YMMV / Gladiator

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Before the Battle of Carthage fight, Proximo is seen complaining, to no avail, about how the gladiators are being set up — and expected to be — slaughtered by the mismatch. Is he trying to protect his investment? Or is he genuinely concerned about his gladiators? The all-out giggle he gives when Maximus and company end up winning adds to the question.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • Commodus deciding to fight a gladiator in the arena looks like a plot device to let Maximus get his revenge. The historical Commodus did actually fight in gladiator contests, although it isn't how he died.
  • For people less familiar with the lives of Roman emperors, Commodus having a dramatic and poetic end in the movie seems like a plot device added so that such a vile character gets his comeuppance. The actual Commodus also had a pretty dramatic and poetic end that wasn't too far removed from the film, being assassinated by his own wrestling partner at the urging of his own mistress and a few others, although it wasn't done in public like in the movie.
  • The writers planned to have a scene with popular gladiators endorsing products, which happened historically, but it was decided that audiences would think it was unrealistic.
• Awesome Music: The epic score by Hans Zimmer and chanting by Lisa Gerrard. Do the math. Of special note is the beautiful and tear-jerking end credits song, "Now We Are Free".
• Better on DVD: The DVD includes several deleted scenes that add to the story, such as a scene where we learn that Commodus is selling off Rome's grain stores to pay for the games, and another scene where Commodus has two innocent praetorians executed because Maximus is still alive (explaining why Quintus refused to give him a sword during the climactic battle).
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The battle in Germania includes a sound clip of 19th-century African war chants from the film Zulu as a Shout-Out. It can be jarring if you're familiar with the other film.
  • The gladiator wearing a bull carcass. Even with the Artistic License – History in effect this is quite out there.
• Catharsis Factor: After everything Commodus has done in the movie (i.e. killing his own father, killing Maximus' family, 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 utterly screwed when his own guards refuse to help him is the icing on the cake. Not to mention his wounding Maximus for the edge was also totally pointless.
• Complete Monster:
  • Lucius Aurelius Commodus is the vile heir to the throne of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, driven to rage at his father's plans to turn Rome back into a republic and appoint General Maximus Decimus Meridius as regent instead of Commodus. 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, as Emperor, cripples the Senate's authority and keeps the populace distracted with 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 Sex Slave. So disgusting are Commodus's actions that even when he is disarmed in combat with Maximus, his own personal guard refuses to aid him.
  • Extended Cut only: Senator Falco is a self-serving, treacherous member of the Republic with designs on securing his own power at the cost of Rome. Falco throws in with the newly-appointed emperor Commodus despite the man's incompetence and wanton sadism, and Falco buys off loyalty of others to ensure Commodus's reign is secure. To further Commodus's goals, Falco uses his status as spymaster to weed out dissidents and get them thrown into the games or executed, uncaring that Commodus is slowly starving the entire population so long as Falco can indulge in his hedonism. When personally consulted by Commodus on a course of action for the rising rebellion, Falco concocts the scheme to monitor several other Senators and catch them expressing discontent, at which point Falco sees to it that they are all slaughtered in one bloody night.
• Common Knowledge: While some individuals claim the name of the character Tigris is a pun on "Tigress", it is actually the Latin word for "Tiger."
• Consolation Award: While Russell Crowe's Maximus is impressive and has plenty of fans who love his Academy Award win, many thought he only won Best Actor to compensate his loss for The Insider the year before (and the compensation cycle made an even better Crowe performance that followed to lose to Denzel Washington in Training Day).
• Crosses the Line Twice: 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 the Ludicrous Gibs as she's bisected and her scream literally being cut off.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Commodus, partly due to his more nuanced real world history for those aware of it... and partly due to being played by Joaquin Phoenix. Interestingly enough, Ridley Scott himself does view Commodus with a significant degree of sympathy, claiming that his vile behavior stems from the parental neglect of his father.
• Genius Bonus: A couple for history buffs.
  • Before the battle with the Germanic tribes at the beginning of the movie, Quintus' remark that "a people should know when they're conquered," is very ironic to anyone who knows that Rome never ultimately managed to completely conquer Germania.
  • When he first meets him in the arena (before realizing who he is), Commodus tells Maximus that his nephew "insists you are Hector reborn... or was it Hercules?" The real-life Commodus believed he was the reincarnation of Hercules.
  • The slave trader mentions he bought the Numidian from a salt mine in Carthage. According to (a much later) story, when Romans conquered Carthage, they plowed the earth and salted it so nothing would grow there.
  • Maximus names his horses Argento and Scatto, which are Latin for "Silver" and "Trigger", the names of the horses ridden by The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers, respectively.
• Harsher in Hindsight: 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.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Since Pirates of the Caribbean came out the epic soundtrack of Gladiator brings to mind the quirky antics of Jack Sparrow more than the epic deeds of Maximus. ^note Due to Hans Zimmer composing both scores, the films share many similar musical cues and motifs.
  • Richard Epcar provided ADR for this Joaquin Phoenix film. Years after the film, Epcar voiced the Joker in several different video games and Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for playing the Joker.
  • All three lead actors - Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson - would go on to play major characters in various DC films... so the final battle scene is basically Superman's dad killing the Joker while Wonder Woman's mom watches.
  • Richard Harris, who portrays the humble emperor Aurelius here, would then portray the tyrannical dictator Sulla in Julius Caesar as one of his final on-screen roles. Both characters end up dying 30-40 minutes in.
  • This isn't the last time Joaquin Phoenix would play an emperor in a Ridley Scott movie.
  • In the TV Asahi's Japanese dub, Commodus is voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto, whose one of his earlier voice acting roles was as Simba, who became the king at the end of the first film after defeating his evil uncle and ruler. In this film, he is dubbing the evil ruler instead.
• It Was His Sled: Maximus dies.
• Love to Hate: Commodus, no doubt about it. He's a horrible horrible person, however Joaquin Phoenix's performance makes him genuinely unnerving at times and completely sells how truly monstrous he is, allowing everyone to cheer when he finally gets his extremely well-deserved karma.
• Magnificent Bastard: Maximus Decimus Meridius, leader of the Felix Legions, is a soldier from Iberia who wages war on behalf of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. His brilliant tactics have carved out new territory for Rome, opening the film in a final defeat of the Germanic tribes. Betrayed when Aurelius is murdered by his ambitious son Commodus, Maximus fools and kill his would-be assassins before finding his family dead and becoming a gladiator when he is sold into slavery. Known as the Spaniard, Maximus leads his fellow Gladiators to victory with his grasp of tactics and organizes a coup against Commodus. Ultimately overcoming his hated foe, Maximus uses his last moments to free his friends and implore those listening to allow Marcus Aurelius's dream to survive.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Are you not entertained?!"
  • "AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!?"
  • "It vexes me. I'm terribly vexed."
  • Downvoting Roman ^explanation Commodus giving a thumbs-down gesture to signal Maximus to kill an opponent. This has been used to express disapproval, especially regarding posts on Reddit like overused memes.
• Moral Event Horizon: Commodus crosses this either with the murder of his father, the Emperor, or with the the brutal murder, rape, crucifixion and other off-screen atrocities committed against Maximus' wife and small son, who is ridden down by horses. Commodus only goes downhill from there, first by threatening to kill his own nephew unless his sister becomes his sex slave, and finally by fatally stabbing Maximus before turning him loose in the arena.
• Narm Charm:
  • The first fight in the Colosseum — the reenactment of the Battle of Carthage — is intercut with shots of Commodus giggling and making silly faces. It's kind of hilarious.
  • Commodus yelling "AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!" is very over-the-top, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Tigris. An elite-gladiator with a Cool Mask helmet who gives Maximus a tough fight before being defeated. He even survives, thanks to Maxie granting him mercy. He's easily one of the most memorable characters in the film, despite only showing up once.
  • This leads to BRIAN BLESSED as the coliseum spectator who shouts "Maximus the Merciful!"
• Signature Scene:
  • Maximus taking down his opponents at the gladiatorial arena and repeatedly asking the crowd if they aren't entertained.
  • The moment that Maximus reveals his identity to Commodus while also making it clear that he'll get his vengeance no matter what.
• 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.