Product Description

The official illustrated companion book to the winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Costume Design, Sound, and Visual Effects.

Director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Alien) brings the glorious battles of the ancient Roman arena back to the big screen. Set against the splendor and barbarity of the Roman Empire in AD 180, Gladiator tells an epic story of courage and revenge: The great Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe) has been forced into exile and slavery by the jealous heir to the throne, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Trained as a gladiator, Maximus returns to Rome, intent on avenging the murder of his family by Commodus, now emperor. The one power stronger than that of the emperor is the will of the people, and Maximus knows he can attain his revenge only by becoming the greatest hero in all the Empire. Russell Crowe heads up an international cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, and Richard Harris. Directed by Ridley Scott from a script by David Franzoni and John Logan, Gladiator is produced by Franzoni, Douglas Wick, and Branko Lustig, with Walter F. Parkes serving as executive producer.

This is the official full-color companion book, featuring excerpts from the screenplay, historical sidebars and illustrations, details on period costumes and epic set designs, behind-the-scenes photographs from the location filming, and interviews with the screenwriters, actors, and director.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2081845 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

IF YOU LOVED GLADIATOR THE MOVIE-YOU'LL LOVE THE BOOK
I was very pleased when I received the soft cover version of GLADIATOR. It is very well written with wonderful pictures that will remind you of how much you enjoyed the film. When you see the film it moves so swiftly that you don't have time to ask, "How'd they do that?" The historical facts are made clear in the book. Although there were liberties taken with those events, the film has the "feel" of the times. Ridley Scott, manages to let you in on secrets that made this movie so incredibly popular. It is a book you will wish to return to often, before and after seeing the film again. The star, Russell Crowe, a dynamite actor, tells how he learned the dangerous swordplay, that had to carefully choreographed so that no one was injured. Mr. Crowe had the magnetism necessary to make Maximus a great hero, and at the end you wish there could be more of the book, and more of the film. It's a beautifully put together book with lots of "inside" information. You will add this to your film library with pride.

An epic book from an epic film
Presuming that prospective buyers of this book probably saw the movie, this book will not disappoint you. The movie was epic in scope, and although some historical inaccuracies existed, they did not detract at all from the movie, nor the performances of Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joachim Phoenix, and Richard Harris.

If you like to know the 'nuts and bolts' behind the making of a movie such as this, this is your book. If you are curious how they managed to 'reconstruct' the Coliseum complete with gladiator 'fans', this is your book.

A great gift for Gladiator and Russell Crowe fans alike.

Commodus was in fact Marcus Aurelius' son and the downfall of Rome, while already in progress, hastened when Commodus was made Caesar.

Enjoy! And watch the movie again.

A Masterpiece In Its Own Rights
This book was just as stunning as the movie. The many pictures were not just ones used for promotional purpoises but ones that were actually taken from other scenes in the movie. This book has everything, from parts of the screenplay to photos of the actors and director to the plans for the catapults used in the opening scenes for the battle of Germania. This book is highly recommended to anyone who likes to know how they make an epic movie of such size. Once you have read this book over you'll be wanting to see the movie again, and again, and again so you can see how they actually made these scenes. This movie has a huge international cast including New Zealander Russel Crowe. Hopefully he'll get the Oscar, and then there is the amazing actor Joaquin Phoenix and the late Oliver Reed who died just before the completion of the movie. This book tells you how they made some of the final scenes of Oliver Reed after he died. >Enjoy<