Smart Hollywood: My Top Ten Fave Films of the 00’s
2. Gladiator (2000)
Are you not entertained? If not, you better re-watch this film again, and then again. And one more time for good measure. Ridley Scott has teamed with Russell Crowe many times throughout the 00’s and they already have another film in the can together set to come out next summer (“Robin Hood” – because you know you’ve been waiting to see Russell Crowe in green tights). But “Gladiator” is the film that brought them together for the first time, and which brought Russell Crowe to the level of super-stardom and made him an Academy Award winner for Best Actor in the role of a lifetime, Maximus. Oh yeah, “Gladiator” won Best Picture as well. And the Academy got it right. What a movie. This film has it all. There are bloody epic battles in Roman arenas. There is Maximus giving passionate speeches such as “At my signal, unleash hell”. Ok, that might not actually fit the definition of a speech, but it sure does the job. There is a man on a mission to seek justice for the deaths of his loved ones. There is Russell Crowe wearing a skirt (Ok, so on second thought maybe some people have been waiting to see Russell Crowe wear green tights). In a film filled with memorable moments, my favorite has to be that scene in the arena where Maximus takes off his gladiator mask and reveals himself to the evil emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). You know the scene. Say these lines along with me, and I know you will start to feel pumped up, you just can’t help it. “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.” Chills, I tell you, I get chills. I’m sure this film is playing somewhere on cable this very minute so I’ll forgive you if you skip my #1 for now, and go watch Maximus get his vengeance again in this lifetime.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
