Gladiator ( 2000 )

Movies Movie Recommendations ( No Spoilers )
1

Good Movie. 4 stars.

nothing bad to say about it really.

it’s long but only because of the epic-ness of it.

the best part of this movie is just how good everything looks on the screen.

the movie is refreshingly free of any woke crap - a benefit of being over 20 years old.

but you wouldn’t know how old this movie is from the production quality because it’s great.

only reason i don’t rate it higher than 4 stars is because it was never meant to be an art film or philosophical film or intellectual in any way - it was just supposed to be a better than average blockbuster and that it is.

there is a touch of philosophy thrown in and it’s good philosophy but it’s rather tangential to the storyline … for example they discuss how wars and spectacles are distractions and how democracy is an illusion and how people are dumb animals but i can’t give the movie too much credit for this because it’s just sprinkled on top of the story rather than being the story …

by comparison for example in “Voyagers” ( 2021 ) some of these issues ( tyranny vs democracy ) are integral to the plot, whereas in “Gladiator” they are merely discussed but you could take them out of the movie and not much would change …

in other words after watching “Voyagers” people will think about those things but after watching “Gladiator” they will not … but “Gladiator” makes up for this with great cinematography, sets, costumes, great looking actors and actresses, acting, action and so on … good drama as well

4 stars. recommended.

2

I have watched this. It is good.
So you are willing to endure some action in a film.

Watch Training Day.

3

i saw training day on Cable once.

fucking Russians man, even i am avoiding them.

LOL

4

actually i have to clarify - “Gladiator” was one of those movies that i didn’t watch by myself and in fact i wasn’t even in the room half the time it was playing.

on the other hand it was the 2nd time i was watching it as well. the first time was way back on cable.

i partially rewatched it in part for the benefit of somebody other than myself and in part so i could give it an accurate rating on Movielens and post a review here that wasn’t based on memory from 15 years ago or more.

so nothing has changed. i still want movies to put substance first.

i remember i liked “Training Day” when i watched it but i must have been in my early 20s then and was a completely different person.

i wouldn’t watch something like “Training Day” these days and i would only watch something like “Gladiator” with somebody who has more conventional tastes than i do.

actually one thing did change - i am now watching some movies in daytime because of how bright the TV is. Sony Z9J is basically as bright as Samsung “Terrace” ( i saw them side by side at Magnolia ) which is designed for outdoor use, so you can have a pretty decent experience with blinds closed during the day, but of course not as good as at night.

so what i’m doing now is if i’m not sure the movie will be very good and if it’s a PG-13 movie i will watch it during the day … and save better, R-rated movies for nigh time viewing.

i really don’t know why “Gladiator” is rated R. it looks like a PG-13 movie to me. i think its rated R because they criticized war and democracy - it doesn’t have any sex or nudity in a two and a half hour long film.

don’t think i would watch Gladiator during the day though - they spent so much money getting the picture to look perfect that Gladiator really deserves to be watched at night even though it’s only a half-serious movie.

Dogville doesn’t have any production to speak of but the image is so dark ( literally very dark set ) that it should also be watched at night …

“Midsommar” could probably be watched during the day because of how bright the picture is - it’s mostly outdoor daytime scenes.

“Training Day” though is really not for me - cops are dumb animals - i don’t want to watch any more movies about them. i watched “Sicario” and “Elite Squad” with somebody else who likes that sort of stuff.

I like movies that ask big questions.

Did you know that police have an upper limit cutoff for IQ ? ( i don’t know the exact number ) They will not hire high IQ people as a matter of official policy. If i can’t be a cop because my IQ is too high for them why should i watch movies about those retards in which they literally just run around and shoot at other retards.

Yeah i get it there was an angle of morality in “Training Day” but if you recall i don’t believe in morality so :slight_smile:

i probably believed in morality at the time i originally saw it, though.

5

Alas…I won’t trouble you with any more Western cop films then.
But I still think the Korean ones are worth watching.

Random:
Listening to some Russian Doomer music, vol 3…life is hard.

1 Like
6

YES.