Bring on the tough stuff. There’s not just one right answer.
- What would Gladiator have looked like if Maximus had actually taken over for Marcus Aurelius instead of Commodus?
- What do you think of the casting in this film? Were Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix the right fellas for the job? If not, who would have been better?
- Gladiator takes a lot of liberties with the real history of Rome and the Roman Empire. How does this affect the film? Does it make you value it less? What is lost or gained by altering history for the sake of a more dramatic story?
- Does Maximus' death make the film a more compelling story?
- Gladiator makes heavy use of CGI: the Roman Colosseum, for example, the aerial shots of Rome, and even Proximo in some of the later scenes (the actor who played him, Oliver Reed, died during filming). How "real" do these computer generated images look? How do they affect the film's presentation?
- Did this film deserve to win the Oscar for Best Picture? Did Russell Crowe deserve the Oscar for Best Actor?