Gladiator (1992)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writers (WGA):

Djordje Milicevic (story) and
Robert Mark Kamen (story) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Nobody owns Tommy Riley. Nobody.

Plot:

Tommy Riley has moved with his dad to Chicago from a 'nice place'. He keeps to himself, goes to school. However, after a street fight he is noticed and quickly falls into the world of illegal underground boxing - where punches can kill.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Bare Butt | Chicago Illinois | Broken Nose | Debt Collector

Cast

James Marshall	...	Tommy Riley
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Abraham Lincoln Haines
Robert Loggia	...	Pappy Jack
T.E. Russell	...	Spits (Leroy)
Jon Seda	...	Romano
Tab Baker	...	Storm Trooper
Brian Dennehy	...	Jimmy Horn
Ossie Davis	...	Noah
Dwain A. Perry	...	Storm Trooper
Cara Buono	...	Dawn
Joan Schwenk	...	Secretary
Raul Salinas	...	Teen in classroom
Marctwaine Nettles-Bey	...	Teen in classroom
Francesca Roberts	...	Miss Higgins
Emily Marie Hooper	...	Belinda

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M (re-rating) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

James Marshall did two hours of boxing, one hour of weight training and one hour of jogging for five days a week for four months.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Riley punches Horn on the top of the head Horn says the skull is the hardest bone in the body. Actually the Femur (thigh bone) is!

Quotes:

Noah: You're angry. That's what's gonna get you beat out there! Anger is your enemy!

Soundtrack:

We Will Rock You

Better than a 5.5

First of all, this rating is ridiculous. I remember watching Gladiator when it first came out on video and now a few times on television. No it won't win any Oscars and it's not a dramatic masterpiece but it's never boring and moves along nicely. The fight scenes are entertaining, the chemistry between Marshall and Cuba is there, and the majority of the characters are developed. The only thing that fails is the love story, but I guess every film with teens has to have one. As far as people complaining about Marshall's wooden performance, I personally liked it. Not everyone is a charismatic, everyone is drawn to me type of person. He played it low-key, brooding, quiet, somewhat anti-social and it worked. If a film like this was made today, it would be a dumbed-down PG-13 version critics would probably love because it tells the story of a kid overcoming the obstacles. Rent it if you're an action fan, you won't be disappointed.