i made that observation myself back when it came out. I immensly enjoyed the movie, but in part because I DO think of it as Hamlet, as a period film purely, I'm not so sure it aged well. What I mean is I have trouble watching it now because certain things, small things, don't sit well with me. Number one is the attocious opening fight, which was done all braveheart style (and not surprisingly, choreographed by the braveheart fight guys) and ultimately resembled very little of a real legion battle. Legions struggled a little in parts of Europe due to the heavily wooded areas and so I forgive the sequence a little if thats what they were trying to go for, but really, I chalk it up to innacuracy and the desire to show chaos for chaos' sake.
Some of the other niggles I have with it comes from other historical faux pas that can be forgiven for trying to stick to a Hamelet story line, but things like the overly celtic influenced music with a brief smattering of mediterranian instruments set the wrong mood. Maybe its being nit picky, but its a good movie and some of the flaws grate on me in just the wrong ways, and keep it from being great. That said, its one of the best epics to come out, though I admit, I liked Troy better. Some touches that were nice in Gladiator for the history buffs, is the notion that Maximus is from Spain being a nice touch (few Roman soldiers in the late Roman era were actually from Rome) as well as showing the provincial arenas as sort of the minor leagues was cool also. The scenes in the colleseum were nothing short of amazing and make the "ground breaking" effects in the new Star Wars movies look like something out of at best Final Fantasy. Glad you liked it and find it interesting that you felt it was a retelling of hamlet also. Good eye.
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Date: 2005-05-09 06:00 pm (UTC)Some of the other niggles I have with it comes from other historical faux pas that can be forgiven for trying to stick to a Hamelet story line, but things like the overly celtic influenced music with a brief smattering of mediterranian instruments set the wrong mood. Maybe its being nit picky, but its a good movie and some of the flaws grate on me in just the wrong ways, and keep it from being great. That said, its one of the best epics to come out, though I admit, I liked Troy better. Some touches that were nice in Gladiator for the history buffs, is the notion that Maximus is from Spain being a nice touch (few Roman soldiers in the late Roman era were actually from Rome) as well as showing the provincial arenas as sort of the minor leagues was cool also. The scenes in the colleseum were nothing short of amazing and make the "ground breaking" effects in the new Star Wars movies look like something out of at best Final Fantasy. Glad you liked it and find it interesting that you felt it was a retelling of hamlet also. Good eye.