Gladiateurs

I did not have high expectations on this movie, mostly because films following "The Gladiator" were facing a too big challenge, but this was worse than I expected. It is hard to define it as a movie, even harder to define it as a documentary, so I could call it (I admit, a little too cruel) a joke. Too bad for the efforts made to re-create the ancient Rome feeling, the commentary spoils everything. It is hard to understand who is making the comments, sometimes they come in the first person, sometimes in second, and several times they are referring to things that are totally out of the time of the Roman Empire - like the comment that the gladiators were sold as it happens to the football players, or the quotes from Suetonius. The fights are very short - the director could have used longer and better fighting scenes to make the movie a little more attractive, but failed to seize this opportunity. But this is not the main problem of the movie - it is what I was saying in the beginning, you don't know if it is a documentary or not. In my opinion, it is neither. If the director concentrated on the action, maybe it could have been a medium movie. I give this movie (?) a 2. That is only to offer some other movies the chance to be worse.

One of the best documentaries I've seen is "Pompeii: The Last Days". Based on historical records and artifacts, the film recreates the final days of the doomed city of Pompeii. What makes it exciting is that they filmmakers recreated the city and a small group of doomed residents. Through their lives, you learn what it was like to have lived during this harrowing event.

Here in "Colosseum: A Gladiator's Story" the filmmakers have once again used the same type of film making--though they also provided quite a bit of narration along with people acting out the story of a real life gladiator. Using some CGI and nice costumes, the folks from the BBC recreate this life in amazing detail. My only gripe is with the title of this show, as the Colosseum wasn't a big focus at all of the film--it was more the story of a gladiator, not the building. So, if you are looking for an in-depth discussion of the building--with its amazing basement, trap doors, etc., then this is not a film for you. Still, it's very well done and quite compelling.

Colosseum: A Gladiator's Story is a surprisingly good documentary. It seems to be the only movie about gladiators that isn't dramatically romanticized. This doesn't mean the story is 100% true but it is at least based on the only real documented fight in the arena. Seeing this movie gives the opportunity to have a look in the live of a gladiator.

The special effects and the background pictures in the movie aren't really great, which is disappointing. One has to admit this hasn't really an effect on the tensity of the movie. The movie reflects on the customs and the values of the Roman society. Besides that it gives information about the (motives behind the) construction of the Colosseum and the fate of gladiators and other slaves.

Just prior to watching this, I read the other reviews of this. While there were only two that were particularly negative(and I won't claim that they're in the wrong... in fact, they bring up good points), I found my expectations lowering... and not being much of a fan of documentaries, and having little interest in history, they weren't high to start with. I tried to keep an open mind, and it worked; I liked what I saw. Instead of being purely a documentary, the narrator introduces us to Verus, our lead, within the first few minutes... after which, he joins in the narrating. From that point on, the narration is somewhat mixed... Verus tells us what he sees and experiences, and whenever he isn't in the scene(and occasionally while he is), the "present day" narrator explains about the gladiators and the time in which this took place... and slays several wide-spread myths about both, in the process. The drama and the documentary elements aren't separated... while it could have chosen to be either a full-on drama(no doubt evoking more emotions from the audience) or a genuine documentary(most likely being able to include even more information about the time), it chose an interesting path, involving both. The plot is as factual as it can be(as are all the tidbits of information), and it's well-told. The direction is impressively effective, being dramatic when it should be. The pace is very good. I was never bored for a second. The dialog is all in Latin, which is definitely commendable. The narration explains the important things said, though subtitles would have been nice. The fights, while they are fairly frequent, could have been just slightly better. Being a big fan of martial arts, they were a big part of why I watched this at all... and I would be lying if I claimed that I was not impressed with them. But the filming should have covered them better and the editing should have been tighter. Far too often, the momentum, the intensity was lost, if only for a second or two. Worse still, there were times when it was difficult to tell what was going on. If this were done on purpose, if the direction taken when making this was to show how chaotic these fights were, then it would have been a good creative call. But this was supposed to be a factual, detailed depiction of gladiatorial combat, and inducing head-scratching(as well as possibly causing some viewers to rewind in order to try to pick up on what *did* happen) is not good. The acting varies. All in all, I would say that anyone interested in the history will almost certainly like this. Anyone wanting an authentic drama set in this period will be satisfied. I would advise anyone simply in it for the fighting to not spend too much money on it, as you may find it unimpressive(compared to Hollywood and recent TV show fighting scenes). I recommend this to anyone in the aforementioned groups, and there is a bonus to anyone who speaks Latin(as every single line of dialog spoken is in this language). A very well done piece of film and documentary. 7/10

This drama documentary was included as a DVD extra on Pompeii: The Last Day (2003) TV. I started watching it with little expectations and actually ended up liking it better than the main movie on the DVD.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed Coloseum: A Gladiator's Story is that the spoken dialog was in Latin. I studied Latin in High School, but have never heard it spoken on screen before. I think the movie would be understandable to someone who did not study Latin, as the narration is in English.

I liked the references to Martial (who I have not read) and Seutoneus (who I am just starting to read).

This story was not just about Gladiators, but about the political climate of the time and the reasons for building the Flavian Amphitheatre (known today as the Colosseum).