Russell Crowe, as Maximus, in GLADIATOR (2000)
With the release of this Oscar® winning Hollywood film emerged a new trend of PEPLUM movies, which, by 2018, is all but dead. This Third Wave (with the Golden Era being the first and the second being the 1980s) had a good if uneven run. What's the next film, from Hollywood or from Italy, that will re-ignite the genre again, if ever? They actually thought of making a sequel to this even if Crowe's character dies at the end, by resurrecting him.
No need for a resurrection ... I believe a prequel is in order ... an undeveloped, really unspoken sub-plot is that the young boy, Lucius, is actually the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and Maximus (Russell Crowe). Their long-ended affair is referenced in their secret meetings,and the way Maximus gazes at him through the bars of the gladiators' quarters at the Coliseum when he learns Lucius' name gives it away.
ReplyDeleteI'm not mourning the decline and passing of the latest Peplum trend. Most movies produced during this phase have been terribly lackluster.
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