Gladiatorerna

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Peter Watkins; Produced by Goran Lindgren, for Sandrews (Sweden); released in America as "The Gladiators" by New Line Cinema. Screenplay by Nicholas Gosling and Peter Watkins; Photography by Peter Suschitzky; Edited by Lars Hagstrom; Music by Claef af Geijerstam. Starring: Arthur Pentelow, Frederick Danner, Hand Bendrik, Daniel Harle and Hans Berger.

Documentary-like tale of a future world where gladiatorial "peace games" serve in place of war. Film gets points for its verisimilitude, but fails due to trite and overstated personal and political scenes.

There's been no shortage of anti-war movies over the years, but Peter Watkins's "Gladiatorerna" ("The Gladiators" in English) takes a different approach. Rather than showing an obvious war or occupation, it depicts a game in which the world's governments - regardless of ideology or race - force people to fight each other for entertainment. The generals merely sit there and politely converse with each other while the citizens fight; all too realistic. An international version of "The Hunger Games", one might say.

It was fitting that this movie got released at the height of the Vietnam War, but surprisingly it didn't become as famous as one might expect. I happened to find it in my local video/DVD store and decided to rent it. Nonetheless, the unrelenting focus on the futility of war - even seen through the context of a "different" kind of war - makes this a movie that everyone should see. I hope to see the rest of Watkins's movies.

George Harris (the Nigerian officer) later played Kingsley Shacklebolt in the Harry Potter movies.

Watkins' Gladiators a.k.a. Gladiatorena a.k.a. The Peace Game (1969) is a very interesting film that features a unique concept.The movie takes place in a alternate reality where warfare has been abolished. Countries that want to settle their disputes handle them inside a high tech arena. Each country sends in a crack squad of highly trained commandos. While inside, they play a game that's similar to "capture the flag". The supercomputer controlled arena is operated by technicians from neutral countries. The computer randomly puts up obstacles in the way of the commandos (adding a bit of intrigue to the game). The generals from the opposing forces (along with their allies) play a game of chess with their commandos, watching the proceedings from the safety of a control room (TV screens and computer monitors follow the action). Around the world, the game is televised (except in Russia, China and The United States). The TV programmers even have a say in the action (they have to satisfy the TV viewers).

Once again, Watkins uses his faux documentary style to capture it all on film. This movie's truly ahead of it's time. A concept like this one would make a great reality T.V. show. Unfortunately, like most of Peter Watkins work it's a hard movie to find. But if you ever get a chance to watch it, I recommend that you do.

Highly recommended.

I saw this movie in Stockholm the year it came out. I haven't seen it since, but I can remember many scenes vividly: that is a memorable movie. In addition to an ahead-of-his- time visual sense, the director added a feature, multiple subtitles, that I have never seen in a subsequent movie. Not just one or two languages, but every language spoken by the characters in the movie. That means Swedish, English, French, Spanish, Chinese... All appear stacked at the bottom of the screen (yet, amazingly, you can still see the action), minus whatever language is on the sound track at that moment; thus, the list shifts constantly as different actors speak. A little disconcerting at first, but it adds so much to the multicultural impact of the film. I hope someone brings it out on DVD.

A movie that could have an good idea but in the end it ends up saying nothing new. The movie is so full of stereotypes that you wonder if it was a kid writing it.

Black heroic figure. check. White racists. check. Cunning Chinese. check. Intellectual that wants to replace old system with his own. check. Commanders that don't care about their soldiers. check.

Absolutely no new thinking in this movie even at this time. If you have read a newspaper and understood half of was what written in this then you will not find any new thoughts here.

Who would I recommend this movie to? well maybe left wing system critics? What could have been an interesting movie became a movie where you get the "truth" hammered into your skull.