7. It Pushed The Boundaries of CGI technology
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is often credited as being the first film to truly successfully integrate both live action and CGI characters into environments comprised of live set components and CGI enhancements. But Gladiator did this a full year and a half before Fellowship of the Ring hit theatres - and quite successfully, I might add. The CGI by British post-production company The Mill holds up surprisingly well, even today. One of the most iconic shots is without a doubt the 360 degree entering the Colosseum scene, which was shot on a practical location that extended up to the top of the first level of seats. The rest of the structure was created entirely in CGI, but you would be hard-pressed to locate exactly where the transition occurs. Huge crowds were created with the help of CGI as well, and photo-realistic tigers that are impossible to tell apart from the live tigers used on set. But the most notable use of CGI is without a doubt the recreation of actor Oliver Reed, who tragically passed away before filming of his scenes for the film could be completed. Using a body double, archival footage of Reed and some CGI wizardry, an entire new scene with the actor was created after he had already passed away. Setting aside the moral implications of this, it was a major milestone that led to technology that would be used in Spider-Man, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Avengers, and many more.