Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Richard Harris, Joaquin Phoenix, Djimon Hounsou, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a general in the roman army loved by Marcus Aurelius, the emperor. Marcus wants Maximus to become emperor after he dies as he thinks that his son Commodus is unfit to rule. When he tells Commodus this, Commodus murders him. When Maximus refuses to believe that Marcus died of natural causes, Commodus orders that Maximus and his family should be executed. However, Maximus escapes and returns home - too late to save his family. He collapses and is sold as a slave where his prowess as a gladiator gets noticed and eventually he fights his way through Africa to Rome, where he meets the emperor face to face. The emperor spares his life, then challenges Maximus to a fight in the arena. Maximus accepts and the two engage in a bloody battle. Maximus kills the emperor, reinstates the Senate as the governors of Rome and dies to be with his family in the afterlife.
Visible crew/equipment: After the battle with the Germanians, the next morning after the tavern, Maximus is walking in the army camp and he feeds a horse a piece of apple. If you look closely between him and the horse, there is a crewman wearing a pair of blue jeans. (00:21:00)
Commodus: What is your name, gladiator?
[Maximus turns away.]
Commodus: How dare you show your back to me! You will remove your helmet and tell me your name!
[Maximus slowly turns and removes his helmet.]
Maximus: My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Trivia: In the beginning of the movie, where the Roman army is assembled waiting for the enemy to come into the open, the Germans in the woods are chanting menacingly. A portion of the chant they repeat sounds something like "Boom whattey. HEEYUH!" This soundbyte is cut-and-pasted from the movie Zulu, it is the battle cry the Zulu warriors make as they advance on the British outpost. They didn't just have new actors record the chant, they used the exact same soundbyte. You can even hear at intervals of every seven or eight chants they end by crying "ZULU!"
Question: I don't know whether this is a mistake or if there was a certain reason for it but, at the end of the movie when Maximus tells Quintus to free his men, Quintus turns to the line of guards standing behind him and says, "Free the prisoners, go!" Two of the guards standing next to each other immediately go to free the prisoners, and the rest of the guards don't budge. How did those two guards know that the orders were given directly to them?
Chosen answer: Because they would be the ranking soldiers, and accustomed to being given orders. Being disciplined, they would obey Quintus without question. The legions would necessarily have soldiers assigned to following orders at different times, similar to how a captain would give an order to a full room, and the first mate would be the one to carry out the order.
rswarrior