20 Things You Somehow Missed In Gladiator

What did Maximus' armour really mean?

Gladiator Chest
Dreamworks

Ripley Scott's Gladiator turns twenty this year. Two decades on, it still holds up as an incredible blend of historical drama, action, and character study. The movie won a ton of Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Actor) as well as a ton of other Oscar nominations, a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama as well as a ton of other Golden Globe nominations...You get the idea, it won a boatload of awards, and deservedly so.

Ripley Scott never half-asses a movie. Gladiator is filled to the brim with spectacle, memorable characters and quotes, and small details that made the ancient Roman era come to life. Scott pushed both practical and CGI effects of their time to the limit, stocked the cast with some of the finest actors available, and wrapped it all in a classic hero's journey.

In among all that goodness are some things, though, that even the most ardent viewer may have missed. Here is a list of twenty sneaky details, mistakes, or tidbits to keep an eye for next time you sit down to watch.

20. The Opening Logos Match The Colour Scheme

Movie companies are generally loathe to play with their iconic logos. If they do, it is generally for an anniversary or celebration of some sort (like Marvel Studios change to Marvel Stud10s for their 10th birthday.)

Director Ridley Scott petitioned DreamWorks and Universal to allow their logos to be shown in golden tones as opposed to their normal primary colours during the open credits. Why? It would assist with transitioning their black and gold screens directly to a shot of Russell Crowe's Maximus walking through a wheatfield, his hand skimming the golden stalks.

Both studios embraced this idea and a classic film was off and running.

In this post: 
gladiator
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Child of the Canadian '80s. Fan of Star Wars, Marvel (films), DC (animated films), WWE, classic cartoons. Enjoys debating with his two teenage sons about whether hand-drawn or computer animation is better but will watch it all anyways. Making ongoing efforts to catalogue and understand all WhatCulture football references.