History Professor Breaks Down "Gladiator" Part 2 of 2 / Reel History

[@ReelHistory]

Just to even out the mistake from last video I would like to point out that the colosseum was built around 75 CE not BCE. Sorry folks.

[@samhutchison9582]

I was a little confused for a second there.

[@ReelHistory]

@@samhutchison9582 Nobody is perfect, we will always try our best to correct anything that is misspoken, mispronounced, or just plain wrong.

[@samhutchison9582]

No problem at all. If I had a dollar for every time I made a mistake, I'd buy a new car.

[@neilholmes8200]

@@ReelHistory I once wrote in my book on the Merseyside Blitz that King George V visited Liverpool in 1941. Which would have been a remarkable achievement for someone who died in 1936... Luckily my indexer picked up on the missing "I" and was even polite enough to not make fun of me for it haha

[@patrickregan3302]

This is true. It was Vespasian who began construction but did not live to see it completed!😊 Great channel tho. Just stumbled across it today. Got my vote lol I shall subscribe.

[@neilholmes8200]

My favourite story about Gladiator is Russell Crowe talking about the day he was filming the fight with the Tiger (which was very real but under control of a handler). After a full day's filming, he was watching some of the film crew relaxing with a game of football (soccer) and made to join in. He was told not to as it was too dangerous and the insurance wouldn't cover it. He was amused that he was allowed to wrestle a tiger all day, but a game of football is where they drew the line...

[@johngingras]

"So, this was a guy who liked to party..." 😆I love this channel; you do a great job mixing a quick wit and interesting facts!

[@ReelHistory]

Thanks!

[@DrTarrandProfessorFether]

Salve! I am a Roman Reenactor from California. 1st and 4th Century soldier. LEGIO II AVG, COH V. Great movie with some minor issue at the beginning of the movie. The scene when the Pretorian was going to cut off his head, he asked for a soldiers death… a sharp stab in the neck. When he kills that pretorian, the other Pertorian’s sword is stuck in the scabbard and he say,” the frost, it makes it stick” saying that a REAL soldier would have pulled his sword out first think in the morning (checking your rifle by cycling a round). SO max is saying you’re a sloppy soldier.

[@cleverusername9369]

To your point about Braveheart in your wrap up, as a Scot I'd like to leave a comprehensive list of what they got right: 1) Scotland is north of England. That is all.

[@JonathanRossRogers]

22:16 You've got it backwards. Gladiator was released in 2000. Pirates of the Caribbean was released in 2003. Hans Zimmer reused his work from Gladiator for Pirates.

[@prairiefire3792]

Just discovered this channel about a month ago and ive fallen in love. You add so much to these movies and TV shows ive seen!

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying them.

[@guildy2215]

Another great 2 part video! I just got back from a trip to Rome yesterday, it really is an amazing city. We had a guided tour of the Colosseum on Saturday morning, it was fantastic. We saw the Colosseum, the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon and many other historic sites all while walking the streets of the city. It still felt as though we barely even scratched the surface of what there is to see. If you are thinking of going to Rome, do it! I can’t recommend it enough.

[@timalexander7758]

You’re back!!! Let’s do this!!!!

[@samuel10125]

Love your video's mate I really look forward your breakdown no one does like you do and as someone who loves history I appreciate you effort.

[@davemac1197]

Great beak down, thoroughly enjoyed it. Jared's comment in summary (from 33:11 minutes), picking up on a point made by Andrew, about the cinematic quality of films like this being an inherent problem with historical films generally sweeping up the audience into them, making it harder to separate fact from fiction, I take to heart and I think that's the value and whole point of this channel. As a footnote, it's hard to believe when watching this that Russell Crowe (born 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand) started his career on Australian TV, particularly the fertile ground of teatime soap Neighbours in 1987, the launchpad for international actors like Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, Liam Hemsworth, Radha Mitchell, and music stars Kylie Minogue, Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem, and many others.

[@TheAmazingSnarf]

i was entertained!! thanks, team !

[@lightyearsfromhome1165]

One of the best movies ever as long as you don't look for historical accuracies . Yes, I was entertained.

[@NiamhCreates]

Great movie. Thanks for the break down!

[@JonathanRossRogers]

I loved "Gladiator" as a movie without considering its historical accuracy. I didn't realize that any of its characters existed until relatively recently.

[@WeThinkTooMuch]

I started watching because of my fascination with BoB, and winters and I’m glad I did! Can’t wait to see what you do next! I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Enemy At The Gates

[@ReelHistory]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@garydavis5703]

I was lucky enough to have been stationed in Italy for 6 years....It was fantastic as I love history.....

[@georgeharris6851]

This movie is like Shakespeare In Love, an entertaining movie set in a historical time that doesn't let history get in the way of a good story.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

The problem with that is the actual Shakespeare was probably a pretty boring, private person without much real life intrigue, so to make a compelling story about him you'd have to embellish his life. But Rome? Rome was interesting as hell. Commodus and Marcus Aurelius has fantastically interesting lives set to a interesting backdrop; there's no actual reason to rewrite it all. If Ridley didn't think that the real story was interesting enough? He should have just done a Julius Caesar biopic. That's inarguably one of the most interesting human beings to have ever lived.

[@vincentbergman4451]

Maximus reminded me of Cincinnatus and Trajan. Cincy as you stated earlier Trajan as a “Spanish” general. (As I remember) The praetorian guard chased Nero. Nero had a slave help him commit self termination. Nero is replaced with Trajan Trajan was the one who began construction of the coliseum.

[@ProjectPaladin]

This movie is about as historically accurate as "Battle of the Bulge", yet way more entertaining (although I have a nostalgic soft spot for the latter). "Gladiator" is quintessential Hollywood, in all its good and bad ways.

[@neilholmes8200]

Yeah sometimes you just have to switch off your inner historian and enjoy the film. Tombstone is like that, it's a great film which really epitomises the Hollywood idea of the Wild West, but it's hopelessly inaccurate. Still it doesn't win the "most inaccurate film to portray the OK Coral gunfight" title. That belongs to My Darling Clementine, which committed the cardinal sin of killing Doc Holiday at the gunfight!

[@asm826]

26:50 The Praetorian Guard were directly involved in the deaths of several emperors. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and his mother were killed by the Guard. Aurelian was assassinated by several officers of the guard. Caligula was killed by two Praetorian tributes in the midst of a bloodbath. It was common enough that they were eventually disbanded.

[@nickjerrat]

Great video, really enjoyed it. Gladiator was released before Pirates of the Caribbean, but Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt were the composers of the music in both movies, so some similarities perhaps.

[@TheNextFreud]

Thanks for all that you do! Small note, the island of Capri is typically pronounced "Cah-pree." If you've never been, you should go because it's insanely beautiful. No wonder rich ancient Romans vacationed there!

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

The ending of this movie is like the ending of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where apparently they just rewrote history to have a happier ending. Where the reality was about 350 more years of tyranny and a subsequent collapse of Rome. Ridley Scott has some weird ideas floating around in his head. Edit - would love to see you tackle Kingdom of Heaven next, Ridley's other largely fabricated historical epic. Personally I think his best historical film is The Duellists, because neither character in that were real people. Just incidental mopes who's lives you can sculpt from the clay without having to step on any realities. That movie was basically 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to kill each other'.

[@bennygerow]

Great job again!

[@wirelad2007]

Always look forward to your uploads, dude. Great video

[@oldfrend]

re: commodus' white armor - ridley scott was going for the marble statue aesthetic reasoning that there was no reason they couldn't have looked like that in real life. works for me.

[@georgeh6577]

While there were a lot of inaccuracies the thing I liked about this movie was that it gave me a chance to talk with my kids about the Roman Empire in general. I mean how else could I have a discussion with them about the Praetorian Guard and their role in helping support or overthrow an emperor Not something that would normally come up in conversation

[@ReelHistory]

A common theme here that we end up talking about at the end of our videos is whether or not the movie was good or bad, is how even a film with poor historical context can start a conversation and drive a person to learn more on their own.

[@crowttubebot3075]

10:05 Yeah, the Colosseum was, and remains, an amazing piece of engineering. The Romans, for all their evils, were masters at manipulating their environment to their needs. Even the camps a legion would construct every night while on the march was a thing of brilliant engineering, perfect for the time and era.

[@cleverusername9369]

I like how y'all keep track of Russell Crowe's smiles lol until very recently I never thought of Russell as a particularly smiley guy. He's mellowed and become much more jovial in his later years though.

[@CameronJamesPhillips]

The reason Commodus is in all white is because he's presenting himself as the hero. It's more of a literary symbol that associates white with the the hero and black with the villain. Commodus has been dressed in black clothing the entire film since murdering his father. He wears white prominently on two occasions. When he first enters Rome as Emperor and in the Coliseum against Maximus. He's trying to present himself as the conquering hero the people can cheer for when truly he is the villain they leave and abandon upon his death. It also serves to still present him as the villain. Because instead of all hero like as Commodus had intended to present himself as, the all white costume and (in case anyone never noticed this) the pale white make up they add to his face in the scene where he has his final conversation with Maximus, depicts him more like a deathly ghost. Commodus's costumes in this film are my favorite of all films because they first are intricately beautiful, and second, each tell a story and reveal Commodus's inner thoughts of how he wishes to present himself to others while simultaneously revealing who he truly is as well to the audience. It's so subtle and freaking genius. And that's just with the one character. They do the same with all the characters. The evolution of Maximus's armor being another example.

[@CameronJamesPhillips]

The music in Pirates sounds like the music from this film is more like it 🤭 Lol good ol Hans

[@richtifilmpalast5373]

Great Reel History episode! Just for the Russell Crowe fans who maybe haven't seen it yet. There's a an episode of the Graham Norton Show where Crowe talks a bit how "on the fly" large parts of the movie's story and even more of the dialogue was created during filming. Very entertaining (time stamp is around 21:30) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYS3eImZZp2qis0

[@ReelHistory]

Thanks!

[@itsyaboipaulychips4498]

Speaking of kingdom of heaven. Any chance we get an episode on that movie. The directors cut is so good. Would love to see how accurate or inaccurate that movie is

[@shaggycan]

Rome was very harsh, but there was always the hope of upward mobility. Many Slaves after a life of hard loyal work were rewarded with freedom, and many decendants of slaves became wealthy equestrian class citizens.

[@CameronJamesPhillips]

I 100% agree with your producer. I am usually a huge stickler for accuracy when it comes to stories and this film doesn't fit that bill at all lol But ignoring the fact that this film plays loose with real history and just focusing on the film as a film. It is damn near perfect in its execution. The story is a perfectly written story that's as you said Shakespearean. The film still to this day looks like it was made yesterday instead of 20+ years ago. It's insane how well this film even looks when you take into account all the rough patches this film went through, numerous rewrites of most of the script, Oliver Reed passing before completing his scenes, having shots with grips in their jeans back out of the screen or of the nitro tanks in the carriages, this film overcomes all of it and delivers. What a testament to the cast, to the crew, and above all to their fearless leader Ridley Scott. This is a film that by all accounts should have failed but succeeded despite all the obstacles. I love this movie so much.

[@macmcleod1188]

Have you ever read, "We who are about to Die"? It's a pop-history of gladiotors published in the 60s. I was wondering what you thought of it if you had.

[@TR00P]

Another awesome video. Time to do “Fury”!!!!!

[@ReelHistory]

we're going all out for that one. once the timing is right. soon....

[@TR00P]

@@ReelHistory awesome! Looking forward to it.

[@joshuaborosch1874]

love the videos man started watching because of your BoB commentary would love you to do black hawk down my favourite war movie of all time and in my opinion better than saving private ryan

[@thundercliff93]

The Colosseum was actually built around 70 AD , instead of BCE. It was built during the reign of Emperor Titus.

[@ReelHistory]

Sorry! I fumble on words now and again. In the first part of Gladiator I said two centuries instead of two millenniums once!

[@etherealtb6021]

Other way around. Pirates was 2 years after this! 😁 Love that you did this movie! Didn't Praetorian guards often turn against Emporers? BTW, in very early drafts of the movie, Maximus was called Narcissus! You really need to do Black Hawk Down! I've heard it is pretty accurate.

[@ReelHistory]

Re: the guards: Yes, I meant my statement to be ironic, but I can see how that did not show.

[@etherealtb6021]

@@ReelHistory Oh, lol.

[@7.62_Godd]

Another Excellent breakdown. Would love to see you do some content on black historical Cinema, namely “the great debaters” With Denzel Washington or “Judas and the black messiah”

[@ReelHistory]

Thank you. It's certainly something with aspire to do as we grow our audience.

[@samhutchison9582]

I'd like to know who said the quotes about Commodus' sex life. It gives off a strong flavor of post death smearing by a rival.

[@Gjudxdkjyzddhjnr7091]

When are you doing 1) Spartacus 2) The Thin Red Line

[@jackson857]

9:59 Can't go wrong with a Hans Zimmer score.

[@cleverusername9369]

He liked it so much he basically reused it for Pirates of the Caribbean 😆

[@ryanengelstad6073]

Very cool vid, yes i always took this one as a story taking place in roman world/reality

[@timothymartinsr.6805]

What is the difference between the movies Gladiator and the Fall of the Roman’s Empire?

[@conniedelvigna9427]

Triple please!! 🙏

[@conniedelvigna9427]

Triple please do HBO Rome!

[@jg90049]

This movie convinced me that Ridley Scott never picked up a legitimate Roman history in his life.

[@Silentt141]

Do the first pirates of the Caribbean for the gafs please please please

[@shaggycan]

The Praetorian guard betrayed the Emperor numerous times historically, until they largely became the body that chose the person who became Emperor.

[@ReelHistory]

Yes, I meant my statement to be ironic, but I can see how that did not show.

[@mikloowl4899]

Literally the first time i have ever heard this movie being compared to the 2000 election. I would be inclined to disagree with debated intent LOL

[@luisdeanda1995]

Break down Black Hawk down !!

[@lolpwndk]

Hey Jared, have you thought about doing HBO's Rome as well?

[@etherealtb6021]

Yes, please!

[@jasonyoung5628]

I've heard that one aspect of gladiators that was left out of the movie is that gladiators could get endorsement deals much like pro athletes today.

[@cleverusername9369]

Absolutely so. Hell, a person could even buy a gladiator's sweat

[@louiefrancuz3282]

Gladiator is a movie presented for entertainment, it is not held out to be a history lesson. The Iliad and the Odyssey aren't any less entertaining just because they didn't occur. An important element of entertainment is the suspension of reality there isn't a galactic empire that destroys planets with death stars and there aren't wooden marionettes that turn into real boys. If movies were presented as academic exercises they probably wouldn't be that exciting. So what if William Wallace never wore a kilt, in the move, he fought in many battles, served revenge to most of his enemies, knocked up the princess of wales and bravely died a hero. Now that's entertainment.

[@icemanespoo2977]

Interesting part is that the few names of real people add nothing to the story. You could have basicly characters Old Emperor and Spoiled Son replace Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. There would less to point out and the story would be just as good.

[@VinceJDII]

I hope you can do one for Kingdom of Heaven.

[@geoffreypereira8024]

They wouldn't have called him "Spaniard" as the region was then called "Hispania"......well, they'd also be speaking Latin so I'm not sure this is an inaccuracy 🙂

[@VideoTasties]

Sounds like Charlie Sheen should have played Commodus

[@3blaha3]

Tommy Flanagan was given Glasgow Smile, I guess you can figure out what is it called that way and what city it happened in. Commodus was a product of a crazy upbringing, his father knew he was not the right candidate so preparing him for years. Despite the fact Commodus was Aurelius' son, for such a smart guy, Mark should give the throne to somebody else like in the movies was going.. Why I say plural, movies, because Gladiator is more like a remake of ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'', not another movie that has nothing to do with history. Noone would write such a good intrigue again. Also why is the first one called ''The Fall Of..."' if Commodus only brought some temporary chaos.. The Roman Empire was doing well for years to come until a proper fall at.. I cannot remember what year.. Google it.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

Vivat Magister!

[@FrankinDallas]

"Commodus is a product of a failed upbringing". You are just enabling this bad boy! Marcus A tried and tried but the boy was just BAD.

[@gravitypronepart2201]

I am. Intertained that is.

[@jg90049]

When Hollywood represents Roman Senators, emperors, etc., why do their costumes always appear to be more Byzantine than Roman?

[@claudeyaz]

Women weigh less and are smaller..so being a chariot archer is interesting

[@samhutchison9582]

If you want to do Kingdom of Heaven, don't. It's good and I really enjoyed it, but there's a very similar production that is way better. Do "Arn: The Knight Templar" instead. It's effectively the same story but told much better. It also has Stellan Skarsgard speaking Swedish!

[@RTStx1]

Too many adds downvoted for that......

[@daytripperhd]

great commentary but all that political stuff at the end is a stretch. Ridley Scott did not have any of that in mind except that politics has not changed much over the centuries

[@rebekahtoone6269]

😱 ᵖʳᵒᵐᵒˢᵐ

[@dojotacosupreme4900]

BC* not BCE

[@ReelHistory]

For which part?

[@nuke19491]

@@ReelHistory The Colusseum was built ca 75-80 CE, not BCE, during the reign of Vespasian

[@williampage622]

BC