History YMMV / Gladiator

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The death of one of the female gladiators in the Coliseum, sliced in half by a blade on the wheel of a runaway chariot, is horrific...''but'' also quite funny due to how abrupt and bizarre it is, with her scream literally being cut off.

* EvilIsSexy: As mentioned above, Commodus is portrayed by the absolutely stunning and intensely attractive Creator/JoaquinPhoenix. Not that this stops him from being an [[CompleteMonster utter piece of human garbage]] however.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Commodus, partly due to his more nuanced real world history for those aware of it... and partly due to being played by Creator/JoaquinPhoenix.

* HarsherInHindsight: [[TheNihilist Proximo]]'s lines of "Ultimately, we are all dead men" and "We mortals are but shadow and dust" become more poignant with the knowledge that Oliver Reed passed away partway through production.

* CompleteMonster: [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Lucius Aurelius Commodus]] is the vile heir to the throne of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, [[AmbitionIsEvil driven to rage]] at his father's plans to turn Rome back into a republic and appoint [[FourStarBadass General Maximus Decimus Meridius]] as regent instead of Commodus. [[{{Patricide}} Killing his father]], Commodus frames Maximus and tries to order the death of the general and his family, resulting in Maximus's wife and young son being murdered. A megalomaniac, Commodus, [[TheCaligula as Emperor]], cripples the Senate's authority and keeps the populace distracted with [[BreadAndCircuses fine food and gladiator games]]. When the people begin to rally behind the return of Maximus, Commodus tries to put down the potential revolution by having Maximus killed in the arena. When this fails, Commodus leads the bulk of Maximus's sympathizers into a trap, killing them, and plans to personally kill Maximus in the ring, shifting the battle in his favor by wounding Maximus before their fight. Commodus flies into a rage upon learning his sister was aiding Maximus and demands she sleep with him to provide him a "pure" heir and threatens to kill her child—-his nephew--if she does not become his personal SexSlave. So disgusting are Commodus's actions that even when he is disarmed in combat with Maximus, his [[PraetorianGuard own personal guard]] refuses to aid him.

** Maximus names his horses Argento and Scatto, which are Latin for "Silver" and "Trigger". This is an extremely convoluted reference to ''Series/TheLoneRanger'' and Creator/RoyRogers, whose horses were called that, respectively.

* CompleteMonster: [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Commodus]] is the vile heir to the throne of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, [[AmbitionIsEvil driven to rage]] at his father's plans to turn Rome back into a republic and appoint [[FourStarBadass General Maximus Decimus Meridius]] as regent instead of Commodus. [[{{Patricide}} Killing his father]], Commodus frames Maximus and tries to order the death of the general and his family, resulting in Maximus's wife and young son being murdered. A megalomaniac, Commodus, [[TheCaligula as Emperor]], cripples the Senate's authority and keeps the populace distracted with [[BreadAndCircuses fine food and gladiator games]]. When the people begin to rally behind the return of Maximus, Commodus tries to put down the potential revolution by having Maximus killed in the arena. When this fails, Commodus leads the bulk of Maximus's sympathizers into a trap, killing them, and plans to personally kill Maximus in the ring, shifting the battle in his favor by wounding Maximus before their fight. Commodus flies into a rage upon learning his sister was aiding Maximus and demands she sleep with him to provide him a "pure" heir and threatens to kill her child—-his nephew--if she does not become his personal SexSlave. So disgusting are Commodus's actions that even when he is disarmed in combat with Maximus, his [[PraetorianGuard own personal guard]] refuses to aid him.

* CompleteMonster: [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Commodus]] is the vile heir to the throne of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, [[AmbitionIsEvil driven to rage]] at his father's plans to turn Rome back into a republic and appoint [[TheHero General Maximus Decimus Meridius]] as regent instead of Commodus. [[{{Patricide}} Killing his father]], Commodus frames Maximus and tries to order the death of the general and his family, resulting in Maximus's wife and young son being murdered. A megalomaniac, Commodus, [[TheCaligula as Emperor]], cripples the Senate's authority and keeps the populace distracted with [[BreadAndCircuses fine food and gladiator games]]. When the people begin to rally behind the return of Maximus, Commodus tries to put down the potential revolution by having Maximus killed in the arena. When this fails, Commodus leads the bulk of Maximus's sympathizers into a trap, killing them, and plans to personally kill Maximus in the ring, shifting the battle in his favor by wounding Maximus before their fight. Commodus flies into a rage upon learning his sister was aiding Maximus and demands she sleep with him to provide him a "pure" heir and threatens to kill her child—-his nephew--if she does not become his personal SexSlave. So disgusting are Commodus's actions that even when he is disarmed in combat with Maximus, his [[PraetorianGuard own personal guard]] refuses to aid him.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Commodus]] is the vile heir to the throne of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, [[AmbitionIsEvil driven to rage]] at his father's plans to turn Rome back into a republic and appoint [[TheHero General Maximus Decimus Meridius]] as regent instead of Commodus. [[{{Patricide}} Killing his father]], Commodus frames Maximus and tries to order the death of the general and his family, resulting in Maximus's wife and young son being murdered. A megalomaniac, Commodus, [[TheCaligula as Emperor]], cripples the Senate's authority and keeps the populace distracted with [[BreadAndCircuses fine food and gladiator games]]. When the people begin to rally behind the return of Maximus, Commodus tries to put down the potential revolution by having Maximus killed in the arena. When this fails, Commodus leads the bulk of Maximus's sympathizers into a trap, killing them, and plans to personally kill Maximus in the ring, shifting the battle in his favor by wounding Maximus before their fight. Commodus flies into a rage upon learning his sister was aiding Maximus and demands she sleep with him to provide him a "pure" heir and threatens to kill her child—his nephew--if she does not become his personal SexSlave. So disgusting are Commodus's actions that even when he is disarmed in combat with Maximus, his [[PraetorianGuard own personal guard]] refuses to aid him.

* CatharsisFactor: After ''everything'' Commodus has done in the movie (i.e. [[{{Patricide}} killing his own father,]] killing Maximus' family, [[BrotherSisterIncest forcing his own sister]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil to become his sex slave,]] and cheating in his duel with Maximus), it's BEYOND SATISFYING when Maximus finally kills the sick twisted bastard. Him realizing he's [[OhCrap utterly screwed]] when his [[EveryoneHasStandards own guards refuse to help him]] is the icing on the cake.

* CatharsisFactor: After ''everything'' he's done in the movie (i.e. [[{{Patricide}} killing his own father,]] killing Maximus' family, [[BrotherSisterIncest forcing his own sister]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil to become his sex slave,]] and cheating in his duel with Maximus), it's BEYOND SATISFYING when Maximus finally kills the sick twisted bastard. Him realizing he's [[OhCrap utterly screwed]] when his [[EveryoneHasStandards own guards refuse to help him]] is the icing on the cake.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Commodus, partly due to his more nuanced real world history for those aware of it... and partly due to being played by the intensely attractive Joaquin Phoenix.
* EvilIsSexy: As mentioned above, Commodus is portrayed by the absolutely stunning Creator/JoaquinPhoenix. Not that this stops him from being an [[CompleteMonster utter piece of human garbage]] however.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The ''epic'' score by Music/HansZimmer and chanting by Music/LisaGerrard. Do the math. Of special note is the beautiful and tear-jerking end credits song, "Now We Are Free".

* DracoInLeatherPants: Commodus, partly due to his more nuanced real world history for those aware of it... and partly due to being played by the intensely attractive Joaquin Pheonix.

* CatharsisFactor: After ''everything'' he's done in the movie (i.e. [[{{Patricide}} killing his own father,]] killing Maximus' family, [[BrotherSisterIncest forcing his own sister to become his sex slave,]] and cheating in his duel with Maximus), it's BEYOND SATISFYING when Maximus finally kills the sick twisted bastard. Him realizing he's [[OhCrap utterly screwed]] when his [[EveryoneHasStandards own guards refuse to help him]] is the icing on the cake.

!![[Film/{{Gladiator}} The Film]]

* {{Woolseyism}}: In Spain, it is expected to render Roman-era locations in the original Latin or latinized form, both in history texts and media. This was a problem when translating Maximus's birthplace, Trujillo. The modern name would sound terribly anachronistic and the Latin name (Turgalium) would mean nothing to a Spanish audience because it isn't well known. The dubbing team chose to replace it with nearby Emerita Augusta (modern Mérida), which is well known to Spanish audiences as a city that was founded as a colony for Roman war veterans, some two hundred years before the events of the film. In consequence, a Spanish audience would likely see Maximus as coming from a long line of Roman military, and consider Commodus's betrayal even greater than in the original version.

!![[Literature/{{Gladiator}} The Novel]]

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