ग्लैडिएटर

What does every action movie need?

A nasty villian that the audience can hate, and a good, tough hero that the audience can love. If these character premises are established and the plot flows, the final confrontation between these two arch-enemies should be breath-taking and keep the audience guessing.

Gladiator does this perfectly. The boxing scenes are gripping, intense and pull the audience out of their seats to cheer for the films two heroes... Tommy Riley and Cuba. The movie has a great soundtrack and a noticeable visual style that stays constant throughout the film.

Horn (the bad guy) played by Brian Dennehy and his sidekick Pappy Jack played by Robert Loggia are a great combination of nastiness. Horn is brutally evil and rules his underground boxing contingent with an iron fist, while Pappy Jack is a sleezy, humorous villian that compliments Horn's seriousness beautifully.

The characters have some depth, but not much. Who needs depth in an action movie anyway? Tommy Riley, Cuba, and Romano's stations in life and their particular choices are explained adequately enough for the audience to sympathize with their situations and want them to kick some serious ass.

Bottomline:

A kick-ass action movie. You will find yourself cheering loudly and rewinding parts because of their sheer intensity and visual, ass-kicking style.

After decades, I see it as a good film. For themes, sensitive ones, from the sacrifice for help the father to the illegal boxing circle, from acting ( after Twin Peaks , a real interesting work of James Marshall , impressive job of Brian Dennehy, a young Cuba Gooding jr. Proposing the fair portrait of Lincoln and, not the last, Robert Loggia ).

But the great virtue remains the 1990 atmosphere , fair defined scene by scene.

Indeed, a too used subject but , in this case, in touching manner, convincing in some measure. And, maybe, in strange way, for very subjective reasons, a memorable film for not so young public.

I really enjoyed this movie.

This is not the cleanest or most precise movie I have ever seen in any aspect; But the camera work, acting and script were all as good as they needed to be.

I found that I really enjoyed watching the film, There was not a moment when the film dragged or failed to procceed, The fight coriography was an exciting theatrical showcase of hand-boxing.

This is a fun Action Movie.

I think we can safely tick all the boxes above.

I am a huge fan of the sport of boxing and a big fan of boxing movies, for the most part. I have also noted on multiple occasions how good and versatile an actor Cuba Gooding JR. At this point in his career, Gooding JR was still in his early stages, but comes through like a champ in this interesting and gritty underground pugilism movie.

There are lots of montages, plenty of boxing set to cheesy motivational 80s songs. The finale is quite ludicrous but inevitable in these types of flicks, and good triumphs over evil as it tends to do in movies if not real life.

It will never be known as a classic but is in the same vein as some of Van Damme's best… If you love boxing and are a fan of the ridiculous, GLADIATOR is for you. I highly recommend it.

"Anger is the enemy."

Type "Gladiator" into any search engine for movies, and you'll get pages and pages of Russell Crowe's gladiator epic. Yet, at the bottom of those lists, you may just find this little gem that you've never heard of. If you are a fan of pugilistic big-screen experiences, this is one that at the very least will keep you entertained.

For a basic plot summary, "Gladiator" tells the story of Tommy Riley (James Marshall), a white teenage youngster who (via parental circumstances) is moved into an all-black school and neighborhood. After having enough of the constant bullying and needing money badly, Tommy is recruited into a shady boxing circuit by Pappy Jack (Robert Loggia). After befriending similar hard-luck case Lincoln Haines (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Tommy runs headlong into "big boss" Jimmy Horn (Brian Dennehy) when a huge conflict of interest rises between them.

"Gladiator", in terms of themes, is about as simple a movie as ever was made. I remember watching it off television as a kid and even then being about to follow the themes. While that simplicity keeps it from being a classic, it also makes sure that the movie ages pretty well. Whether you watching this movie in theaters in 1992 or on your flat-screen in 2014, it plays pretty much the same.

Perhaps what shines most from this movie, though, is the performance by Brian Dennehy. That is what I remembered most from the original viewing and what drew me towards finding it again. Along the way, though, I noticed great performances from Gooding Jr. and Ossie Davis as well.

If you are not a fan of boxing movies, I would say you can probably skip this one, as without an appreciate of the boxing-related themes the rest of the narrative will be a bit too simplistic to hold your interest. If you love the "sweet science", though, this one will at least entertain you with some drama and adversity themes.