Out of all of Hans Zimmer’s soundtracks, ‘Gladiator’ is his best-selling. After watching this film it isn’t hard to see why. Hans’ score matches the film’s epic feeling although I still prefer his ‘King Arthur’ score which is very underrated.
After more than twenty years, ‘Gladiator’ still holds up today and not just because of its soundtrack either.
Story starts off with General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) in battle as he leads his Roman legions against German barbarians in AD.180. After Maximus emerges victorious, Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and the rest of the army hold him in very high esteem.
As Maximus, his friends and the elderly Emperor celebrate their victory, the Emperor's son and daughter (Joaquin Phoenix and Connie Nielsen) have been summoned. This is because Marcus has decided to name his successor. Commodus is very confident that Marcus will choose him because he is the Emperor’s son after all.
Commodus also thinks that Lucilla won’t be chosen because she was previously married, had a son and has since been widowed. There was also some supposed romance between Maximus and Lucilla and, as a result, Commodus thinks that she’s unworthy.
He is soon proved wrong however; Marcus appoints Maximus as his successor, much to his anger…and he smothers the Emperor. Lucilla finds out and immediately guesses what Commodus has done to Marcus. She slaps her brother. Hard.
Furious that Lucilla has turned against him, Commodus has Maximus arrested for treason and sentenced him to death. Especially when Maximus learns who and what really did kill Marcus.
Upon its release ‘Gladiator’ was praised for basically everything and it’s not hard to see why. Especially when it comes to the acting and the score.
Joaquin Phoenix is very convincing as the villain of the film and you just love to hate him. You can see why he was chosen to play The Joker once you see his performance on this film.
Russell Crowe also shines as Maximus especially during the said gladiator scenes. I would’ve liked to have seen him as Batman back in the day as a result.
As for me, I really enjoyed ‘Gladiator’ and I can see why so many films tried to copy it over the years (such as ‘King Arthur’ in 2004) although not with as much success. The up and coming sequel also by Ridley Scott should be interesting. “Are you not entertained?!” Yes we are indeed entertained Maximus.
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