Out of all the films that were released last year, Gladiator, in my opinion was the best. Directed by Ridley Scott, this movie, based on a Roman general, who after escaping from the clutches of the self-crowned Emperor of Rome, returns in the form of a gladiator to take revenge on the Emperor, won 5 Academy Awards including the awards for the Best Movie and Best Actor (Russell Crowe).
THE STORY
Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor is getting old, and in the final months of his life. His last wish is to hand over Rome to the people and make it a Republic. But his son, Commodus, who’s the heir to the throne after him, is dishonest and corrupt. The Emperor does not find him suitable enough to become the next Caesar. Maximus is an honest and able general of the Roman army camped in the north. Marcus Aurelius finds him suitable enough to become the next Caesar.
When Commodus comes to know about this, he kills his father and frames his death by saying that he died in his sleep. As the emperor had not made his last will, and given the crown of ‘Caesar’ to Maximus, Commodus is regarded as the Emperor considering that he was the only heir to the throne. He asks Maximus to be loyal to him to, like he was to Marcus Aurelius. But Maximus knows that the Emperor was killed. Commodus then orders Maximus and his family to be killed.
But somehow, Maximus manages to escape and heads homewards on horseback in an attempt to save his family. But he reaches too late, and finds his wife and son, the only two members of his family, dead. Some people find him in his homeland, and take him to a province (Zucchabar) as a slave. Over there, he is sold to a person who takes him to the games arena to fight. In the arena, he becomes the crowd’s favourite. His owner (the guy who bought him) is very impressed with him, and decides to take him to the Colosseum of Rome to fight as a gladiator.
He definitely wins the hearts of the ‘mob’ and also manages to impress Emperor Commodus. Commodus decides to see the face of the man who fights so well. But when he comes down to the ground of the Colosseum, and asks him to show his face. Commodus believed that Maximus was dead and entered into a state of shock, when he saw him. On seeing him, he ordered his soldiers to kill him. But the crowd liked Maximus so much, that they keep on shouting, “Spare! Spare!” Finally, Commodus had to give in to the crowd, and spared Maximus` life.
Commodus` sister, and daughter of Marcus Aurelius is honest and was aware of the fact that Commodus killed her father. She also knew Maximus very well, and decided to help him out. But Maximus thinks that she too is dishonest and played a role in killing the emperor. The lady met up with Maximus to win his trust and talk to him. Her exact words, “Today I saw a slave (Maximus) become more powerful than the Emperor himself”, show how powerful and popular Maximus was.
Meanwhile, Maximus meets up with an old friend. He asks about the whereabouts of the army of which he was the general, and makes a plan to kill Commodus. He decides to meet up with Commodus` sister as well as a politician, Caracus, who also wants to take revenge on Commodus. According to the plan, Caracus would arrange for some soldiers who would help Maximus to escape and meet up with his army in the north. Then with those 5000 soldiers, he would break through the walls of the Emperor’s palace, and kill Commodus. But Commodus, somehow, comes to know of the plan. He gets Caracus arrested and prepares a trap for Maximus.
Maximus then is recaptured. Commodus then pierces a weapon in Maximus` body and fatally wounds Maximus. Then he announces a match between himself and Maximus in the Colosseum. In the fight, Maximus could hardly stand, but fought bravely. He finally succeeded in killing Commodus, and falls to the ground.
ANALYSIS
The movie has a great plot. Russell Crowe is amazing and has acted very well. The actors have handled the emotional scenes very well. The highlight of the movie apart from Russell Crowe, is the cinematography and special effects. Although, there was one review, which criticised the special effects, I do believe that it was very good. Another highlight is the art direction aka the sets. A film magazine reported that the sets were made by an Indian, but I don’t know whether it is true or not. The dialogues are good, too.
Gladiator is too good a movie to miss. You SHOULD see this movie.