Gladiator: Directed by Ridley Scott
As my favourite genres of film are horror and action, I chose to feature in this review, one of the leading players in field, Ridley Scott. His work most famously includes titles such as Alien, Hannibal, in addition to film I have chosen for this report, which is Gladiator.
Gladiator won numerous Academy Awards for sound, costume, special effects, best actor, best picture, best director, editing, most original screenplay and more. These awards and others, for a film directed by Ridley Scott are not uncommon, as he is a legend in the world of film directing. Gladiator is a brilliant epic that tells you the story of a well loved and trusted General in the roman army, Maximus, who so one of the Emperor’s closest friends.
In short, Gladiator tells the story of how the Emperor’s evil son murders his own farther in a fit of jealousy because he is envious of the loving relationship between Maximus and his father the Emperor. The son then targets Maximus as his next victim. Escaping what like looks certain death Maximus is enslaved, but later raises through the ranks to become the greatest gladiator of all time by fighting hundreds of fierce opponents in the Gladiators arena.
Gladiator is legendary for the stunning computer generated effects, panoramic views and setting which include a breath taking regeneration of Rome and the Roman Empire and a vast selection of historic Roman Coliseums, which took months to create. This technique of computer regeneration was anticipated and expected in the film because Ridley Scott is known all over the world for his creation of stunning and atmospheric special effect; a prime example of this has to be Alien.
The leading character in the film is the star named Russell Crowe who has recently finished playing the lead in the blockbuster, A Beautiful Mind. Gladiator could be seen as the turning point in Russell Crowe’s career, a leading part like Maximus was just what he needed to develop as an actor, prove his ability and make a name for him self. Whilst acting out fight scenes in Gladiator, Russell sustained numerous injuries including a fractured foot and hip and he also damaged both bicep tendons. After filming Russell said the worst injury that he sustained was during a fighting sequence, when the horse he was riding became startled causing him to lose control of the horse, which then ran straight into a tree, causing a branch to pierce his check.
Tragically, half way through filming of Gladiator, Russell’s co-star Oliver Reed (Maximus’s trainer) died whilst filming on location in Malta, just three weeks before filming was finished. The producers had to use their talents, film special effects and computer technology to super Oliver Reed’s head onto extra’s (stand in actor) bodies in the last scenes that Oliver Reed was originally supposed to act in, in order t complete the film.
In summary, this film fits into the genre given without a doubt, it is action packed, it uses lots of unusual weapons, spectacular special effects and sound, to try to add excitement, variety and originality to fight scenes and kill. Another thing that made Gladiator a typical action film was the good guy verses bad guy story line, with a strong aspect of revenge. Even the use of film shots was very typical, fast paced shots moving quickly from one camera to another, with a variety of medium, close up, big close up and extreme close up to show a mixture of deep emotions and maximise the impact of the action
Score – 10/10