The Ridley Scott movie, “Gladiator”, starring Russell Crowe as Maximus, is the story of a Roman general who was asked to become the new emperor of Rome by the dying Marcus Aurelius. This angered and power-hungry the son of Marcus, Commodus, then killed his father before Maximus could make his decision. Commodus became the new emperor of Rome and ordered for Maximus to be killed. Maximus escaped from the officers who were going to execute him, and stole their horses to ride back to his home. Though, upon arriving, he saw that it had been burned to the ground, with his wife and son hung above his front door. Maximus collapsed at the sight of this and was then captured by slave traders, who sold him into becoming a gladiator. Maximus quickly rose through the ranks to become a great fighter, dubbed "The Spaniard" by his adoring crowd. Eventually, Commodus ordered for the entertainment of the gladiators to come to the Roman Colosseum. Maximus helped the other gladiator slaves to defeat the people they were supposed to lose against, …show more content…
For one, the movie is rated R. Regardless of its historical and cinematic merit, the movie is gory and vulgar and it would not be allowed to be shown in a classroom. Though if it were allowed in the classroom, t is possible that the students could gain some interesting information about Rome at the time. Such as the inner-working politics of the government, or the chaos that ensued after the death of Marcus Aurelius. I greatly enjoyed this movie, even though I am not a huge fan of the swords-and-sandals genre. However, I thought it was well done and very interesting, if a bit lengthy and long-winded at times. The aspect I most enjoyed about this movie was its cinematography, which is important for movies that feature long fight scenes where the angle of the camera has to be perfect, so the audience can understand what is