So Ridley Scott is directing a Gladiator sequel...

[JibberJabberwocky 12]

The trailer is not very good and all over the place; I was expecting a teaser to be honest. I was immediately caught off guard with the flashback scenes with Lucius, because the actor is different. I expect now his childhood to be examined in more detail, seeing as he is an adopted child. I don't remember that being a detail in the original. Still going to see it in the cinema!  The first one was such an experience.

[Luke Skywalker 1,933]

7 hours ago, filmmusic said:

The trailer seems nice (doesn't sound nice though), but I'm with @Chen G. on this one.

I thought in the first we saw the fall of the roman empire, and now the same things happen again?

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Well, Rome was not built in a day, nor it fell on a day either ...

 

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

58 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Well, Rome was not built in a day, nor it fell on a day either ...

 

Yeah. While I'm for story's having an end (i.e. Indy III, Star Wars VI) and not stretching things out past their logical conclusion, I have to give a pass when it comes to historical epics. I mean, the Roman Empire had a LOT of history after the events of Gladiator.  There's an incredible amount of dramatic cinema to be mined there (as Hollywood certainly did in the 50's & 60's).  I think the era is ripe for another Ridley Scott film...though it really didn't have to be a direct sequel to Gladiator, there are any number of stories Ridley could have chosen tell. Though I doubt the funding would have been there for any Roman epic other than a Gladiator sequel, and the marketing and box office appeal of making at is such are obvious.

[LSH 1,020]

From The Guardian yesterday:

 

Quote

The trailer also offers a preview of the stirring soundtrack – again composed by Hans Zimmer, as well as a snatch of a reworking of No Church in the Wild by Kanye West and Jay Z, featuring the apposite lyrics: “Tears on the mausoleum floor / Blood stains the Colosseum doors.”

 

[Chen G. 4,502]

13 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

though it really didn't have to be a direct sequel to Gladiator, there are any number of stories Ridley could have chosen tell.

 

There's something to be learned here from, of all films, Scott's Robin Hood: Ridley could have brought Ian Glenn back as Richard and maybe have Crowe have flashbacks of fighting on the battlements with Balian.

 

It would have been silly to do so.

[Schilkeman 1,286]

On 09/07/2024 at 2:16 PM, Chen G. said:

Its goddamn Mozart

To be fair, I have a rather cold appreciation of Mozart, outside of the piano concertos, which I genuinely love. I just remember finishing Gladiator, and thinking how I could see why it won a bunch of awards. It has that crowd-pleasing quality, but I promptly stopped thinking about it, and haven't much since. I should probably give it another watch, it's been a while. Don't know if I will, though.

[LSH 1,020]

There seems to have been a lot of backlash on social media over the choice of music in the trailer. Which is good.

[Richard Penna 4,112]

The top articles that come up in google on searching for "gladiator 2 soundtrack" are about the music choice. I thought those tracks worked horrendously - where are the days of the composer writing a custom cue?

 

Does that Guardian writer know nothing about film scoring? (rhetorical question... she clearly does not) Thinking the music is from the score, and that it's by Zimmer. Oh dear.

 

It looks like a Roman version of KoH, with a flooded coliseum looking like one of the smaller scale battles. Given it's out in November, I'd hope HGW is deep in writing, giving him months to work on it. And hey, what better time for an expansion of the first score to commemerate it!

[LSH 1,020]

17 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Given it's out in November, I'd hope HGW is deep in writing, giving him months to work on it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6XJmtYPPsp/?igsh=MTNzbjkzZDZ3cDI3dg%3D%3D&img_index=1

 

This post is from April so it’s most likely complete.

 

Ridley is now hard at work swapping the bulk of it out. 

[Richard Penna 4,112]

Oh man, that's months for Ridley to remove half of it and hack the rest to pieces, and given HGW is very curative with his albums, I'll bet there will be an absolute ton of unreleased music.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,327]

They'd better leave the cocoon/flamethrower scene in, or I'll be fucking annoyed.

[IheartMelissaBenoist 53]

I thought this was a terrible idea from Day One. But I wanted to give them a chance and see what the trailer showed us.

 

Oy. 

 

The grown-up version of the kid, the main lead actor, looks absolutely not like a gladiator-type at all. Was he prancing at one point? I love Pedro Pascal, but even he looks lost in this. And WTF is with those weird pale-skinned guys? Apart from overacting, that is. I don't need a clearly-21st-century piece of "music" thrown in there either. The whole thing just, ugh, zero desire to see it either before or after watching the trailer. It might have a somewhat decent opening weekend, but after that it's gonna tank big-time. 

 

They should have left well enough alone. 

[LSH 1,020]

I’m not going to judge so quickly right now. It’s just an awfully constructed trailer, in many regards.

[Chen G. 4,502]

It is. But the whole thing LOOKS phenomenal, I think.

 

I think its a terrible premise for a movie, but I cannot deny the impact the visuals had on me.

[A24 4,540]

10 hours ago, Chen G. said:

It is. But the whole thing LOOKS phenomenal, I think.

 

I think its a terrible premise for a movie, but I cannot deny the impact the visuals had on me.

 

I don't see it. Are you referring to the production design or the art of photography?  If it's the latter, then what exactly of the photography impresses you so much? How does it stand out? It's Ridley Scott in auto-pilot mode.

[Chen G. 4,502]

The tableaux itself.

 

and for what it’s worth I always find Ridley’s to look spectacular. Visually, the guy is in a league of his own.

[Thor 8,211]

Yes, but this doesn't look very good, IMO. I don't care diddly-squat about trailer aesthetics or story elements, none of that interests me. I go to Scott for grainy, gorgeous visuals, and this didn't provide any of that. It was all extremely clean-looking and digital. Of course, I thought the same way about NAPOLEON, and while the film started off that way, disconcertingly, it also had some gorgeous Scott scenes down the road, like the jaw-dropping Austerlitz sequence. So I'm hoping there's some of that in this as well.

 

I know it's naïve of me to wish for a repeat of the gobsmackingly beautiful look of the original film 24 years ago, but I wish Scott grained it up a bit these days, even if everything is shot digitally.

[Chen G. 4,502]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

I go to Scott for grainy, gorgeous visuals, and this didn't provide any of that. It was all extremely clean-looking and digital.

 

I, for one, think any "dirt" should be in the frame, not on the frame but maybe that's just me.

 

I think the trailer looks fantastic.

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

13 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

I, for one, think any "dirt" should be in the frame, not on the frame but maybe that's just me.

 

Well to be fair, @Thor mentioned grain, he didn't say anything about "dirt".

 

I like the trailer well enough, but I do agree with him that it has a slick, digital look that's not as natural looking as the first one. I'd also rather see that grain. 

 

That said, from a commercial standpoint I understand why Scott went this route, this is how audiences today expect movies to look and they're going to have to appeal to a lot more than middle-aged guys with Gladiator nostalgia if this film is going to be successful. If the story and characters are good, the digital look won't matter all that much to me.

[A24 4,540]

It's just a trailer. Maybe digital still grain needs to be added in post?

[Jay 39,231]

Gladiator II Features ‘The Biggest Action Sequence I’ve Ever Done’, Says Ridley Scott

[tomsmoviemadness 3,469]

 

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

 

[Edmilson 8,762]

We'll see in November where Gladiator 2 will fall on the Ridley Scott ranking:

1. Alien;
2. Blade Runner
3. Gladiator;
4. (all the others)

[Thor 8,211]

It's fairly typical when filmmakers or composers or, really, any others in the creative arts are asked about this, they tend to put their most recent work way too high. I remember when Goldsmith was asked the same around the time of MULAN, and he said it was the best thing he'd ever written. I mean, it's a fine score (and perhaps even in my own top 10 of his), but come ON!

 

High on adrenaline and short on long term memory, that's usually how these things go.

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

We'll see in November where Gladiator 2 will fall on the Ridley Scott ranking:

1. Alien;
2. Blade Runner
3. Gladiator;
4. (all the others)

 

How DARE you disrespect Ridley Scott this way.

Out of respect to this ground-breaking auteur, his definitive Top 5:

1. Gladiator II
2. Alien
3. Gladiator
4. Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut)
5. Blade Runner

[Bayesian 1,428]

Guys, c’mon now, let’s not be silly. We all know Napoleon is the greatest thing Sir Ridley’s made — and we also know that the fact this beautiful, singular monument to cinematic art hasn’t yet received a 4.5-hr director’s cut 4K steelbook treatment is basically a crime against humanity.

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

36 minutes ago, Thor said:

It's fairly typical when filmmakers or composers or, really, any others in the creative arts are asked about this, they tend to put their most recent work way too high.

 

U2 fans know Bono routinely does this, according to whom EVERY new album is the best thing they've ever done.

 

To a certain extent of course it's hyperbole and salesmanship, but I think if you're a genuine artist, you probably believe it, because if you're not growing and improving, what's the point? And of course and artist is going to view their own work, especially early work, much differently than we do. 

[Edmilson 8,762]

46 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

Out of respect to this ground-breaking auteur, his definitive Top 5:

1. Gladiator II
2. Alien
3. Gladiator
4. Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut)
5. Blade Runner

That's quite an unpopular position for BR, I think. Most people around these parts would put at #1 without blinking an eye.

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

18 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

That's quite an unpopular position for BR, I think. Most people around these parts would put at #1 without blinking an eye.

 

I know. And it's a great movie, and clearly one of the most influential science fiction films of all time. I just personally prefer the three I ranked above it. I admit it's a completely subjective choice, and not really an argument as to which film has the most artistic merit.

[Schilkeman 1,286]

7 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

U2 fans know Bono routinely does this, according to whom EVERY new album is the best thing they've ever done.

I mean, Songs of Innocence was legit great.

 

I think Scott has made three all-timers with Blade Runner, Alien, and Kingdom of Heaven, and a handful of very good films like Gladiator and American Gangster. The rest vary between dull and trash fire. On a swing from high to low, he may be the most inconsistent of the major directors.

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

16 hours ago, Schilkeman said:

I mean, Songs of Innocence was legit great.

 

IMO U2's last great album was the Eno/Lanois produced No Line on the Horizon.  To me it's the last genuine U2 record. Flawed, for sure, but at least it ambitious. I+E feel like afterthoughts to me.

 

In any event, I doubt anyone other than Bono thinks Innocence or Experience was U2's best album. How many of those songs did U2 play in Vegas? 

[Schilkeman 1,286]

6 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

I+E feel like afterthoughts to me.

They spent longer working on those albums than any before them. I’m not saying they’re better, but they’re definitely not afterthoughts.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,327]

14 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

IMO U2's last great album was the Eno/Lanois produced No Line on the Horizon.  To me it's the last genuine U2 record.

 

Agreed. After HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB, it seemed to be a return to the early 80s sound of BOY and OCTOBER.

[Edmilson 8,762]

Scott about Crowe not being called on G2:

 

"I think [Russell Crowe] is still one of the best actors in the world, and I think we have a good relationship. I hope we do. As long as he doesn't start bitching about how he wasn't consulted. Why would I? He's dead!"

 

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/ridley-scott-didnt-consult-russell-crowe-gladiator-2-1236128094/

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

2 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Scott about Crowe not being called on G2:

 

"I think [Russell Crowe] is still one of the best actors in the world, and I think we have a good relationship. I hope we do. As long as he doesn't start bitching about how he wasn't consulted. Why would I? He's dead!"

 

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/ridley-scott-didnt-consult-russell-crowe-gladiator-2-1236128094/

Russel Crowe is dead??

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

Ah, Ridley. Just as warm and sociable as ever. Charming, to the last.

[Edmilson 8,762]

3 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Russel Crowe is dead??

He isn't but his career is since these days he only does crappy low budget exorcism movies 

[Naïve Old Fart 10,327]

13 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Ah, Ridley. Just as warm and sociable as ever.

Hasn't changed a bit.

 

Nor has Crowe, as his predilection for irrelevancy demonstrates. 

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Hasn't changed a bit.

 

Nor has Crowe, as his predilection for irrelevancy demonstrates. 

 

It's Crowe's revenge for all the arguments he lost.

[Edmilson 8,762]

Scott is so sure he made a great movie with Glad II that now he wants to do a third one:

 

Ridley Scott Is ‘Already Toying With the Idea’ for ‘Gladiator 3’: ‘Seriously! I’ve Lit the Fuse’

 

But be careful, the way he describes the ending of the movie on this report might be somewhat "spoiler-y" so if you want to go completely unspoiled don't read the article.

[mrbellamy 6,679]

Ridleyyyyy

[LSH 1,020]

5 hours ago, Edmilson said:

I’ve Lit the Fuse

 

Yeah, and what does a fuse typically connect to. Don't tempt fate, Ridley, even semantically. 

[Edmilson 8,762]

Well, if he wants to do a third one the second will need to be a box office success. And a huge one, since apparently the budget for this one was $200 millions.

[The Great Gonzales 6,229]

1 hour ago, LSH said:

 

Yeah, and what does a fuse typically connect to. Don't tempt fate, Ridley, even semantically. 

A fusebox.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,327]

9 hours ago, Edmilson said:

But be careful, the way he describes the ending of the movie on this report might be somewhat "spoiler-y" so if you want to go completely unspoiled don't read the article.

 

It links onto the back end of ALIEN?

[A24 4,540]

3 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Well, if he wants to do a third one the second will need to be a box office success. And a huge one, since apparently the budget for this one was $200 millions.

 

If this was any other movie then it would have been quite a risk because the heyday of the sword-and-sandal movie is far behind us. 

[tomsmoviemadness 3,469]

New trailer

Small snippet of Zimmer music in here at the beginning.

 

 

 

I have to say, this trailer looks better. The first trailer made the whole thing seem like a rehash of the first film. This looks much more interesting.

And Denzel is chewing the scenery, I love it!

[Romão 2,317]

58 minutes ago, tomsmoviemadness said:

New trailer

Small snippet of Zimmer music in here at the beginning.

 

 

 

I have to say, this trailer looks better. The first trailer made the whole thing seem like a rehash of the first film. This looks much more interesting.

And Denzel is chewing the scenery, I love it!

 

I think this looks even more like a rehash: they repeat lines, story beats, fight techniques, the mad emperor trope, the one who turned slaved trying to get revenge in the arena, using him as some sort of symbol to topple the current political status quo. It really does look like the original movie.

 

The digital animals look awful, though

[Nick1Ø66 5,761]

It does look like a rehash of the original's plot. And yeah, some of the CGI looks dodgy, almost unfinished.

 

That said, it does look like we may see an actual attack on Rome itself. The first time I saw Gladiator I was kind of disappointed in the ending, because I wanted to see Maximus march his army into the capitol. The film teases that's going to happen, and I really wanted to see that battle (historically inaccurate, like the rest of the film, though it would have been). I'm more than happy with the ending now, but at the time I was pretty disappointed. So it's cool we may finally see it in this film.