Gladiator (2000) was pretty good!

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This was an interesting watch for me. I grew up with movies all around. My mom and I were frequent visitors of Hollywood Video. I grew up in roughly the final five years of VHS relevancy as a very young kid, then the world went full fledged into DVDs, Blue Rays and now nobody owns any movies anymore which is really pretty sad. All for the sake of 'convenience' or something. I swear sometimes the world moves so fast that, it almost regresses. Hmmm.

I remember seeing 'The Gladiator' among our earliest DVDs my family owned. I think my big brother owned it. I was too young that I wasn't that interested and I also sensed that it was perhaps too 'adult' for me or whatever.

Now, many years later, a lifetime later it feels, I have FINALLY seen the Gladiator. I'm glad I did.

Not going to lie, I actually had higher expectations for it, but overall it still almost met my expectations. I also thought it would be more violent in a way. It was violent for sure but it wasn't as intense like '300' for example.

'Gladiator' was a bit more dramatic, and sentimental and beautiful than I expected. The sceneries were pretty awesome. The story was simple but acted quite well, and that helped immensely. It was a simple but elegant story that seemed to entertain the meaning of life and love way more than I anticipated.

I thought the movie would be more war like, like battles. I knew it was heavily related to gladiators like in the collessiums and stuff, but I don't know I also assumed there would be more like, actual battles as well.

But yes, 'Gladiator' is way more thought provoking than I thought. Makes me think about what's important in life, and what type of legacy or not you should strive for. I suppose a lesson from this movie is the only legacy created that matters is the legacy you teach leave/teach your children/family. Any legacy greater, you should just be grateful for but not really strive for actively.

The characters really drove this film. Every character was immensely thought provoking. It was really cool to see OG Dumbledore Richard Harris again!!! Amazing!! It even crossed my mind that this was early HP movie era. It's so intriguing that this predates the HP movies. I can't even explain why.

But yeah, each character was unique and had some had very good character development. The character development felt natural, just executed cleanly. I actually though Lucilla was going to be awful initially but it turns out she was pretty awesome. Proximo looked like he was going to be just awful too, but he ALSO turned out to be pretty cool.

Maximus was always great, but even his character and determination seemed to increase and just the way he lived life was so inspiring. I nearly cried for this man on several occasions. He could have given up about eight times but he wanted righteous vengeance and I like to imagine that his determination and endurance will inspire the people of Rome. Even though his family was cruelly murdered, in the back of his mind wanted to do right by Rome.

I typically like an exciting, edgy villain, but even I couldn't find a way to like Commodus. But that is the exact reason why he kind of was a good villain, because he felt like a TRUE villain. Actually fully unlikable and hard to watch. So, I guess he was a well acted and portrayed villain. Joaquin kills it again, even 24 years ago.

I thought the romance or lack of romance between Maximus and Lucilla was truly awesome and pretty original. Wholesome and bittersweet at the same time. Maximus's sheer love and loyalty is off the charts. I feel like the kiss they shared was truly like, out of pure respect and admiration for one another. They were never meant to be, but in that sliver of time, sliver of a moment, that kiss mattered and felt real. In another universe or lifetime perhaps they would have been something.

The ending of Gladiator was 10/10. Maximus and company's epic plan getting foiled, the battle with Commodus's cheap tactics. Their 'fight' was incredible. Both of them dying was crazy.

Maximus's death was soooooooo emotional I could barely stand it. Him seeing his wife and child was so beautiful and pure just really well done film making.

I thought the movie would have been a bit more gritty. It was almost a bit too soft for my liking and it did feel a bit repetitive at times. There was a handful of boring parts as well. It does feel fairly rewatchable though, I could definitely put it on and just have it play in the background.

I will give Gladiator about a 8.63/10. I liked it a lot, but it just didn't feel TOP TOP tier. I can't put my finger on why exactly. Just a bit too cute at times I suppose.

Despite a few nit picky criticisms, this was a solid film. They don't make movies this good anymore.