The Gladiator

A deranged (and easily identifiable) 70's muscle car goes on a killing spree, so the brother of a victim (Ken Wahl) decides to build his own Death Truck (with sheets of steel, grill protector, and a spear-gun) to bring vigilante justice to the streets at night. Will he catch the killer?

The poster and the plot summary sound like "can't lose" kind of idea. Anyone familiar with the end of THE EXTERMINATOR 2 or the real-life rampage by Marvin Heemeyer will see some comfortable familiarity in the scenario of a guy souping up his truck to exact righteous vengeance upon the wicked. Unfortunately this film squanders the premise largely out of adherence to the TV standards of the time.

For one, it's extremely cheap and lacking in any of the cold, calculating style of Ferrara's other 80's films. Additionally the script presents plenty of problems that make the premise seem much more ridiculous than it had to be. The movie takes great pains to make Ken Wahl's descent into vigilantism gradual and emotionally realistic, yet stretches credulity many times as he would not be able to get away with it so long and not be able to hide it from his friends and lover (Nancy Allen) who know him, know about his dead brother, and know about his fancy truck. Yes "The Gladiator" as he calls himself becomes something of a celebrity with the cops not-so-hot on his trail, but he puts effort into to trying to get people to pull over and adhere to a citizen's arrest rather than hurting or killing anyone. This leaves dozens of witnesses who could easily see his license plate, but it doesn't come to anything.

Personally I think the film would have been a lot better had they decided to make it more realistic, give us some tension with the authorities closing their net around him, or else to just gone all-out with the violence and mayhem. We could have seen Wahl start as a noble do-gooder turn into a monster just as bad as the one who created him. The film hints at this but never delivers. As it is, THE GLADIATOR unfortunately stands as an extremely unsatisfying yet fascinating window into the forgotten realm of 80's TV movies aimed at adults but safe enough for kids.

Wonderful and rewarding film. The film is about how a simple, good guy decided to restore order on the roads, the reason for this was the death of his brother. He breaks the cars of drunk drivers, leaving them for police. His car is equipped with special devices. The main goal, to find the killer of his brother. Movie impressive car chases and stunts, as well as music and songs.

Cast is worthy. The main character wants to empathize. The girlfriend of the main character Susan is also a very interesting character, it helps Rick cope with depression, she broadcaster, has commented on the development of the story in the course of the film. The movie is saturated dialogs and dramatic moments.

Soulful and entertaining film.

A nutter in a black car is causing hit and runs throughout town, but he picked on the wrong guy when he caused the death of that guy out of the Wanderers. This guy, a mechanic who only wanted his kid brother to grow up and get out of town with a good job, is understandably mental with revenge, soups up his flat bed truck with all kind of gadgets, and goes out on the streets to get justice!

He calls himself The Gladiator and has a gizmo ridden car that disable drink drivers. The public think he's great, but most of the cops don't, and they begin to think that he may be behind all the killings out on the highways. Will our hero catch his prey, or will the hit and run guy go on wasting good old American folks? Well, this is a TV movie, so don't expect gore and violence. Then again, it's directed by Abel Ferrarra, so it's no walk in the park either.

Although lacking in violence, Abel makes up for it with many car chases and an excellent showdown in the a junkyard between the gadget truck and the gadget death car. It's good enough for a TV movie, I'll say that, and has a bit of heart about it too. A nice time waster.

The Gladiator is the third film i've seen from New York auteur Abel Ferrara. Although this film happens to be set in California it retains all the same visual stylistic choices from his New York films. The Gladiator is yet another film that i find Incredibly divisive, and has done little too sway my opinion of him from either being a hack or a genius.

The film stars Ken Wahl as Rick Benton, a revenge fuelled vigilante. After the death of his brother to a crazed motorist that is in the midst of a murderous rampage. Benton takes to patrolling the roads of San Francisco in his modified pick up truck, using the call sign Gladiator. He does so to ensure the roads are kept safe from inept drivers, whilst simultaneously hunting for his brothers killer.

The Gladiator is essentially Death Wish on wheels, and nothing much else. The script is your typical vigilante drama, as the stoic Benton goes through every cliché known to man. That is until his inevitable showdown with his brothers killer. Usually this would bother me in most films of this ilk though Iv'e come to accept this macho style of film-making from Ferrara. Whilst the film is thin on characterisation, it's never regarded as the focus of the film.

There's something though about Ferrara's film-making that i can't quite put my finger on. It's no secret that his films don't look very good, and most of them have a televisual feel to them alongside, at times unintelligible audio. However they completely suck me into his world. All of his films have this underlying, stoic, brooding atmosphere, that i find intoxicating. Ferrara is able to bring his films to life in ways that few directors can. His night-shots, despite the poor, indie quality of the cameras, look beautiful, much like the work of Michael Mann or Katheryn Bigelow.

Nearly all his films are divisive and rough around the edges. This film is more straight forward, then most of his others films such-as: Bad Lieutenant, The Driller Killer etc. Whilst i respect and even at times admire his low budget, guerrilla style of film-making, it's not enough to save this film from it's poor, under-cooked screenplay, and bland characters.

Is it the writing team? The producers? An undisclosed source of financing for the production? Who was it that had connections to M. A. D. D., or an association of driver's ed instructors, to shape the film? The premise is plain enough, and promising, but of whatever else the concept may be, I wasn't anticipating a public service announcement being adapted into a thriller. All this is to say that 'The gladiator' is more than a little heavy-handed in broaching the issues of driving safety and drunk driving; of course these matters are very important, but one doesn't expect such emphatic, unwieldy treatment in a full-length feature, least of all one made by Abel Ferrara. Then again, this was a TV movie, and further proves it with use of music (score or soundtrack) that's a tad kitschy, curt editing (for commercial breaks), and major forthrightness in many regards. None of this inherently reflects on the quality of the picture, but if one isn't prepared to engage with such fare then it's best to not even stop to take a look.

Ferrara is a filmmaker I generally trust; not all his films are equal, but he can broadly be relied upon for solid entertainment. Whatever it was about this project to influence its course, there's no getting around the ungainly inelegance that characterizes a lot of the proceedings. The acting, above all, is often rather blunt, and lacking of tact or nuance. Though technically capable, Ferrara's direction in this case also comes off as a little forced and contrived, so many scenes struggle to feel authentic. Factor in the music that's enjoyable in and of itself but increasingly feels over the top as it's employed, and dialogue and scene writing that's undeniably ham-handed and overdone (including but absolutely not limited to the romantic element), and the viewing experience is surely walking on thin ice. Make no mistake, the stunts are fantastic, and the effects are well done; there are earnest (if relatively minor) thrills to be had from the core substance of the narrative, and it's cathartic to see some rotten people get just desserts. Such value is necessarily weighed against those aspects that raise a skeptical eyebrow, and these are possibly greater in number.

What's arguably most surprising about 'The gladiator' is that beyond the central conceit, the feature also tries to give thoughtful rumination on vigilantism, its worth and its folly. This facet is very welcome, and in fact I'd have liked it if the screenplay dealt with it more. There are two problems, though. First is that when this tack is broached most directly, it's with an exactness relative to other scenes and dialogue that's too on the nose for its own good. Second, with a runtime of just over ninety minutes, I don't think there's enough context of the protagonist's activities to most meaningfully give weight to the meatier topic, and as it stands such pondering is given such minimal, passing treatment that it comes off as a little gauche. And here's one more thing: the climax is surely the single best part of the picture, if imperfect. Yet at large the last fifteen minutes or so feel rushed, and overfull, as though there was a last-minute recognition of how much plot still had to be resolved but the production had definitive limits on how much time it had to do so.

More so than not I think 'The gladiator' is well made, with honest intent and fine craftsmanship, not least from crew behind the scenes. It's a curious mixed bag, however, in almost every way, and in some such regards unquestionably leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. If the writing were handled more delicately and mindfully, that alone would have improved the end result by leaps and bounds, to say nothing of more sincere choices for the music, and more careful editing and direction. Ultimately I don't think this is bad, but nor is it anything that demands viewership. If you happen to come across it it's a decent way to spend 94 minutes, though one must be prepared for the less than ideal treatment of most everything herein, and even at that I wonder if I'm being too generous in my assessment. Probably recommendable for diehard fans of Ferrara or others involved, 'The gladiator' is a modestly satisfying good time, but if you're going to watch, just know what you're getting into and temper your expectations.