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Gladiator (2000)
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The second menu screen has six options, the first of which is "My GLADIATOR Journal," a written account by Spencer Trent Clark, the young actor who portrayed Lucius. There are ... an extensive series of storyboards detailing many of the films intricate action sequences. There are six "Stills Galleries," showing photographs of "Portraits," "Rome," "Germania," "The Colosseum," "Zucchabar," "Behind the Scenes" as well as a "View All" option. A selection of trailers and TV spots, the requisite cast and crew bios and a set of written production notes round out this supplemental disk.
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In determining the outcome of gladiatorial combat, there is no indication how the crowd demonstrated its verdict regarding the defeated gladiator. Pollice verso translates simply as "turned thumb," but the manner or direction is not known. That the thumb, itself, was regarded as more important than the other fingers of the hand can be seen in its etymology. Macrobius (Saturnalia, VII.13.14) relates the belief that the thumb (pollex) derives its name from the fact that it has power (polleo). The context here is that the thumb is morally superior to the other fingers in that it, alone, disdains the wearing of rings. Lactantius, too, in celebrating the workmanship of God, eulogizes the body's perfection and the thumb's power.
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Gladiator has been re-released in a handsome three-disc set from DreamWorks. This set includes both the theatrical cut and a newly assembled director's vision for the film that is 17 minutes longer. In both cases DreamWorks has gone back to the drawing board and remastered the image -- removing much of the heavy and distracting edge enhancement that accompanied its first release on DVD nearly four years ago. Though digital images still tend to appear a tad harsher, or more finely defined than the rest of the image -- thereby betraying the fact that they are more blue screen than actual set design, the muddy color scheme that plagued the original DVD have been greatly corrected on this reissue. Fine detail is superbly rendered. Contrast and shadow levels are perfectly realized.
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The last segment on the first screen is a documentary entitled "Hans Zimmer: Composing GLADIATOR." The composer talks about the process of writing such a soundtrack, what his inspirations were for setting certain scenes and the process of working with Lisa Gerrard to achieve the final soundtrack.
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Gladiator, 2000’s Best Picture winner, first emerged on rental shelves November 21, 2000, a full three months before Oscar nominations were announced. Gladiator was nominated for a total of 11 awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Screenplay, among others. The average weekly rental volume for the four weeks after the awards was 5% larger than the average from the four weeks prior to the awards (VHS and DVD combined). Despite a minor up-tick, the total rental spending on Gladiator from the four weeks before the Oscars through the fourth week after the Oscars totaled $40 million. Keep in mind that this activity was three to four months after the home video release! Gladiator [W]as ... shrewdly re-released to theaters on February 16, 2000 in select cities around the country, grossing an additional $1.1 million in spending by the time its second round at the box office wrapped up.
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"Crowe was not being rewarded for his performance in Gladiator, but rather his LAC, Insider, and Gladiator put together. Tom Hanks is going to win the oscar next year for Road to Perdition, Sam Mendez is no fluke. If you wanna whine about something winning that didn't deserve it, complain about Gladiator for best picture. Traffic wins oscars for directing, screenplay,and editing, not to mention del toro's for supporting actor and the SAG award for best ensemble. Why vote for Gladiator over Traffic when it wins the other awards?
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Gladiator (2000)