Two epic films, one legendary franchise! Join us as we compare Ridley Scott's original "Gladiator" and its long-awaited sequel, breaking down the story, characters, historical accuracy, and cinematic spectacle in an epic battle of gladiatorial proportions.
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00:00Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're stepping into the arena to test the skills of Ridley Scott's Gladiator and the sequel 24 years in the making.
00:14Stand ready for spoilers ahead.
00:16So if you ask anything of the gods, ask for that same bravery.
00:24In the summer of 2000, the world was entertained.
00:27After a difficult production under legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator emerged as a colossal critical and box office success.
00:34I wasn't the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me.
00:41It helped supercharge the Hollywood epic for the 21st century and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
00:48Needless to say, there were soon talks of a sequel.
00:52After story and production conflicts, studio politics and Scott's heavy workload, Gladiator 2 was finally realized in 2024.
01:00It's been 25 years since Gladiator 1.
01:05This is the next element coming back to the Roman Empire.
01:08Many say that it was worth the wait. Others saw it as a letdown.
01:12Really, this discourse is similar to that surrounding the legacy of the original film.
01:16Some believe it to be an unqualified prestige picture, especially given its historical liberties, screenplay and melodrama.
01:23It's not lost on me what we as a cast of actors and Ridley are stepping into.
01:28It's surely beloved enough for Gladiator 2 to be a commercial hit.
01:32But how does this more spectacle-driven blockbuster measure up to a debatable classic?
01:38Set in the Roman Empire, Gladiator follows a great general turned widowed fugitive who becomes embroiled in bloodsport and conspiracy.
01:47My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius.
01:50Commander of the armies of the North.
01:52General of the Felix legions.
01:54Loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
01:59Father to a murdered son.
02:02Husband to a murdered wife.
02:04And I will have my vengeance.
02:06Gladiator 2 is about a great general turned widow fugitive.
02:10Well, you see where this is going.
02:12This sequel's setup has been criticized as too similar as the originals.
02:16That is, the emotional foundation for the epic story feels too much like a lazy contrived retread.
02:21The narrative becomes more distinct as the politics and plot twists unfurl.
02:26Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury?
02:32The entire Roman armies.
02:37Too much?
02:38Of course, the first Gladiator was hardly an original concept.
02:42The motivations of revenge, honor, and even love make for the most standard of Hollywood melodrama.
02:47This sentimentality stands in contrast with the more procedural Gladiator 2.
02:52But both films carry a noble, if superficial, promotion of liberty and democracy.
02:57The message does feel more impactful in the dramatic scope of the first film,
03:01which tells its familiar story with care and breadth.
03:04Listen to me.
03:06My brother has enemies, most of all in the senate.
03:09But while the people follow him, no one would dare stand up to him until you.
03:14The sequel may be too cynical to attempt such sentimentality,
03:18while yielding few fresh ideas as both a sequel and an epic.
03:26Highness.
03:27Winner, Gladiator.
03:29Round 2, The Champions.
03:31Whatever their tonal differences, both Gladiator films are classical hero arcs.
03:36Maximus Decimus Meridius raised the bar on the screen as much as he did in The Coliseum.
03:41Whatever comes out of these gates,
03:44we've got a better chance of survival if we work together.
03:48Do you understand?
03:50We've got a better chance of survival if we work together.
03:53Do you understand?
03:57If we stay together, we survive.
04:00Once poised to restore the Roman Republic,
04:02he is betrayed by his friend Commodus and framed for regicide.
04:06The subsequent loss of his family and his freedom presents an action hero steeped in despair.
04:11That's enough for the moment!
04:13His time will come.
04:15Refreshing as this is,
04:17I believe that Maximus' tragedy is expressed more through brooding than intimate development.
04:21Gladiator 2 features a more grandiose protagonist, to a fault.
04:25Introduced in battle against the Roman army,
04:28Hanno is a more resolute revolutionary than Maximus.
04:31This is the last free city in Africa, Nova.
04:35Today, we go into battle.
04:39Pray that your god is with you. If he is not, he is no god.
04:44The revelation that he is really Lucius Verus Aurelius,
04:47runaway heir to the Roman throne,
04:49is so predictable that the film's promotions barely hide it.
04:52The prioritization of Lucius' development over Hanno's
04:55is evidenced by the dwindling attention to his grief as a widower.
04:59Maximus may be a maudlin tragic figure, but he is consistent.
05:02The perfectly cast Russell Crowe won an Oscar for mingling physical prowess
05:06with equally renowned emotional depth.
05:09You'll meet them again.
05:11But not yet.
05:15Not yet.
05:18Not yet.
05:20Of course, typically understated dramatic actor Paul Meskel
05:23was praised for his intensity in his action debut.
05:26Gladiator 2 is said to be an important display of his range
05:29and bankability as a movie star.
05:31Certainly, both Maximus and Lucius are skilled combatants
05:34with sympathetic motivations.
05:36The former just has a richer emotional factor to make him an icon.
05:45Gladiator 2
05:53Winner, Gladiator.
05:55Round 3, The Spectators.
05:57No less important than the heroes in both films
06:00are the supporting characters.
06:02At the heart of their political machinations is Lucilla,
06:05played by Connie Nielsen.
06:07My father favors you now.
06:08My lady.
06:09It was not always so.
06:11Many things change.
06:13Marcus Aurelius' daughter is the love interest in the first Gladiator,
06:16supporting Maximus' convictions and Commodus' cruelty.
06:20She's still adept enough in her scheme to overthrow her brother
06:23to feel like more than a plot device.
06:25Her reunion with her son Lucius
06:27also drives much of the emotion in Gladiator 2.
06:30Lucius.
06:32I do not know who you think I am.
06:35My name is Hanno,
06:37and I have no mother or none that I can remember.
06:40In the end, though, audiences were split
06:42by Lucilla's spectacular execution in the Colosseum.
06:45The series' fictionalization has been particularly polarizing
06:49with regard to the Roman emperors.
06:51You approved your valour.
06:53Yet again, Maximus.
06:57Better so.
06:58For the last time.
07:00There's no one left to fight, sir.
07:02There is always someone left to fight.
07:04Marcus Aurelius' fictitious death at his disinherited son's hands
07:08crudely establishes Commodus' tyrannical evil.
07:11He might have been a flat antagonist
07:13if not for Joaquin Phoenix's chilling Oscar-nominated performance.
07:17Gladiator 2's Caracalla and Gaeta are even more over-the-top,
07:21but the twin emperors are really more campy villains.
07:24I am a vessel.
07:27Fill me with vengeance
07:31and vanquish the betrayer.
07:33The true antagonist, as it turns out,
07:35is slave-turned-power player Macrinus.
07:37He's initially a counterpart to Antonius Proximo,
07:40a gladiator trainer and the ideal final role
07:43for legendary actor Oliver Reed.
07:45But his eventual disillusionment
07:47is effectively represented in Gladiator 2
07:50by Pedro Pascal's Acacius,
07:51a mighty general tired of war and corrupt leadership.
07:55No more.
07:58I will not waste
08:00another generation of young men for their vanity.
08:04Meanwhile, the conniving Macrinus flourishes
08:07on Denzel Washington's charisma and a compromising heel turn.
08:10Whatever the critics think of Gladiator 2 as a whole,
08:13everyone agrees that Washington steals the show.
08:21It's clear at this point that historical accuracy
08:24is not the top concern for the Gladiator saga.
08:27One myth perpetuated by Gladiator fiction in general
08:30speaks to the series' intentions.
08:33And him,
08:35and the Nubidian,
08:37and the deserter.
08:40And a hundred more.
08:42And when there's no more to fight, you're free.
08:45Due to their expense and entertainment value,
08:47gladiators very rarely fought to the death.
08:50Ridley Scott and company use that misconception
08:52to expand drama and explore deeply human themes.
08:55I often see you enjoying the pleasures of the vulgar crowd.
08:59I don't pretend to be a man of the people, Senator.
09:02But I do try to be a man for the people.
09:05This at least supported an accurate representation
09:08of the Roman social structure behind the movie's grander drama.
09:11Gladiator 2 went further with the Empire's business,
09:14high society, and political instability.
09:16Perhaps this was meant to make up
09:18for the further exaggeration of Gladiator combat
09:21in the frivolous interest of action.
09:23Hell seizes!
09:29The first Gladiator's exhaustive research
09:31went toward using real elements of the Roman Empire
09:34to legitimize fictional worldbuilding.
09:36It's a prime example of the difference
09:38between liberties and inaccuracies in a period piece.
09:41There was once a dream that was Rome.
09:44You could only whisper it,
09:47anything more than a whisper, and it would vanish.
09:50Still, selective authenticity invites scrutiny
09:52of where it falls short,
09:54and where the liberties go too far.
09:56Gladiator 2, on the other hand,
09:58had the capacity to feature coffee and newspapers
10:00in the late 2nd century.
10:02Equally baffling is the opening conquest of Numidia,
10:05which was annexed into Rome in 46 BC.
10:08Of course, the most talked-about liberties
10:10were in the use of animals in the Gladiator games.
10:22While there is evidence that a more watertight construction
10:25of the Colosseum was flooded to recreate naval combat,
10:27importing sharks would have been impossible.
10:30Gladiator 2 makes an art of anachronism,
10:32reveling in its fictionalized narrative
10:34more than the first film.
10:36This makes it hard to compare the historical representations,
10:39though authenticity is the real loser either way.
10:53Winner, Gladiator.
10:57If the Gladiator films can't completely replicate history,
11:00they certainly bring their own world to life.
11:18The first installment was the second of many collaborations
11:21between director Ridley Scott and art director Arthur Max.
11:24Their sprawling vision of the Roman Empire
11:26richly married authentic period detail
11:28with unique designs and CGI enhancements.
11:31More than 20 years later,
11:33Max's work on Gladiator 2 is naturally richer.
11:47It's still more attentive to the realistic grit
11:49of a mighty city under pressure.
11:51At the same time, it's less memorably artful.
11:54That every shot is still astonishing
11:56sets the core aesthetic difference between the two films.
12:07One of the most heated clashes, of course,
12:09is over the movie's action.
12:11As poetic as Gladiator was,
12:13its immense battles and savage combat
12:15were peak Hollywood spectacle.
12:25However, some say that Ridley Scott's close filming,
12:28rapid editing and spotty slow-mo get too stylized.
12:32The action remains stellar in Gladiator,
12:35but the sequel has way more of it.
12:37It also has more accessible direction,
12:40raw violence and imaginative concepts.
12:43Stuff like obviously CG baboons and tamed rhinos
12:46certainly tell audiences to take it all with a grain of salt.
12:55No!
12:57Though emotional weight is lighter,
12:59Scott has clearly matured with large-scale action over the years.
13:03But has he matured as a storyteller?
13:09Ridley Scott may not have personally won an Oscar for Gladiator,
13:13but it made him a leading figure in large-scale drama.
13:16Some say Gladiator 2 confirms that his genuine prestige
13:19has declined with the escalation of his productions.
13:22To be as big as it is, it has to be such a controlled environment.
13:25Eight cameras, then we come down here.
13:27Okay.
13:28And yet somehow Ridley finds a way
13:30to keep it completely organic and spontaneous.
13:33The predecessor was often underestimated
13:35in its pacing and high concept and emotion.
13:38This was enhanced by John Matheson's beautiful cinematography
13:41and one of Hans Zimmer's greatest scores.
13:43In comparison, Gladiator 2 is more focused on upping the spectacle.
13:48It's about survival!
13:50Survive!
13:52It's bigger and busier, with brisk pacing even in the political scenes.
13:56And while Matheson's photography
13:58and Harry Gregson-Williams' score are stunning,
14:00they lack sentiment.
14:02Gladiator 2 is undoubtedly another thrilling testament
14:05to Scott's ingenuity as an artist.
14:07Let the dogs decide!
14:09Lucius, wait.
14:11But as a humbler epic,
14:13Gladiator overcame notorious production difficulties
14:15to combine spectacle with a poetic tone.
14:18The more cynical sequel favors politics over pathos
14:21to embolden its action.
14:23It's worth noting that most of the additional 16 minutes
14:25in the original director's cut
14:27involve more character moments and world-building.
14:29Scott, a leading proponent of alternative cuts,
14:32claimed in an interview with Collider
14:34that he's content with the theatrical version of Gladiator 2.
14:37Never let it go.
14:39It will carry you to greatness.
14:42However, he later told The Hollywood Reporter
14:44that he may release an almost four-hour-long cut.
14:47An hour and a half of additional material
14:49would certainly mean more nuanced storytelling,
14:52but the central philosophy in how Scott directs the film
14:55differs from the original.
14:57Winner, Gladiator.
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15:15ROUND 7
15:16THE ROAR OF THE CROWD
15:18Complicated drama and massive entertainment
15:20made the first Gladiator an ideal champion
15:23for industry accolades.
15:24I look at them something they've never seen before.
15:27Most critics agree that the sequel has lost that part,
15:31but differ heavily on the quality of the film itself.
15:34Gladiator 2 is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes
15:37and has a solid cinema score of B.
15:40The audience turnout was also strong enough
15:42to earn a Golden Globe nomination
15:43for cinematic and box office achievement.
15:51On the other hand,
15:52the first film earned a cinema score of A
15:54and grossed almost $500 million
15:57against a third of its sequel's budget.
15:59And yet, Gladiator still has its share of critics.
16:02Roger Ebert gave it a measly two stars,
16:05slamming its technical aspects and dreary tone.
16:08And you make this film...
16:09Of the year.
16:10Of the year, easily.
16:11You make it sound frivolous.
16:12There's nothing frivolous about this movie.
16:14This movie doesn't have any depth.
16:15It doesn't have any juice.
16:17Esquire ranked it among the most overrated
16:19Best Picture winners in Oscar history.
16:21The fact is that the film is generally regarded as a classic,
16:24if not a masterpiece.
16:26Few are saying that about Gladiator 2.
16:28The harshest critics dismiss it as an unnecessary sequel
16:31that could corrupt its predecessor's legacy.
16:34Otherwise, it's generally praised
16:36as top-notch entertainment with credible prestige.
16:39It's sure to go down as a highlight of Ridley Scott's filmography
16:42for these discussions and its sheer achievement.
16:44But outside of two decades of technical development,
16:47critics universally declare Gladiator superior to Gladiator 2.
16:51Let's see where their thumbs land for Gladiator 3.
17:09Winner, Gladiator.
17:11What is your judgment of the Gladiator films and their legacy?
17:14Let the crowd be heard in the comments.
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