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Good essay, but calling Gladiator _"firmly rooted in history"_ twice is a bit of a joke. It's famous with history buffs for just how much it gets wrong: both in big picture History and in the little details of history. And I'm not just talking about the man walking around in jeans in the battle scene, or Aurelius wanting to bring back the republic, or the big piazza outside the Colosseum that could fit an army, or the cavalry charging through a forest into burning arrows. Not that it's particularly worse than most of Hollywood, just that the bar for historical accuracy is very, very low (how important that is is a whole other debate).
@QuantumHistorian Yeah fair, that was more about it not delving into the supernatural and magic etc, as opposed to it being 'historically accurate.' Franzoni's first draft was in fact entirely about historical figures, but they changed Maximus to be fictional to make it explicitly clear that this wasn't trying to tell a story of history, even though the likes of Aurelius do crop up in it.
@@PentexProductions Yeah, that's a fair distinction to make. The Gladiator we got was a fictional story told in a broadly historically accurate Roman Empire. Or, at least, looks historically accurate to the casual viewer. That's different to a fantasy with mythological or other supernatural elements. I wont ask about Aussie slang, because that *is* dark magic that respectable English speakers fear to trend into ;)
When you say that there were dozen of eyes on the screenplay, you’re not wrong! I was a film major for a year at a state university in Washington State, and when I had my first meeting with the head of the department and he was talking about the screenwriting track, he mentioned that he was given a pass at the Gladiator script and said offhand that the third act was one of the messiest things he had ever worked on. Consider my mind blown. 🤯
I've commented it many times before but I'm so glad you're making these videos. Top notch, really. I love the optimistic approach and how straight to the point they are. Love your stuff. As for Gladiator... man I need to finally watch it, don't I? 😉😅😅 An embarassingly big hole in my watchlist.
Thanks for watching, and sorry for spoiling the movie for you! But yeah, give it a watch. If nothing else, Hans Zimmer's score rules and is definitely not a first draft of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme.
The 1st Gladiator is so good, it's hard to believe that it's a movie that came out in 2000, the visual effects, production design, the epic storytelling, all of it so top notch. Doesn't feel like a 24 year old movie. Eagerly waiting for Gladiator 2, specially Denzel's role in it.
@@24FramesALife24everything you praised in the first, is missing in this one, but give it a try if you catch a discount or something, don't know how much a ticket costs where you are, but it doesn't matter, full price is not worth it
I have a deep passion for ancient Rome, and the real history and values of that era. That said, Gladiator II isn’t a documentary designed to educate. While I’ve watched reviews and am aware of many of the historical inaccuracies, I’m not overly bothered by them. I admit I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get a more historically accurate portrayal of Caracalla, as he was such a fascinating figure, but I still plan to watch the movie. The casting doesn’t bother me either, especially since it features modern greats like Denzel Washington. I’m actually looking forward to it. As someone who genuinely enjoys reading ancient histories and studying this era, I don’t mind the creative liberties and think the movie has the potential to be enjoyable.
A chance at what? Being an all time great classic? No, probably not. Being a decent sword-and-sandal action film? Probably yes. The Martian was pretty good and The Last Duel was passable. My expectations are that it'll be moderately good - which is already enough to place it in the top 20% of releases.
@@QuantumHistorian Sequels made 20+ years after the first, are certainly a rare breed of success. Odds are stacked against this film. Even a Good film, will still be perceived as merely decent. Which is kinda what I'm hoping for. I simply don't want it to suck. Given how much money is poured into a typical film in the first place. Achieving that bar should be a no-brainer. A simple continuation of a story, that flows well, great production, is all I'm asking for. Not an epic to break records. Please not be Matrix 4. Matrix 3 is a decent continuation that worked, (for context).
@@QuantumHistorian why have our collective expectation levels and standards dived in recent years. We shouldnt be happy with moderately good. We should be having films that are great! and expect nothing less. Raise your bar guys. Dont settle for meh.
@@mclab001 Can't speak for everyone, but my expectations vary. I expected greatness from Dune (both parts) and got it. I expected nonsense from Rings of Power S2, and laughed when I indeed got just that. I expect okay-ness from a Ridley Scott Sequel. If I expected worse, I wouldn't even bother watching it. But as long as watching it is worth my time and money, then I see it existing as a positive. Maybe not as much of a positive as it might have been, but still better than if it didn't exist. This has always been the case. There's never been a time when all films were great. That's actually impossible because we judge media relative to what else is out there (past and present) and it can't all be simultaneously outstanding. The general rule is that 80% of everything (films, music, games, books, coffee, wine, etc...) is going to be meh or worse, 80% of what's left genuinely good, and only the tiny sliver that remains truly great. This has always been the case, it's just a selective memory bias that we remember the greats like Ben-Hur, but not the 32 mediocre westerns that came out that year (yes, I did google it, it was that many according to wikipedia). Maybe you expect every meal you have in your life to be the best one you've ever had. Every holiday to be more beautiful and mind opening than the previous one. Every night's sleep to be the most refreshing yet. Maybe I'm a pessimist for not setting my expectations sky high every time. But it means I'm not constantly disappointed, and can take a small amount of joy from things even if they fall short of greatness.
Saving Private Ryan used high shutter speed, and Gladiator used low shutter speed for longer exposure, also they play around with the FPS to get their respective desired motion blur and other effects
I'm ride or die for Ridley Scott, even when he makes stupid shlock, it's still really good stupid shlock (I'm thinking of House of Gucci here f.e. or even Napoleon, though I personally just really unironically love that one). His films are always worth looking at from a craftsmanship perspective, he's really just always giving it his all, all the time, real angry anime grandpa energy.
I appreciate that you're doing these videos. It takes work to write, narrate, and edit it all together. But what parts of the Gladiator 1 section aren't just your branded summary of the special features? The awards? Some of the context or sourcing? The strongest sections of this video and every video you make are your research and your authorial voice. In a way I appreciate the use of special features and behind-the-scenes interviews, but more for archival purposes than anything. I encourage you to keep to the added value. It's what sets you apart!
Fair comment - the purpose of this video was more to tell the story of Gladiator's production, rather than delve too deeply into the film analysis, but I see where you're coming from.
Unfortunately, i was so burned by Napoleon and my dissapointment for that, my expectations for Gladiator 2 are on the rocks. I really hope its good. but a dude riding a rhino makes me worry.....
Its a good thing they didnt try to make Nick Caves script because it is almost an exact copy of a book series by Barry Sadler called "Casca the eternal mercenary." In that series, a Roma Centurion, Longinus, kills Christ and is cursed to live as a warrior throughout history up to the Vietnam war and modern times. Im sure Sadler's estate would have sued the hell out of them. I mean the only slight change Cave made was replacing Longinus with Maximus. 18:20.
What I’ve noticed with Scott is he either makes 9/10 movies or 3/10 movies….. they never seem to be mediocre, either amazing or garbage. I’m really hoping this is close to as good as the original.
I think there might be a good chance that an American of Italian origins fought in the one or other American war. Still, that original idea for a Gladiator II sounds like a bit of a wild idea. TBH, the original Gladiator was perfect as it was. Some movies just should be left alone IMO.
Writer doesn’t want to go see a movie about someone who wants to kill somebody [ or action movie men most likely prefer ] he wants to see a movie about somebody who loves somebody known as chick flick
Maybe I’m missing something. Yes, Maximus is a Roman general but he’s not Italian. His background is Iberian. I mean, they call him Spaniard for three quarters of the film, for crying out loud. Doesn’t get much more on the nose than that.
25:59 I can appreciate your excitement but there are two things holding be back from your level of hype….1. Prometheus. I love Alien but Prometheus sucked. Sure the design work was great (I actually worked on the production) but aside from that the film was a mess! And b) the title: Gladiator II. Terrible. Just Terrible. Sounds like a dodgy straight to video sequel you’d get in the eighties. 🤷
Ahhh yes those terrible dodgy movies like The godfather II, Terminator II, Rocky II, Lethal Weapon 2, Back to the Future part II, The Karate Kid Part II... What a terrible time to be alive.
The father - son connection was a bad idea - a lame attempt to make you feel something for the main character in this - but it just takes away from the original film. - He had a love and loyalty to his wife a child but was banging the emperor's daughter around the same time.... ? Why couldn't Maximus be admired and respected for simply being a man?.... That's because men have no value unless they provide something like fatherhood...
“If anyone Can create a great sequal Its ridley Scott” - hmm yeah.. no. Taking the insane life events of Napoleon and turning out a weak, infactorial mess is beyond bad performance.
I'm just disappointed that once again hollywood still chooses the same timelines from history. Like I want to see a proper series about Justinian, not this.
Great video across the board. I don't mean to detract from that at all. But it's worth emphasizing that spoiler warnings are always worth taking seriously. If there are people born everyday then there's a good chance someone's watching Star Wars for the first time tomorrow. Maybe those people just found your channel with this video. Let's give them the best chance of enjoying stories properly.
One of the opening scenes was of a girl boss gladiator, told me all i needed to know. At this point, Mel Gibson is the only person keeping traditional masculinity alive in Hollywood.
Young men, however, do not need access to positive role models at the price of being bathed in exposure to graphic, horrific brutality. Why can there not be a third option?
Clearly that's down to the choices of those same young men. Access to a wide range of good stories matters, and there's plenty of room for all of them.
@@embracethenoise I suppose I did make an assumption. My assumption was that the term "young men" did not refer to mature adults whose personalities are congealed enough to contextualize their choices, but rather to impressionable children young enough for a male role model to still have a positive influence on who they become and how they view masculinity. For clarity, I'm not criticizing the choice in Gladiator, because even graphic, brutal films should absolutely have strong, positive male characters. I was lamenting that to function as role models for youth, this film does little to that end, and I wish having a character like Maximus was more widespread.
@GetSmartish I really appreciate your clarification, and I agree wholeheartedly. It's too common that movies, especially, focus on the spectacle and forget about the heart and soul of well developed characters and timeless stories.
Are you not entertained? If you are, then feel free to check out the Patreon. You can sign up for free to my occassional newsletter with film and TV reviews, while paid tiers start at just $1 for the fun bonus material.
www.patreon.com/pentexproductions
I heard Nick Cage rather than Nick Cave in the intro and, honestly, I think he would have written an equally wild screen play.
Better stil if Nick Cage plays every single character. Including the rhino.
Nick Cave can write a great screenplay - the Proposition is a very good film. Underrated.
Good essay, but calling Gladiator _"firmly rooted in history"_ twice is a bit of a joke. It's famous with history buffs for just how much it gets wrong: both in big picture History and in the little details of history. And I'm not just talking about the man walking around in jeans in the battle scene, or Aurelius wanting to bring back the republic, or the big piazza outside the Colosseum that could fit an army, or the cavalry charging through a forest into burning arrows. Not that it's particularly worse than most of Hollywood, just that the bar for historical accuracy is very, very low (how important that is is a whole other debate).
I think he's using the Australian meaning of rooted in honour of Russel Crowe.
A root in Australian slang is a totally different thing mate!@JulianSildenLanglo
@QuantumHistorian Yeah fair, that was more about it not delving into the supernatural and magic etc, as opposed to it being 'historically accurate.' Franzoni's first draft was in fact entirely about historical figures, but they changed Maximus to be fictional to make it explicitly clear that this wasn't trying to tell a story of history, even though the likes of Aurelius do crop up in it.
@JulianSildenLanglo They sure rooted the history up big time!
@@PentexProductions Yeah, that's a fair distinction to make. The Gladiator we got was a fictional story told in a broadly historically accurate Roman Empire. Or, at least, looks historically accurate to the casual viewer. That's different to a fantasy with mythological or other supernatural elements.
I wont ask about Aussie slang, because that *is* dark magic that respectable English speakers fear to trend into ;)
2:20 calling russel crowe an Australian as a kiwi should be seen as great shade, also agree
Not calling him Rusty is unAustralian!!
I think most of us Kiwis agree that the Aussies can keep Russell Crowe.
When you say that there were dozen of eyes on the screenplay, you’re not wrong!
I was a film major for a year at a state university in Washington State, and when I had my first meeting with the head of the department and he was talking about the screenwriting track, he mentioned that he was given a pass at the Gladiator script and said offhand that the third act was one of the messiest things he had ever worked on.
Consider my mind blown. 🤯
I've commented it many times before but I'm so glad you're making these videos. Top notch, really. I love the optimistic approach and how straight to the point they are. Love your stuff.
As for Gladiator... man I need to finally watch it, don't I? 😉😅😅 An embarassingly big hole in my watchlist.
Thanks for watching, and sorry for spoiling the movie for you! But yeah, give it a watch. If nothing else, Hans Zimmer's score rules and is definitely not a first draft of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme.
"... in November 2018"
Ah ok which brings us to now
"But that was 6 years ago!"
:< crumbles into dust
I am old, Gandalf!
I'm pretty excited for this.
I like Gladiator, I like a lot of the actors and I feel I'm more positive on Scott's most recent output than most.
The 1st Gladiator is so good, it's hard to believe that it's a movie that came out in 2000, the visual effects, production design, the epic storytelling, all of it so top notch. Doesn't feel like a 24 year old movie. Eagerly waiting for Gladiator 2, specially Denzel's role in it.
Seen it, don't bother
@@elliotstone5585 Huh, Gladiator 2 is not a good movie? Damn, i was actually excited to see the film.
@@24FramesALife24everything you praised in the first, is missing in this one, but give it a try if you catch a discount or something, don't know how much a ticket costs where you are, but it doesn't matter, full price is not worth it
@@xb1uee882 So, it turned out a movie that didn't matched its hype?
I have a deep passion for ancient Rome, and the real history and values of that era. That said, Gladiator II isn’t a documentary designed to educate. While I’ve watched reviews and am aware of many of the historical inaccuracies, I’m not overly bothered by them.
I admit I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get a more historically accurate portrayal of Caracalla, as he was such a fascinating figure, but I still plan to watch the movie. The casting doesn’t bother me either, especially since it features modern greats like Denzel Washington. I’m actually looking forward to it.
As someone who genuinely enjoys reading ancient histories and studying this era, I don’t mind the creative liberties and think the movie has the potential to be enjoyable.
Excellent work as always mate
Given the recent flops of this former brilliant director, I'm certain this sequel doesn't stand a chance.
A chance at what? Being an all time great classic? No, probably not. Being a decent sword-and-sandal action film? Probably yes. The Martian was pretty good and The Last Duel was passable. My expectations are that it'll be moderately good - which is already enough to place it in the top 20% of releases.
Even if it is a 1/5th as good as the original it would still be the 2nd greatest roman movie of the century
@@QuantumHistorian Sequels made 20+ years after the first, are certainly a rare breed of success. Odds are stacked against this film. Even a Good film, will still be perceived as merely decent. Which is kinda what I'm hoping for. I simply don't want it to suck. Given how much money is poured into a typical film in the first place. Achieving that bar should be a no-brainer.
A simple continuation of a story, that flows well, great production, is all I'm asking for. Not an epic to break records.
Please not be Matrix 4. Matrix 3 is a decent continuation that worked, (for context).
@@QuantumHistorian why have our collective expectation levels and standards dived in recent years. We shouldnt be happy with moderately good. We should be having films that are great! and expect nothing less. Raise your bar guys. Dont settle for meh.
@@mclab001 Can't speak for everyone, but my expectations vary. I expected greatness from Dune (both parts) and got it. I expected nonsense from Rings of Power S2, and laughed when I indeed got just that. I expect okay-ness from a Ridley Scott Sequel. If I expected worse, I wouldn't even bother watching it. But as long as watching it is worth my time and money, then I see it existing as a positive. Maybe not as much of a positive as it might have been, but still better than if it didn't exist.
This has always been the case. There's never been a time when all films were great. That's actually impossible because we judge media relative to what else is out there (past and present) and it can't all be simultaneously outstanding. The general rule is that 80% of everything (films, music, games, books, coffee, wine, etc...) is going to be meh or worse, 80% of what's left genuinely good, and only the tiny sliver that remains truly great. This has always been the case, it's just a selective memory bias that we remember the greats like Ben-Hur, but not the 32 mediocre westerns that came out that year (yes, I did google it, it was that many according to wikipedia).
Maybe you expect every meal you have in your life to be the best one you've ever had. Every holiday to be more beautiful and mind opening than the previous one. Every night's sleep to be the most refreshing yet. Maybe I'm a pessimist for not setting my expectations sky high every time. But it means I'm not constantly disappointed, and can take a small amount of joy from things even if they fall short of greatness.
1 of the top 5 movies ever filmed
Saving Private Ryan used high shutter speed, and Gladiator used low shutter speed for longer exposure, also they play around with the FPS to get their respective desired motion blur and other effects
I'm ride or die for Ridley Scott, even when he makes stupid shlock, it's still really good stupid shlock (I'm thinking of House of Gucci here f.e. or even Napoleon, though I personally just really unironically love that one). His films are always worth looking at from a craftsmanship perspective, he's really just always giving it his all, all the time, real angry anime grandpa energy.
Another fabulous essay. Thanks mate!
Thank YOU for watching!
This sounds a lot like shooting Jaws.
I appreciate that you're doing these videos. It takes work to write, narrate, and edit it all together. But what parts of the Gladiator 1 section aren't just your branded summary of the special features? The awards? Some of the context or sourcing?
The strongest sections of this video and every video you make are your research and your authorial voice. In a way I appreciate the use of special features and behind-the-scenes interviews, but more for archival purposes than anything. I encourage you to keep to the added value. It's what sets you apart!
Fair comment - the purpose of this video was more to tell the story of Gladiator's production, rather than delve too deeply into the film analysis, but I see where you're coming from.
@@PentexProductions all in love, my man. I'd watch your channel either way. It just seems like it could turn into a creative rut.
I’d loved to have seen Nick Cave’s Gladiator sequel. Would have been nuts. We need more nuts.
17:06 PREACH!!!
Looking forward to watching Gladiator II in IMAX with Laser GT.
Thank you.
The best way to see it!
It is terribly boring. Last jedi is way better.
22:35 isn't Maximus, a.k.a. the Spaniard, from Spain?
Unfortunately, i was so burned by Napoleon and my dissapointment for that, my expectations for Gladiator 2 are on the rocks. I really hope its good. but a dude riding a rhino makes me worry.....
Gladiator is one of those movie that never needed a follow up.
Its a good thing they didnt try to make Nick Caves script because it is almost an exact copy of a book series by Barry Sadler called "Casca the eternal mercenary." In that series, a Roma Centurion, Longinus, kills Christ and is cursed to live as a warrior throughout history up to the Vietnam war and modern times.
Im sure Sadler's estate would have sued the hell out of them. I mean the only slight change Cave made was replacing Longinus with Maximus. 18:20.
My mate has the prop of the severed head from the opening scene. He found it in a skip on site
It's a shame Scott hasn't been good in two decades. Man he used to be so good. Honestly "Christkiller" sounds like good schlocky fun.
The Martian was amazing. But yeah, he’s been pretty meh since Blackhawk down.
What I’ve noticed with Scott is he either makes 9/10 movies or 3/10 movies….. they never seem to be mediocre, either amazing or garbage. I’m really hoping this is close to as good as the original.
What we do in life, echoes in eternity! One of the best movies ever made.
"I don't want to go see a movie about someone who wants to kill somebody" guess he didn't see John Wick then
I'm not holding out much hope for this sequel but we'll see
Sucks bad.
The Nick Cave script sounds awesome
"but with a different Australian" - lollll
the whole gladiator 2 movie felt like a cheap CGI Netflix production
Actually Nick Cave wrote a screenplay The film Proposition.
I think there might be a good chance that an American of Italian origins fought in the one or other American war. Still, that original idea for a Gladiator II sounds like a bit of a wild idea. TBH, the original Gladiator was perfect as it was. Some movies just should be left alone IMO.
Gladiator 2 sucks acting is awful story if meh and music is shocking compared to gladiator 1
I’ll save you having to make a second follow up video… Gladiator 2 was **** 😤😤😤
Just watched glad II, wish I hadn’t, depressing awful, lead actor a total beta male, crap movie. Ridley needs to retire.
19:08 I think I would’ve took that then gladiator 2
Writer doesn’t want to go see a movie about someone who wants to kill somebody [ or action movie men most likely prefer ] he wants to see a movie about somebody who loves somebody known as chick flick
Maybe I’m missing something. Yes, Maximus is a Roman general but he’s not Italian. His background is Iberian. I mean, they call him Spaniard for three quarters of the film, for crying out loud. Doesn’t get much more on the nose than that.
25:59 I can appreciate your excitement but there are two things holding be back from your level of hype….1. Prometheus. I love Alien but Prometheus sucked. Sure the design work was great (I actually worked on the production) but aside from that the film was a mess! And b) the title: Gladiator II. Terrible. Just Terrible. Sounds like a dodgy straight to video sequel you’d get in the eighties. 🤷
Ahhh yes those terrible dodgy movies like The godfather II, Terminator II, Rocky II, Lethal Weapon 2, Back to the Future part II, The Karate Kid Part II... What a terrible time to be alive.
The father - son connection was a bad idea - a lame attempt to make you feel something for the main character in this - but it just takes away from the original film. - He had a love and loyalty to his wife a child but was banging the emperor's daughter around the same time.... ? Why couldn't Maximus be admired and respected for simply being a man?.... That's because men have no value unless they provide something like fatherhood...
Spoilers for a movie a ton of people have seen 😂
Time for Ridley to by eaten to death by cgi baboon men in the Colosseum. It’s over.
25:05 I hope this is some spoof mock up and not actually in the movie because that looks atrocious.
That's cuz he immigrated to America
“If anyone Can create a great sequal Its ridley Scott”
- hmm yeah.. no. Taking the insane life events of Napoleon and turning out a weak, infactorial mess is beyond bad performance.
I'm just disappointed that once again hollywood still chooses the same timelines from history. Like I want to see a proper series about Justinian, not this.
Last jedi is much better than Gladiator 2.
Nah, lol
Great video across the board. I don't mean to detract from that at all. But it's worth emphasizing that spoiler warnings are always worth taking seriously. If there are people born everyday then there's a good chance someone's watching Star Wars for the first time tomorrow. Maybe those people just found your channel with this video. Let's give them the best chance of enjoying stories properly.
This video didn't age well .
I find, referring to Richard Harris as Dumbledore deeply disrespectful.
While he was great in Harry Potter, it was hardly a career defining role.
One of the opening scenes was of a girl boss gladiator, told me all i needed to know. At this point, Mel Gibson is the only person keeping traditional masculinity alive in Hollywood.
The way I describe Gladiator is that "it's a mash up of Ben Hur and Spartacus, and worse than both". And I hate the last 15 minutes of Ben Hur.
Young men, however, do not need access to positive role models at the price of being bathed in exposure to graphic, horrific brutality. Why can there not be a third option?
Clearly that's down to the choices of those same young men. Access to a wide range of good stories matters, and there's plenty of room for all of them.
@@embracethenoise I suppose I did make an assumption. My assumption was that the term "young men" did not refer to mature adults whose personalities are congealed enough to contextualize their choices, but rather to impressionable children young enough for a male role model to still have a positive influence on who they become and how they view masculinity. For clarity, I'm not criticizing the choice in Gladiator, because even graphic, brutal films should absolutely have strong, positive male characters. I was lamenting that to function as role models for youth, this film does little to that end, and I wish having a character like Maximus was more widespread.
@GetSmartish I really appreciate your clarification, and I agree wholeheartedly. It's too common that movies, especially, focus on the spectacle and forget about the heart and soul of well developed characters and timeless stories.
FIRST FIRST FIIIIIRST
Gladiator is incredibly overrated
You're overrated