Crowe has the keen, repressed rage of a man devoted to his flag, or of a movie star who doesn't have the patience for stupidity.
There have been numerous reports that the badly behaved Mr. Crowe turned the shooting of "Gladiator" into his own version of the Fall of the Roman Empire. But his temperament gives the picture a center: Maximus looks as if he has a thousand things on his mind, most of them unpleasant. Yet his work isn't all glower. Even though he hasn't smiled in a movie since the underrated "Proof" in the early 's, Mr.
Crowe is given to a hurt swallow when he's uncomfortable, and to a look of suffering in his eyes. He is struggling to hold on to his dignity in the face of humiliation, a trait that runs through characters in most of Mr.
Maximus is like a son to Aurelius, a notion that doesn't make Aurelius's own son, Commodus Joaquin Phoenix , too happy. Commodus kills his father and orders a hit on Maximus. The soldiers sent to dispatch Maximus aren't quite up to the job; he survives the murder attempt and ends up a slave under the thumb of Proximo Oliver Reed , a former gladiator who sends his own men into the ring. Reed seems to find it delicious that he is mentor to a character he might have played himself a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
With a satisfied, sleazy purr and red still dancing in his eyes from the last party he attended, Mr. Reed still looks capable of malice; the movie misses out by not sticking a blade in his hand. He died before filming ended. Maximus is forced to fight to stay alive in the Colosseum while awaiting the chance to take his revenge on Commodus, up close and personal. Maximus confounds all expectations by becoming a star in the ring. When he upsets a historical battle re-creation, Commodus muses, "My history's a little hazy, but didn't the barbarians lose the battle of Carthage?
In the bowels of the Colosseum, where life is cheap, Maximus turns the other gladiators into an army. As played by Mr. It is hard to believe, but it has already been 20 years since Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe teamed up for what could arguably both parties' best movie , Gladiator.
Released May 5, , the epic story of Maximus Decimus Meridius' rebirth from a betrayed high-ranking Roman military officer to an enslaved warrior-turned-hero is still one that resonates with audiences two decades after it debuted in theaters. But as fascinating a movie as it is on its own, the behind the scenes facts about the Academy Award-winning picture make Gladiator an even greater work of art.
From the recreation of ancient Rome to the sprawling fights in the middle of the Coliseum to having to find a way to shoot around the death of one of the film's stars, Ridley Scott and his production team had a lot of obstacles to overcome before the finished product was ready for audiences around the world. Here are some of those stories. Long before filming began on Gladiator , Ridley Scott was busy working on other projects when producer Walter Parkes reached out to him and asked if he wanted to work on something.
Scott recalled this conversation in the Tales of the Scribes: Story Development documentary that accompanied the Gladiator home release, stating:. I was sitting there quietly minding my own business and developing some other stuff and Walter Parks called me up and said, 'Have you got 20 minutes? I stared at it and went, 'Oh, God,' because I knew I was essentially fucked.
Similar signs would go on to be depicted in Gladiator. Gladiator will forever be remembered as one of the best movies of the early 21st Century, but according to Russell Crowe, the original script was so bad, the film's producers didn't want their potential star reading the screenplay while it was still in progress and instead wanted Crowe to meet with Ridley Scott so the director could be the pitch man.
Gladiator was kind of a unique experience because the script that they had was so bad. It was just so bad you know? It was like OK, umm, but the producer didn't know I'd actually been able to get a copy. He said, 'I don't want to send you the document we have because you won't respond to it. But I want to encourage you to have a meeting with Ridley Scott.
It's AD. You're a roman general and you're being directed by Ridley Scott. Just think about that. As we all know now, Russell Crowe ended up taking that meeting and was convinced by Ridley Scott to sign on for the lead role of Maximus after the director walked him through some of the visuals and other details about what he wanted to do.
This may sound hard to believe, but Joaquin Phoenix was initially pretty nervous when he first came onto the set to portray the film's antagonist, the villainous Commodus, but according to a story Russell Crowe shared with Ridley Scott on the extended version of Gladiator commentary track, the future Oscar winner needed some motivation when filming one of the early scenes.
After Phoenix did everything from saying he shouldn't be there to offering to pay back the producers for his hotel and travel if they let him walk away, he asked someone to abuse him off-camera, which is where Crowe stepped in:.
I came up with the idea of saying to him when he was in frame and after I listened to what he had to say I said, 'The thing is that is really bad karma for me and I can't stand on the other side of the camera as an actor and say stuff I wouldn't say to you when the camera is on me, so why don't you try acting you little maggot. Scott: One Sunday morning, he dropped down dead in the floor of a pub. We managed to finish off what was required from Oliver, stealing digital images of his face and attaching them to an appropriate body.
He challenges the crew to some sort of drinking debauch. He drinks some, passes out and dies. I still have his bar tab, by the way. Crowe: There were a lot of people in that strange journalistic habit who wanted to just poke that fire and kept asking Joaquin about his brother and then about his relationship with me because we have that in the film. The film would capture five statues, including wins for costumes, sound, and visual effects.
Crowe: I had no idea at all that I would actually be winning that night. I think that year was a really incredible lineup of actors.
I want to see movies about lives people have led. Crowe: The standout thing with this film, and 20 years later I can say with confidence that somewhere in the world, today, tonight, that movie will be played on primetime.
Not every movie lasts in that way. Home Film News. May 4, pm PT. By Mackenzie Nichols Plus Icon. More From Our Brands. Expand the sub menu Film. Expand the sub menu TV.
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