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‘Gladiator’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Shea Serrano, and Jason Concepcion

May 5, 2020 · Gladiator (2000) · Action · Adventure · Drama · 1:29:51

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 31:47Opening battle scene, Richard Harris telling Maximus he wants him to be king, Maximus escaping the execution order
Chris Ryan▶ 34:10Opening battle scene - specifically highlighted Russell Crowe's 'At my signal, unleash hell' line delivery
Jason Concepcion▶ 32:27Opening battle scene - praised the realism and Maximus's character introduction during the pre-battle walk
Shea Serrano▶ 33:39Opening battle scene - emphasized Russell Crowe's instant character building without words

What's Aged the Best

Chris Ryan▶ 59:54The fight scenes - specifically calls them the best sword and sandal fight scenes he's ever seen
Jason Concepcion▶ 59:16Incest/suggestions of incest - argues that in a post-Game of Thrones world, the incest themes have become more culturally acceptable and prominent

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:03Movie could be trimmed by 15 minutes - some laborious pacing, and Oliver Reed's final scene looks fake due to technology limitations
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:27The Elysium heaven sequences with wheat fields and horses - feels like obvious script padding
Jason Concepcion▶ 1:01:04The psychic family visions/wheat touching scenes and the Roman Republic democracy messaging after the gladiator peak

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:08Oliver Reed — Discusses Oliver Reed's performance and shares behind-the-scenes context about a cut storyline
Chris Ryan▶ 1:02:38Oliver Reed — Oliver Reed as Proximo for his heat check performance talking about queer giraffes
Jason Concepcion▶ 1:02:43Oliver Reed — Oliver Reed as Proximo for his hammy, scenery-chewing performance

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:38Mel Gibson — Mentioned Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Ben Stiller, and Hugh Jackman as considered for main role; discussed Russell Crowe pushing for Christopher Plummer as Marcus Aurelius instead of Richard Harris

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:04:12Tommy Flanagan — Tommy Flanagan as Cicero - the guy with the big scar on his face, very loyal to Maximus

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:52Shared multiple facts: $3.2 million spent on Oliver Reed CGI, Marcus Aurelius died of plague not murder, Commodus ruled 12 years and was strangled by wrestler Narcissus, Maximus was fictional, Lucilla was executed by Commodus, Russell Crowe's extensive injuries during filming
Chris Ryan▶ 1:12:17Said he doesn't care about historical accuracy and believes it's all accurate, calling it 'fake news of Rome', then made jokes about ancient Roman sports journalism and load management
Jason Concepcion▶ 1:12:07Jokingly insisted all historical details from the movie are accurate, particularly the opening battle scenes
Shea Serrano▶ 1:12:04Agreed that Maximus is real and was actually Russell Crowe

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:43Russell Crowe — Russell Crowe - yes, Hans Zimmer - yes, Connie Nielsen - yes, touching wheat - yes
Chris Ryan▶ 1:20:32Touching wheat - yes, explained how it became mainstream signifier after this movie

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:21:17Commodus should have killed Maximus immediately after their fight instead of letting him live - he's not letting this guy who he knows murdered his father live for five minutes in real life
Chris Ryan▶ 1:22:22The geography issue of riding from Germany to Spain (9 months across Europe) and taking Maximus way into the forest for assassination instead of doing it more simply
Jason Concepcion▶ 1:21:42The geography is unrealistic - Maximus fighting in Germany then riding to Spain over what would be an extremely long trip, evidenced by his crazy long hair growth
Shea Serrano▶ 1:21:30Why do they tell him to ride till dawn instead of just killing him outside the tent - Commodus should take the bad PR for a couple days rather than this elaborate plan

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:23:04Unleash Hell
Chris Ryan▶ 1:22:49Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:28:33No unanswerable questions

Movies Referenced (40)

Troy (2004)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano, Jason Concepcion▶ 1:14:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Alien (1979)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion, Chris Ryan▶ 25:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Blade Runner (1982)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion, Chris Ryan▶ 25:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Black Rain (1989)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 24:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Braveheart (1995)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano▶ 5:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Days of Heaven (1978)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:20:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Deja Vu (2006)

2 mentions · Shea Serrano▶ 27:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Elysium (2013)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion▶ 1:14:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lethal Weapon (1987)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 5:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Proof of Life (2000)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 8:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 24:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (6)

Ridley Scott

17 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Shea Serrano · Known for The Martian, Blade Runner▶ 1:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mel Gibson

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano, Chris Ryan · Known for Braveheart, Conspiracy Theory▶ 4:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Scott

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Shea Serrano · Known for Unstoppable, True Romance▶ 24:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Marcus Aurelius

4 mentions · Jason Concepcion, Bill Simmons · Known for Blade▶ 17:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Garnett

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Uncut Gems▶ 1:09:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Terrence Malick

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Days of Heaven, The Tree of Life▶ 1:20:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (56)

Russell Crowe

36 mentions · Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano, Chris Ryan · Known for Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind▶ 1:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joaquin Phoenix

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Shea Serrano · Known for Walk the Line, Gladiator▶ 16:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Harris

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Unforgiven, Gladiator▶ 19:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Oliver Reed

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion, Chris Ryan · Known for Gladiator▶ 29:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

LeBron James

6 mentions · Shea Serrano, Jason Concepcion, Bill Simmons▶ 43:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Connie Nielsen

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Gladiator, One Hour Photo, Wonder Woman▶ 1:08:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Game

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion, Chris Ryan · Known for Street Kings, The A-Team, Coach Carter▶ 59:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Angelina Jolie

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Shea Serrano · Known for Maleficent, Changeling▶ 1:08:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Hans Zimmer

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jason Concepcion · Known for Gladiator, Interstellar▶ 1:19:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jonathan Billions

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 30:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mark Ruffalo

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Spotlight, The Kids Are All Right, The Avengers▶ 22:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mimi Rogers

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Lost in Space▶ 24:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (3)

Brian Koppelman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Runaway Jury, Runner Runner, Michael Clayton▶ 30:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Benioff

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:23:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 28:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗