

like the same cue and how and why that happened you know does let us know because sometimes like I'm sure because it was on Zimmer they were able to like do the rights and whatever but sometimes that becomes a problem like I think 300 in fact might have been the movie that had like issues because they were interpolating

stuff from other scores which which I don't think Tyler Bates had written those scores there's probably a difference in like how you port all that over um but it's just yeah just such a striking thing and and the cue from pirates is so well known so iconic has been remixed a jillion times you know it's uh it's true fascinating wait as are you billy maize right when you give up you find it pirates the caribbean and jack sparrow theme songs explain now okay we're good we you you can take us out we're fine

it's just fun okay well we've we've pirated we've we've gladiatored and we're going to bed all right it's been it's been so real guys we'll see you guys in the next one deuses peace to elizian fields we go