Corrected entry: When Maximus is being taken to be executed we see the hands of a hung, dead roman soldier. At the last second just before the camera changes you can see the man flick his thumb. (00:38:00)
Corrected entry: At the very end of the film, Juba is burying Maximus' figurines on the floor of the Colosseum. He digs a deep enough hole to bury the bag but as he's covering it up with dirt, he totally messes up and hardly any of the bag would actually be covered if the shot lasted long enough for us to see his hand move away. (02:21:30)
Corrected entry: There seems to be a mystery surrounding Hagen. Although he dies by being shot and stabbed at Proximo's home, when Maximus dies, we see someone looking suspiciously like him come forward to carry Maximus. Does he have a long-lost twin, or is he immortal? (02:20:55)
Correction: He certainly looks like Hagen, but it isn't him.
Corrected entry: When Maximus is walking to the Colosseum and his friend uses a black-haired woman to pass him the message (his carvings), she grabs his chest plate and almost pulls off the metal horse. A second later the metal is back on his chest guard undamaged. (01:46:30)
Correction: She isn't even near his chest plate.
Corrected entry: In the first fight in Morocco, Maximus pulls those two swords out of the warrior and slices his head off. Watch the section where the camera is behind the warrior as his head is chopped off. If you look carefully you can see that he has a dark stick supporting the head.
Correction: Not even in slow motion can the stick be seen that you mention.
Corrected entry: In the scene in the beginning of the film, Marcus Araelius is in his tent working on a document. The writing utensil he's using looks suspiciously like a number two pencil. This is seen again just after the Battle of Carthage; Commodus repeats the scene, working on some document with, obviously, a number two pencil.
Correction: You really don't think the director is stupid enough to use a number two pencil? Twice? That is an ink pen.
Corrected entry: In the very first scene, after the battle is done, Maximus shouts 'Roman Victor' If you watch very closely, his lips are not moving to what he says.
Correction: They match perfectly. Also the scene is played in slightly slow motion for dramatic purpose. It would sound silly if the voice would be in slow motion as well, wouldn't it?
Corrected entry: In one of the first scenes of the movie, when Maximus is first taken from his room to be executed, all of the guards grab him and he begins to struggle. If you watch behind him, a guard raises his sword (unsheathed) and apparently strikes him in the back of the head. A strike like that should have killed Maximus, or at least left some sort of gash in the back of his head, yet when we see him later, there is no mark.
Correction: The Praetorian struck Maximus with the hilt, not the blade.
Corrected entry: In the restaurants outside the Colosseum you see glass bottles on the table and the senators drinking from glasses. But glass was much too expensive in that time to be used in such ordinary restaurants. (01:02:50)
Correction: Not so. The Romans were masters of mass production and had learned how to mass produce glass years before Commodus became emperor. Therefore, glass objects were also available to the lower classes.
Corrected entry: The throne on which Commodus sits at his palace looks like an 18th century "Empire" style chair typical of Napoleon's period, (I believe the Romans used marble thrones with cushions). Also it is situated in front of an opening that looks like a balcony. Not considering the fact that the Emperor could catch his death of cold, it would have been extremely easy to murder him. Also where was his Praetorian Guard (the only army allowed in the city of Roman who acted as the Emperor's bodyguards) when he moved in the Palace?
Correction: The only imperial thrones made out of marble (or any other type of stone) stood in the senate or in the abs of the basilica. Any other roman furniture was almost always made out of wood. The throne we see in the movie probably resembles something close to the real thing. In fact, there are numerous roman reliefs' that show almost identical chairs. As Archaeologists of the 18th century "discovered" ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the designers and craftsmen of the time based there designs on these reliefs.
Corrected entry: The upper part of the Colosseum was made out of wood and was not replaced with stone until 223 AD. Marcus Aurelius died in the year 180. In the movie you can see that the upper portion is made of stone.
Correction: This is true, but there is evidence that suggests the Romans used stucco and plaster to conceal the wooden construction and make it look real. This was done for various reasons such as a lack of money or just a lack of time.
Corrected entry: The use of cavalry in the opening battle is wildly inaccurate, and not reflective of Roman cavalry practice.
Correction: This depends on both the type of battle and the era. In the Aurelian era cavalry were used in all of the Germanic battles. The battle conditions also made a surprise cavalry attack the ideal option.
Corrected entry: After the battle with the Germanians Marcus Aurelius says to Maximus, "You have proved your valor, yet again Maximus." The camera then shows Maximus turning around to face him. Then it shows Marcus Aurelius again and if you look to the right (his left), behind him is a horse on the ground. The horse gets up and tries to walk away, but can't because his back right foot has a rope around it, that is tied to the ground to keep the horse in place. (00:15:05)
Correction: Actually, its foot is stuck in the branches from the bush on the ground.
Corrected entry: In the scene when Maximus and Juba are fighting (tied together with a chain) against other gladiators, they kill the last one and win the contest. Hagen was also fighting and is alive later in the movie. But when the camera is turning around to show Maximus and Juba with the arena and the spectators in the background, Hagen is not there. (00:55:55)
Correction: When the camera is turning around in circle we can't see the whole arena. For all we know Hagen is exhausted and is sitting on the ground below camera view.
Corrected entry: Watch when Maximus has thrown his sword at the box and is saying "are you not entertained?" there is a shot where it shows the whole arena. One of the men is looking up at him even though they are all supposed to be dead. (01:05:00)
Correction: He's not dead, he's wounded.
Corrected entry: In one of the first gladiator fights, when Maximus chops off the head of his enemies with two swords, it can be clearly seen that the head, or object posing as a head, is already detached. (01:04:40)
Correction: You can see that the head doesn't come off until impact.
Corrected entry: During every Colosseum fighting scene, the senators are all wearing white togas. They would have only worn them during election time, not to attend the games in.
Correction: While during elections a candidate's toga was specially whitened with chalk to produce a blindingly white toga candida, the normal white toga, without chalk, was routinely worn by Romans citizens.
Corrected entry: In the scene where the four Praetorians are taking Maximus out in the woods to execute him, the swords don't add up. Maximus grabs the first Praetorian's sword and kills him with it. Then the other one tries to take his own sword, but the frost makes it stick to the blade and then he is killed. Maximus yells for the third, and when he comes closer, Maximus throws his sword at him, so he dies. He yells for the fourth and last Praetorian, and suddenly he has a sword in his hand - where did it come from? The only available sword was stuck in the scabbard by frost.
Correction: The sword that was stuck in the scabbard by frost, wouldn't necessarily be stuck there forever - with a little effort and a few seconds I'm sure Maximus could get it out. Besides, there's also the sword from the third Praetorian, killed by the first sword at close range. What's to keep Maximus from grabbing that sword?
Corrected entry: In the first battle in Rome the gladiators are running through the chamber to the arena. Maximus is at the back of the group, though when they emerge from the tunnel Maximus is at the front of the group. What happened?
Correction: He isn't at the front after entering the arena. The camera spins round, and you can see that about one third of the gladiators are behind him, and about two-thirds are ahead of him. They've spread out as they pass through the gate, and he's moved ahead of a few of them.
Corrected entry: At the time of the movie the name "Colosseum" would not have been used. It's original and correct title is the Flavian Amphitheatre. Colosseum is a nickname given to it in the 9th century by an English explorer because of the colossal bronze statue of Nero as the sun god which used to stand next to it.
Correction: While technically correct, virtually all of the dialogue in the movie represents an idiomatic translation of Latin into English. While in official documents and in proper (upper-class) Latin the Colosseum would be referred to as the Flavian Amphitheatre (or, idiomatically, simply The Amphitheatre), commoners, slaves, and soldiers in Rome had a whole host of names for what we now call the Colosseum. Christians were often known to call it "The Place of Blood" and other such colorful names. Again, because this is an idiomatic translation, this "error" is more likely simply "translator's license."
Correction: Those are Maximus' tied hands we are seeing.
Mortug