“The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end… Highness.” Maximus’ delivery of that line in Gladiator remains one of the best scenes in the film.
Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator was released in 2000 and starred Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius, Joaquin Phoenix as throne usurper Commodus, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, and Djimon Hounsou as Juba. Set during the time of the Roman Empire, the movie centers on Maximus, a general who finds himself compelled into servitude and must fight as a gladiator. Bent on vengeance against Commodus for murdering his family and the emperor Marcus Aurelius (Commodus’ father), he aims to earn his freedom and the trust of the spectating public.
Maximus gains allies, and among them is his former lover Lucilla, Commodus’ sister. She and her son Lucius are stuck under her brother’s malicious thumb. It’s a film fraught with deadly fights, bold threats and clandestine
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