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Until a few days ago, I didn't know the making of Gladiator was so chaotic. Almost anything that could go wrong, went wrong. Yet, the final product was a great movie, mainly because of the cast and crew's sheer faith in the film. A cinematic miracle.
6:19. Even that amazing shot was come up with on the day because they didn’t have full body double fake corpses for his wife and child. That crane up to see their feet as he falls is SO much more impactful than seeing the full bodies if you ask me.
exactly right. perfect example of less is more. would the scene have been better with full corpses on display? not at all; i'd argue even worse. the heart of the scene is the impact on maximus, so focusing on crowe's marvelous acting was the right choice, not the vulgarity of bodies.
Originally Scott didn't want Russell Crowe's character to get close to the "bodies". The scene was supposed to end when Crowe falls to his knees after seeing his wife and son hanging there. Crowe convinced Ridley Scott that allowing him to approach and touch the bodies would be more impactful. Scott didn't want to do it originally, but Crowe talked him into it, and the film is the better for it.
That mistake is going to haunt me forever. Let’s get this comment some likes to bring it to the top. Yes. Casino Royale’s screenplay credits go to Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis.
I just saw Gladiator for the first time this week and now I understand why so many people love it and talk about it to this day, it is truly a timeless story!
There's a lot of true greats of acting in that movie, Russel Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed (a great character, look him up in interviews; sadly a massive alcoholic), Connie Nielsen, Richard Harris (of Dumbledore fame), Derek Jacobi (loved him in 5th Element amongst many other things), Djimon Hounsou, and so many more. From the sounds of the journey it went on to come to us they all made this film what it is. Was fun to notice that Omid Djalili had a part in the film, who I think is a really funny comedian. You can click on any of the cast in that film and go "I didn't know he was also in that" for many other loved or iconic films pretty much every time. I agree we need more movies like this, although not exactly like this. Don't want a sequel or a remake thanks.
we have and a lot of them are way better, rewatched it a few weeks ago and was bored out of my mind, its a great movie but its not some sort of pinacle at all
Very good videos, but I personally cannot place them higher than the original, Every Frame A Painting. The main reason is simple: EFAP videos are/were only as long as they need to be. These videos are frequently 10 minutes long, which is the perfect length for the algorithm + it seems a standard that Danny has for his content. The only critique I have for CinemaStix's overall style, which I can't really critique too much. Just my preference for succinct storytelling.
I love/hate Proximo’s angry “I said he touched me on the shoulder once” the phrasing is so awkward that it stands out given how well eloquent everyone is otherwise. But it also works for me because he’s talking about the most important moment in his life and Maximus laughs in his face over it which I think cut very deep with Proximo, making him immediately self conscious. And so, Proximo yells back; he’s the boss, how dare one of his gladiators talk to him like that, so he’s compelled to bite back. But he’s so rattled that all he can come up with is “I said he touched me in the shoulder once”, betraying his otherwise assertive disposition.
Charles Reed was perfect for that role and it's a shame he didn't make it to the end of filming because it would have made such an amazing Swan Song for a brilliant but complicated actor. I think he hits every line pitch perfect and brings a credibility few actors at the time could have matched.
@@blofeld39 This. It struck me as authentic, not awkward. One of those sort of brusque, impulsive outbursts that you see regularly in everyday life. Not necessarily eloquent or perfectly stated, but it gets the point across, the way most people actually regularly talk.
Ridley’s disdain for scripts has proven to be his weakness nowadays though, he’s begun choosing screenwriters at random, some awful, some decent, which is why his films are so hit and miss. So sure this was written on the fly, but by a GOOD production TEAM and writers. Napoleon and Gladiator II are some of the dull uninspired screenplays ive ever seen executed about such amazing subject-matter
Scott REALLY knows how to point a camera and manage a production but he has poor instincts on story and script selection. Not everyone is great at everything.
I have seen gladiator countless times. I've also run to the soundtrack countless times. It's one of those ageless great stories we rarely get these days. I had no idea most of it was worked out on the fly. Massive respect for the cast and crew getting it all so perfect. Oh and Joaquin Phoenix is the man. Total beast.
Beautiful work here. I actually teared up a bit, as I realized the actors and everyone was putting their SOUL into this work. Digging up the raw, real emotion, it looked like. And whatever this background music is was a good touch. Sometimes a "perfect storm" of chaos is required to bring the most beautiful, perfect circumstances for a masterpiece or to finally reach a level of success. It also lies in the moments of "flow state" which has been well documented by a European psychologist back in like the 1950's, it is a key ingredient in all of this. The "flow" of the fluidity within the confines described by Crowe here when he was discussing the budget. I just saw the second film in theatres, it was well done but I think it can't out do the first thematically. It can only build on it, which it did quite nicely (though with less overt spiritual depth)
I usually avoid movie essays like the plague but there's 2-3 channels I watch religiously with notifications on and yours is one of them. Always happy to see a new upload :)
Between this and Blade Runner, I’m wondering does Ridley Scott ever like a script? Oh, and a round of applause for the soundtrack. A great deal of our videos were made while I played Now We Are Free on loop for hours 😂😂😂
@@TheKingWhoWins I dont know man, I thought the script was cheesy and felt like fan fiction. And the editing is weird, I remember joiking the movie was 20 minutes too long and someone actually made a fan edit that cut 15 minutes of the film without removing any scenes.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that a production like this could put a lot of extra pressure on the edit and the editor to make it work. Edit: This is fascinating. I had no idea a movie with such a large budget could be made this way. I doubt an equally large budget today would ever allow for this kind of creativity without an executive getting in the way.
Ingrid Bergman said she didn't know until the end who she was going off with the Paul Heinreid character or Humphrey Bogart character. Which was ideal for a woman divided by two lovers and two paths.
@@BillPeschel It wasn't just Ingrid. The writers [Epstein & Koch], the producer [Wallis] and the director [Curtiz] didn't know how it was going to end, either!
@@atlanteum The issue being they couldn't have Rick go off to a concentration camp, as he does in the play. This is a war movie; he HAS to survive. So what winds up being the lynchpin is the moral flexibility of Louis Renault.
@@BillPeschel Have you read Aljean Harmetz' incredible behind the scenes making-of, "Round Up the Usual Suspects?" It covers the moment the writers were together in a car [on Sunset, I believe] and the ending hit both of the at the same time! Wonderful!
I got the vhs of Gladiator when I was a 9 year old. I was probably too young to watch it, but it left such an impression on me and sparked my interest in Roman history which ultimately made me choose history as a minor when I went to university.
Hey Danny, I just wanted to tell you that I really really enjoy your videos. There's something about them - style, editing, narration - that I just love. One of the best is the Ocean's Eleven one and this was was quite good as well.
I thankfully saw the Star Wars video as soon as it came out. When I tried to find it again and couldn't, I knew this was a channel who's videos I better watch ASAP.
Gladiator was one of the first movies I saw that wasn’t PG or edited for television. The way it delivered depth where stupid action was expected contrasted with my expectations for A Knight’s Tale. They delivered opposite my expectations. Add to that the unexpected soundtrack choices. I’ve always wondered how different the experience of both films would be if you could swap the music (and still have it align with the action, plot, and dialogue). The choice they made in Gladiator to put feedback guitar in one of the matches has stuck with me as a songwriter and aspiring film composer ever since. I get chills just remembering it.
crowe and scott are undoubtedly marvelous at their craft, but in this case i think they got too into their own heads. the scene really needed to be bookended with a thematic declaration and those words were perfect.
@@Thagomizer but of all the things to be direct about, if murdering my family isn’t one of them, when could I be direct? Would that seriously be something you only alluded to in person when confronted with the coward that did it? I certainly agree that being ‘on the nose’ in writing is usually bad, but I don’t think it’s a universal law; the most quoted line of the film, if not cinema, proves that.
I haven’t seen Gladiator 2 and may not till it is for rent due to how well and complete Gladiator was. My only curiosity was Juba as that would have been an excellent spinoff. Gladiator (Crow) and Braveheart (Gibson) are truly timeless perfections.
I enjoy your essays immensely. Thanks you for postint them, it means a lot. I have watched quite some movies just because you posted a video about them; this movie will be an addition to that list.
The thing about movies like Gladiator is that the majority of the people involved are excellent at their jobs, so that makes up for not having a great script. Like yeah maybe Crowe didn't "like" the speech, but he knows how to deliver it, Phoenix knows how to react, Scott knows how to film it, and Zimmer makes you feel it with the music. Nevermind cinematographer, editor, customers, etc. I don't know who did those but I'd say they were all probably above average talent as well.
One of my absolute all time faves and it thrills me to learn something new about it. Thank you. I always stop and watch as soon as I see the noti from your channel.
The only thing that I personally would have seen different is that the figurines are buried SO shallow (I mean parts of the figurines are higher as the ground itself), even the first time watching that got me out of the moment. Could be just a me thing, though. The movie as a whole is fantastic and one of my favorites.
Gladiator is the closest thing we have to a golden era classic. It's no coincidence its a period Roman story. It's exquisitely executed, cheesey yet so well shot and acted it... Stands up.
wow. i had no idea. sometimes you take these films for granted, not realizing the love and fluidity it took to take a sh*t movie to the next level. thanks for the video!
Watching this the last two nights I had two thoughts : Ridley's best films are the ones he loses control of and Cinemastix really should dig into Gladiator. Loved seeing this pop up and learning Ridley didn't lose control, he never really had it. And I think you can feel the film is less a result of a manufactured production and more of fraught crafting. Learning the issues with script explains why the film has a fairytale quality to me, they had to rely on simple story telling and didn't bother explaining or rationalizing character decisions, characters just do things and we're left to infer from previous scenes as to why.
Indeed. Definitely some weird alchemy going on where Scott produces fantastic films when the whole project is a spiralling, on-the-fly mess but some real turds when he has much tighter control and better planning. The new Gladiator is awful and that's just bizarre. So much of it is lazy and cliched, it's hard to understand how it could come from someone like Scott. Perhaps when the films aren't properly planned, he is forced to delegate the things he isn't actually any good at and he's left in control of a much more narrow set of elements that he does well, like visual language, mood etc. He clearly can't write a good story or decent dialogue.
Just rewatched for the first time in a decade and that last scene with Juba had me crying for the first time in years. I’ve walked out 3 movies this year (also first time in years) and have become so despondent with the state of filmmaking I forgot cinema can me move me like that.
So glad Crowe stuck with the _"Father to a murdered son"_ etc piece, as I personally find that to be one of the best in the movie! Granted, it was helped by the actors doing such a good job to sell it, but the line itself was powerful!
I’ve personally never loved Gladiator like everyone else. Movie just didn’t click with me at all, outside of its performances and Ridley Scott’s admirable direction. And part of the reason why is because the story seemed so barebones and like it purely existed to take Maximus from the one action sequence to the next. I wasn’t invested in his character or his arc, much less the supporting characters. It’s why I always had a fascination over what the film’s original script might have turned out to be. Ridley Scott, despite all his success and skills, has made some bad narrative choices over his career, so I really am curious to see what the original script would have turned out to be
"Gladiator" is an ancient revenge narrative. Scott knew his responsibility as director was simply to fill in the details of character and craft. Scott's "Blade Runner" also used the script as little more than a rough sketch for a movie. The awful narration in the original release was added at the insistence of the studio, which thought the "story" was more important than the characters and the spectacle, and Harrison Ford tried to sabotage it by reading it so badly that he hoped it couldn't be used -- a tactic that backfired. "Gladiator" is another variation on the antediluvian revenge formula that goes back to movies like "The Searchers" and "Mad Max"... and in literature and drama to before Ancient Rome itself.
There is a fine line between epic and cheesy at times. I always cringed at the strength and honour motto, but others love it. Crowe may have hated the husband to a murdered wife etc line, but it is easily the most powerful line in the film. Sometimes you need a little imagination to see a written line will work in context. That one definitely does. It’s his reveal, it’s the chilling moment for his adversary. It’s a man saying the truth to a tyrant without fear, revealing he has picked on someone his own size and it’s going to cost him.
Maximus is not just talking to the Emperor - Maximus is talking to the crowd and stating his case in front of Rome. The emperor knows who Maximus is - the crowd needs the exposition and the theatricality.
@@FloatingOnAZephyr the whole crowd is silent when the emperor asks his questions. So I assume at least some can hear the conversation. Also, this is a Roman general, used to giving speeches and probably a trained orator - his voice carries when he wants it to. (Yes, he'd probably have to shout louder in reality, but this is a similar conceit to a character walking in with a perfect rejoinder to an ongoing conversation from across the hall. The movie is showing us the acoustics worked out.)
It is 3 writers plus countless other people with a unique view and unique ideas adding to the story. The power of an entire community forming amd telling a story. Writers workshops exist for this reason. Every great story needs input from multiple people.
I love when artists, creatives working together, with that common vision and respect create magic. It's epic and wonderful and I love playing in that arena.
This feels like the answer to the line I think Djimon Hounsou’s character delivers, “You have a great name. You must kill it before it kills you.” It’s a strong character statement but it feels like that strong character statement is abandoned. Now I think I understand why. Thanks for the video!
i love guessing which movie these videos are about just from the title in my notifs cause i thought we were going to be talking about 500 days of summer haha
I've missed a lot of your recent videos, but i just so happened to be check on your channel today (while looking for your video about Baby Driver and Edgar Wright, since i finally got around to watching that movie), and noticed you just uploaded another banger video today! Great editing and fascinating storytelling as always! I'll need to check out your other recent videos now, too, :D
It may say something about the world that you say that a revenge story is not overly political. The question of whether revenge is a good thing or a bad thing is at the very core of politics.
I hear that Gladiator II is essentially a remake of the first film. But it's been 25 years. A lot of people who are going to see it haven't seen the original. Also, all the reviewers say that Denzel Washington's performance makes the movie and differentiates it from the original. The production values are typical Ridley Scott impeccable, and it is blowing up at the box office in any case. For those of us who saw the original back in the day, nothing can match the shock of seeing an epic set in the Ancient World for the first time in decades, and such a superb one at that. It's hard to believe an endlessly quotable film was improvised. I had a lump in my throat at the end, as I'm sure most people did. Gladiator led to an explosion of interest and productions set in Greece and Rome, but IMO it still remains the best of all of them after all this time.
Old Greek and Roman epics were told orally. This meant that between poets the way in which stories such as the Illiad or Aeneid were told varied slightly. This didn't matter, though, because the core, the heart and soul of the story resonates with listeners on a human level even thousands of years later. Gladiator 2 failed to live up to the brilliance of the first story because while it may have ok surface writing, the core story and themes are underdeveloped and confused.
I do disagree on one point: Gladiator is, actually, political, because one of the themes that gets repeatedly stressed is „Democracy versus Dictatorship“. Maximus is fighting for democracy, in the form of the old Roman Republic which he is trying to restore against Commodus, who wants to remain a dictatorial emperor. Maximus is willing to die and asks others to die for this idealistic goal. Now, historically, there is exactly zero reason for this theme to exist, both because this conflict never happened in the Roman Empire and because it imposes a completely ahistorical idea of the Roman Republic. However, this film notably was made during a time when people were being asked to kill and die „for democracy“, and from that point of view the theme makes sense. It absolutely can be seen as having a propaganda function, even if that isn’t super-overt.
You let me see movies, and creation, and from just a different, fuller, harder, less certain, somehow more human way. So I signed up for nebula. Thank you.
Just watched Gladiator 2. To much cheesy dialog made it through imo! A good movie to watch with the boy's but it didn't have the same idk impact I guess.
I feel like Gladiator is now regarded better than when it came out. At the time my group of friends liked it- but it also had a bit of that "seemingly not ending saturday afternoon how can Ben Hur still be running dullness" in my mind it is a good movie- but not a fun one
This is so silly but this movie was low key spoiled for me by the blue filter. The Elysian fields have been embedded in our culture for millennia as fields of gold, and I'd heard about the movie before seeing it and pictured it so clearly, that seeing them all chilly and blue at the end completely robbed me of catharsis.
"When they went through the script, marking out in red all the parts that didn't make sense..." Wait, you can do that? "Cheesy lines said with sincerity..." With what now? "Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife... Boy, my life does suck when you think about it. At least I don't live with my parents, though - so that's something."
Hehe. Don’t forget to come back. Also, you may notice some very slight differences in the edit. I had to make some last minute changes at the start of the video, and elsewhere, to avoid problems on YT.
Just a quick thought in the middle of the video. Maybe the fact that it is not coherent, that there was more than one writer, is the reason Maximus is so great as a leader. The man he plays as stoic godlike general for his men is slightly different from actual him, because it is literally a different writer who wrote the scenes for different Maximus.
No one will believe me but this is the first rated R movie I ever watched when I was 6. I asked my parents to buy it for me and I honestly thought Eddie Murphy was on the cover. I thought it was a comedy. Life changing lmaoo
Whenever I hear an actor or director saying I hated the script or the script sucked, I tend to lean toward thinking it's bullshit. If that were true, unless you're a struggling artist, why take the job in the first place? I'm especially skeptical when they say they went through the script and started crossing stuff out and had only twenty or thirty pages left. If so little of Franzoni's original script was used, I doubt he would have gotten anything more than a story credit, per WGA rules. How many actors and directors say "it was made up as we went along" when the movie is a box office disaster? How many studios would even ALLOW this on expensive period piece? Sure, Nicholson probably did a lot of rewriting on set, partly out of necessity because a cast member died, but apparently it wasn't enough for him to take sole credit. And what amazes me is that people are all too happy to believe whatever the star and director (who, by the way, didn't get any writing credit) tell them.
Idk when I fell asleep but someone woke me up because I was snoring loudly in IMAX for the Gladiator 2 Screening :( So embarrassed I got glimpses of the afterlife like Maximus :(
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Until a few days ago, I didn't know the making of Gladiator was so chaotic. Almost anything that could go wrong, went wrong. Yet, the final product was a great movie, mainly because of the cast and crew's sheer faith in the film. A cinematic miracle.
Gladiator, World War Z, .....
The final product was a dour, downbeat, shallow, and overrated movie.
@@Thagomizerguess you're better than most moviegoers and a good portion of Italians. They love this movie.
@@Thagomizer One of the best movies ever
@@Thagomizer watched this movie for the first time yesterday i aint really like it niether
6:19. Even that amazing shot was come up with on the day because they didn’t have full body double fake corpses for his wife and child. That crane up to see their feet as he falls is SO much more impactful than seeing the full bodies if you ask me.
Incredible scene. I never knew that about it
exactly right. perfect example of less is more. would the scene have been better with full corpses on display? not at all; i'd argue even worse. the heart of the scene is the impact on maximus, so focusing on crowe's marvelous acting was the right choice, not the vulgarity of bodies.
Originally Scott didn't want Russell Crowe's character to get close to the "bodies". The scene was supposed to end when Crowe falls to his knees after seeing his wife and son hanging there. Crowe convinced Ridley Scott that allowing him to approach and touch the bodies would be more impactful. Scott didn't want to do it originally, but Crowe talked him into it, and the film is the better for it.
@@oldfrend Ahh I never knew that, 100% no need to show the full body, that scene was heartbreaking.
Saw a short recently about how he was supposed to just drop down but Crowe insisted that he had to go to her and kiss her feet
Sorry, but John Logan didn't write Casino Royale. He wrote Skyfall and Spectre
That mistake is going to haunt me forever. Let’s get this comment some likes to bring it to the top.
Yes. Casino Royale’s screenplay credits go to Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis.
@@CinemaStix
Let’s heap shame on cinemastix and never forget or forgive this massive oversight
@@CinemaStix We all make mistakes sometimes, it's human so don't worry. Please continue making your great videos!
@@ethanho3045 Absolutely right, Ethan. It is okay to make mistakes. Honestly, I am completely unbothered by it.
I just saw Gladiator for the first time this week and now I understand why so many people love it and talk about it to this day, it is truly a timeless story!
Eh, I've seen it twice and never been that impressed by it.
@@Mistwolfssyet here you are
@gustavselin1197 ya, I like listening to people talk about movies.
wait til you see the new one, its shit
@ trust me I watched enough reviews of that one, I rather spend my money on something else 😂
Russell Crowes performance made this movie what it is today, I wish we had movies like this today
Phoenix's performance made the movie just as much. They both deserve equal credit.
There's a lot of true greats of acting in that movie, Russel Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed (a great character, look him up in interviews; sadly a massive alcoholic), Connie Nielsen, Richard Harris (of Dumbledore fame), Derek Jacobi (loved him in 5th Element amongst many other things), Djimon Hounsou, and so many more. From the sounds of the journey it went on to come to us they all made this film what it is.
Was fun to notice that Omid Djalili had a part in the film, who I think is a really funny comedian. You can click on any of the cast in that film and go "I didn't know he was also in that" for many other loved or iconic films pretty much every time.
I agree we need more movies like this, although not exactly like this. Don't want a sequel or a remake thanks.
we have and a lot of them are way better, rewatched it a few weeks ago and was bored out of my mind, its a great movie but its not some sort of pinacle at all
Me 2. It's actually right now on tv .
I still like Russel Crowe.
I wish directors could make more movies like this in 2024 without blue screen
Funny cuz we just got Gladiator 2.
“ Are you not entertained”
Best movie one liner
I will give you one liner
but what about that roachshack dialogue when he gets puched up on in line in prison
@ I not that familiar with the movie.
I just love Crowe and that LINE. It’s way better then
I ll be back or The name is Bond, James Bond
@@marcsarfati3291
oh sorry...I was talking about watchmen
Drinker: We are not entertained.
@@marcsarfati3291I think Bond's is more iconic. But they're all great!
Best Movie commentary on RUclips, no competition, all your videos just keep getting better man!
50 videos in, you don’t know what it means to me to hear that. Thank you :)
this guy gets it.
@@CinemaStixIt’s true🫡
Agree. The only other one I put on the same level is Wolfcrow.
Very good videos, but I personally cannot place them higher than the original, Every Frame A Painting. The main reason is simple: EFAP videos are/were only as long as they need to be. These videos are frequently 10 minutes long, which is the perfect length for the algorithm + it seems a standard that Danny has for his content.
The only critique I have for CinemaStix's overall style, which I can't really critique too much. Just my preference for succinct storytelling.
I love/hate Proximo’s angry “I said he touched me on the shoulder once” the phrasing is so awkward that it stands out given how well eloquent everyone is otherwise. But it also works for me because he’s talking about the most important moment in his life and Maximus laughs in his face over it which I think cut very deep with Proximo, making him immediately self conscious. And so, Proximo yells back; he’s the boss, how dare one of his gladiators talk to him like that, so he’s compelled to bite back. But he’s so rattled that all he can come up with is “I said he touched me in the shoulder once”, betraying his otherwise assertive disposition.
I think Reed sells every line he's given in the film. I never thought of it as being awkward.
@@blofeld39Agreed. It’s surprising to me that anyone would think that was an awkward delivery.
I never thought of it as awkward
Charles Reed was perfect for that role and it's a shame he didn't make it to the end of filming because it would have made such an amazing Swan Song for a brilliant but complicated actor.
I think he hits every line pitch perfect and brings a credibility few actors at the time could have matched.
@@blofeld39 This. It struck me as authentic, not awkward. One of those sort of brusque, impulsive outbursts that you see regularly in everyday life. Not necessarily eloquent or perfectly stated, but it gets the point across, the way most people actually regularly talk.
Ridley’s disdain for scripts has proven to be his weakness nowadays though, he’s begun choosing screenwriters at random, some awful, some decent, which is why his films are so hit and miss. So sure this was written on the fly, but by a GOOD production TEAM and writers. Napoleon and Gladiator II are some of the dull uninspired screenplays ive ever seen executed about such amazing subject-matter
Yep his success rate is like 50/50 which is pretty bad.
Didley hasn't hit anything since Kingdom of Heaven(2005)
Scott REALLY knows how to point a camera and manage a production but he has poor instincts on story and script selection. Not everyone is great at everything.
I have seen gladiator countless times. I've also run to the soundtrack countless times. It's one of those ageless great stories we rarely get these days.
I had no idea most of it was worked out on the fly. Massive respect for the cast and crew getting it all so perfect.
Oh and Joaquin Phoenix is the man. Total beast.
Beautiful work here. I actually teared up a bit, as I realized the actors and everyone was putting their SOUL into this work. Digging up the raw, real emotion, it looked like. And whatever this background music is was a good touch. Sometimes a "perfect storm" of chaos is required to bring the most beautiful, perfect circumstances for a masterpiece or to finally reach a level of success.
It also lies in the moments of "flow state" which has been well documented by a European psychologist back in like the 1950's, it is a key ingredient in all of this. The "flow" of the fluidity within the confines described by Crowe here when he was discussing the budget. I just saw the second film in theatres, it was well done but I think it can't out do the first thematically. It can only build on it, which it did quite nicely (though with less overt spiritual depth)
I usually avoid movie essays like the plague but there's 2-3 channels I watch religiously with notifications on and yours is one of them. Always happy to see a new upload :)
I’d be curious to know the others.
Me too, what are the others?
MovieWise is my favorite. He’s great with wordplay and vocabulary. I’ve learned a lot about script structure from him.
@@CinemaStixscene it is good
Not to mention the copyright claim is sure to come 😢 so you gotta watch it fast before our Overlords bring down the hammer
Between this and Blade Runner, I’m wondering does Ridley Scott ever like a script? Oh, and a round of applause for the soundtrack. A great deal of our videos were made while I played Now We Are Free on loop for hours 😂😂😂
he only cares about visuals, thats why he keeps directing awful films like the alien prequels, blade runner 2049 and gladiator 2.
He didn't direct 2049. Also, that was a solid film.
@@TheKingWhoWins I dont know man, I thought the script was cheesy and felt like fan fiction. And the editing is weird, I remember joiking the movie was 20 minutes too long and someone actually made a fan edit that cut 15 minutes of the film without removing any scenes.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that a production like this could put a lot of extra pressure on the edit and the editor to make it work.
Edit: This is fascinating. I had no idea a movie with such a large budget could be made this way. I doubt an equally large budget today would ever allow for this kind of creativity without an executive getting in the way.
Same thing with Casablanca. It's the most beloved movie of all time, and it was basically written on the fly as it was being filmed.
Ingrid Bergman said she didn't know until the end who she was going off with the Paul Heinreid character or Humphrey Bogart character. Which was ideal for a woman divided by two lovers and two paths.
@@BillPeschel It wasn't just Ingrid. The writers [Epstein & Koch], the producer [Wallis] and the director [Curtiz] didn't know how it was going to end, either!
@@atlanteum that's true and I should have framed it that way. It wasn't they didn't tell her; they didn't know either.
@@atlanteum The issue being they couldn't have Rick go off to a concentration camp, as he does in the play. This is a war movie; he HAS to survive. So what winds up being the lynchpin is the moral flexibility of Louis Renault.
@@BillPeschel Have you read Aljean Harmetz' incredible behind the scenes making-of, "Round Up the Usual Suspects?" It covers the moment the writers were together in a car [on Sunset, I believe] and the ending hit both of the at the same time! Wonderful!
I got the vhs of Gladiator when I was a 9 year old. I was probably too young to watch it, but it left such an impression on me and sparked my interest in Roman history which ultimately made me choose history as a minor when I went to university.
*7:48* "Am I not merciful?" Commodus asked calmly.
Just saw Gladiator 2 and the key issue that stood out to me was the dialogue!
Hey Danny, I just wanted to tell you that I really really enjoy your videos. There's something about them - style, editing, narration - that I just love.
One of the best is the Ocean's Eleven one and this was was quite good as well.
Thank you so much! Words of kindness definitely don’t go under-appreciated :)
I thankfully saw the Star Wars video as soon as it came out. When I tried to find it again and couldn't, I knew this was a channel who's videos I better watch ASAP.
I was particularly sad about that one. That video had been living in my head for a year before I made it.
@@CinemaStix Why did it get taken down? And why is this one not taken down (yet) ?
Gladiator was one of the first movies I saw that wasn’t PG or edited for television. The way it delivered depth where stupid action was expected contrasted with my expectations for A Knight’s Tale. They delivered opposite my expectations. Add to that the unexpected soundtrack choices. I’ve always wondered how different the experience of both films would be if you could swap the music (and still have it align with the action, plot, and dialogue).
The choice they made in Gladiator to put feedback guitar in one of the matches has stuck with me as a songwriter and aspiring film composer ever since. I get chills just remembering it.
I can't believe Maximus' line about vengeance was almost left out. It's THE iconic line of the movie.
Imagine hating it THAT much, as Russell Crowe did.
crowe and scott are undoubtedly marvelous at their craft, but in this case i think they got too into their own heads. the scene really needed to be bookended with a thematic declaration and those words were perfect.
I can see why he hated it. It's too on the nose.
@@Thagomizer but of all the things to be direct about, if murdering my family isn’t one of them, when could I be direct? Would that seriously be something you only alluded to in person when confronted with the coward that did it?
I certainly agree that being ‘on the nose’ in writing is usually bad, but I don’t think it’s a universal law; the most quoted line of the film, if not cinema, proves that.
Congrats to making it on Nebula! I’ll be watching you there!!
Yes!
And thanks. It was definitely a knock on the door I’d been waiting for.
Your takes are sublime. I could listen to them even on films I do not care about. Thank you.
I haven’t seen Gladiator 2 and may not till it is for rent due to how well and complete Gladiator was. My only curiosity was Juba as that would have been an excellent spinoff.
Gladiator (Crow) and Braveheart (Gibson) are truly timeless perfections.
I enjoy your essays immensely. Thanks you for postint them, it means a lot. I have watched quite some movies just because you posted a video about them; this movie will be an addition to that list.
I think that’s about the highest praise a person doing what I do can receive. Thank you :)
The thing about movies like Gladiator is that the majority of the people involved are excellent at their jobs, so that makes up for not having a great script. Like yeah maybe Crowe didn't "like" the speech, but he knows how to deliver it, Phoenix knows how to react, Scott knows how to film it, and Zimmer makes you feel it with the music. Nevermind cinematographer, editor, customers, etc. I don't know who did those but I'd say they were all probably above average talent as well.
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoy your videos. Thanks for all your work to put these together.
Thanks for being here and watching them!
-Danny
I missed it, and it just might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and gets me over to Nebula…
One of my absolute all time faves and it thrills me to learn something new about it.
Thank you. I always stop and watch as soon as I see the noti from your channel.
It’s amazing what can happen when the actors really get into character and the director lets them play.
I love that the people involved in movies will talk about them to give us insight on how they were made
Thank you Danny. I am so happy you are diving into Gladiator. I feel it is peek Ridley Scott.
The only thing that I personally would have seen different is that the figurines are buried SO shallow (I mean parts of the figurines are higher as the ground itself), even the first time watching that got me out of the moment. Could be just a me thing, though. The movie as a whole is fantastic and one of my favorites.
Gladiator is the closest thing we have to a golden era classic. It's no coincidence its a period Roman story.
It's exquisitely executed, cheesey yet so well shot and acted it... Stands up.
wow. i had no idea. sometimes you take these films for granted, not realizing the love and fluidity it took to take a sh*t movie to the next level. thanks for the video!
Watching this the last two nights I had two thoughts : Ridley's best films are the ones he loses control of and Cinemastix really should dig into Gladiator.
Loved seeing this pop up and learning Ridley didn't lose control, he never really had it. And I think you can feel the film is less a result of a manufactured production and more of fraught crafting.
Learning the issues with script explains why the film has a fairytale quality to me, they had to rely on simple story telling and didn't bother explaining or rationalizing character decisions, characters just do things and we're left to infer from previous scenes as to why.
Indeed. Definitely some weird alchemy going on where Scott produces fantastic films when the whole project is a spiralling, on-the-fly mess but some real turds when he has much tighter control and better planning. The new Gladiator is awful and that's just bizarre. So much of it is lazy and cliched, it's hard to understand how it could come from someone like Scott. Perhaps when the films aren't properly planned, he is forced to delegate the things he isn't actually any good at and he's left in control of a much more narrow set of elements that he does well, like visual language, mood etc. He clearly can't write a good story or decent dialogue.
Just rewatched for the first time in a decade and that last scene with Juba had me crying for the first time in years. I’ve walked out 3 movies this year (also first time in years) and have become so despondent with the state of filmmaking I forgot cinema can me move me like that.
So glad Crowe stuck with the _"Father to a murdered son"_ etc piece, as I personally find that to be one of the best in the movie! Granted, it was helped by the actors doing such a good job to sell it, but the line itself was powerful!
passion like yours is contagious.
Notification gang! Gotta watch it before it gets taken down!
Sadly this.
I’ve personally never loved Gladiator like everyone else. Movie just didn’t click with me at all, outside of its performances and Ridley Scott’s admirable direction. And part of the reason why is because the story seemed so barebones and like it purely existed to take Maximus from the one action sequence to the next. I wasn’t invested in his character or his arc, much less the supporting characters. It’s why I always had a fascination over what the film’s original script might have turned out to be. Ridley Scott, despite all his success and skills, has made some bad narrative choices over his career, so I really am curious to see what the original script would have turned out to be
What about the line, "What we do in life, echoes in eternity." Was that in the script? It's one of my favorite movie lines ever.
Great video! On my way to the theater to see Gladiator II.
"Gladiator" is an ancient revenge narrative. Scott knew his responsibility as director was simply to fill in the details of character and craft. Scott's "Blade Runner" also used the script as little more than a rough sketch for a movie. The awful narration in the original release was added at the insistence of the studio, which thought the "story" was more important than the characters and the spectacle, and Harrison Ford tried to sabotage it by reading it so badly that he hoped it couldn't be used -- a tactic that backfired. "Gladiator" is another variation on the antediluvian revenge formula that goes back to movies like "The Searchers" and "Mad Max"... and in literature and drama to before Ancient Rome itself.
Harrison Ford would learn that Movie Execs are basically a group of “Twin poop haired bosses” from Dilbert.
There was a dream that was gladiator. A dream so fragile you could only whisper it
Let us whisper together now.
There is a fine line between epic and cheesy at times. I always cringed at the strength and honour motto, but others love it. Crowe may have hated the husband to a murdered wife etc line, but it is easily the most powerful line in the film. Sometimes you need a little imagination to see a written line will work in context. That one definitely does. It’s his reveal, it’s the chilling moment for his adversary. It’s a man saying the truth to a tyrant without fear, revealing he has picked on someone his own size and it’s going to cost him.
Maximus is not just talking to the Emperor - Maximus is talking to the crowd and stating his case in front of Rome.
The emperor knows who Maximus is - the crowd needs the exposition and the theatricality.
@@jeronimo196 I'm not sure the crowd can hear him, but it's been a while since I watched it. The Praetorian Guard certain can though.
@@FloatingOnAZephyr the whole crowd is silent when the emperor asks his questions. So I assume at least some can hear the conversation.
Also, this is a Roman general, used to giving speeches and probably a trained orator - his voice carries when he wants it to.
(Yes, he'd probably have to shout louder in reality, but this is a similar conceit to a character walking in with a perfect rejoinder to an ongoing conversation from across the hall. The movie is showing us the acoustics worked out.)
It is 3 writers plus countless other people with a unique view and unique ideas adding to the story. The power of an entire community forming amd telling a story.
Writers workshops exist for this reason. Every great story needs input from multiple people.
As someone who also shares a deep love for films, great work man.
Thanks!
I love when artists, creatives working together, with that common vision and respect create magic. It's epic and wonderful and I love playing in that arena.
I haven't seen this since it came out, I really didn't know it was that significant of a movie. I’ll have to rewatch it.
Great run-down of this movie -- I had no idea about any of this! Great channel too, it seems.
Thank ya!
Great video. Looking forward to hearing about how it will be demonetized next week.
Hopefully it at least takes a little longer than that. Sigh.
This feels like the answer to the line I think Djimon Hounsou’s character delivers, “You have a great name. You must kill it before it kills you.” It’s a strong character statement but it feels like that strong character statement is abandoned. Now I think I understand why. Thanks for the video!
i love guessing which movie these videos are about just from the title in my notifs cause i thought we were going to be talking about 500 days of summer haha
I've missed a lot of your recent videos, but i just so happened to be check on your channel today (while looking for your video about Baby Driver and Edgar Wright, since i finally got around to watching that movie), and noticed you just uploaded another banger video today! Great editing and fascinating storytelling as always! I'll need to check out your other recent videos now, too, :D
Welp there's my daily quota of thinking about the roman empire
It may say something about the world that you say that a revenge story is not overly political. The question of whether revenge is a good thing or a bad thing is at the very core of politics.
Very appropriate video. I'm seeing from various sources that the sequel is not great.
I’ve been avoiding everything about it until I see it, but that’s unfortunate to hear.
Just watched this last night with the family. Amazing film.
Someone please stop Ridley Scott.
no. give him another $200 million and set him loose in the studio.
Ridley Scott signed on to direct a movie whose script he hated because of course he did
3:12 I forgot MF DOOM was in this
lol
Underrated comment
I hear that Gladiator II is essentially a remake of the first film. But it's been 25 years. A lot of people who are going to see it haven't seen the original. Also, all the reviewers say that Denzel Washington's performance makes the movie and differentiates it from the original. The production values are typical Ridley Scott impeccable, and it is blowing up at the box office in any case.
For those of us who saw the original back in the day, nothing can match the shock of seeing an epic set in the Ancient World for the first time in decades, and such a superb one at that. It's hard to believe an endlessly quotable film was improvised.
I had a lump in my throat at the end, as I'm sure most people did. Gladiator led to an explosion of interest and productions set in Greece and Rome, but IMO it still remains the best of all of them after all this time.
This film looks and feels amazing years later. Now I begin to understand why.
Old Greek and Roman epics were told orally. This meant that between poets the way in which stories such as the Illiad or Aeneid were told varied slightly. This didn't matter, though, because the core, the heart and soul of the story resonates with listeners on a human level even thousands of years later. Gladiator 2 failed to live up to the brilliance of the first story because while it may have ok surface writing, the core story and themes are underdeveloped and confused.
My favorite movie, and the only movie i can think of that as i age and my family grows i cry more over
I do disagree on one point: Gladiator is, actually, political, because one of the themes that gets repeatedly stressed is „Democracy versus Dictatorship“. Maximus is fighting for democracy, in the form of the old Roman Republic which he is trying to restore against Commodus, who wants to remain a dictatorial emperor.
Maximus is willing to die and asks others to die for this idealistic goal.
Now, historically, there is exactly zero reason for this theme to exist, both because this conflict never happened in the Roman Empire and because it imposes a completely ahistorical idea of the Roman Republic. However, this film notably was made during a time when people were being asked to kill and die „for democracy“, and from that point of view the theme makes sense. It absolutely can be seen as having a propaganda function, even if that isn’t super-overt.
Goes to show ya…good movie making is largely luck and capturing lightning in a bottle!
I don't know exactly what it is, but the voice of the person narrating these videos has a certain captivating succulence to it. me like
Such an incredible story
It takes filmmaking to the next level!
You let me see movies, and creation, and from just a different, fuller, harder, less certain, somehow more human way. So I signed up for nebula. Thank you.
:)
I'm a _Kingdom of Heaven_ girl, myself.
What a great title for this video
very interesting! thank you!
4:15 Russel Crowe looks like he's getting ready to play Gabe Newell in his new biopic
Perfect for Half Life 2 20th anniversary
Great video!
Thank you!
The dialogue in this movie is SO excellent. It may be "hammy", but it sounds exactly like you imagine people from those times would speak.
Just watched Gladiator 2. To much cheesy dialog made it through imo! A good movie to watch with the boy's but it didn't have the same idk impact I guess.
I’m glad you’re on Nebula now, after all the copy right crap.
I feel like Gladiator is now regarded better than when it came out. At the time my group of friends liked it- but it also had a bit of that "seemingly not ending saturday afternoon how can Ben Hur still be running dullness" in my mind it is a good movie- but not a fun one
This is so silly but this movie was low key spoiled for me by the blue filter. The Elysian fields have been embedded in our culture for millennia as fields of gold, and I'd heard about the movie before seeing it and pictured it so clearly, that seeing them all chilly and blue at the end completely robbed me of catharsis.
Hunt showdown's "Craniums" really surprised me. Thought another tab started playing.
I'll have to be sure to watch your vids right away to avoid RUclips'S BROKEN COPYRIGHT SYSTEM
"When they went through the script, marking out in red all the parts that didn't make sense..."
Wait, you can do that?
"Cheesy lines said with sincerity..."
With what now?
"Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife... Boy, my life does suck when you think about it. At least I don't live with my parents, though - so that's something."
Just saw the new one, it missed the mark by a FAR margin
brb, watching this on nebula
Hehe. Don’t forget to come back.
Also, you may notice some very slight differences in the edit. I had to make some last minute changes at the start of the video, and elsewhere, to avoid problems on YT.
Well...i expect you do one for Ben Hur with a record of 11 Oscar for most wins tied with other 2 movies. Come on don't disappoint your fans
Just a quick thought in the middle of the video. Maybe the fact that it is not coherent, that there was more than one writer, is the reason Maximus is so great as a leader. The man he plays as stoic godlike general for his men is slightly different from actual him, because it is literally a different writer who wrote the scenes for different Maximus.
I loved the star Wars video, that was a brilliant bit of work and it annoys me RUclips is such a mess that it can't get as much of an audience.
Gladiator II; When the Audience Hates the Script, and everything else.
You're right, it's a movie with a perfect ending 0:37.
It needs no sequels.
No one will believe me but this is the first rated R movie I ever watched when I was 6. I asked my parents to buy it for me and I honestly thought Eddie Murphy was on the cover. I thought it was a comedy. Life changing lmaoo
Dude "I didn't say I knew him, I said he touched me on the shoulder once" is a killer line
Whenever I hear an actor or director saying I hated the script or the script sucked, I tend to lean toward thinking it's bullshit. If that were true, unless you're a struggling artist, why take the job in the first place? I'm especially skeptical when they say they went through the script and started crossing stuff out and had only twenty or thirty pages left. If so little of Franzoni's original script was used, I doubt he would have gotten anything more than a story credit, per WGA rules. How many actors and directors say "it was made up as we went along" when the movie is a box office disaster? How many studios would even ALLOW this on expensive period piece? Sure, Nicholson probably did a lot of rewriting on set, partly out of necessity because a cast member died, but apparently it wasn't enough for him to take sole credit. And what amazes me is that people are all too happy to believe whatever the star and director (who, by the way, didn't get any writing credit) tell them.
Djimon Hounsou needed to have a major role in any sequel.
Perfect. Thank you.
The unmasking scene is one of my favorite pieces of cinema. Everything after that is almost anticlimactic.
At least he doesn't hate the audience
Ah yes - that is vital.
Idk when I fell asleep but someone woke me up because I was snoring loudly in IMAX for the Gladiator 2 Screening :(
So embarrassed I got glimpses of the afterlife like Maximus :(