~Maximus V/s Azhar~. Review on Gladiator Movie

”At my signal - unleash hell! ’’

The film stopped & the murmurs began. Then the clapping. Followed by some furious shouts as people got to their feet, hooting for the short stout guy in the iron costume who looked like he wanted to spend the rest of his life inside the arena fighting & killing whoever came in his way. Russell Crowe was back.

Indeed, as the film demonstrates, the picture bustles with some dynamic acting performance by Russell Crowe as he follows Director Ridley Scott’s mesmerizing guiding techniques. Throughout the movie, Russell Crowe lets the audience in just a little but never enough. He always leaves us with a feeling of wanting more (He wasn’t merely another mindless actor in the movie) maybe that is why he proved almost irresistible to us in this action flick.

But if you people are old enough to remember its existence at all, you may be disheartened by the fact that Gladiator bears little resemble with all previous Roman flicks. Rolling inside the Collosseum, loud cheer of blood thirsty spectators, gladiator living in prison squashed with hundreds of other fighters, skilled archers & mesmerizing background music is something we are not unaccustomed to predict in a Roman flick but Gladiator can boast of some tempting attractions: Russell Crowe, an estimated 500 F/X shots, a blowout battle (Remember the Romans v/s the Barbarians at the start of the film) & some prodigious dialogues.

If you’ve seen Baazigar, Sholay, Ram Lakhan & many other Hindi films then you basically know the plot line of Gladiator. Its very similar to our Hindi films but the way it is presented & the way it is projected surely made a huge difference. Gladiator is an incredible story of devotion of an army general towards his homeland & his undying love for his slayed family. Director Ridley Scott has used his talent to maximum capacity & has presented impressive characters, glorious background & unbelievable sets. He & his team of technicians deserves praise for the way they created Rome with all its majesty, which is really realistic & incredible. Gladiator reveals the showmanship & paradigm of Ridley Scott as a Director.

---à>The cast<ß---

Russell Crowe played the part of Maximus Merduis

Richard Harris. plays Ceasar’s

Joaquin Phoenix is Commodus in the film

Oliver Reed acts as Proximo who trains Maximus to fight like a Gladiator.

Connie Nielsen is Lucilla

---à>The Story<ß---

The time is 180 A.D & the story begins in the middle of a war. The battle scene at the beginning took me back to another film (BraveHeart), though it would not be fair on my part to compare the two. Russell Crowe plays the part of Maximus Meriduis a General in the Roman army, who leads his country to a victory over the Barbarians. Richard Harris who portraits the character of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, discloses his wish & intention of passing the responsibility to Maximus & assign him to administer Rome.

When Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) is acquainted with this decision, he brutally murders his father to seize the Monarchy. He then orders the execution of Maximus who somehow escapes from Commodus’s clutches & rushes to his house where his wife & son are keenly waiting for his arrival.

But he was late to his family’s assistance as Commodus men had already burnt & murdered his family members. The actual story commence after this incidence…. Maximus is captured by a slave merchant who trade him to Proximo (Oliver Reed), Since Proximo himself was an ex-gladiator he easily teaches Maximus the techniques & shrewdness of fighting, making him the finest gladiator of that time.

In the later part of the film, Maximus tries everything possible on the face of this earth to find a way en route for obtaining revenge & bringing democracy back to Rome. Some exciting things happen during the final half-hour of “Gladiator”, including a clever (However partly unpredictable) twist at the very end. It is not just another action movie where we find load of fighting & aggressiveness. It is a movie, which allows human warmth to pervade the performance, without sacrificing the potential for action. It has in fact, many violent & brutal situations, yet Ridley Scott prefers to express the agony, nightmare & strong points of an emotionally wounded man, in his own innovative style.

---à>People who made Gladiator a sensation<ß---

Russell Crowe: No one could’ve been so perfect for the role of Maximus. When I saw the film for the first time I said to my friends “Oh!! I’d be surprised if he weren’t nominated for the Oscars”. I hate hyping anything, but he seems like a shoo-in because his performance was exquisite & breathtaking.

Joaquin Phoenix: Jaoquin digs deep to voice Commodus, the cunning Roman Emperor but in my humble opinion he could have done a little more with the kind of role he got & with the kind of support he got form the other end. Despite the fact that his character was the most difficult one to perform in the entire film, I believe he could have done much better.

Ridley Scott (Director): Ridley Scoot has an awesome mastermind. People who have been Directors for 20years aren’t anywhere near this good, but he makes it look like skateboarding. Though he has also directed films like Hannibal & Black hawk Down, I think even he (or for that matter anybody) himself cant direct & make a film like Gladiator again.

“What you do in this life, echoes in the afterlife”